The D in Emily

This topic sadly is easy for me. Ever since the day Emily was diagnosed I have been struggling. Yes it has gotten better but inside I feel like a mess. I have come to realize that I am deeply affected by the numbers I see on the Dexcom. Example, when Emily's numbers are in range I feel happy and relaxed. The moment they go out of range I am anxious and annoyed. When they are low I feel afraid. I cannot relax not even for a second. When her numbers are high I am mad, especially if I caused it by over correcting a low. Guilt consumes me as I think "I can't believe I let this happen!" When she has site changes or Dex changes my heart races and I am filled with dread. "Will it hurt her this time?" "Will she cry and scream?" I have no way of knowing what reaction is going to come, and when it is bad guilt consumes me. I know I have to hurt her to take care of her whether it be a simple finger prick or a device change and that feeling just plain sucks.

Life was good. Bills were being paid. There was even money left over for things, you know the things you don't really need but want really really badly. Ahh...this was the moment my little family of three had waited so long for. Then came an unexpected diagnosis. The big D. The good life was gone in an instant. The first blow was the uncovered hospital bill. Thanks insurance! It was a slap in the face. They said Emily being hospitalized in DKA was not medically necessary. WTF??? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? Yep. Slap in the face #2, the giant brown bag of prescriptions. Serious it was a grocery store brown bag. Then the new Dr. in our lives Mr. Endo. Luckily insurance was nice enough to give us a copay for that. Fast forward 4 months. I kept hearing about this thing we HAD to have. A Dexcom....then two months later a insulin pump. By month number six into this new normal we were drowning. I started using my credit card to pay for everything. Thanks to this new spending the cred

The first year after Emily was diagnosed felt impossible. If you are not organized, get ready because you are about to be the most overly organized person you know. Thinking ahead is now your new normal. Gone are the days of leaving the house with your purse and keys...and the child. Must not forget the child. You will have juice boxes and smarties. Needles, pump supplies, wet wipes, alcohol pads, insulin, test strips, glucagon, bg meter....crap did I forget anything? I did say the child right? So here we are. Two and a half years in and yes you still need to make sure you have at least the important things, but the fear of forgetting some things is gone. You throw a fruit roll up or fruit snacks in your bag. Grab the pump remote and go. Diabetes is a sneaky sucker though. A low can happen out of nowhere. This weekend we went on our first family trip since before Emily was diagnosed. We were at Universal Studios having a great time when the Dex started to go off. 89 double down. W