Oops - nearly missed Clinic Day ... again!

So, had just dropped the kids at school - was about to go make my morning coffee, much needed after way too many interruptions to my sleep last night, when I received a phone call from the D clinic at the hospital.

Receptionist: "Hi, sorry I didn't call yesterday to confirm, was off work sick - but just a friendly reminder about clinic day."

Me: "Hey, that's okay - wasn't expecting a call from you until tomorrow anyway - can I just double check the time of the appointment - I have the date in my calendar but for some reason not the time."

Receptionist: "Why would I call tomorrow? The clinic appointment is today at 10:30am!"

Oh dear - I'm sure the lovely receptionist just rolls her eyes every time she has to phone me!

Looked frantically through my calendar - and sure enough - there it is, Clinic Day, Thursday 8 September, 10:30am!

For some crazy reason I had 12 September in my head - even though everywhere else it was listed as 8 September.

Still partially in my pyjamas (just threw on a pair of track-pants when I took the kids to school so that my pyjama top didn't look so much like pyjamas) - had to call school to tell them that I had to pick Miss I up from school before classes even started!

Of course the calendar alarm I had set for today's appointment went off just as Miss I and I were heading off to the appointment!

Definitely a bad case of "D-Brain" happening here! Soooooo forgetful!!!

Oh well, we made it on time and when scheduling next Clinic Day appointments set 2 audio reminders so that I could not possibly get the date wrong!

I suppose this is to be expected when you live on only a few hours sleep a night. Last night was a case in point. The kids are trialling a nocturnal hypoglycaemia device at the moment and, in addition to their regular overnight tests, the devices had automatically set alarms to wake me so that I could "recalibrate" them because they were apparently not happy with the BGL's I'd entered in before bed.

This would not be that much of an issue for just one kid - but with 2 kids and 2 devices - it had set different alarms based on the kids different bedtime BGL's! One of the devices had set a recalibration alarm for 10:30pm and the other for 12:30am - add to that my usual 3am BGL check - and the alarm that went off on Master T's device at 1:20am due to a "system error", and then the "Hypo Alert" alarm that went off on Miss I's device at 4:45am! Geez, no wonder I'm so tired!

Click on the image below to access a printable version of the 

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes 2011 Poster (A4)

When fatigue sets in...

What do you do when you are soooooooo tired?

Many parents of kids with T1D do regular overnight BGL testing, myself included. We get used to the lack of sleep and disrupted sleep patterns are just a fact of life. Most of the parents I know in the T1D community have permanent bags under their eyes, myself included.

But every now and then it takes it's toll and you find that you are completely exhausted.

Like just about every parent on the planet well all put our kids first, but most parents don't get up in the middle of the night to check on their kids.

It's a well known fact that disrupted sleep and not enough sleep can increase the risk of serious health problems such as cancer and heart disease. It can also lead to obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

According to Eve Van Couter of the University of Chicago, "Lack of sleep disrupts every physiologic function of the body. We have nothing in our biology that allows us to adapt to this behaviour." ("Scientists Finding Out What Losing Sleep Does to a Body" - Rob Stein, Washington Post, Sunday 9 October 2005).

This is a serious concern for parents of T1D kids - how can we look after our kids if we are putting our own health at risk?

For 2 parent families it is very important for BOTH parents to share the load when it comes to the care of your child with T1D. Perhaps work out a roster for doing nocturnal BGL tests. I know of some families that do week on/week off so that each parent is able to catch up on sleep regularly. This has the added benefit of ensuring that both parents have an equal understanding of the complexity of this disease, particularly when BGL's play up overnight and in the early hours of the morning.

But what if, like me, you're a single parent?

Many of us don't have a big family support network, many don't have family around at all and, for those that do, we often find that trying to get extended family members to understand what is involved in the care of our kids is an uphill battle.

I guess the lesson from this is that we all need to make sure that we have some kind of support network, whether it's a partner, a close family member or a trusted family friend. We all need to realise that we can't do it all ourselves and that it's okay to ask for help.

Now, if I could just listen to my own advice....

Wish On A Star For A Cure - Friday 2 September 2011

I received an "invitation" to this event today via Facebook and decided to share it here. Please read below for the details and click on the Post Title (above) or the image to join in on this event - and invite your friends and family.

This Facebook Event was created by T1D Mum Cathy Knight McConkey took this idea from a fellow Diabetics Mum who's diabetic child was going to go out and wish on a star for a cure one night, but was too sick to go. So we (a collection of D mums or mum's of diabetic kids) decided to create an event of wishing on a star. The more people wishing on a star for a cure, the better our chances are of getting a wish to come true.

Invite your friends and tell them to invite their friends

So get out there anytime after dark and wish on the first star you see. Don't forget to check in on this event page and please upload pictures so we can see how many wishes were made.

It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself. ~ Joyce Maynard

I came across this quote today and it got me thinking.


Before my kids were diagnosed with T1D I had hopes and dreams for them, just as every parent does. I did my best to provide them with opportunities to experience different things, as a family we travelled quite a bit and always told my kids that they could achieve anything and to set their goals high but be prepared to work for it - since nothing worthwhile in life is handed to you on a silver platter.


When your child is diagnosed with a chronic, life-threatening medical condition one of the first questions a parent will ask, after the obvious "will she/he be okay?", is "how will this affect her/his life?"


As parents of kids with T1D we worry about the things that our kids may not be able to do but always do our best to let our kids know that there are very few things in this world now that they can't do. Okay, so scuba diving is pretty much a "no-go" for people with T1D - as is flying a commercial airline - but every day people with T1D are pushing the boundaries and I believe that our kids are lucky to be living with this disease at a time when they can essentially live a "normal" life, provided they take care of themselves.


But that's not the point of this post.


Many of us parents, once our kids have been diagnosed, forget the hopes and dreams we have for ourselves. Our lives become completely focussed on our kids and just getting through each day, often too tired to think of anything but the absolute necessities of life: dealing with T1D, caring for our other family members, going to work, looking after the family home. A lot of the time we even put the pets before ourselves!


The problem is - what kind of an example are we setting for our kids?


If we're telling them to reach for the sun, and we're so heavily weighed down here on the ground ourselves then what kind of message is that?


There are many parents of T1D kids, and other kids with chronic or terminal illnesses, that become advocates for their child and other kids in the same boat, this is a wonderful thing and something that I encourage as much as possible (obviously). At the same time there are many parents who struggle to manage caring for their child (or children) with a medical condition while trying to work full-time or part-time to provide for their families.


I guess my point is that, in whatever way we can, we as parents should always try to better ourselves, to continue to reach for the sun, the stars the moon and show our kids that life does not stop when the road gets a little bumpy.


All of us as parents should use the tools we have been given and do whatever we can to be the best person we can be.


So, you're a parent of a kid with T1D, your a Mum or a Dad, but you are so much MORE than that. 


What do YOU want out of life?


And what is stopping you from achieving your dreams?

DRI Foundation Chairman: Harold Doran

DRI Foundation Chairman: Harold Doran

This link will take you to a video of Harold Doran talking about his son's diagnosis and how it changed the lives of his entire family - a story we can all relate to.

Today I have released another new video.

This one is a celebration of our amazing kids!