When They Leave The Nest

As all of us know there will come a day when our children will move out on their own. For those of us with a child who has diabetes it is much different. In August our oldest Adam moved out on his own with 3 friends. Adam has had diabetes for 6 years now. As you can imagine I was a wreck. Adam was moving really not far at all (around the corner from us) so we knew he had a safe place. The fact that he was rooming with 3 friends also helped to ease our stress level. At the very least they all know he has diabetes and what to do if he needs assistance. Still I worried and when driving by always checked to see if he was in and all was alright.

Now 5 months later he is still doing well, of course they have had the growing pains of getting use to living with each other, but over all they have been doing well. Adam has really grown and is discovering things like, If you work more hours you make more money. Insurance is important and what a co-pay is (when it comes out of your pocket). He's learning how to make his own hair appointment, and what its like to go out at 2 am when your roommate can't get his car started. He's learning how to shovel his car out without a plow and how to clean up after others. We are amazed at all the growing he has done in such a short period of time. As any mother I did not want to see this day come and in all honesty i was secretly hoping he would want to come back home, but no he is adapting, growing and maturing.

We as moms sometimes hate to admit that there will come a day when they don't really need us, Ok they still need us they just don't want us to know it, and that's what I was thinking today when out of the blue don't I get a phone call from Adam, Hey Mom just wanted to let you know that I arrived in Utica ok! He had made a trip with one of his roommates to another friends who is a couple of hours away and one of the things that we always asked was for our children to let us know when they arrived safely when going places. It was such a nice feeling to know that he still thought to call and let me know where he was and that he arrived safely. Makes you just want to hug him!

So as I continue to adapt to our oldest exploring the world of independence I am gratful for our thursday night dinners together and for his warm heart, never afraid to give a hug and most of all for remembering to let mom know he is ok!

Julie

The Middle School! I Thought It Would Get Easier!

Nikki's now 11 years old and this is our first year at the Middle School! If you are like me you probably are thinking how much easier it will be when they reach ths age. After all they are old enought to recognize the signs, test on their own and call you with information, well I Took Nikki to the doctors today for her 3 month check up. I don't know about the rest of you but I always feel that this is my report card. So when the doctor starts to look at her log and see's a lot of 3 and 400 numbers I cringe. I use to think when she got older this would get so much easier, WRONG! I think as they get older it gets harder! I am no longer in total control of this (was I ever really), but now I know that I have lost control! I think I lost it the minute she ventured out into the world of the the middle school! Now that she is at the middle school she has actually started to use all that independence that I worked so hard for her to gain!

Now little Miss Nikki thinks she's old enough to bolus and test without checking in, and oh if she forgets to bolus at lunch and waits 2 hours till the number is off the meter, oh well! Yes when they hit the middle school years, they hit the ground running and we are constantly chasing them, did I really think this was going to be easier?

So how do you go about giving them the independence they crave, yet make sure everything is in order and being done the way you need it to be? I don't have the answers, but I am finding that I have to check and double check on blood sugars, look at the meter myself, and review the logs on the meters and pumps myself why? If you haven't figured it out at this age they have learned the magic numbers, yes I'am 120 , I just tested. How is it all those wonderful magic numbers never appear on the meter when I check it.

Well they are after all kids and they are learning the trick of the trade, so we have to work smarter and be more determined to rein them in! But in a nice way.

So I've resorted to telling Nikki I will give her a dime for every 100 number on the meter at the end of the day! Now some may not agree with this method, but I threw it out there as a way to try and approach this in a positive way, after all the goal is for her to "test more often" remember to bolus" and to correct her highs. And lets face it the child in the desk next to her does not have to resort to all this monitoring and testing, so why shouldn't she be rewarded for remembering to test and bolus.

We've been doing this for about a week and I'am down about $5.00. Not bad for more frequent testing, and better numbers! The best $5.00 I ever spent.

This I'am sure is not for everyone and we still monitor and review all of Nikki's numbers, but I have found by getting her to take an interest in the numbers is really helping (she loves money) and the dime for every 100 number on the meter has given her the incentive to remember! Funny how all the sudden she can remember to pull out that meter and test!

I think its brought all the daily testing into a positive light where she now "wants" to test! after all if she tests 10 times a day and half of those numbers are int he 100's she's made .50 cents!

Julie

2009 Has Arrived!

2009 has arrived and we are ready! We have such an exciting year planned that I thought I would share many of the upcoming ideas you will be seeing!

First our forum has been revamped and now working (fingers crossed) those nasty spammers were hard to gain control of, but we are happy to have this forum back for all of you to enjoy, so please register and use! If you were a prior member you will have to reregister. Enjoy!

Next up you will see lots of new cases coming out. We are so happy to work with Girly Girl Studio and be able to offer you a lot of new cases with matching accessories, so you will truly have the ultimate in insulin pump fashion accessories for your insulin pump, along with stylish meter cases, fashionable pump cases and much more!

Coming soon in our clothing line are some Ladies Nightgowns with pump pockets (ladies you will love these) we've had lots of request for night wear for women and we were listening.

We will also be introducing more in the line of ladies essentials, boys t-shirts (with hidden pockets) and boxers just to mention a few of the upcoming items planned for 2009.

Our Caring and Sharing weekend is also underway, with all the families now notified we are planning all the fun things that will happen for this weekend. These families will have the opportunity to bond with other families with children with diabetes. We are so happy to have the Double H and all our wonderful sponsors that have made this possible. A special thanks to Nada and her gang at Diabetes Health that have helped to sponsor this event each year!

If you are like most of us you are probably happy to leave 2008 behind, for us it was a painful year with the passing of my father.

We are delighed to now be in 2009 and oh so happy with all we have planned.

So take a moment and reflect on a year gone by and take all your energy and place it into 2009 which we know will just be an awesome year!

To all our family and friends we want you to know that all your friends at Pump Wear are happy to help you with all your pumping needs, and we want to provide you with a diabetes community that you are happy with. Take time to view our Pump Wear Forum and tell your friends and diabetes support groups about it.

Happy New Year Everyone!
Julie & Dawn