Valentine's Day.

Our Valentine holiday was very nice. Maddie wanted to do several nice things for Jordan which sparked a decorating frenzy. After I dropped Jordan off at the high school where she spent nearly four hours sitting for exams for entrance to the local I.B. school, Maddie and I shopped and then decorated. Jordan really appreciated all of Maddie's efforts when she came home for lunch. The pictures don't do justice to the look of the eating area. After lunch Jordan headed off to an interview for the Arts program at another area high school. This is the program she would like to attend next year if she's not accepted into the I.B. program.

Healthy Again.

This is our awesome snowfall for the season. Those of you in Minnesota and Wisconsin, don't you laugh at us!! This snow didn't even last the day. At least in Texas we had enough to call off school.

Everybody in our house healthy again. I hope I don't jinx it by saying that! One week from today, Jordan is scheduled to receive her insulin pump which will eliminate her four insulin injections and the 6-10 finger pricks every day. Hopefully my sleepless nights will go away, too. I worry too much about her blood sugar going too low during the night. The pump will alert us to a low (or a high) whenever it happens. This should make her life a lot more normal.

Now what should we do?

Pete picked Jordan up from school after her first class (she had a mid-term she didn't want to miss). She went to bed last night feeling some cold symptoms and this morning she felt worse. Once home she checked her blood sugar, had a snack, and promptly took a nap. Aside from waking for lunch, she slept most of the day and was still tired at dinner. Poor thing! Of course, when Maddie came home she fixed Jordan up with a better pillow and some water.

Shock, confusion, determination, acceptance.

All of those feelings within two days time. Monday morning, January 19th, I took Jordan to the pediatrician because I suspected she may have diabetes (increased thirst and frequent trips to the bathroom). The doctor finds glucose in her urine and sends us to an outside lab for blood work. Then we wait. Around 3:00 the doctor calls to let us know that her blood glucose was at 251 (this was her fasting number - she didn't eat breakfast because I had a feeling she'd need to have lab work done). The doctor tells me that a person without diabetes would have a blood glucose number between 70-100.

We have an appointment with an endocrinologist at 9:00 on Tuesday, January 20th. Jordan's glucose is tested again and this time (after eating breakfast) it's 459. Not good. Her A1C is 12.4 (at that point I don't know what an A1C is so this didn't register any emotion). The endocrinologist explains what has happened to Jordan's pancreas, gives us a WHOLE BUNCH of new information (some of which I remember and some that will come back to me later), and proceeds to talk about the different types of insulin and glucose meters. She (the doctor) gives us the insulin and meter that our insurance will cover and I get to give Jordan her first insulin injection - the Lantus - and her second - the Novalog. Our next stop is the lab for more intensive blood work before we go to our 1:00 appointment with the diebetes clinicians (three of them - very knowledgable young ladies). **In between this time I have to go get Maddie because nobody will be home to meet her after school and Jordan needs to eat some lunch - we barely make the 1:00 appointment** The Diabetes Treatment Center at Bon Secours was a huge help to us in explaining how Jordan didn't really need to change her diet, but she did need to begin "carb counting" so she could calculate the amount of insulin she receives at each meal. At this meeting, Jordan gave herself a saline injection so she would be able to administer her own insulin. At 4:00 we left with a wealth of new information, lots of books to read, and reference materials. Jordan felt well enough to attend play rehearsal so I dropped her off there while Maddie and I ran over to Costco for some healthy food choices.

Wednesday, January 21st, I brought Jordan to school and stopped by the clinic to drop off her "bag" (insulin, meter, emergency glucose). The nurse gave me lots of good information and shows me what she does for her other diabetic student. I felt good leaving Jordan in her hands. Then I was off to the pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions. I won't even go into the scene with the police officer that pulled me over for having a Virginia inspection sticker and Texas plates (and that I was speeding "a little" - 2 miles over). He gave me a ticket.

This is the point where I am not okay anymore. I picked up this load of prescriptions and the pharmacist tells me "my heart went out to you yesterday when these prescriptions were called in". She is so nice, giving me all the written and on-line information she thinks I could use. She went through the multitude of boxes in front of me and then I was really overwhelmed. Once I got home, all I could think about was if I felt like this, how must Jordan be feeling. Jordan did very well on this day - called me both times she checked her glucose at school. I think she was comforted after meeting the other student in school with diabetes.

Thankfully, we had another appointment with the Diabetes Treatment Center on Thursday, January 22nd. We (Pete was able to attend this meeting) spoke with a nurse who happens to be the mother of two diabetic teenagers (these girls were diagnosed when they were four). Obviously, she knows her stuff. She really set our minds at ease. We all felt so much better after this meeting. She answered all of Jordan's questions and went over a new insulin dosage with us. Whew!!

Two days later and the only thing I am afraid of now is a low blood sugar episode during the night. We can't wait to be able to use an insulin pump. Hopefully, next week we'll be able to find out when Jordan can get hers.

Slowly Getting It.

I am loving this digital scrapbook class. I finally finished the "Up & Running" course so now I am ready to begin the "Now We're Rocking with Photoshop". Maddie has been missing her best friend lately. She moved to China about a year ago. These two girls spent nearly two solid months together this past summer. It was as though they were never apart. They are so good together - and so adorable.

New Year's Resolutions

This year one of my New Year's Resolutions was to finally learn how to digital scrapbook. I don't plan to do all of my layouts digitally because I like the look and textures of the old fashioned scrapbook pages. However I like a lot of the digital pieces available at so many of the on-line shops. Maybe hybrid is for me?! I signed up for four Jessica Sprague digital classes and this is what I was able to produce with lesson two of my first class. I am happy with the outcome. Jessica makes it so easy to do! I look forward to the rest of my lessons!

Elf on the Shelf

I have been meaning to add this post for nearly a month now. This little guy entered our lives on December 14th and was the most fun part of our Christmas holiday this year. He is sent from the North Pole to sit (on a shelf) and keep watch over us. He reports back to Santa every night letting Santa know if we've been good or bad. He returns the next morning perched in a different location. Madison was completely enamored with him. She fed him special treats every morning and evening. She wrote him notes (which he replied to daily) and even gave him toys, a scarf, and a cape to keep warm during his nightly journey. Mornings were the most fun hunting for his new location. He ususally ended up where the girls spent the most time the previous day. The only rule we had to follow (besides being "good") was to NOT touch him or his magical powers would disappear. Which would mean he couldn't go back and forth to the North Pole every night. Even now Maddie still talks about Pepper. We named him Pepper Minstix. We hope he shows up earlier next year so we can have more than 11 days with him (he leaves when he hears Santa come down the chimney).