Hi there. I'm back posting the next part of our D-journey. When we left the hospital, Sara was placed on a strict CHO count and times for insulin. It was so daunting! There was so much to learn..and the concept of more insulin lower the number! I laugh thinking back now. While Sara was in the hospital, I went home to shower and get supplies. I got juice boxes, crackers and other snacks....then I bought those tiny zip lock snack bags with canning labels. I labeled everything....calories, carbs in nice neat 15 CHO units. I was exhausted. I made a cute basket and put a variety of little snacks in the pantry. I also had fruit and veggies portioned out in the fridge.
Strict Regimen....
6-7 AM breakfast 60CHO, humalog + extra because it will always be high!
10:30 AM 30 CHO snack - check and adjust with humalog as needed
12:00 PM lunch 30 CHO- 45 CHO -check, humalog as needed
3:30 PM - snack 15 CHO - check
5:30 PM - dinner 30 CHO - check, humalog as needed
9:00 PM - snack 30 CHO - Lantus, only humalog if high and in different site.
We kept records and charted everything. Poor thing had such sore fingers. We lived by the clock....and then there were times, she'd go low...and keep going low. It was scary. We did everything by the book! She'd drink 1 juice box and have some protein...cheese, cracker...we'd wait, the number would rise and then, fall again. We could spend 2-3 hours before it would stablize.
The SKIN ...
Just three months after diagnosis, she came back from her dad's with a bruise on her shin. I noticed that it never went away. It took a while to figure out that it was a rare skin disease...called necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum (NLD) is an uncommon manifestation of diabetes mellitus, occurring in about 0.3% of diabetics. There is no cure and the marks stay forever.
The School
Kids leaving 5th grade remembered Sara as normal...in 6th grade, they didn't like that she had to eat a snack at times in class. They didn't like that she could come and go from the restrooms as needed. The girls in basketball would try to hit her in her stomach. They didn't like her making good grades either. There were only 38 girls in the 5th grade. ...a bit difficult to socialize if you didn't fit in. It did get worse in 7th grade...we eventually moved out of the village school district. It was worth it.
On our first anniversary in June 2002...we took a train from Central Texas to Chicago. We had our own booth with fold down beds and a shower, tiny fridge and all. It was great. We stayed downtown Chicago at the Palmer House and hit every museum and....The American Girl Store, Cafe and Theatre. Sara brought her two dolls. We swam, walked every where and gave food to street people. The hotel put us in the executive suite and the staff gave Sara hundreds of cotton balls in tiny packs for her fingers. We stayed for 5 days. We had a blast.
We had a lot to be thankful for and to celebrate.