P.I.T.A.....Not what you think!

We have a member of our family named ...."Pita".  Pita is our 13 year old cat!  When Queen Alopecia was little she often asked, "How did Pita get her name?"  We told her that it was because Pita loved to eat sandwiches,  but the true meaning is because this cat is a Pain In The Ass!  Did I mention that Pita is actually a "boy", but he is fixed so we still call Pita a girl...lol! This cat constantly follows you around, meows constantly, would sleep on your face in the middle of the night if you would let her (instead settles for your chest), and now that she is old....she can't seem to poop in her kitty litter box!  My basement contains five kitty litter boxes for 1 cat!  Five boxes that each contain a piece of linoleum under it....Hey, it makes for quick clean up, right?  My husband wishes that Pita would find her way outside one night and the coyotes would get her, but she has been with us basically from the beginning.  We (my husband and I...not the cat!) will celebrate our 14th anniversary this November.  Pita again is 13 years old.  We can't get rid of her....the kids adore her....they dress her up in baby clothes, try to hand feed her, etc. 

Well, Pita redeemed herself the night before last.....she caught herself a MOUSE! (Husband left basement door open by mistake....GRRR!) There I was chasing the cat around the house yelling....drop it, drop it (ofcourse I wouldn't say it if the mouse was still alive!).  Finally, Pita dropped the mouse and I got rid of it, but not before the kids got a real good look at it (they were following me around while I was yelling like a mad women..lol). 

There it was....a mouse missing it's head....GROSS!....
Queen Alopecia...."Mom, I guess I know what Pita likes to eat."
Me...."Mice"?
Queen Alopecia..."Mouse Brains!"
Me and The Sugar Princess....."EEWWWWWW"!

Afterwards we noticed that that little mouse must of put up a little fight...

Pita with her "War Wound" on her nose....a scratch from the mouse!

Don't worry.....Queen Alopecia was there to "mend" poor Pita...

Queen Alopecia tried to mend Pita's wound and wrapped her up in a blanket!
I think Pita saw the camera coming and stuck out her tongue!
Poor Pita....you little Pain in the ass!

Candy Hearts Give-A-Way!

Listen up people....if you want an insulin pump pack/pouch for your child to use when they are really active you need to look into TALLYGEAR (Tummietote Belts) for your son or daughter.  The Sugar Princess really loves wearing hers and it doesn't move around and bounce around like other pump pouches.  Here are some photos of The Sugar Princess wearing her tummietote...

Front View - You wouldn't even know that she is wearing a pump under her shirt.

(Her favorite color is yellow)

Back View!

The Sugar Princess loves to wear them swimming too because they stay in place and do not move around...the tubing from her pump stays in place too! (Note...she has an Animas Ping Insulin Pump which is waterproof)

My little water bug displaying her tummietote belt and showing off her "Pink" Ping!
She looks so tired, but I think it's because she wore her goggles all day!  She loves to swim!

I can't say enough good things and I'm looking forward to new designs.  I highly recommend them, but if you are unable to buy one right now you are in LUCK!  Head on over to CANDY HEARTS right now and enter to win your child or yourself your own Tummietote.  You don't have to have type 1 diabetes to love these belts!

We Survived The First Week!

The summer months just went way to fast for me.  I guess because I knew I was going to have to send The Sugar Princess to school.  When she was diagnosed over three years ago at the age of two, my husband and I learned so much about this horrible disease...this beast of Type 1 Diabetes.  Truthfully, it scared the shit out of us.  Everything changed! 

We knew the day would come that we would have to send her to school.  More like....My husband and I dreaded the day that we would have to send her to school.  We were scared!  We knew that we had to make a goal of having The Sugar Princess on an insulin pump before sending her to Kindergarten.  It would be better for her and we also thought that it would be better for the school too.  I had numerous nightmares about the school giving her the wrong dose of insulin in a syringe.  That the "unspeakable" would happen.

So when she was two we knew that we had to take the journey of getting her ready to enter the world of elementary school.  We had our fair share of the evil NPH, then we were on just a sliding scale Humalog and Lantus, then we switched to Novolog and Levemir, and now she is pumping only Novolog.  Throughout, we continued to (and still do) check her blood sugar approx. 8-10 times a day, and we learned how to carb count, bought a food scale and learned to give corrections. 

Let me tell you when we started using math formulas to carb count and give corrections for highs/lows....I was thinking to myself....I remember sitting in algreba class in high school saying to my friends - "When am I ever going to use this stuff??"  Now I use it daily!! 

When this huge box arrived this past summer, I knew what it was and I just wanted it all to go away.  I was angry and I spent the beginning of the summer feeling jealous of other families whose lives are so carefree.

The Sugar Princess opening the box that contains her insulin pump....with a little help from Queen Alopecia.

The Sugar Princess with her Pink Animas "Ping" insulin pump....Older sister, Queen Alopecia is there for support.  The look on The Sugar Princess's face screams fear....if she only knew that I was feeling the same way.

This past July....The Sugar Princess transitioned from insulin injections (up to six times a day) to an insulin pump (one shot every two to three days).  A few weeks before our pump start, I have to admit, "Were we doing the right thing?"...."Will she be okay being hooked up to something 24/7?"....the questions, doubt, nerousness, fear, excitement, etc. just kept building until July 12th, 2010.  The day The Sugar Princess started wearing an insulin pump.  We couldn't believe that we finally made it to this day.

The Sugar Princess displaying her pump proudly....We are so proud of her!

 After our first week with The Sugar Princess on a pump we were wondering why we didn't start this sooner.  Fear played a big part I guess.  We still check her blood sugar approx. 8-10 times a day and there are still highs and lows, but we are still in  the process of "Tweaking", but we love the "Ping" and all of it's cool features...like being waterproof, being able to use a remote, and lets not forget about the "insulin on board" feature. 

The Sugar Princess wearing her insulin pump in the swimming pool with help from her tummietote belt!
We love TallyGear!!

We then felt better prepared sending her to school, but we were still worried.  The only other people who have cared for the Sugar Princess besides me and my husband were my husband's parents.  No other family was willing to be "alone" with her.  At first I was upset, but again fear played a part.  I understand their fear....they are afraid that they will do something wrong.  If our family feels this way, would the faculty and staff at her elementary school be feeling the same way?

We had our 504 Plan meeting at school and it went very well.  They (the Principal, the school nurse, and the teacher) were very understanding, but we could tell that they were nervous.  They have never had a child this young with Type 1 diabetes enter their school.  There are two or three other students who have Type 1, but  they are older and can manage alot of their diabetes on their own.  Our Sugar Princess would need help with everything and we were also worried because at times she doesn't feel a "low" coming on. 

August 31st was the first day of school...

Queen Alopecia and The Sugar Princess on the first day of school.  Notice that Queen Alopeica is rock'in her Buff and The Sugar Princess is very stylish wearing her Gold Glitter Pump Pouch!

The Sugar Princess (and Queen Alopecia) made it through the first week of school.  I have to say that The Sugar Princess has the best teacher and school nurse (Queen Alopecia thinks that her teacher Rocks too!).  We also feel very grateful for having a school nurse at her school everyday. I know some families who do not have a school nurse.  I can't even imagine what they have to go through. 

The Sugar Princess's school have followed our 504/DMMP Plans to a "T" and the best thing is that they communicate with us very well (we have a health journal that comes home every night) are truly concerned about her well-being(is treating The Sugar Princess like their own son/daughter), are cautious (not afraid to check her anytime/anywhere), and very caring!  You have no idea how relieved we are.  It hasn't taken the worry away from me, but boy is my mind a little more at ease.

Yesterday, I woke The Sugar Princess up and this what happened...

Me:  "Sugar Princess it's time to wake up!"

Sugar Princess: "Do I have school today?"

Me: "Yes, you have school today."

Sugar Princess: "I  love school!"

We hope that things contine to go well at school and that both our girls have a fantastic school year!