The Stuff of Diabetes

        Tessa was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when she was 18 mos old. From then until a few mos before she turned 3yo, she got 5 injections/day and anywhere from 6-10 finger sticks (still does) to check her blood sugar. Once she started using an insulin pump, instead of injections, the insulin is administered through a catheter that stays under the skin. We change the pump site every 48 hours, so it's less needles but involves a pretty big needle that inserts the catheter.  In the pic above, she's showing off her new pump site right after I changed it. We use numbing cream when possible to make the site change more comfortable. The needle is shown below.

             The pic below is our diabetes cabinet, with all of her pump supplies, extra glucose test strips, lancets, alcohol and tacky wipes, a blood ketone meter and strips to check for ketones when her blood sugar is very high, all of her paperwork, insulin syringes and needles in case of pump failure, numbing cream and the clear plastic adhesive that holds it in place, spare glucometers and more.  We keep her insulin in the refrigerator.

           Below is her diabetes drawer. This has the supplies we need daily, such as lancets, some wipes, emergency glucagon, spare lancet device, and the insulin vial we are currently using. Insulin can stay at room temp for a month when the vial has been used.

             Below is Tessa's "kit" that she carries everywhere she goes....school (to every class, playground and lunch room), soccer fields, anytime we leave the house, it comes with us.  It has her glucometer which is also a remote to her insulin pump, juices and skittles for treating hypoglycemia, and the laminated tag has her emergency information on one side. She also wears a MedicAlert bracelet that never comes off of her wrist.

Jesus Day Celebration

      Today was Jesus Day for First Eucharist students at our parish. The child and parent (or other special adult) did activities designed to learn more about the Eucharist and our Catholic Faith.  We decorated a special candle, made bread, learned more about prayers and prayer intentions, talked about the Mass, sacred vessels and vestments, and more. Tessa and I enjoyed it and at the end, we all gathered in the Community Center, where Father blessed the bread and we ate it. 

Chin Ups

      Sean wanted to try the chin-up bar that Kevin and Tim use during their P90X workouts. He didn't get all the way up there, but wanted to keep trying. 

Blessed Mother

                                                Statue of Mary at our parish.

Confessions of a Shoe Addict

  My name is Lisa, and I'm addicted to shoes. Dress shoes, pumps, glittery shoes, sandals, and most of all to flip-flops. My closet had reached a critical point. Couldn't step in there at all without standing on shoes. It took me forever to find a pair that I wanted to wear and then much of the time I could find one, but not the mate.  It was time to take the plunge......purge and organize. I don't think I've gotten rid of any shoes in at least 8 years, maybe more judging from some of the styles I found.  I spent most of the morning getting them all out of the closet, matching them up, then deciding which ones to keep and which to donate/throw away. I'm embarrassed to say that I had 87 pairs in my closet. Of those, 35 were flip-flops....but we DO live in Florida, so that's my excuse.  I got rid of 28 pairs, almost all of them going into the Goodwill box.  Now I can see the floor of my walk-in closet!  

      At the same time, I cleared out a lot of other "stuff" that was on my shelves and floor, even emptying out a moving box that has been in my closet, unopened, since we moved into this house 8.5 years ago.     

New Look, No Cost

  I spent the morning, along with a good friend (Thanks Linda!), rearranging our living room and family room furniture. The new (to us) pool table got moved from the middle of the family room into the living room (in what was meant to be dining room, but we don't have formal dr furniture), and the loveseat moved back into the family room. We also moved the piano to another wall, moved the old card catalogue cabinet (thank God it comes apart into 3 pieces), and rearranged the chairs and side tables and lamps.  

      Ignore the boxes to the left of the pool table. After these pics were taken, I finally got the Christmas bins/boxes stored away in the closet under our stairs.       ***VOILA***   A new look for 2 rooms at no cost.   I like it.  Jack immediately jumped onto his favorite chair and fell asleep, so guess he likes it too.

Private Space

  No school today due to the end of the semester/teacher workday. Clare made herself a fort out of the pop-up tent. That wasn't good enough though, so she added a comforter and sheet for extra space and privacy. Inside was her monkey pillow pet, a blanket on the floor, backpack, and two extra pillows for comfort.She was in there most of the afternoon, reading and getting some homework done, with a few snacks to fuel her.