Every night at 1 and 3 am, I wake. When Isaac was first diagnosed 2 years ago, it was a struggle. Now after catching low blood glucose levels in both kids, my body is programmed by something. Motherly instinct? Routine? Fear? If I hadn’t caught the lows, what would have happened ? They could go even lower. They could seizure. They could die. I wonder if I my eyes will always automatically open at those times like they do now, even long after Ava and Isaac are old enough to manage their diabetes themselves.
The NIGHT TEST
July 9th, 2010MYABETIC: A GIRL JUST WANTS TO LOOK CUTE
May 17th, 2010For a 5 year old girl who lives with Type 1 diabetes, what might seem trivial like a pretty case to hold all her glucose testing supplies, means a whole lot. In this Webisode, we feature MYABETIC, a wonderful L.A. based company who came up with attractive and functional cases for fashionistas of all ages.
A Milestone For Ava
May 15th, 2010Most 5 year olds reach certain milestones like starting kindergarten, riding a two wheeler, learning to read. For Ava who has Type 1 diabetes, she recently learned to test her own blood sugar, a proud step for her in contributing to her own good health. This short film documents Ava during the first week of her self-testing when she no longer needs to rely on mom and dad. This is not a serious class and please don’t use this as your sole training on testing your sugar:) This is an intimate look at a smart little girl who insists on taking charge of her health.
Ava and Isaac Give Diabetes a Karate Kick in the You-know-what
May 15th, 2010When you have two little kids, going out is never spontaneous. Has everyone gone to the bathroom? Is the diaper changed? Do you have water, snacks, the favorite toy? When you have two little kids who have diabetes, add all that plus essential lifesaving supplies. Depending where you’re going and at what time, our backpack is always armed with juice and sugar wafers for low blood sugars, carb snacks, no carb snacks, 2 glucose meters, glucose strips and in case their sugar drops life-threateningly low – glucagon. And if you’re out for a while, we add insulin, syringes, the insulin pen, pen needles, food for each of their meals because the kids have to eat every 2 to 3 hours and the Calorie King, an incredible index of foods and their carb counts.
This film shows what happened one Saturday morning when the kids went to their karate class. We were on time, which was great. But once there, Isaac had a completely unexplainable low blood sugar, although when are they ever really explainable.
A Shot in the Ass
May 15th, 2010I wrote this one 5 am in the morning about 5 months after Isaac was diagnosed right after the presidential election.
What a chubby baby! He nurses and nurses. He’s constantly nursing. Oh…he’s a boy. Boys are like that. Besides with teething and all…it’s comfort. But he’s really out of sorts. It’s just growing pains. There’s not a diaper big enough to hold all his pee. He’s nursing so much, he’s just peeing a lot more. He’s breathing pretty fast. He’s just coming down with something. Let’s take him in to make sure. Hospital. Croup? It doesn’t sound like croup, but ok – croup is easy. A steroid shot in the leg and Home. 2 hours later. This doesn’t feel right. He’s worse. Hospital. Your son is very sick…He has diabetes.
His veins are so hard to find. Blown, they keep saying. Can’t you please stop poking him? After a while, he sleeps through it all. Is that good or bad? Then on to the ICU across town. Good – it’s 4 am, so no L.A. traffic.
He’s re-hooked up in the new bed at the ICU. The breasts are starting to hurt. Icepacks help. Hello. It’s the Diabetes Educator. First check this by pricking the…then measure the…tap..get the air bubbles out. Beware of the air bubbles. Watch out for …and don’t use alcohol. Pinch his skin and give him the shot. In The thigh. In The butt. 5 of them a day. Long acting. Short acting. Insulin. If he passes out…911. You’ll do great. What?
4 months later. It’s part of our routine. An anxious, sometimes scary, frustrating routine. Is he crying because he’s 2 or because his sugar’s too low, too high? Prick him to find out. He doesn’t flinch anymore. We are doing great.
Today is November 3. Thank God it looks like Palin is losing. She said no to stem cell research…a moral issue. Isn’t it more immoral to look at a little boy with a chronic disease and say no to him – we won’t fund research that’s your way to the cure. Sorry…it’s against my religion. Mom, he’ll have to get shots in the ass everyday to stay alive. Sorry. And complications? Well, let’s hope not. It looks like a lot of people got a shot in the ass finally to say no to the Palins and McCains. Thank God. A shot in the ass can be a good thing.
How We Became Diabetes Squared
May 10th, 2010The meter read 565. Please, not Ava too. I stood in shock and started hyperventilating. And then I moved quickly, almost on automatic. That mysterious mom adrenalin kicked in, thank God. I called my mother and told her to come over quick — I had to take Ava to the ER. She had diabetes too. I called the endocrinologist hoping he had a different answer.
Ava just had a mild case of pneumonia. She’s been wetting her bed and drinking…a lot. Could it be the antibiotics that made her sugar so high?
I’m really sorry. You need to get to the ER.
Will we be in the ICU and then in the hospital for a week like we were with Isaac?
Have the ER doc call me when her labs come back. If there’s not too much acid in her system, I’ll instruct the dr. to let you take her home since you know the drill. And I’ll see you in a few days.
I just couldn’t believe this was happening again. I told Ava we had to go the hospital. “Why, I’m not sick.” She started to cry. “No, you’re not sick. We just need to get you checked out,” I lied. “I don’t want to go. Please let me stay with Granny.” It was all so strange. Going back to the ER. Because, yes, I knew the drill. In 2008 we found out that her now 3 year old brother Isaac has diabetes. That left Ava with a mere 5% chance of having diabetes too. Shock…
Type 1 diabetes is a condition that is frustratingly misunderstood. Our kids did not get diabetes because we did something wrong. We didn’t feed them junk food. They are not even close to being overweight. They were breast fed until they were well over a year old. I ate organic foods while pregnant and nursing. We’re not even sure if Type 1 was in either of our families. What we do know is that Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder in which the body’s own immune system — which normally fights harmful bacteria and viruses — mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing (islet) cells in the pancreas. Now our kids need 4 to 5 shots of insulin a day to stay alive and because of their young age, they demand extremely close monitoring of their blood sugars. That means about 10 finger pricks daily. I am essentially their pancreas — at least a substitute pancreas. Because even with the multiple insulin injections, it doesn’t make it all ok, like so many think. We are battling low and high blood sugars throughout the day…and night. From the 3 am finger pricks and attempting to shove sugar wafers and cookies in a kid who just wants to sleep to unexplainable highs and lows, it’s a constant balancing act and guessing game. Type 1 does not give you a break. Not for a second. As author and Type 1 diabetic Dan Hurley puts it, “you’re just a cupcake away from a coma.”
Olade is better than Kool-Ade
April 22nd, 2010Rage Against The Machine’s drummer Brad Wilk who has Type 1 diabetes has invented a delicious drink made with Stevia called Olade. Before Ava was diagnosed, we went to Whole Foods in Venice and met Brad who was signing bottles of the stuff. It’s delicious and a great and healthy alternative to our “num num juice,” Isaac’s word for the sugar free Kool-Ade we were making with a whole cup of Splenda. Our favorite Olade flavor is the Tropical.
