Cake Decorating at 4 a.m.???????

I watched a video yesterday called, "You Can't Catch Diabetes from a Friend", and a mother in it put it perfectly: "You don't get a vacation from this disease. Diabetes doesn't take a day off. It's constant and something that you always have to think about."

Yes. The pump is great. No question the pump is amazing and wonderful and works just like his pancreas when we tell it to. But we're still learning. I know it will get easier, but right now we're trying to find the right balance...

Jimmy was waking up low at first, so we switched his basal rate. Then he was waking up high for a few days. So we readjusted the rate again. At 4 .m. he was just a 61. Not good, too low. Unfortunately, I slacked off tonight and didn't check him until 4 - when I usually check him at 3... Maybe I could have caught him before he went low...

Regardless, I just had to force feed Jimmy a tube of cake decorating icing! He was so cute how hi sucked on the tube in his sleep. Red icing!!! Guess I ran out of white, but better than blue or green!! Anyway, it's supposed to act like the carbohydrate gel that runners use for a quick shot of energy. I'll check him again in a few minutes. (The rule for a low blood sugar is take 15 carbs, and then test again in 15 minutes.)

I'm thoroughly enjoying not have to give Jimmy a minimum of 6 insulin shots everyday! There were times he went into 'shut down' mode and we'd have to hold him down to give him his shots. He's only 6 and what I've asked of him with this damn disease is simply too much. He's only 6. I hope he can forget the horrible experiences of the hospital stay when he was first diagnosed - the first i.v. drip, the first syringe shots, the first finger pricks, the hospital gown (Jimmy likes to wear 'Daddy Shirts' to bed), the not understanding of what was happening to him, etc... And I hope that he can forget the times he was so beside himself that he had to hide in the dark closet because he didn't want a shot. And I hope he can forget that traumatic first pump site injection at the Molly Center where it took me, Jim, Joey & Rachel to hold him down while he screamed at the top of his lungs in agony and then we had to hold his arms after it was in so he couldn't rip it out.

He used to not even say the word. Now he even says "I'm a diabetic." I hope his life is normal and that diabetes, although a constant on our minds, is just a part of him and not something new to him. I hope that he accepts it as a part of his daily life, and doesn't hate this part of him. Let Jimmy define who he is, and not the diabetes. Does that make any sense?

Got to go check him again. If you don't hear anything else it means he's good to go until sunrise. Otherwise, I'll post again... Keep your fingers crossed for a decent number!!
Peace,
June