Life in the Prairies...

Today is a rest day here for the kids and I out on the southern Alberta prairies. We've had a very busy few weeks so today we are having some long overdue down-time.

We've been on several ski-trips, dog-sledding and spending time with family and friends.

Yesterday we went to the new Spark Science Centre in Calgary.

Tim & Issie with two of their sisters outside the Spark Science Centre in Calgary.

Time for the kids to catch up on some school work and for me to catch up on my Blog and get some housework done. Yep, they even do housework in Canada!

Back home we live in the suburbs - so we're never more than 5 minutes away from pretty much everything. We've had the odd occasion when one of the kids had had a pump issue - broken line, bad site or site has come out - but since we're usually always close to home (and I keep spare pump supplies in the car) it's never really an issue.

I haven't quite got the hang of being prepared here though! Which is crazy, because if anything, I need to be MORE prepared here! We're not really close to anything at all.

Last week we headed up to the closest mall (about 1.25hrs drive away) in the afternoon before then going on to the airport (another 30 minutes drive) to meet our friends who were visiting us from Chicago.

About 20 minutes after arriving at the mall Issie tells me that her pump line is looking a bit "worn" where it joins onto the reservoir. Okay, no problem, I'll just get a new line out of the kit bag I threw in the car when we left the house...

Oh no... no infusion sets in the bag! Plenty of reservoirs, insulin, wipes, spare lancet drums, test strip cartridges, antibacterial hand wash, hypo treatment, spare batteries, ketone tester, ketone test strips - but NO INFUSION SETS - so, no spare line!

Driving back "home" would have meant an additional 2.5 hours driving. It was -10 degrees celsius and the roads were pretty crappy.

We went to Shoppers Drug-Mart at the mall to see if we could get some tape to try to patch up the line a bit - the tape was useless.

Oh well, we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening doing extra BGL tests and being really careful to make sure the tubing from her line didn't get caught on anything.

Thankfully we made it through the evening and did a full set change when we got home.

And, as soon as I got home I re-packed the D-Kit bag, making sure there were PLENTY of infusion sets - and put it straight into the car.

Times like these makes me understand why families who have access to tubeless pumps such as the OmniPod, the Solo MicroPump (FDA Approved but not yet for sale) and the JewelPump (here's a review of the JewelPump on DiabetesMine).

Goodness only knows when these pumps will be available in Australia and Canada!

R.I.P. Fluffy... (and the name change explained)

The 2 Kids and I are still in Canada for another couple of weeks.

However, as you all know, life goes on at home, even when you're on the other side of the planet.

That includes the not so nice aspects of life, our own, and that of our pets.

Last week during routine blood tests prior to a routine operation (organised by the 2 kids' Dad, who is pet-sitting for us), we learned that Fluffy was very, very sick. Further testing revealed that she had a large tumor. The vet told us that given how sick Fluffy was it was unlikely that she would survive surgery to remove the tumor, however, given that she had virtually no chance of surviving without surgery, the 2 kids' Dad and I decided to give her at least the one chance to beat it.

Despite her tiny size and the poor state of her health immediately prior to surgery, Fluffy made it through the operation.

However, the following morning, Tuesday 6 March (Sydney time), Fluffy was too exhausted to keep fighting and she passed away.

It's really hard when you lose a pet, and even harder on the kids. Throw in being on the other side of the planet and it's devastating.

Rest In Peace Fluffy - you were the most gentle and loving cat to have ever joined our family and you will be very sorely missed by ALL of us, including your best friend, Heidi Puppy!

"Fluffy"

3 March 2011 - 6 March 2012

Soooooo, since Fluffy was included in "2 Kids, 2 Pets, 2 Pumps" it was decided that a name change was in order.

This time I enlisted the help of the 2 kids.

After a few suggestions that were scoffed at by both kids as either "embarrassing" or "cheesy" I came up with "two little pricks" as a bit of a joke - their response, "YES!" - and they then refused to listen to ANY further suggestions!

So, there you have it.

The "Twitter" name has been changed also - to @twolittlepricks

You will no longer be able to access the 2kids2pets2pumps.blogspot.com website - effective immediately.

Any email addresses you have for me remain the same.

Different country, different climate, different FOOD!

After a few days of battling lows, particularly with Issie, we're now at the other end of the scale!

At first I was worried that perhaps our insulin supplies didn't like the trip over very much, despite the best efforts of the Air Canada crew to keep it at the right temperature, however, since Issie IS coming down, eventually, and doesn't have any ketones, it's not the insulin.

It's the food!

One food in particular...

Cinnzeo Buns!

Yes, I know, not exactly the best type of food for a diabetic kid, however, we're on vacation, and it's our first week here and the kids are experimenting a little with new foods. Trust me, this little experiment will be very short lived!

So far I haven't been able to find a correct carb count for one of these things! The Cinnzeo website doesn't have any nutritional information - just tells you to "indulge, it's okay!"

One website said that there was something like 22g of carb in one of these buns.

Seriously, there's more than 22g of carb in that PICTURE!!!

To give you an idea of the size of this thing I've taken a picture of some of the buns we have left alongside something we're ALL familiar with - an Insulin Pen!

Anyway, the first time Issie had one of these we doubled the carbs - and she ran high right through the night. The second time we did 2.5 times the carbs listed on that website and still she ran high, with a lovely 19.7 at 3am and feeling sick because she'd been high for a few hours, but no ketones thank goodness!

So, there's a bit or experimenting going on with this one, and with a lot of the foods we're eating right now. Just goes to show, you get into a routine with the kinds of foods your kids eat when you're at home, but take yourself out of your usual routine and you're flying blind once again!

We'll get there.

Thankfully, where we're staying is an hour drive to the nearest mall where they sell these things - and next time, we WON'T be buying a take-home pack!

And now... coming to you from the Canadian Prairies...

Okay, so this is just a quick check in to say...

WE'RE IN CANADA!

After a VERY long trip the weary travellers arrived at about Midday on Saturday. We're slowly adjusting to the time change (well, the kids have adjusted, I'm still roaming around the house in the wee hours of the morning) and my knees have almost recovered from 15 hours crammed in the tiny space that is international long haul economy air travel.

Air Canada were great with helping me out with the kids' considerable insulin supplies.

And a tip for you!

When you're at the gate before everyone starts lining up to board the plane have a chat to the person in charge at the gate (that would be the person walking back and forth between the plane and the gate with a 2-way radio) - and let them know that you're travelling with a child (or children) with T1D and that you need somewhere to store their insulin (for a 15 hour flight - this was essential). I had a word to the Air Canada person in charge, she invited the kids and myself to board with the "pre-boards" (people in wheelchairs or young babies) so that I would have some extra time to get the insulin stored - AND she went down to speak to the cabin crew while they were getting organised so that they could clear a space in their refrigeration unit for me. When I got on the plane (first) they were waiting for me and had a whole drawer in their refrigeration unit reserved for my supplies - and they made sure that all of the cabin crew knew who I was just in case I needed to access any of those supplies during the flight.

Another tip - if your insulin supplies are packed into two separate carry-on bags, make sure they're packed in their own little bag (whether a zip-loc bag or whatever) to make it easier to get out of the carry-on bag for storage in the fridge.

The first day was interesting with the kids' levels, it's cold here, so both have been running low so I've had to adjust basal rates significantly. They're also far more active than they usually are at home - well, there's snow outside, and they have unlimited space to run around and play outside and no neighbours for miles! I'm also finding that pump lines don't seem to like the cold very much. Issie has been through 3 lines since we've been here (and we've only been here 4 nights so far). Fortunately though - Tim's insulin requirements are next to nothing at the moment - so I've even taken his pump off for the time being - we are just doing corrections via injection if he needs anything at all right now - so I shouldn't run out of lines or infusion sets, even allowing for more broken lines.

That's about it from here, we're about to head out to go shopping for ski gear!

2 days to go...

Things have been absolutely insane around here and there has not been a lot of time to write.

The kids started the new school year last week - for a grand total of 9 school days, because, in just 2 days we head off on our big trip to Canada!

Issie is so excited she can hardly get to sleep at night. Every sentence Tim says starts with, "When we're in Canada..."

But oh, sooooo much to do! Not only is it an overseas trip, but we're also doing a house swap with our wonderful Canadian friends - so of course my house has to be spotless and I have lists of lists of lists of things that have to be done before 8am Saturday morning!

Tonight I sat down, while the kids were at their Dad's house for dinner, and calculated exactly how much insulin I will need to bring with me for a 37 day overseas trip - for 2 kids.

Yikes!

Oh, and pump supplies!

Thank goodness Air Canada has a pretty good policy with extra baggage - we have a whole suitcase dedicated to T1D supplies (not the insulin of course, that's coming onboard with me!).

I have to say that Medtronic have been great, they have provided a loan pump to take with us as a "spare" in case of any problems with either of the kids' pumps!

But, slowly, I'm getting there. Each day I accomplish just a few extra things and I'm feeling more and more organised. The bags are now, finally, packed!

The 2 Pets will be sorely missed, they're going to the kids' Dad's place while we're away. The kids set up Skype on his computer - not so they can talk to their Dad, but so they can talk to Heidi and Fluffy!

There have been other things going on, aside from "the big Canada trip" that have caused a lot of distraction, one in a good way, the other - well, not so good, but that's for another time.

So, at least for the next few days I'll still be kinda "M.I.A." - but I'm sure to have lots of stories about international long-haul travel with 2 kids with T1D, and also just about life with T1D in a country that's not your own.

Parents go online for diabetes support (article)...

Article in the Murray Pioneer (South Australia) about two members of the online support group I started not long after Issie was diagnosed.

5 questions for a rainy day...

It's a rainy day here in my neck of the woods, the kids have a touch of cabin fever and have 2 weeks before the start of the school year! Not going anywhere because I don't want to spend any money at the moment - with our big trip only 3 1/2 weeks away - so my prediction for today is that I will be refereeing a number of skirmishes throughout the day and doing LOTS AND LOTS of laundry.

And... thankfully, nothing of any note to report on the T1D front - so far.

So, following in the footsteps of a fellow T1D mum and blogger, Hallie, I'm going to answer the same 5 questions - although the summer version, since we're in a different hemisphere!

1. What is the last thing you bought for yourself?

COFFEE!

Yes, I know it doesn't sound that exciting - but it's my favourite freshly ground coffee from this little café in Manly - this coffee is sooooooo delicious, not too strong and with a yummy hint of chocolate! So, right at the moment while I'm sitting here typing I'm drinking a cup of this delicious coffee, freshly made at home by my coffee machine.

Simple pleasures - that's what life's all about!

2. What's your favourite meal on a hot summer day? (replacing the words "cold" and "winter" from Hallie's post).

Anything that I don't have to cook!

Actually - that's the lazy answer - we get some pretty hot days here, so on a REALLY hot summer day I don't cook - it's just too hot!

But, my favourite summer meal on a day that's not too hot to breathe?

Hmmmm - that would have to be a lovely fresh salad with a great big bowl of king prawns (shrimp) - provided someone else peels them for me!

3. Have you started looking at swimsuits for this year, and do you buy a new one every year? 

Well, since it's summer here swimsuits are unavoidable. I actually DID buy a new swimsuit this year - for the first time in about 8 years, mainly because I'm usually too terrified to even think about getting into a swimsuit! Not about to let anyone see me in it though - wearing of swimsuits is strictly limited to the safety of my own backyard swimming pool!

4. If you could be any candy, what would you be and why?

Interestingly, neither of my T1 kids really uses candy as a hypo treatment - for one it's juice and for the other it's usually chocolate milk or Powerade. Issie did use Jelly Beans in the early days post diagnosis but after a particularly bad hypo that involved the forceful expulsion (sorry) of about half a packet of Jelly Beans followed by the only Glucagon shot she's ever had, and a trip to the hospital in an ambulance, she will no longer go near them! So I don't really keep much candy in the house - mainly because if it's there, it'll be eaten - by ME!

But, that's not the question, is it?

What candy would I be - and why?

I would be a dark chocolate bullet! Don't know if they have those anywhere other than Australia? This would have to be my favourite candy! The rich dark chocolate on the outside with just the right amount of black liquorice inside!

Now for the why?

Because I'm the only one in my house that likes them! So that means that if I were a chocolate bullet in my house then I'd last forever - or at least, the liquorice bit of me would (the bit on the inside) because that's the bit the kids don't like! Also, since the kids don't like liquorice bullets, this is one of the few types of candy that I know don't know the carb content of! I don't need to know it! Maybe that's why I like them so much!

As for the symbolic reason for picking this candy - may seem a little weird - but I kinda see the contrast between the sweet chocolatey exterior and the rich liquorice interior as being a little like me! A bit of a surprise - a "more than meets the eye" kind of thing. Don't know if that makes any sense. And I think that this actually applies to just about every single T1D Mum on the planet!

5. What are you most passionate about?

A pretty obvious answer there of course, T1D awareness and doing what I can to help find a CURE for T1D! But, I guess something that I'm even more passionate about than those things is letting other parents know that they're not alone. The thing that hit me hardest after Issie was diagnosed was the lack of support on the community level and the importance of establishing a support network among families who live with this disease every single day.

Well, the next load of laundry is finished - and it's time for lunch!

Can't wait to read some other answers to the 5 questions!

Hope everyone in the T1 community is having a nice, quiet, uneventful D day!