Micheala Update

The past couple weeks have been pretty busy. We are doing doctor's appointments, which seems like every other day, on top of doing our "everyday" business. Right now we are trying to regulate Micheala's blood sugars. She barely takes any insulin at all, due to her being in her honeymoon period. A honeymoon period is when Micheala's body puts up the last little fight to produce insulin, causing her to have low blood sugars. The honeymoon period can last for days, weeks or months; there is no way of telling. We are fighting low blood sugars in the mornings and at night and our doctor has been adjusting the insulin accordingly. Micheala is also not a very big eater, so we have to force her to eat, which is a battle. She has become more accustom to the blood sugar checks and the injections. She says that they don't hurt, but gets herself all worked up prior with anxiety, which causes her to put up a little fight. Needless to say, Heather and I have been watching her like a hawk. Heather is starting to get the hang of things and I am learning some new things as well.

She still has her crazy attitude and personality, so the diabetes has not slowed that at all. She has taken an interest in gardening and has planted numerous plants and vegetables in our yard. She has gone back to school and things there have been good.

Never for a moment did i ever think that Micheala couldn't handle diabetes, I just never wanted the opportunity to find out that she could. She is getting a better understanding everyday of what she has and what it means. Today she saw a commercial on TV for some candy, she looks at me and says, "Dad, I can't have that, it will make me sick, it's got too much sugar". I looked at her, smiled and said, "Yeah but you know what, we can eat all the God Damn cheese that we want too". Maybe that's only funny to us diabetics.

The other day, our little neighbor boy with lukemia, Austin, told Micheala that she just needs to remember to be brave. Every once in a while, Micheala will say, Austin told me I need to be brave, and this helps her with her injections.

Dylanne is doing an excellent job of being respectful towards her sister in regards to eating. While we don't want to deny Dylanne the satisfaction of a deserved treat, we ask her to eat it away from Micheala. She does this and understands why she has to do it.

Heather and I are exhausted, both mentally and physically, but we do not let that slow us down. We are trying to maintain a normal lifestyle with family and friends, but sometimes find ourselves too tired. We've both had our share of sleepless nights and have to test Micheala's blood sugars a few times overnight.

Heather and I would like to thank all of our friends and family for supporting us the last couple weeks. Most people still see Micheala as the fun loving 4 year old and not the "diabetic girl", and that's all that we ask. We appreciate all of those who are eager to learn how to care for Micheala so they can spend time with her without Heather or myself.

Finally, St.Lukes is interested in doing a story about Micheala and some of the adversity that she has gone through. It's more of a hospital PR, but I figured, if it does happen, maybe this can be a way for Micheala to reach out to other kids her age going through adversity and let them know that things will eventually be alright.

Micheala........

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out in blog land! Today my wife and I celebrated Mother's Day in St. Lukes hospital. Let me explpain and I'll start from the beginning.

Heather and I had Micheala take part in a study down at the University of Iowa about a month ago. The study tests children of Type 1 Diabetics to see if they have the signs of becoming a diabetic in the future. If the test comes back positive, then that means that your child would have a chance to become diabetic and the University would like to study the child to see if the early signs of diabetes can be identified much earlier. Well Micheala's test came back positive, which was heart wrenching for me, but it was not a 100% sign that she would be diabetic, just that she has a chance. Over the last week, Heather and I started to notice the symptoms (extreme thirst, frequent urination and mood swings). We tested her blood sugar at home and it was high, so we headed to St. Luke's to get the official diagnosis.....Type 1 diabetes.

Micheala will be hospitalized for a bit to regulate her sugars and is already doing better. She still has lots of energy and the hospital staff complimented us on being "so alert" to the symptoms. She did not get sick or dehydrated like I did when I was diagnosed, so we have skipped some of the scary parts of diabetes, but we know we have a long road ahead of us.

On a personal note......I am crushed. I never wanted this to happen to any of my kids as I struggle to keep my diabetes in check. I guess now I will have to refocus and buckle down on my own health to encourage Micheala to do the same. I have trouble understanding why Micheala just can't seem to get a fair shake in life. I find myself very guilt stricken and wish I could undo it all. K'la and I have always had a special bond and I guess now there is one more thing that we share.