T1 Tuesdays: Illness and the Type 1 Diabetic

Last week we had a stomach virus slither it's way quietly through our house.
It was selective in who it chose to take down, but was mild thankfully enough.
It did not bring with it a fever or aches or diarrhea, nor did it strike in the dead of the night strangling it's victims in the grip of death.
It would begin simply near the break of dawn, cause a couple trips to the bathroom, and then suspend itself in less than 24 hours.
THAT, my friends, I can handle.
It's what happened to our family on this week exactly one year ago that I cringe with fear to remember and pray never returns.
You can read about that nightmare here. 

Anyway, one of the victims of this latest bout was our Type 1 Diabetic.
I always take for granted what my body just does on it's own when I'm not feeling well.
But it's different when you're sick and one of your organs is completely shut down.
When Ashlyn gets sick, an entirely different monster takes over.
It's called "ketones."
You can google the term "ketoacidosis" and get a plethora of information on what happens inside her body.
For the laymen though, it means that her body starts using the fat for energy instead of converting glucose to energy.
It results in tremendous stomach pain and usually vomiting for her.
That results in an inability to keep fluid down, so there is a build-up of ketones in her system.
It makes her feel worse.
When her ketones measure "large" {we have ketone strips that she dips in her urine for this reading}we have to give her 20% of her total amount of insulin intake for the entire day.
For example, if we add up all the insulin she takes in a day {humalog and lantus at all meals and bedtime}and the total is 73 units {for both insulins} then we give her 20% of that which would be 14.6 units.
The tricky part with that is how high her blood sugar levels are at that moment.
If she is over 250, we don't worry too much about her blood sugar dropping too low.
But this last weekend, she would have large ketones but her blood sugars would be in normal ranges.
We still have to give her that large dose of humalog to bring down the ketones, but she also has to take in some carbs so her blood sugar doesn't plummet.
That was the balancing act we were playing all weekend.
High ketones.....vomiting....normal blood sugars.....large dose of insulin.....sips of regular sprite {instead of diet}.....more vomiting.....moderate ketones.....feeling better.....low blood sugar....more sprite.....more vomiting.....and on and on.
She pricked her fingers for blood sugar testing at least 10 times on Saturday.
Never complained.
Not once.
She's my hero.
It did seem to take her a little longer to get back to feeling 100%, but then we declared her officially well yesterday mid-morning....so it wasn't bad overall.....
compared to LAST year......eeeeeek!

First birthday of the year!!

Last Thursday, January 19, 2012, we celebrated the first birthday in our family of this year.
Our youngest turned 4!!

Another free scrapbook design by Smilebox

Friday's Fabulous Family Recipe: Moroccan Vegetarian Stew

In keeping with the adventures of trying different ethnic flavors, I knew I had to try this recipe when I found it.
It did not disappoint either.
It is very fragrant and just looked so beautiful with all it's colors blending together in the pan.
Another thing I've found about experimenting with plant-based dishes is that using lots of bright colors makes the dishes so aesthetically pleasing that it just invites you to try it.
The recipe calls for potatoes, but I had some extra sweet potatoes laying around so I just used those.
That added another burst of color and I think it gave it more flavor.
Next time I'm going to add a bit more pink salt to really enhance the flavors.
Serve it over steaming hot brown basmati rice with a flavorful salad and you've got a fabulous meal!!
Find the recipe here!

Friday's Fabulous Family Recipe: Cuban Black Beans

Let me just say at the outset that this is bar none....one of THE best recipes I've come across in YEARS!
One of my "resolutions" for 2012 was to experiment with more plant-based recipes to expand my repertoire of dishes for our lunch and dinner meals.
When switching from processed food with lots of animal products in the mix, you really need to present your family with lots of different color and flavor choices so they don't get bored too easily.
I don't want them feeling deprived of all their old favorites, so I would like for them to get to try something new as often as I can find something!!

So when I found this recipe.....I knew I had to try it.
It looked really good to me.
And I wasn't disappointed.
It is so fragrant and delicious!!
The very first day I made this, my husband walked in the door from work, practically ran into the kitchen and said,  "Whoa!!  What smells so GOOD?!?"
After he actually tasted it....he told me {jokingly, of course} that if I didn't put this recipe on our regular rotation that he would divorce me!!
I have really enjoyed trying flavors that come from other ethnicities.
I'm learning that thinking outside my "comfort zone" of cooking has broadened my appreciation of other cultures and their food choices!!
We love this dish served with or over brown basmati rice with fresh sliced tomatoes or a salad!!
Find this amazing recipe........here.

**As a side note....I substituted {2-3} 15 oz. cans of black beans for the dry beans.

{You CAN} Teach Your Child Thursdays!

After homeschooling for a number of years now, I've finally started to see a pattern emerge.
In August/September, schoolwork is new, and fun, and exciting.

By December, we're all into a pretty good routine, but definitely ready for a nice long winter break.
After the holidays are over and we slide back into our routines, sometimes we're dealing with major cabin fever because of the wintry weather, and often are dealing with sickness.

By end of January/February, we start to feel like our routines are cumbersome, and the children get uncooperative and lose interest.
It's hard to want to stay with everything when the end of our school year seems so far away, yet we still have so much to do!!
I recently found an article that was really practical and helpful in combating those difficult stages of the year:

10 Ways to Make Your Homeschooling Days Easier

I completely agree that you need to be prepared and organized.

I also am a huge fan of the workbox system. 

We use it in our homeschooling, and it has revolutionized our home!!

I also agree that making quiet time for yourself is a must!!

I get up earlier now than I ever did before because it's the only time I can have quiet time to focus

on the Lord and His Word for more than 5 minute spurts!!

It gets my day started much gentler and more grounded, and reminds me right from the start that God is bigger than anything I may face that day!!

I am also a huge fan of an organized way to make your grocery lists and meal plans so you don't have to be away from the home any more than absolutely necessary!

I would love to go grocery shopping twice a month, but we lack the storage space for all we need.

So, for the moment, I shop once a week!

But that's it.

No running to the store everyday.

But you have to know in advance what you are preparing for meals this weekend and next week so you have everything on hand.

Making a menu for all 3 meals a week in advance {at least} is super helpful, and cuts down on the amount of time you need to be spending in the kitchen as well!!

Just a few simple tips for simplifying our homes that are schools as well!!

T1 Tuesdays: Dexcom Dilemma and a Celiac Screen

At the outset I need to be honest and say that this will probably be a long post.
Can you bear with me?
I promise to try to give you the Reader's Digest version.
Grab a cup of coffee.
Ready?

Okay.
I certainly don't want to sound like I'm complaining here.
But I do feel that it's important in this venue with the audience I have to be honest.
It's really hard raising a child.
It's really, really hard raising a child with Type 1 Diabetes.
They go through so much, become so resilient that they are your heroes!
You want the very best for them because it's ultimately impacting their health decades from now.
I want to chronicle this journey of living with this disease so my daughter has a record of it,
and to encourage others who may have just received this diagnosis for their child.....
or even my own children who may one day raise a Type 1 Diabetic.

With all that being said.....here's what happened last week.
Back in June of 2011, our insurance changed.
With it came a brand new deductible of $2000 for each person in our family,
along with our prescriptions quadrupling in cost.
Yes.....QUADRUPLING!

In July, Ashlyn went to summer church camp without a parent along.
I was nervous about this because of all the variables that go along with
a Type 1 Diabetic during camp week.
She in fact had a frightening experience that nearly landed her in the ER,
and that basically resulted in a "chewing out" by our endocrinologist.
When she got home, I immediately researched continuous glucose monitors....
particularly the Dexcom 7.
I won't go in to the wonders of this device, but it is LIFE-SAVING.
Pure and simple.
It will alarm when your blood sugars go either too low or too high,
as well as giving you a continuous reading of your blood sugar every 5 minutes in graph form.
It's a miracle.
I wanted one for Ashlyn!!
But we couldn't get it.
Basically it revolved around that $2000 deductible.
You can read about that situation here.


BUT!!
After learning about all of this and knowing our situation, a family member very generously and very sacrificially and very joyfully gifted that money to us so we could get her into this amazing technology.

See pictures here.


We ended up with three months of sensors, and by the end of the 3 months we were
ready for a little break.
We loved this device, but we had yet a little bit of money to pay to reach our $2000 deductible,
so our sensors would cost us at least $280.
Once we reached that deductible, the rest of the 90 day supply would fall under the $75/month fee.
We didn't have that money on hand with the holidays coming up and our flexible medical account being nearly drained for the year.
So I decided that we would figure into our Medical Flexible Spending Account for 2012 the extra money we needed to cover the remaining amount for the deductible,
as well as a year's worth of paying the $75/month for these sensors.
Last week I called Dexcom to get the order going.


Imagine my horror.....the HORROR....
when the Dexcom representative called me and reported to me that our insurance deductible had
reset on January 1, 2012!!!
RESET!?!?!?!?
We have to pay yet another $2000 before we can get those sensors covered!

I about passed out...right then and there.
I could. NOT. believe what I was hearing.
How could this happen??
Why wasn't I told that deductible's run calendar year to calendar year?!?!

Apparently everyone else in the world knows this......
WHY didn't ANYONE mention it to me before now?!?!

Well, that was it.
I told the representative that there was no point in wasting her time any further.
We simply can't afford that.
If we don't pay the deductible....it's $280.
Basically a car payment.
And for the record......we don't carry car payments!!!

So there you have it.....we can't use this anymore.
I tried calling the insurance to see what I needed to do to appeal this.
She told me not to bother.
Appeals only apply to claims that would be denied for some reason.
Our claim for the Dexcom IS covered.......AFTER we pay the deductible.

I tried callling Dexcom to see if they could help.
Nope.
Don't have anything in place to help with hardships or anything because they are a non-profit company that's not big enough to offer assistance in any way.

I tried Medicaid several months ago.
Don't go there with me.
Let me just say it was a nightmare and we ended up getting shuffled over to CHIP {with real cards and everything} which we can't use anyway because we already have private insurance.

I've tried all the other places on line I've been pointed to and we fall into all the loopholes.....
we make too much income {just barely over the maximum allowed for this month},
or we have private insurance.

But you know what?
When I made that last call to the Dexcom company, and I got a disappointing answer....I just had peace.

Like the door closed....I don't have to fight this anymore....I'm done spending hours on the phone and internet.....that's just it.
God has a plan here.
There is a purpose for this.

Yesterday was Ashlyn's quarterly visit with her endocrinologist.
I was dreading it like a parent who knows their child is struggling in school,
and is headed to a parent-teacher conference.
I just knew we would have to talk about a bad grade {i.e. A1c}.
And I was right.
Ashlyn's A1c is at an all-time high now of 8.9%.

We were just getting it down from 8.5% to 8.3% with the Dexcom  {sigh}.
Now with December and it's craziness and letting routines slide....
we've lost control.
It doesn't matter what we do or don't eat or how much we check or how much insulin she gets.....
she's always high.
Way high.
She's currently taking 18 units of Lantus in the morning as well as at bedtime {36 units total}.
Her carb ratios are 1:5 breakfast, 1:4 lunch, and 1:3 dinner.
Our endo. was very gracious with us, but obviously concerned about why her numbers are so consistently high as well as having no real pattern to them.
It's hard to adjust insulin levels when there's no trend.
So we have to climb back into the prison of set carb amounts for each meal (tighter carb control),
and he wants her to be screened for Celiac disease.
I was a little surprised that he mentioned that since she has no symptoms at all.
He said that sometime Celiac shows up because their blood glucose levels get all wacky even with lots of insulin and could be the underlying cause.
He mentioned insulin resistance, but wants to pinpoint why right now.

Sometimes it's easy to post about bright and sunny things.
Some days, I just have to lay it out as it is.
I'm just so thankful to know Who is in control here.
I'm relying on this verse of scripture that I've chosen for Ashlyn as the verse I pray for her:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,

saith the Lord,

thoughts of peace,

and not of evil,
to give you an expected end."
Jeremiah 29:11

Friday's Fabulous Family Recipe!! Favorite bean soup...

When I think of bean soup, I always think back to my childhood and the bean soup my mom used to make.
It had white beans and ham in it, and on a cold, snowy afternoon this makes your house smell ah-MAZING while it cooks on the stove.
I have tried to reproduce this dish with HER recipe, mind you, but it NEVER turned out right.
I had all but given up hope of having this wonderful homemade soup again until......
I found the best recipe e. ver!  EVER!

Since we're trying to stick to a plant-based diet as much as we can, this recipe was a great fit.
I just left out the ham, and splashed in some bottled liquid smoke instead (I used Colgin's Natural Mesquite)!
I also used an organic vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth, and "Better Than Bouillon" chicken base instead of chicken bouillon granules.
It is so delicious, it knocked our socks off!!

I found the recipe in my Taste of Home magazine, but you can find it here.

As a disclaimer, only 2 or 3 of my children will eat this delicious soup. 

But these are also the same children that refuse to eat anything but peanut butter and jelly.

Just so you know.