untethered

Toward the end of the soccer season last year, L participated in several weekend-long soccer tournaments. It was very difficult to keep her BG in range due to the extended periods she would have her pump disconnected. Her awesome NP suggested she go on Lantus during the tournaments. This made things much better BG-wise, and L got to experience a mini pump break (though obviously she still used it to deliver insulin for her food).

Perhaps because of this brush with a pump-free life (or not) (I mean I don't know) (she is a teenager after all), L recently decided that she would like to take a break from her pump. She's been using the same one for nearly four years and we've been discussing switching to a t:slim when her warranty expires this spring. So before we pursue that, we're gonna kick it old school for a while.

I vaguely remember how tricky it was to transition from shots to the pump, and I imagine switching in the other direction will present some challenges as well. Have any of y'all gone from pump to shots? Do you have any awesome tips for us? The main thing I was worried about was having to do all those calculations again but lucky for me, they now have an app for that!

[Insert photo of L triumphantly removing her infusion site, for the last time for a while.]

[Unfortunately, I didn't actually snap such a photo.]

[So here is a picture of my cat instead.]

cisco

Yesterday, my family lost a great friend called Cisco. 

"Mommy, take my picture with Cisco! My skirt matches his fur!"

He lived with our dear friends but would come and stay with us a few times a year when they went out of town. 

You could say we had partial custody of him.

He and our cat Thumper didn't start off as the best of friends but eventually they came to an "understanding".

We shared many days and nights together over the years. 

This photo was taken just a few weeks before L's diagnosis.

Halloween

Christmas tree shopping

New Year's Eve, with his mom

He loved his humans but his favorite one in our house was John, of course.

He was so smart and funny and sweet and slightly neurotic, so he fit right in with our family. 

Every time he saw us, it was like we had just returned from war; 

he would get so excited he would make that high happy noise. 

It was a privilege to be loved by him.

He was the best dog I ever knew. 

Thank you to his family for letting us be part of his life. 

We miss him already and we will always love him.

diabetes art day 2014

Thank you to Lee Ann for creating Diabetes Art Day so that people affected by diabetes can find support through art therapy. This is my fifth year participating and I truly value the experience of expressing myself / my relationship with diabetes through the process of creating art.

This year's piece was partially inspired by the artwork of my friend Ken Klaus. I especially find myself drawn to Ken's work that features ribbons and arrows. Thanks for planting the seed in my mind, Ken.

Here's where I am today.

click to embiggen

I look forward to seeing the contributions from people around the DOC. I'm off to do that right now. :)