Is He Pump Worthy?

At each three-month endocrinologist appointment that we attend, a set of paperwork is given to us to fill in before we see the doctors.  

For the most part, the paperwork is very routine with questions on blood sugars and pump settings, recent illness and or updates in care.  There is one section though, that I have started to think about a bit more. 

"Have you discussed with your son/daughter the effects of:
Diabetes and smoking? _______ 
Diabetes and alcohol?______ 
Diabetes and sex?_______"

The first two, I have.  Mostly about the dangers of engaging in risky behavior that is not only illegal but has serious health consequences.  I throw in 'drugs' for good measure.  And 'piercings'.  And 'tattoos'.  Blech.

The third, other than discussing the importance of waiting until marriage and how babies are born, not so much.  My girls are young and it has always seemed irrelevant at this stage in life, especially since they have not shown much thought towards boys or dating. 

What I have been saving for my daughters is my belief that they need to wait for the intimacy that comes with marriage not just for abstinence reasons but because the man that they are with needs to be 'pump worthy'. 

Their future love needs to be compassionate and understanding of the highs and the lows; to be a support in the face of an a1c that isn't perfect; to be a shoulder to lean on when it is needed; to be watchful and loving during the wee hours of the night; to navigate intimacy with a set of tubing, cannula, sensor and pump; and most especially to see well beyond the word 'diabetic' and only know that they are luckiest man in the world to be with the woman of their dreams.

Anything less than that is not only non-marriage material, but also not even remotely worthy of having sex with.

To explain that to my daughters, I need to wait until they have grown a bit more and are ready to understand that not all men are equal, even if they are 'cute'.  In the meantime, my job is to continue to nurture them in a loving home by setting an example with a strong, caring and supportive marriage. 

Last week, the Naturally Sweet dad and I attended our first parent night at the local junior high school.  Part of our rotation in and out of classrooms was to sit through a meeting in Life Skills, a class much like the old-school home economics that each of us took back in 6th or 7th grade.

The room looked generally the same, with stoves, sinks and sewing machines scattered about.  The main difference was the teacher discussion.  The topic focused entirely on sex education. 

With both us being fairly open (because I have always felt that it would be better to come from a parent than a friend), this was entirely new territory.  The topics that the child will be learning are listed below. 

Physical Changes
Abstinence
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Teen Pregnancy
Pregnancy and Child Birth
Sexual Harassment, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Predators
Sex and the Law
Family Planning and Contraception

Huh.  Shocking to say the least. 

That sure seems like a big load of adulthood coming towards these kids.  It is also in conflict with what I have taught them, or more importantly, what I haven't taught them. 

The fact of the matter is that kids need to learn these things.  Sadly, there ARE teen pregnancies and kids do go to school WITH stds.  It's awful.  It's shameful.  It's a million things that break my heart.

And while I sort through that, I think back to the forms that we fill out at the endocrinologist office with the simple discussion of diabetes and sex.

It's time to explain a little bit more.  And with the rest of the topics, it won't be a one-time conversation.  I will leave the door open to talk some more, because with type 1 diabetes in our home, the door is ALWAYS OPEN.

Which brings me back to a silver lining of living with type 1 diabetes; we are always here for our children to carefully watch over blood sugars, to guide, to nurture...

And to teach that waiting for the love of their life (and one who is pump-worthy) will be well worth it.

I wonder if some of those topics wouldn't be needed if that was the case for everyone.

From Your Mouth to Their Ear

Red Striders Walking with HOPE!  Cure type 1 diabetes, please:)

It is the season of walks for our state.  With this time of year comes a variety of walks to all help cure type 1 diabetes.  JDRF sponsors several walks throughout the region with targeted populations that are around a chapter office.  In contrast, the ADA sponsors only one walk with the target being the most centrally populated area of the entire state.

Naturally Sweet Sisters supports them all.  If we can't walk, we send messages and if we walk, we raise money.

After all, to get to a cure, it will take a village. 

This year however, I noticed something new.  Something that I wasn't entirely aware of in prior walks.  It wasn't just the need to GIVE support, but for me, it was the need to be SURROUNDED by the feeling of support.

We walk to raise awareness for the need to end type 1 diabetes, but now I realize that we also walk for the need to surround our family with something else;  HOPE. 

Why I think I recognized that is that for the first time, I was keenly aware that not everyone was walking for the same reasons.  Many of those that walked this past weekend were there for something else.  I am not even sure what it was. 

Like the people who crowded around the booth for free sorbet before the walk started.  As a man peddled the product to the crowd, a friend and I could overhear him say, "This is dye-free, preservative free and even good for people who are dealing with sugar issues." 

What does that even mean?  That life is good enough if we just eat the right things?  The reason that we walk is to point out that nothing will be good enough unless we have a cure.

I think that I hoped to hear him say, "This is the best darn product for everyone in the world.  And to make it even better, I am giving all of my profits to help ADA eradicate type 1 diabetes FOREVER!"

Or what about the people that showed up for a day at the zoo and were instead bothered by the people who were there for the walk.  Part of me felt compassion for them but the other part was slightly miffed because everyone should be welcoming an effort to eradicate a horrible disease from this world.

I really wanted to hear them shout, "Wow!  What an opportunity!  Let's give them the money that we would have spent on stuffed animals in the gift shop and join in to spread the message:  Cure Diabetes!"

I know that I was tired on walk day and a little bit sad that the other half of the Naturally Sweet Sisters weren't there.  (Our oldest had another commitment and the Naturally Sweet Dad was helping her.)

And on a brighter note... we were surrounded by other local families that continue to pledge their unwavering support for an end to type 1 diabetes.  I just couldn't shake the wish that everyone else knew how hard these families were working and helped to support them all.

Even in a recent email that I received, one young mom pointed out that she was really struggling with getting donations for her walk team.  She said people weren't excited about it and only a few were signing up.  She felt lost and didn't know what to do, especially with the walk just a few weeks away. 

I gave her some ideas and then later, as I thought about it, wished I have said this: 

While your voice may seem small, it is still being heard.  I am listening and I will share the message through Naturally Sweet Sisters.  And from there, maybe someone will share it with a friend of theirs and so on and so on.  Eventually, it may even get back to the peddler of ice-cream or the family that had no idea it was walk day at the zoo.  Eventually from your mouth to their ear, your small voice will change the world!  Just don't give up.

Keep the HOPE!

To donate to the JDRF Naturally Sweet Sister's Walk Team, CLICK HERE or enter the website into your browser http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=2349&team_id=78717

A True Ghost Story

Yesterday as I am finally alone in my house and sipping my first morning coffee, I take a few moments to survey the wreckage from the weekend.  Our house tends to become a casualty of family life after two days of playing and living.  There were stray socks here and there, followed up by the occasional loose crayon, snack wrapper or mysterious board game piece scattered around the carpet.  Suddenly, I spy a little piece of tubing which is connected to a cannula.

"Oh no!"

My heart skips a beat because as my eyes trace the cannula and tubing, it leads to a zippered pump pouch clearly marked with youngest daughter's name.

"Oh no!  Youngest daughter didn't reconnect after she showered this morning.  That means that she went to school without a bolus for her breakfast.  Oh $%&#!"

Frantically I drop the board game piece, wrappers and stray socks to jump to grab her pump and pouch.  As I pick them up, I am already scanning for my cell phone and keys in order to quickly head out the door and drive up to her school.

But wait...

This pouch feels too light.  Almost as if there is air inside of it and not the slightly weighty feel of a normally full pouch. 

"What in the world??"

With my heart still racing, I carefully unzip the pouch and this is what I find:

Yes, our Rufus the Bear pump pouch from a few years ago.  Apparently, Rufus is the one who disconnected over the weekend and forgot to put it back on.

Later, youngest daughter explained that the new Girl Ghost decoration that we just placed into her baby rocker looked like she needed a boost of insulin too.  She said the Girl Ghost was a little pale (but what she doesn't know is that for a few seconds, I was too!)

Boo!