Our New Normal

Well, it has been a while since I have blogged.  To be honest, I couldn't really think of anything to say and now I can't stop thinking about what I want to say, so I figured I would go ahead and write it down.

My 11 year old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on September 30th.  It was a true whirlwind of a day.  We knew things weren't "right" with her and had been noticing changes for a few weeks, but since diabetes doesn't run in our families it never occurred to us.  Sunday, September 29th we knew things were wrong.  She was tired all day.  She slept all day.  She looked pale and just wasn't herself.  We thought about taking her to an ER then, but what do we say...our daughter is tired?  She would wake up and tell us she was feeling better...but then sleep again.  We knew she would need to go to the doctor and so we planned to make her an appointment the next day.  By this time I had entered her symptoms into Google and diabetes was at the top of the list.  I even talked to a few people and I truly had a feeling that is what it would be.....but I was hoping I would be wrong.  Autumn got sick that night and I laid with her for a few hours...praying for her.  I was actually scared I would miss her last breath...she looked so pitiful...though she wasn't complaining at all.  I went to work the next morning and Mark made the appointment.  He took her to the doctor at 10:30 and I got the message by 11 that she was going to be heading to Arkansas Children's Hospital by ambulance.  She had onset of childhood diabetes and they needed to get her there quickly.

Naturally, I felt like my world was falling apart.  In hindsight there were tons of signs that we should have picked up on, but with her starting middle school this year we assumed a lot of it was that.  Autumn grew 2-3 inches in the past few weeks and she had gotten skinnier, she was quieter, more tired, drinking lots of water, and was using the restroom a lot.  She was confused at times and seemed to ask the goofiest of questions.  Now...factoring in middle school to us it looked like this....Autumn had a growth spurt, but her weight didn't increase yet.  She had friend changes and was just sad about them.  She was tired because she was in middle school and soccer and youth at church.  She drank lots of water because it was hot and she was exerting energy.  She used the restroom a lot because she was drinking lots of water.  She asked goofy questions because her mom is a blonde and she must have caught this trait too.

We spent 5 days in ACH and have learned lots.  Autumn is handling things so well.  Though she cried some at first and asked why a LOT she has truly taken hold of this situation.  In type 1 diabetes, her pancreas has stopped working.  There was nothing we could do prevent this from happening....so a different diet or changing her food wouldn't have prevented this.  Unfortunately this will be something Autumn will have to deal with forever.  I pray there is a cure and she has already said she hopes to be the first person cured from diabetes!

As I have said, we are working on our new normal and our typical schedule looks like this:

6:30 a.m. check blood sugar
6:40 a.m. eat breakfast (count carbs...for every 15 grams of carbs she eats she will need 1 unit of insulin)
7:00 a.m. give insulin

9:00 a.m. wait for the nurse to give us her blood sugar check

10:00 a.m.  Autumn can have a 15 gram snack (anything over will require insulin)

12:00 p.m.  check blood sugar
12:05 p.m. eat lunch (we send a detailed list of her lunch that includes the amount of carbs..same as breakfast)
12:20 p.m. insulin is given

3:00 p.m. blood sugar is checked at school before she leaves for the day

4:00 p.m. Autumn can have a snack...under 15 grams again

5:30ish p.m.  Autumn's blood sugar is checked
5:45ish p.m. eat dinner (count carbs..same as other meals)
6:15ish p.m. Insulin is given

7:45 p.m. Autumn's blood sugar is checked
8:00 p.m. Autumn can have a 20-25 gram snack
8:30 p.m. Insulin is given

2:00 a.m. Check blood sugar

We want Autumn's blood sugar to stay between 70-150...anything under 70 requires sugar to keep her levels up.

If Autumn is involved in much exercise we will check her blood sugar more or if she ever feels off, shaky, etc. we check it then as well.

Our new normal is becoming more normal.  We are learning so much every day.  Sometimes I am devastated by all that has happened and other times I feel like this is just one more thing for us to conquer.  This is our new normal and I know we are blessed.  Being honest, I am mentally exhausted.  Despite our situations in our own lives, others expect us to be the same we have always been, which has been hard for me at times lately.  We are a work in progress...but I love my family and am more proud of them than they could ever know.