visit to the endocrinologistSaturday, May 24, 2014
Great check up!
Yesterday was a great day at our routine endocrinology office. Hannah's A1C yet again went down. She was 16 to start in the hospital at diagnosis... 8.8 on march 31 and 6.4 yesterday! Love that number! We have a plan now to move forward with choosing an insulin pump for Hannah. July we will attend a pump class where we will sit down with the Nurse Practitioner and touch all the pumps, see them, see what they do, etc... we will then choose which one we think would work best for Hannah and then proceed with insurance. Our time frame for actually receiving it is mid August. Hannah is pretty excited! More to come later!
visit to the endocrinologist
visit to the endocrinologist
Monday, May 5, 2014
Nurses week
There are certain people in our lives that make life just easier.... We are so thankful to have a school nurse at Hannah's school who puts our minds at ease and watches Hannah like a hawk. We have peace of mind each day that Hannah is not with us. Mrs. LaPolla calls us frequently and keeps us informed of anything abnormal that may be going on with Hannah. Without her, I would be a nervous wreck from 9am to 3:23pm monday through Friday. She is kind yet firm. She doesn't "baby" Hannah which has aided in Hannah's independence in taking some control in her diagnosis. Nurses week should be every week, but today in honor of the week, we salute Mrs. LaPolla for all she does and all she continues to do. We treated her to an entire container of chocolate covered strawberries and fresh pink roses that Hannah picked out just for her. A huge shout out to all the nurses, just for making a worried mom have a little peace of mind
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Misconceptions
So in the past few months i have encountered a lot of people who have made comments to me about diabetes... After doing so much research and going off of what I know from this experience as well as my nursing experience, I have realized that our society is so consumed with type 2 diabetes diagnoses that type 1 falls under the radar. Most people I have spoken with assume its the same disease.. It is not the same. Not even close... So here are some misconceptions about type 1 diabetes that you may or may not have known.
1. Type 1 diabetics can't have sugar..... Actually they can. They just have to monitor their blood sugar closely. In Hannah's case, if her blood sugar is too high we just save the treat for a later time when it is more under control. Truth be told, type 1 diabetics can eat pretty much whatever they want. Either way, we give her enough insulin to cover the treat that she eats.
2. Type 1 diabetes is the same diabetes that your grandma has.... Wrong answer... They shouldn't even be called the same name.. Type 2 is caused by obesity, unhealthy lifestyle, diet. Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune, possibly holds a genetic factor , or it can be triggered by a virus that attacks the beta cells which produce insulin.The way you treat them is different. Hannah will never come off of insulin. It is her life line.
3. Taking insulin cures diabetes... Unfortunately, there is no cure for type 1 diabetes. Insulin keeps Hannah alive. We will fight everyday for a cure.
People mean well. Truly, I know they do but after awhile it does make me angry to a point. I have been trying to remind myself of this but it is something i need to work on. Numerous people have said "oh i have diabetes I know exactly how Hannah feels." Truth be told , no they don't, unless they are a type 1 diabetic. I try to use these situations as a teaching tool, maybe that is the nurse in me.. A woman at Wegmans was talking to me about it. I had a package of small containers of ice creams that kids buy at school. They are maybe 1/2 cup and are about 12 carbs each, small enough to not really affect Hannah s blood sugar. The woman said to me "oh they don't have sugar in them?". Again, total misconception. Its an epidemic that our society is so populated with type 2 diabetics..I see it all the time with patients. Its very sad. A good portion of them don't care and don't take care of themselves.. Now that I am on the other side of the fence as a parent with type 1, I want to just shake people. Its a horrible disease to have. I would trade places with my child in a heartbeat just to take away her fear, anger and pain.
1. Type 1 diabetics can't have sugar..... Actually they can. They just have to monitor their blood sugar closely. In Hannah's case, if her blood sugar is too high we just save the treat for a later time when it is more under control. Truth be told, type 1 diabetics can eat pretty much whatever they want. Either way, we give her enough insulin to cover the treat that she eats.
2. Type 1 diabetes is the same diabetes that your grandma has.... Wrong answer... They shouldn't even be called the same name.. Type 2 is caused by obesity, unhealthy lifestyle, diet. Type 1 diabetes is autoimmune, possibly holds a genetic factor , or it can be triggered by a virus that attacks the beta cells which produce insulin.The way you treat them is different. Hannah will never come off of insulin. It is her life line.
3. Taking insulin cures diabetes... Unfortunately, there is no cure for type 1 diabetes. Insulin keeps Hannah alive. We will fight everyday for a cure.
People mean well. Truly, I know they do but after awhile it does make me angry to a point. I have been trying to remind myself of this but it is something i need to work on. Numerous people have said "oh i have diabetes I know exactly how Hannah feels." Truth be told , no they don't, unless they are a type 1 diabetic. I try to use these situations as a teaching tool, maybe that is the nurse in me.. A woman at Wegmans was talking to me about it. I had a package of small containers of ice creams that kids buy at school. They are maybe 1/2 cup and are about 12 carbs each, small enough to not really affect Hannah s blood sugar. The woman said to me "oh they don't have sugar in them?". Again, total misconception. Its an epidemic that our society is so populated with type 2 diabetics..I see it all the time with patients. Its very sad. A good portion of them don't care and don't take care of themselves.. Now that I am on the other side of the fence as a parent with type 1, I want to just shake people. Its a horrible disease to have. I would trade places with my child in a heartbeat just to take away her fear, anger and pain.
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