I thought I got the hang of it, Guess I don't!

After meeting with the representatives of 3 different insulin pump companies we have gone with the Animas Ping. I do still want the Omnipod but since we are new to this I like the fact that I can change her insulin dose through the remote or on the pump. My mind is really not good at remembering everything right now so I know I would probably forget the PDA thing for the Omnipod and that wouldn't be good. I just need the endo. dr. to write the prescription for the Animas so we can get it ordered. I really hope that doesn't take too long.
It is so true that once you think you have Diabetes down you don't. Our first 2 weeks Elyssa was sooo high 300-HI. Then weeks 3 & 4 we had lows 33+. Weeks 6,7, & 8 were 60 to 250 but she was mostly 100-200. Which I thought was pretty good considering how much work it took to get there. I thought to myself wow I can do this, I finally got the groove of it. Well, Week 9 has started off really stressful. We are back in the 300s. Elyssa doesn't even seem bothered at the 300s these past 2 days & nights. I don't know where the hell they came from but I can't seem to stop them from happening and they're hard to correct. Her 3rd Birthday is coming up in about 2 months so don't know if it is a growing issue. I think I always try to find a reason of why she gets high even though I know I will probably never find out why. We had it down to where Elyssa only needed 3-4injections but now with these 300s we gave her 5injections yesterday (5x of getting everything ready, 5x of chasing her around the house, 5x trying to hold her down, 5x trying to hold my breath hopefully I don't hit a blood vessel or she doesn't move, 5x consoling her & wiping away tears). Man I want an insulin pump. I know there will be another learning curve with the pump but these injections are really stressing me out right now. I guess I'm in the I'm already sick of this mode. Can someone PLEASE hurry and find a cure?? I know people have been dealing with this sooo much longer than me but I don't want to do it anymore. Where is the effin Rewind button? I just want to rewind back 2months is that too much to ask? Ok I'm done whining. Sorry
Ok I'll end on a cute note. We were at my friends house last nite and Elyssa was 340. I gave her 2 units and nothing. Usually 2u would bring her down fast. Elyssa wanted to eat some pretzels. We had the kids run around & play to see if the insulin would take effect. Well Elyssa ate some pretzels then my friend's 5yr old son said "Elyssa Don't eat more pretzels, you're gonna get MORE Diabetes". I thought it was Too Cute, I loved it!!!

Which pump to Choose???

We went to the endocrinologist on Weds. and got me frustrated. First we fill out the questionaire paperwork full of questions each time you go asking about BG levels, any low episodes, what did she eat that day it's like 50 questions. Then we met with the Dr. and they ask "What would you like to get out of this appointment today"? Well my daughter has only been diagnosed a month so really I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to get out of the appt. I did want to talk about her numbers and about a pump so that's what I say. Instead of looking at all the numbers they uploaded from her meter he asks what numbers would you like to talk about. I respond all her numbers in the middle of the night that are under 70 are pretty important I think. So we changed her Levimir dosage at night.
Ok so now onto the talk about pumps. He said of course we can get her on a pump if you want let me go bring you some samples. So he brings 4 different colors of the Minimed Paradigm Revel Pump. Of course that was the pump I knew the least about. The majority of the people I've heard from on the DOC have Animas Ping or Omnipod. So I tell him we got a demo pod from Omnipod and we really like the no tubing aspect. He discouraged against it because he said there is a high failure rate compared to other pumps, that its big and Elyssa could hit it off her arm, that it's harder to take off etc, etc. He said I should start off with the Minimed since it has the CGM integrated into the pump so it will be less remotes to carry around. Ok thats a valid point but all weekend I have looked all over the web and see pros and cons for each pump but I still prefer the no tubing. I thought well I can't knock it til I try it so I thought I'd go with the Minimed. That way if something went wrong with the Omnipod I wouldn't hear I told you so from the Dr. Then on some peoples blogs I saw that you have to enter into contracts. So would that mean I couldn't change the pump til the contract ends? If I'm going to be stuck with a pump I rather it be the one I want. Another problem is how do I get insurance to pay for it or how do I try to pay for it myself. So that might be another big factor go with the pump my insurance will pay for or struggle even more for the one I want.
I made a funny this week. Elyssa was playing with her lancing device and I said "Be careful you're gonna poke your finger". hahaha Uh Duh. She looks at me and said "you poke a me too much mommy, when the moon comes out you checka my finger, when im sleeping, when the sun comes out u checka my finger. It's crazy before you'd be scared of every poke, bruise, scrapes or cut your child could get. Now she always has pokes and sometimes bruises. Good thing is this week her vocab has really came back she's back to saying her silly sentences and we went through the ABCs, Shapes and Colors with no problems. So that was a sigh of relief. I was really scared that the DKA had messed with her brain a little. Now it's onto trying the potty training again. It seems like every time we got her potty trained she ended up in the hospital for Asthma and she had to wear diapers because she was all wired up. So now I'm really scared that she has Asthma & Diabetes and Flu season is coming.

Week 4 with Type 1 Diabetes

One month from Diagnosis....Elyssa has received over 300 finger pricks on her tiny little fingers, she has had over 100 injections and has marks & bruises all over her arms, legs, stomach & butt. The saying is true insulin is not a cure for Diabetes it is life support. So even though it makes me so sad to see how scarred up and bruised she is we have to continue because without all those insulin injections my 2yr old daughter Elyssa wouldn't be able to live.
Each week has been better then the last but this weeks struggle was getting Elyssa to eat. She only picks at her food here and there. We aren't used to these new eating habits because she has always had the best appetite and always ate all her food. We had to fight all the low BG Levels and I had to resort to enticing her with chips or ice cream.
I guess since it's been 1 month since diagnosis I keep thinking about everything that has went on this month and how far we've came to keep her BG Levels controlled. Also, I keep trying to find ways of making our lives better or easier. So I really want to get her an insulin pump to avoid all the traumatizing insulin injections. Hopefully our Endocrinologist Dr. will approve on Weds. and we can get her a pump ASAP.
I was able to give Elyssa another injection all by myself today. That makes 5 times by myself 3 times in the leg and 2 times in the arm. She just really hates when we give her injections in her stomach and butt those are the hardest spots. Hopefully if I do get her a pump the site changes wont be as difficult and I can do those by myself. I've given myself a time line of having to get her numbers controlled & a better understanding of how different foods affect her by the end of August.
Bills have started coming in from our ER visit, the ambulance ride, and I'm still waiting for the 5 day stay in PICU bills. The emotional stress has been so overwhelming this month now the financial stress is adding to the chaos. Yesterday I didn't even check the mail because I didn't want to worry about anything else this weekend. As Elyssa dances around the house is her pretty green princess dress I remember my favorite saying "You just have to keep dancing to the beat of life". So for this weekend I have really tried to put the stress on the back burner and am just trying to enjoy being with my beautiful daughter that makes me smile.