Battling the Morning Lows ~Type 1 Diabetes War~

My oldest daughter Macy is 16 years old and she is a Type 1 Diabetic. We have many battles in our War with Type 1 Diabetes, but morning lows is our toughest battle by far. One of our challenges is our daughter is a teenager, so she likes to stay up late and sleep in late.

There is nothing as scary as trying to wake up your child and getting no response. Our wonderful Endocrinologist helps us fight our battle and tells us it is a very common battle. Sigh, well that just sucks if you ask me. (which technically by clicking and reading here, you did).

One of the ways we battle morning lows is a good snack at bedtime. Our doctor explained it in a way that made a lot of sense to us. How accurate it is I could care less. It made sense and helps us manage these lows so don't bother telling me whether he was wrong or not. What he said was that our bodies go into a recovery mode around 3am whether we are awake or not. Its a lot easier on your body to be asleep during this recovery mode. Basically its when your body does its massive cell regeneration and fixing (for lack of a better word). Even though you are asleep this mode actually uses energy. If you are awake because you are a teenager who is playing on your computer or watching movies or whatever...then you are burning even more energy because you are awake and in recovery mode. If you didn't have a good snack that provides the carbohydrates and such needed while your body is burning this energy then as a Type 1 Diabetic the result is a low blood sugar. (If you aren't then your body changes how much insulin is going through your system and basically adjusts things. With an insulin pump or long acting insulin in your system there is no way to adjust for it).

This is why a good bedtime snack is so very important! I was recently asked for some examples of a  high protein, fiber, fat, and carbohydrate snack that our daughter uses at bedtime. Why protein, fiber, fat, and carbohydrate you may be asking...well the slower burning the snack the longer the energy lasts, more or less. It takes longer to process so it creates a steady amount of energy for your body for a longer period of time. Think of those times you drank or ate something high in sugar and then you had the 'sugar crash'. Your body got energy from what you ate but it burned up so quickly that you crashed down to no energy afterwards. Regardless of whether you have Type 1 Diabetes or not, balancing your food and snacks helps maintain your energy levels and keeps you from being over hungry later (which just results in over eating).

Now I must remind you that I am NOT a doctor. I am NOT a health care professional. I am only sharing with you what works for us and the education we have received from our doctors and health care team. Never take anything you read on the Internet as law or fact for your situation, no matter how similar it may seem. Always ask your doctor prior to changing or using any new techniques! If your doctor has recommended balanced snacks and meals for your Type 1 Diabetic child, then the following list of our snacks may help you build your own and may even give you some new ideas.

So back to the examples. When I was asked I realized my daughter is now almost 17 years old and she is control of what food she eats and doesn't eat. So I had to look for our lists and I updated them based on what she normally eats for her snacks. The main goal is to get a child who is a Type 1 Diabetic to eat a good snack, while dealing with the normal childhood pickyness. Remember these are our numbers based on the products we use. Always notate your own exact information from the products you are using...they can vary and I don't want your child to have a high or low because of our numbers.

Some of the snacks we use for bedtime:

100% Whole grain whole wheat bread (1 piece) with peanut butter (about 1 tablespoon)

10g fat

5g fiber

9g protein

23g carbs

Quesedilla (one 10" flour tortilla) with cheddar cheese (about 1/2 a cup)

23g fat

3g fiber

20g protein

37g carbs

Special K red berries cereal (about 1 cup) with 2 % milk (about 1/2 cup)

2.5g fat

3g fiber

6g protein

33g carbs

Baked beans (about 1/2 cup) with a cut up chicken hot dog

10g fat

5g fiber

12g protein

32g carbs

1/2 bag of microwave popcorn, 1 medium size apple (with skin), and 1 piece of string cheese

12g fat

4g fiber

9.5g protein

23g carbs

substitute a med size pear instead of above apple

12g fat

6.5g fiber

9.5g protein

35g carbs

Tostitos scoops tortilla chips (24 chips) with salsa (about 4 tablespoons) and queso (about 1 tablespoon)

15g fat

5.5g fiber

4.5g protein

45g carbs

We add string cheese to many snacks simply because my daughter likes cheese, its easy since its individually wrapped, and really provides the needed protein and fat combo to almost any carbohydrate snack. Did you know a single piece of:

Sargento regular string cheese

 6g fat

0g fiber

8g protein

1g carb

Another great snack (if you can get your child to eat it) is Chobani Greek yogurt. Although there is no fiber in these yogurts they really pack a punch with the other components. There are two kinds, a child's style and the regular style. Our three year old loves the child's yogurt in very berry.

Chobani Champions Very Berry Yogurt (the child's style)

1.5g fat

0g fiber

8g protein

13g carbs

Chobani Blueberry Greek Yogurt (standard style)

0g fat

0g fiber

14g protein

20g carbs

Another item we keep on hand for our daughter is the Snickers fun size candy bars. Our Endocrinologist recommended them. No seriously, they work great for a snack or in a pinch a slight low while your out and about (like at school in class).  We don't use this as a bedtime snack, I just thought I would share it with you.

Snickers fun size candy bar

4g fat

.5g fiber

1.5g protein

10.5g carbs

I would love to have some feedback. What is your child's favorite bedtime snack or snacks? Do you battle with morning lows? If we all share then think of all the information we would have available!!!

Skittles Rainbow Cake!!!

I made the most awesome cake yesterday! I posted pictures of it on Facebook because well, dammit I was pretty proud of myself.

All I did was modify and add some of my own ideas to an existing cake I have seen on Pinterest. When I saw the pictures originally I thought talk about tasting a rainbow! Then it hit me, wait what if the cake was flavored like Skittles and you could taste the rainbow? I actually tried to think of what flavors to use for the colors to get it to taste like Skittles, then it just kind of occurred to me why not just use Skittles to flavor it like Skittles? That was easier than trying to find and buy the flavors at the store.

Friends and family members asked me how I made it and asked for the recipe. So I have decided to map it out for you and share how I made this incredible Skittles Rainbow Cake for my husband and children on Valentine's Day.

What you will need:

Cakes
Space to cool your cakes,
6 jars or bowls
2 cake mixes (I used white cake mix with the whole egg recipe)
eggs
oil
a 14 ounce bag of Skittles
water
food coloring
and patience

Frosting
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups water
1/2 tsp cream of tarter
4 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla


You begin by separating your Skittles by color. I would recommend starting with the bottom of the rainbow and moving your way up since the syrups and cakes will cool in the same order. I used 6 small mason jars with 1/3 cup of water in each. (the only thing I wish I had done was save some Skittles to put on the top of the cake after frosting, its up to you whether you want to or not).

I used our magic bullet to grind each color up as I went prior to mixing with the water in the saucepan to melt them down. But you don't have to do this step. They will melt from full size. I just don't have the arm endurance to stir that long, so I ground mine up (dry) in the bullet. You could also use a food processor.

Over medium heat dissolve the Skittles with the 1/3 cup water (I prepoured mine to make them all the same and to also have a place to pour the hot syrup into when it was done). I brought mine to a boil briefly and then poured into the jar.
Rinse and repeat. In the last jar I mixed blue food coloring into the 1/3 cup of water, since there are not blue Skittles. This was the only layer in the cake that didn't have a fruit flavor.

This is what my Skittles syrups looked like when finished.
Warning! The syrup is very hot and also smells incredible. Be careful and don't get too close.

Now onto the cake. I did one box at a time to keep them as even as possible. I also only have two cake pans of the same size so I did two at a time. I mixed the cake mix as directed EXCEPT I did not add water. It is best to have a mixer for this since it is a stiff mixture. Separate into 3 even amounts. I measures the first one out and it was just under 3 cups, so I did just under a cup for each.

Again begin with the bottom of the rainbow so when you are assembling your cake the layers you need will be the coolest. I also spooned off the very top of the Skittles syrup, I am pretty sure this was the wax ingredient they use to make the Skittles. Its not harmful to eat and most likely won't effect the cake, but it looked icky to me so I took it out. It was about a spoon and a half of cloudy white waxy liquid.

In a bowl mix your cake mixture and one jar of Skittles syrup well. I added liquid food coloring to get the desired color of cake I wanted. I used the primary regular colors for the red, orange (yellow and red), and green. But for the blue and purple I used the neon food coloring. They have a pretty purple and I mixed the primary blue and the turquoise neon color for the blue cake.

Prepare your pans as you would normally for a cake (I spray and flour mine). The amount of batter in the pan will be less than normal, make sure to even the batter out in your pan so it will bake as evenly as possible. Bake each cake at 350 degrees watching very carefully. They are thinner than normal and will be done quicker. I use the toothpick method to keep from over cooking my cakes. (Dry cake is yucky). Depending on your oven, you may need to rotate them once as they cook. You know your oven, do like you normally do.

Mix, bake, and repeat. If a layer or two are different thicknesses don't worry, it will still look awesome. And don't worry about the colors of the cakes once baked. They look dull and blah on the outsides, but that's what frosting is for. Once you cut into them you will see the wonderful bright colors you mixed earlier.

While your cakes are cooling it is onto the frosting! You can make whatever kind of frosting you like. I made the fluffy white frosting my grandmother has made since I was a kid. It's sweet but not overly rich with butter.

Separate 4 egg whites into your mixer...don't turn on yet.
On the stove mix into a saucepan:
2 cups sugar
2/3 cups water
1/2 tsp cream of tarter

Mix it together and turn on the stove...once you have the stove on walk over and turn on your mixer to beat the egg whites until they have stiff peaks. You want the sugar mixture and egg whites to be done at the same time, which is why you want to turn them on at the same time. (Do not over beat your egg whites or you will end up with more of a divinity than a frosting. Once you can touch a spoon to them and they stick and peak they are ready).

Bring your sugar mixture to a boil. A good bubbly boil, but stop as soon as that happens (your not making candy here). I pour my sugar mixture into a large Pyrex measuring cup because its easier for me to handle the very, very, hot liquid and pour it into the mixture while its going in the mixer without spilling it all over myself. Up to you if you want to just slowly pour from the pan or not.

Your egg whites are ready and your sugar mixture is bubbly hot... while on a medium speed (not fast enough to spit it all out the sides but fast enough to actually mix and whip) slowly drizzle the sugar mixture into the mixer. Once you are done pouring it in you will need to mix for another 7-10 minutes. The hot sugar mixture slowly cooks the egg whites so don't worry you won't be eating raw eggs in your frosting.

It doesn't take too long to cool...so once it is cool enough begin assembling your cake. Remember red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple! So start with purple on the bottom. It works best if you have a spinning cake plate made for frosting (my daughter Macy's best friend, Heather bought me one for Christmas. I helped her make a lovely chocolate cake for her moms birthday and we used a plate on top of a bowl. I don't think that would have worked with 6 layers).

You do not need a lot of frosting in between the layers. The cake is a wonderful sweet flavor and it doesn't need too much. You could skip the frosting all together, but wheres the fun in that?But its up to you and your skill level of keeping the cake upright. Spin and frost. Stack and repeat!

This picture has my very eager-to-eat-cake children in it for a reference on the size of the cake!








Here is our finished product. I recommend refrigerating the cake and keeping it covered. Hopefully it won't last too long, but the frosting dries out if left uncovered and the cake will too. It really preserves the flavor and texture if you can find room for it in your fridge.
Good luck and most importantly, HAVE FUN! If it tastes wonderful, its perfect.

How Much Soda Do You and Your Family Drink? **My Opinion Week 2**

It used to be that on a normal day when I cleaned, I would gather empty and half empty soda cans from all over the house and dump them into the sink and then into the recycle bin. Every half empty can I touched would irritate me more than the previous. Soda is expensive and my kids waste.

My husband has been hooked on Mountain Dew since he was a young man. My children have also always loved soda. When I was a little kid it was a special occasion to have soda in the house. And when I was a little older it was all diet soda and mostly for my mom. Again we were lucky to get any.

When I was a new mom and my kids never got soda. Then I became a single mom. Soda started showing up. First with my use, then I would give in to the kids requesting it.When my oldest became Type 1 Diabetic (which had nothing to do with soda) we used sugary soda and kept it on hand for low blood glucose levels and switched to consuming diet sodas for all of us for all other times.

I used to limit the consumption of caffeinated sodas. Kids are tough enough to raise without a caffeine high. Then as they got older the limits became less and less. They had their favorites and somehow managed to drink them one way or another.

Over the past few years I have tried many times to just stop buying soda. Have it when you go out, but not in my house. The biggest and loudest arguments came from my husband. He is an adult after all and can make his own choices on what he eats and drinks. Sigh. It was 6 against 1 every time the debate came up. (Some soda info and a rebuttal to that info).

Then miraculously one day Tia came home and told me about an experiment they had done with cola in science class. She was disgusted and decided to swear off soda. She asked her father and I for help with alternative drinks to avoid soda. Well hello! Of course. (Now it was 5 to 2, in case your keeping track). She requested orange juice. So my husband started buying 1/2 gallons of orange juice every time he bought a case of soda.

Then the other kids wanted to drink Tia's orange juice. Oh, she was pissed. She wasn't drinking their soda so they shouldn't drink her Orange juice. A valid argument.

One day (not so long ago) there was an article about BVO, brominated vegetable oil. Yuck. I read this article and looked it up and read many more. My husbands soda of choice is Mountain Dew (yep contains BVO), when I drink soda I prefer orange soda (yep contains BVO), Coke and Pepsi do not contain BVO but those ones weren't in our house very often. Even my sister and my favorite soda of choice as teens, Squirt contains BVO. (We used to joke that instead of water in Heaven there would be Squirt).

So armed with this new information (and Tia) we took it to the masses (in our house). Do you know what your drinking? BVO is a flame retardant. Did you know in Europe there is a ban on adding it to food and drinks?

We got many different comments and just a stare from the hubby. I have to say Macy's humorous comment of teen boys lighting their farts would be safe if they drank Mountain Dew first, got more attention then our disgust at BVO. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Then we found a really cool product, Mio. Mio is a product you flavor your water with. It comes in many different flavors, even green energy. I bought one to try out, thinking if I could get the kids to drink more water that would be great. (Most of them complain water tastes blah). They liked it. Yes!

The next step towrds the no soda in our house was a discussion about how much sugar was in a Mountain Dew and how many calories were being consumed with that Dew. Someone (I won't say who) decided they wanted to try and find an alternative. WOOOHOOO!!! (We are now up to 4 to 3).

I like seltzer water. Even Macy and Ethan like seltzer water. The other ones have made faces at me over the years wondering how I could drink it. I just like the bubbles. When I am thirsty bubbly water tastes great. If it wasn't so expensive I would buy Pellegrino by the case.

It occurred to me that the Mio they had already accepted in their water would work in seltzer water. So I bought a 12 pack of seltzer. Armed with Mio in multiple flavors I attempted to entice the children to give it a try. It took a few times. But guess what? They all now prefer seltzer water flavored with Mio, lemon, or lime.

The big hurdle was my husband. However as it turns out the green energy Mio added to seltzer water tastes just like a monster (at a fraction of the cost by the way).

All of my children now drink seltzer water, sometimes flavored. Ethan sat down and drank half a can unflavored last night. I think he just likes it cause it makes him burp. The main thing is that we are not buying soda. If we are out and they order a soda, OK. That counts as a special occasion. My husband still drinks soda away from home. But since he also works from home a lot, he is drinking only a fraction of what he used to.

Now I know that there are chemicals in Mio. It is sweetened with sugar free sweeteners. However its a tiny squirt and its a hell of a lot better than all that soda they were drinking. Oh and Mio doesn't have caffeine or BVO. Bonus!

The only downfall has been Macy. Macy has a strong concern for having a high sugar drink available to her in case of a low blood glucose. Which does happen 2 or more times a week. So far Capri suns have sufficed. (But I would love to rid ourselves of those too!) Juice is difficult to use for low blood glucose because 1. its perishable, 2. if frozen it takes too long to prepare for a low, 3.its also very expensive to always have on hand, and 4. having it on hand at all times means the children are drinking high sugar juice on a consistent basis.

I am thinking we will just switch to sugar water. Sugar water flavored with Mio. Ha ha ha ha (and juice boxes stashed in the car for on the go emergencies).

I am so very proud of my family for putting forth the effort and trying new things to reduce their soda intake. They have done a great job! (depending on the day we go from a 5 against 2 and 2 against 5 for the no soda in the house).
So how about you? How much soda do you and your family drink?  Are you willing to admit its too much? It doesn't make you a bad parent you know? Its like fast food, the more you eat the unhealthier it is. Once  in awhile is no biggie. (don't get me started on the fast food thing...bleh!) Have you considered a switch? Did you know there are products like Mio out there?

I would love to hear your opinions and comments. Just remember there is a no judgement and no conversions rule here... everyone is entitled to their opinions and beliefs.

***Guest Post By My Daughter Macy***

The following story was written by my daughter Macy for her literary magazine submission at school. It is a non-dialogue short story. I am so very proud of her. She loves to write. Not a bad hobby to have as a teen girl! Someday she will be a professional author and people will line up for her newest releases!

 TROUBLE

I grinned as arms wrapped around my waist. His scent enveloped my mind as he put his face in my neck. He didn’t greet me with anything except the hug.

 

I loved when we didn’t need to speak to each other. I enjoyed speaking with him, but when we didn’t need words to communicate, I felt special… I knew how to speak to him without using my voice, which was a hard task, apparently.

I continued to work on my homework, him still holding my waist. I was about done when he started playing with my hair. He liked my hair, as he’s told me multiple times… I didn’t like it, but he did, so I’d leave it how it always was.

 

He wasn’t aware of things I did just to please him… I’m sure, he doesn’t know. I listen to what he says more than he knows, though. When he tells me he likes my outfit, I wear it once a week - especially the days I know I see him. When he tells me he likes the way my hair smells, I continue using the hair products…Just for him.

 

I don’t put nearly as much thought into what my parents tell me about my appearance anymore… No. He’s the only one who influences my dressing style.

 

I finished writing and he smiled against my neck, seeing that. I turned around in his arms and hugged him, correctly. I put my head on his shoulder while in the embrace, my breath tickling his skin. If I was looking at him, I’d be able to see the face he was surely making right now. The adorable face that showed I was, in fact, tickling him.

 

He made the most amazing facial expressions. He was quite like an open book and it was amazing to be able to tell his mood by just looking at him. His mood was generally happy, which was always enough to simply make me smile. He’s told me that I was the reason he’s always happy, but I don’t think that’s very truthful of him…He can keep saying it though, my opinion won’t change.

 

After a few peaceful moments in the hold, I pulled back to smile at him. He pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear, smiling. He cupped my cheek in his hand, murmuring the word beautiful, almost too quiet for me to hear. I scowled up at him, shaking my head, but he covered my lips with his own before I could argue. I didn’t fight the kiss, since he’d use other methods of keeping me from arguing.

 

We both heard footsteps coming into the kitchen, making our lips detach. Neither of my parents fancied him much, so we weren’t allowed to kiss - or touch, really - inside the house.

 

My dad glanced at the clock, almost smirking upon seeing it was four thirty - the time he was made to leave because dinner was served at five - and he told my boyfriend it was time to leave.

 

He nodded and asked me to walk him to the door, shoving his hands in his pockets. I complied, following him to the front hall. I opened the door for him, beating him to it, and he stepped outside. I was about to go back inside when he grabbed my waist. He slid both his hands into my back pockets and pulled me close for a kiss. When the innocent kiss was over, he grinned. He whispered that he loved me before skipping away.

I smiled and went inside and back to the kitchen. My dad started talking to me about something as I zoned off. I slid my hands into my back pockets while swaying in place, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion when I felt something in one of the pockets. I pulled whatever it was out of my pocket and smiled. It was a guitar pick with a turtle on it. I assumed he had slipped it into my pocket when he pulled me in for a kiss. He knew that I loved turtles. I carefully put it in my front pocket, smiling.

 

I love that boy.

A Child with Type 1 Diabetes Part One- Mornings

My daughter Macy is a Type 1 Diabetic. She was diagnosed at age 7 and she is now 16 years old. I have met many Type 1 adults in the last few years and it turns out the challenges my child has dealt with are exactly the same as these adults have. In ways that helps us feel better, but in other ways it is depressing as well.

A child with Type 1 Diabetes (and adults) must inject Insulin into their bodies by way of shots or an Insulin pump. There is no miracle diet or lifestyle changes that will make their Type 1 Diabetes 'heal' or go away. Anyone who says otherwise is a con-artist looking to make a buck off of another's suffering.

Type 2 Diabetes is a lifestyle and/or health issue that is due to other factors that slow down the manufacturing of insulin their Pancreas creates. Type 2 Diabetics still produce Insulin in their bodies. Just not enough to handle their glucose intake. There are oral medications and lifestyle changes that can improve their conditions. Some Type 2 Diabetics get so bad that they do have to inject Insulin into their bodies as well. They must limit glucose intake and manage their diets and activity levels to help their bodies keep up.

Parents of Type 1 Diabetic children go through a daily hell. We are strong and survive what needs to be done. But we don't get a break, ever. We must manage our child's medication, activity levels, food intake, and interactions.

Our children must interact with so many people, a large number of those people are ignorant about the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. These people for whatever reason feel the desire to educate our children on what they are doing wrong. And in some cases actually bringing false hopes to a child. I classify this as a crime. There is nothing more heartbreaking than a child who must endure daily pain and is made to believe if they just did such and such it would all go away.

A normal morning for a Type 1 Diabetic child begins with waking up. Waking up is something everyone does, but what everyone doesn't do is battle with low blood sugars which make waking up difficult. In some cases a child doesn't wake up at all. Yes this sounds dramatic, but unfortunately many children (and adults) lose the battle with Type 1 Diabetes in their sleep. (This is referred to as Dead in Bed Syndrome.)

So my daughter wakes up and tests her blood glucose. This means a finger prick to get a drop of blood onto a test strip. If you have ever accidentally poked yourself hard enough to get a drop of blood you can understand how much this hurts. Based on what her blood glucose level is determines what she will do next. If her blood glucose is low, eating is first (even before a morning trip to the bathroom).

As parents of Type 1 Diabetics we have to try to make the healthiest choices available and encourage healthy choices. In this situation we must get our child to drink (if possible) a quick acting sugar, like orange juice or even soda. (Type 1 Diabetics may eat sugar. A very common misunderstanding people have about the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetics. Often times you will see a Type 1 child sitting over a bowl of candy. Although it's not as fun to eat when you have to.) The sugary drink doesn't always work because one of the side affects for many with a low blood glucose is being cranky. Getting our child's blood glucose up is the goal, we will make healthy choices later.

If our child is uncooperative or worse unresponsive a tube of glucose gel (or cake gel frosting since it is basically the same thing and often tastes better) is squirted slowly between their cheek and gums. The glucose (sugar) absorbs very quickly into the tissue of their mouth which will raise their blood glucose to a level that hopefully make them be more agreeable and easier to help. We try to follow the sugary drink with a snack that consists of carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. And then they must test again to make sure it has leveled out.

There are situations when Glucagon is needed. Glucagon is a hormone delivered in a shot. This hormone rapidly rises the blood glucose. Our Endocrinologist prefers to not consider it's use unless it is life or death. Very similar to an Epi-Pen it is very hard on your body and causes highs and lows to rebound all over the place for days. We have been lucky enough to not have needed to use one. We have had an ambulance come to help my daughter when she was 8 years old at daycare, but they used glucose gel and were able to help her that way.

Back to our morning. So she tests. Then after addressing whatever her blood sugar is we move on to getting dressed, packing for school, brushing her hair and teeth, and eating a normal breakfast. After eating a normal breakfast she then must figure out how many carbohydrates she ate and bolus (give herself insulin) for those carbohydrates combined with any adjustments needed based on what her blood glucose was when she tested.

Getting dressed for our daughter who uses an Insulin pump means that her clothing choices must be comfortable to her. My daughter prefers low rise jeans because her pump site is primarily on her tummy. Any waist band that rubs or even comes into contact with her pump insert is a no go. She also must have the right kind of pockets and/or belt loops to attach her pump to.

Then she packs for school. In her purse she has rapid acting glucose snacks in case of a low later in the day, her test kit (which includes test strips, lancets, alcohol swabs, the lancing device, and the actual monitor), her cell phone with a full charge (in case she needs to call home or for help), and then her other normal teen necessities. Then she must do a pump check. She must make sure she has enough Insulin for the day and enough battery life for the day. She must also pack what she will be eating for lunch. (This is one of our biggest argument areas as mother and teen daughter. My daughter would prefer to skip lunch altogether. But that's for another day) Anyway, that's a lot of things to check for and we have had many mornings that the chaos got the better of us and I got a phone call later to bring her whatever she needed and her school is 30 minutes away.

Every 2 to 3 days she must also change her pump insert and insulin reservoir. This requires filling up the reservoir with insulin (and no bubbles) and inserting a catheter like piece of plastic into her tummy. Of course there is a needle to get it in there. Sometimes it is just uncomfortable and other times it hurts like hell. When you have a good insert in you don't have problems with the tubing (similar to an IV. If you have ever had one of those I am sure you have had nurses dealing with alarms for the fluid not moving through the tubing, that happens too) or a problem with the site. Sometimes the insulin just won't flow or worse goes under the skin but not in the tissue. When these things happen you have to change the site again.

Then she leaves for the bus stop. My heart always jumps and I worry whether she has checked it all, even though I always ask. Sometimes I even send her text messages to make sure. She goes to school.

I decided to split this up into a multi post because detailing her whole day can get a bit monotonous in reading. This is just our morning ritual. There are so many things we have to worry about and be prepared for. If you have a child with Type 1 Diabetes I am sure your morning is similar. If you have a different special needs child then I am sure you go through many steps that the normal child doesn't have to deal with also.

Parents of Type 1 Diabetic children hope and pray for a cure soon. Insulin is not a cure, only life support.

"My Opinion" Weekly Topic - SuperBowl Commercials

As always, it's my opinion and I encourage all discussions on the subject. I am not interested in changing your opinion, only in sharing mine. I have no delusions about changing your way of thinking or converting you in any way.
I pride myself on being non-judgemental and accepting. With the only exception being (no, not when you disagree- keep reading) when someone tries to change my mind, is insulting, rude, judgemental to another, and/or tries to convert us to their way of thinking!

I have decided to make this a weekly blog post. No, not on the Superbowl every week. Geesh...I was thinking fun stuff and controversial stuff (to be really fun).

This week, week one, will be on the Superbowl commercials. Why? Because I love football. I watch football. I appreciate the money invested in Superbowl commercials and to be honest its the only time I don't fast forward thru them. I watched everyone of them. I have a favorite and some that I think were lame (other than those 2 that were obviously local commercials and so awful were not worthy of my time on a normal day let alone the Superbowl).

My husband rolled his eyes at me when I announced my favorite. I am pretty sure it was a "your so predictable" eye roll. And that's okay, because if I am not predictable to my husband than we have some other issues.

So let the opinions begin!

Commercials that made me laugh (in order that I recall them):

Hyundai Cheetah Commercial When it started I actually thought to myself, "get in the cage, get in the cage!" But I didn't see them going that way. I didn't think it would make me laugh. But it did.

Doritos Baby and Grandma Although I must admit I wish the baby gave a good chin kick before he went backwards to the little shit taunting Grandma and Baby. I love the little thumbs up sign Baby gives Grandma before she shots him towards the brat.

Acura NSX Seinfeld vs Leno Commercial I love The Acura NSX and I like Seinfeld. So I may be partial to this one. It did make me laugh though. LENO!

The Reinvented Camry Mostly I like this one for reinvented cops and rain...

Free To... That Tax One Another one I couldn't tell you the brand of even after searching for it. I am deranged for thinking this one is funny. Again, its the end when his sister gets back in the pool that I laughed.

M&M's I can't say why I think this one is funny, maybe its the line "Oh, its that kind a party".

I have an honorable mention because I did laugh at the end...and it's a cute dog commercial. Did I remember the brand, um nope. Took me a minute to find it because I couldn't remember the brand.
VW Dog (Vader) Commercial


Onto some of the memorable commercials that I enjoyed but didn't make me laugh (which is okay too).

I liked the Chevy Mayan end of the world commercial it was entertaining with the alien ship crash landed, destroyed huge transformer like robots, destruction everywhere...and Twinkies. But I liked it even more when I read about Ford wanting them to stop the ad because they said Fords aren't built to last. First of all truck commercials (all of them at one point or another) puts down their competition and second of all um, we don't take commercials as end all fact. Duh. Buy our stuff cause its better than anyone elses...that's what everyone says. We don't (all) believe it.


The Honda CRV commercial with Matthew Broderick in a Ferris Bueller parody is pretty neat. I love Ferris Bueller so why wouldn't I like this commercial? I am a child of the 80's and Honda has had so many lame commercials in the past. They haven definetly gotten better.


I really don't like commercials that just have scantly clad women in them...yeah it's the Superbowl and yeah millions of men are watching...but come on be a little more resourceful and creative would you?  I won't even name the ones that I disliked. But for the most part that was my reasoning.

Now, my absolute favorite commercial. Are you ready to roll your eyes at me? Why yes, I am a sappy person. I do love a good motivational piece that can be applied to every single person. My favorite (if you haven't guessed already) is Clint Eastwood's Halftime America Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep commercial.
"This country can't be knocked out with one punch..." what a great line! I will remember the brand because I was impressed with the commercial. They are so right. It is halftime America, our second half is about to begin.
It doesn't matter what religion, political party, race, or whatever you are...this commercial is 100% true for us all. Even if you haven't lost a job or haven't been financially affected by the recession our country has been fighting...you know someone who has. We are Americans, we fight for what we believe in. No matter what that belief is, we fight.

A note added 2/9/2012

How people linked this as a political ad I will never understand. Our times are so crazy that everything must be seen as an agenda. How about it was just an ad that the company wanted to put out there to raise their product visibility and send a good message? That's what I chose to believe. Whether its right or not who knows.
I do know this, Clint Eastwood is a Conservative and I highly doubt he would have done an ad that was going to be used as a pat on the back for a Liberal. I could be wrong of course, it has happened in the past.
I enjoyed his pep talk. Just like in a football game the past part of the game cannot be changed, but we can learn from it and move on. Be inspired, work hard, enjoy everything you can and live your life the best you can.