Support Groups

Support Groups are amazing but sometimes hard to find!

After Austin was diagnosed I knew I had to share my T1 parent contacts with Jodi and Nathan, but how.

That was the hard part.

So I decided to create a private Facebook just for Type 1 parents in my local area. Since the group is private, you had to be invited by a mutual friend to be in it. I wanted it this way, so people could vent, ask for help, anything but only with people who completely understood where they were coming from to feel that way. This way you don't get nosey people trying to put his/her two cents in on matters that they have no clue about.

The support group has been such a blessing.

We have members who were able to schedule meetings in a local church once a month, and those who can make it go and meet other parents, the kids get to play and meet other kids who have to stop and sometimes check his/her blood just like them.

We have had college age kids join the group and it has been helpful getting information from them as to things that our T1 might not be able to communicate with us.

I know the Parents of Type 1 Diabetics on Facebook, is a national group and there are often posts to share where you are from in hopes of getting locals together.

Try to find local support and/or create your own group.

The parents in our group are amazing. We share insight, we vent, we ask questions, we schedule playdates, we share fundraising opportunities, and we share experiences.

It's amazing knowing that even though at times we feel all alone, we aren't. There are tons of people sadly who are in our shoes battling this same disease.

~ Heather

Life Happens

So when I originally started this blog, I had intentions of writing about our life with Type 1 diabetes.

I was unsure of really where to start after the initial diagnosis story and first day of school story (which apparently I wrote but never published, until today:), so that resulted in me not writing anything. Which then resulted in me forgetting that I had started a blog. Oops!

Well I hope that I am back!

Again just like the last time a person close to me had a son diagnosed last week. He is 3 and had about 10 days of monitoring blood sugars before an official diagnosis of T1D. So that along with the fact that my sister-in-law Jodi went to a JDRF mentoring class today got me to really thinking that I need to give this another go.

While discussing the mentor class that Jodi attended today, it dawned on both of us, that we need to do more. I had never heard of a mentor program and when she posted about it on Facebook, there were other experienced moms who were clueless as well.

I think there are many opportunities to learn and grow to help others who are in our shoes, but I don't feel that information is readily available.

I feel that if people were more knowledgeable about opportunities, we would have better turn outs at events that are available.

I want to share our stories.

I want to be able to vent.

I want others to know they are not alone.

I want to help others because I feel that there are so many times with this disease that if you don't have support your life could take a turn for the worse extremely quickly.

This journey is not easy, it's not fun, but it's what we have to deal with on a daily basis whether we like it or not.

So here is my promise to get Too Sweet Cousins back up and running.

Sydney's journey and Austin's journey are similar and completely different at the same time.

So hopefully between the two of them, we can share a multitude of life with Type 1.

~Heather

Sydney's First Day of School

     Sydney's first day of school was probably quicker than most. She was diagnosed on Friday and returned to school on Wednesday. This was due to multiple reasons. First she did not have to stay in the hospital long because we were lucky and found what was wrong prior to her being in DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis). Second I am a kindergarten teacher and work in her school and since she was in kindergarten I was three doors down from where she would be, and we are lucky to have a school nurse in our building at all times. And lastly because we wanted to get back to a normal routine as soon as possible. 

     So we get up and get ready, her daddy gets her checked, dosed for breakfast and she eats. I take all of her supplies, doctor orders, and snacks to the car. I know it's going to be a long day. We drop sister off at daycare and head to school. Once I see the nurse has arrived, we head down to give Sydney's supplies and doctors orders, and discuss her day(when will she need to be checked, etc). Our school nurse has had diabetics before, but it had been awhile since she had anyone on shots. Most of the kids were on pumps or older and gave themselves shots, she just checked blood sugar and dosage to verify. I told the nurse I would be there when Sydney would be checked to help get her started. 

     Next, we stopped by her classroom and dropped off her snacks. I gave the teacher the sheets on what to look for if she was hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemic (high blood sugar). I had used the same sheets when I had a diabetic years ago and it helps you try to keep an eye on what could be happening since the child may or may not be able to tell you. We were told in the hospital that she might be able to say she feels funny but you would have to check and ask her to explain what she feels to help make her aware of the symptoms. I gave the teacher instructions on when she was suppose to have snack, once in the morning and once at the classes regular snack time in the afternoon. Told her she needed to go to the nurse prior to lunch to get checked and get her insulin shot, and that anytime she felt funny she needed to go get her sugar checked and had to have someone walk with her in case she passed out or something happened on the way to the nurse. Thankfully her teacher's classroom is the closest class to the nurse. At the hospital, Sydney had received a book about Coco one of Mickey Mouse's friends who is diabetic and returns to school. It tells about what Sydney has to do in a very kid friendly way. So Sydney had asked that I read it to the class. So to start the day, I read it, then talked a little about it. They listened very attentively and were extremely curious. After all that, I slowly walked out and returned to my classroom and left my newly diagnosed baby three doors down from me. 

     Once in my classroom, I also read them the book about Coco. I thought it was important for them to understand more about what Sydney was going through and to explain why Mrs. Shelton had to go to the nurse the first few days and why Sydney would sometimes need to come to our classroom and be checked. From my experience with my previous diagnosed student, I felt it was important for her class to know because they could sometimes help see when she wasn't feeling right and point it out to the teacher. And I felt it was good for the students to know that just because Sydney has to check her blood sugar and take insulin shots, she isn't any different from them. 

     So the first day, my assistant watched my class anytime Sydney was to go to the nurse. We had to teach the nurse how to use the Novalog pen to give Sydney's injections.