Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Normal in my world

Sometimes I forget what it must be like to have a child that doesn't have diabetes. Things happen in our life that would make other people stop and say, "huh?", but I don't even blink an eye.

In my world...

It's normal for my daughter to go around testing her dog's "blad shure". And her baby doll's. And the mini pumpkin she got at Hallowe'en. And anyone else who is willing.

My 2 1/2 year old knows how to do all the prep for her insulin shot, including; getting the syringe, cotton balls and rubbing alcohol, taking the stopper off the syringe, rolling the insulin, and putting alcohol onto the cotton ball and cleaning the tops of the insulin vials. She does all this by herself. The only thing I do is put air into the vial, and pull the insulin out.

When we forget to give Elise her shot, she will remind us. Before bed the other night, we told her it was time to go upstairs and brush her teeth; the first step in the many steps to bedtime. Her response? "But you didn't give me my shot yet!" Indeed, we hadn't.

I find test strips inside my socks, in Elise's hair after a nap, or inside my bra.

Before eating anything, Elise will ask me, "do we need to test my blad shure?" It breaks my heart every time.

It is normal for any of Elise's stuffed toys or baby dolls to have diabetes. In fact, one of her dolls has "six diabetes", according to Elise.

My daughter will ask for a shot, just so she can have an M&M (our current bribe, er award, for "good shot behavior").

This is what passes for normal in our life. Do you have any "strange normals"?

12 comments:

  1. Elise is such a big girl to remember all of that... For her it is 'normal' for she knows nothing different. Kudos to that adorable little babe!

    I find test strips everywhere! Even in the most unlikely places.

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  2. All of that is normal for Zane/me too!

    He thinks everyone has Diabesee like him. :)

    When I ask him what his numbers are (he looks at his Dexie), and he says "I going up", or "I stable" (and he is usually right!) it breaks my heart that he even knows what that means!

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  3. These little troopers pick it up so quickly. Jonathan has his routine down pat and if we were to teach him division, I think he'd be calculating his own meals. The thing that gets me is that just before every meal he asks "Yes Lantus, or no Lantus?" He really seems to not look forward to that one.

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  4. I wish Justin would do all that!!
    He can count carbs like a mad man but when it comes to shot prep... I'm on my own in all it's glory.

    It makes me sad when Justin will ask for an extra shot so that he can have something to eat. ~sniff sniff

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  5. Our normal starts every morning with the boys betting who has the better blood sugar.

    I love Elise. She is like my favorite niece. :)

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  6. Oh yeah. Totally normal for us, too.

    Avery's dolls have diabetes. She tests their blood sugar and counts thier carbs. When she plays in the kitchen, she talks about carb counts. She'll ask if her baby needs a bolus. She even asked me if I thought we needed to change her carb ratio!

    She often sticks up a finger when she knows it's time to test - even in the middle of the night. Blood is no big deal - as long as it's on her fingers.

    She can do the entire bg check procedure - except acutally clicking the lancet on her own.

    We live in our own little world...
    The Land Of D.

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  7. I love that elise knows how to prep for the sittuation . I wish my son would have done that . I think Hallie said it best it is our little world , the world of d .

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  8. That sounds very similar to our house!!! A different normal for us is when my 3 year old who doesn't have diabetes reminds us that we need to change Tristan's site today or he will tell us that he "feels like his sugars are dropping"!! LOL

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  9. This is a very "bitter-sweet" post. It is sweet because Elise is just so darn cute! I wanna squeeze her. However, it breaks my heart she is dealing with a disease like T1. I think you guys are doing a fabulous job though. Keep it up!

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  10. Awww! What a sweetheart she is!! Jacob has learned his numbers by reading them off his meter. He now knows when his blood sugar is low (if there are only two numbers), a little high (if it starts with a 2), REALLY high (if it starts with a 3) or GOOD (if it starts with a 1). Its amazing how grown up these kids can be at such a young age.

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  11. LOVE the test strip in your BRA!!! I haven't had that one yet.

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  12. This 'normal' is such a heartbreaker for me...I miss life before test strips, lancets and insulin :(

    This post sounds a lot like what my girls do everyday, isn't it amazing that a 2 year old can prep her D-stuff all by herself!!! Kids amaze me everyday.

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