Is my 3-year-old diabetic?

Something alarming happened yesterday.  Before eating our lunch we decided we should be proactive with out 3-year-old and test his blood sugar before we eat.  I have been a Type 1 diabetic since I was 20-years-old and so my son has a heightened chance of having T1 D at some point in his life too.  He didn't really know the test was coming so he didn't struggle against it at all.  I held my breath and waited the 5 seconds for the display to show his reading... 7.5 - 7.5!?  How can that be?  We had cereal around 10:30 a.m. and it was about 1 p.m.  Why would his reading be 7.5?  Hubby and I were both concerned.  We had our lunch and the whole time we are both lost in thought over what this could mean.   

It started with me eyeing his lunch: half of a whole-wheat sandwich with a 1/2 a miniature cup of OJ.  I started doing the math... the carb math.  Sandwich: 15 g of carb; OJ: 10 g.  That mean 25 g of carbs.  So now what?  I would reach over to his insulin pump and program that in? ... or would be be injections for a while until we would get our hands on a pump?  Would he let me prick him with a needle?  What about later when he would be going over to grandpa's house?  How would they know what to do and would I ever trust other people to take care of his diabetes?  What about sleeping over at grandpa's?  Never again... I couldn't stop thinking about it. 

I put him down for a nap and two hours later when he woke up I tried testing him again.  I didn't even have the patience to change him out of his PJs.  I needed to see the reading. This time when I asked him to test he refused to let me do it and I had to chase him throughout the house to test.  I tried bribing him with a gummy, with Thomas, with promises of a Pooh Bear bandaid, with allowing him to watch "the robot part" from ToyStory 2... Nothing worked.

Finally, once he settled into the Thomas DVD I sneaked up on him and pricked his thumb.  He didn't freak out or get upset.  I applied the band-aid as promised (although he did not need it at all) and gave him the gummy.  The test showed 4.6  Phew.  But still why the 7.5?  If he is not diabetic, is he border-line?  Doe it work the same way in T1 as in T2? 

I would love to know from some of the moms that have little ones with diabetes how did you get them to test or allow you to test them or be willing to insert the infusion set?  

This little scare yesterday really brought some stuff in perspective for me...  Hats of to all you moms who do it day in and day out.  It's unbelievably overwhelming to think about, never mind going though it every day and night.   

Thinking about the Future

Yesterday Hubby and I went for the visitation for a friend's mom's funeral.  She passed away after a 6 year battle with cancer.  That hit home for me.  I can't help but put myself in their shoes since Hubby and my dad both went through cancer (Hodgkin's for Hubby and non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma for my dad) in the last two years.  Both are now in remission and we are thankful to God for that.

But I still can see my family there... I can't help it.  I have really felt myself falling in love more and more with Hubby as the years go on.  God has blessed us more than we could ever deserve and losing him would be devastating.  I fully believe he would be going to be with Jesus in heaven - in a perfect paradise with no pain, no tears, no cancer... but yet it would be a loss for me.  I am only human.

On the drive home from the funeral home Hubby and I were talking about all of this.  That led me to think about what life might be like for us when we are older... due to my diabetes.  There may be complications... even if my control is good - over time I would imagine things will still go wonky.  I hope not... I guess I've got to do more research on that.  Anyone know?

I do have a wonderful elder lady at my church who is simply fabulous.  She has had Type 1 diabetes since her teens and she is now in her sixties.  She's been on insulin almost all her life and she is doing great.  She is vibrant and feeling good.  I hope to be like her when I turn 60.

I know that staying active has a huge impact on my health, so last week I started running again.  It felt so good.  I strapped on my "fanny pack" (for lack of a better word and because I have no idea what brand it is - I purchased it at the expo the day before the Detroit Free Press Marathon - it has no tag of any kind on it...) and headed out.  It's a pretty neat one.  It has two pockets, one small and one big, with two loops for gels, I guess.  Well I clipped my pump in one of the loops, my iPhone and poker in the big pocket and my Aviva Nano tester in the little pocket.  I turned on Monkey Business by the Black Eyed Peas on my iPhone and had a great run!

When I returned home I got ready to take a shower and tested.  I was 3.4 but feeling great.  I corrected my low and made a mental note to take some carbs next time before I leave.

Yesterday Hubby and I went out for a run together.  It was fantastic!  I loved running side by side with my love.  It was so cool.  I can't wait to go out again.

The baby is doing great and I love him so much.  Being a mom of two is keeping me busy and active.  I am enjoying every minute of it.