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.