We survived!

Well.....we all survived the first day of Line Camp!

I even think Kaci had FUN! YEAH!

On the way to pick up the girls an ambulance and fire truck pulled out in front of me. I got a little nervous, but told myself everything was fine. Then when we got the  stoplight at the school and they ran the light to pull into the school parking lot- I started getting a little panicky! - but again, I told myself it was going to be fine. They looked like they were going to go to the opposite side of the building,-but then they pulled right up to the same door I had dropped the girls off at! YIKES! That is when I quickly parked and started to speed walk inside.

I followed the EMS worker until I heard a teacher say, "In here...She is in here," She pointed directly to the gym where I had dropped Kaci and her friend, Kyrah off that morning.

That is when breathing got a little difficult! LOL! I looked in the gym, but the girl was way in the back too hard to make out who it was. So- I quickly turned around and looked in the other gym. Is wasn't long before I found Kaci's dance team and then spotted both her and Kyran.   I almost asked the EMS worker for a little bit of oxygen- holy crap! Instant headache!!

Shortly after, they brought a young girl out on a stretcher. She looked okay- so I am hoping it is just something minor and they were erring on the side of caution!

Here is a quick picture I took of Kaci this morning before Day 2 of Line Camp!

ADORBS!

Line Camp

Kaci has decided to join the dance team at her school next year! She will be a Golden Spark! I am so excited for her. I know that she is going to do a great job and have so much fun. When I was in middle school - there was no dance team. I think it is great that she can test it out now - before she gets to high school. We were able to pick up most of her materials on Thursday of this week: tights,tennis shoes, boots, jazz shoes, sweat pants, football jerseys, tights, leotards, sports bras, earrings, etc

They have a 4 day line camp starting this coming Monday. It will run from 8-5 at one of the high schools. She has never been away from me for this long- unless she was with a family member or at school. 

What is the big deal...you may ask yourself.....Well.....

Difference here is ....she will be exercising a lot and there will be no nurse anywhere close! No one is trained in anything "Diabetes" and well, - um...that is not cool!

 Guess it is time to put on my "worry hat" and count down the seconds, minutes and hours until I can go and pick her up. She will be wearing her CGM, but not sure that the receiver can be within 20 feet from her while they are practicing- so not sure that it will work for her as well as I had hoped.  Her dance teacher has been very sweet- and has even said I can stop in to check on Kaci anytime I want to. Problem is....when you are 12- not so cool to have your mom stop in to check on you!

Here is an email I sent to her dance teacher.....I tried to sound calm and cool about the whole thing. Not sure if I accomplished that or not. While I don't want to make Diabetes a scary beast....fact is ....at times IT VERY WELL CAN BE A FREAKIN' SCARY BEAST!

Mrs. Taylor--

So excited to get the Line Camp schedule!

I must say I am getting a little nervous about camp- probably more than most.
I know that everything will be fine, but Diabetes always has to throw an EXTRA amount of worry into my worry pot! And since the nurse will not be available, I'm even more nervous. 

Kaci has recently gotten a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) it is a small transmitter device that is attached to her arm, leg or stomach with a spring back needle (which is then removed) to leave a small cannula (or tube) underneath her skin. The small transmitter device reads her blood sugar every 5 minutes (without her poking her finger for blood- yeah!) The device then relays her blood sugar reading to a small receiver that looks almost exactly like an ipod. The receiver must be within 20 feet of her in order for the transmitter to receive the information. It will sound an alarm if her blood sugar reading is below 70 (too low) or above 260 ( too high).

The lows are the ones I worry about....they are brought on by too much insulin (if we do not calculate her food intake correctly)- or by exercise...which greatly reduces a person's blood sugar.

I am so excited about this device, but am unsure about how much it will be able to help her during dance camp. She will not have a pocket to put her CGM Receiver in her dance uniform and I fear she can not set it on the floor 20 feet from her as it may get stepped on ....or she will be unable to hear it should it beep. I am not sure if the instructor putting in in their pocket or near them at the front of the room is an option??  She will have the device on Monday and we will see how it works out.

Kaci will be stopping about every 2 hours to check her blood sugar (11:00, 1:00, 3:00 and 5:00) This seems to fit in your schedule pretty well....as far are snack and lunch break. I would like for her to call me at lunch on her phone in order to tell me her blood sugar reading so that we can decide if she should make a correction to her meal insulin.

She will need her meter (the machine she pokes her finger with in the same room with her at all times), as well as juice and/or glucose tabs.  

I will also be sending her emergency shot with her - should she need it. She only needs someone to administer her emergency shot if she becomes unresponsive and/or is unable to swallow juice or glucose tabs when asked to, or If she is unresponsive, passes out or has a seizure. I would like to show you her emergency shot on day one of camp- or any time prior that is convenient for you. We have NEVER had to use this. The directions are also located inside the container that it is held in. The shot would need to be administered into her upper  thigh. After it is administered please call 911 and me 512-797-6660.

I am sure that everything will be alright- but exercise will greatly decrease her blood sugar- so I will send plenty of snacks as well to help keep it up.

If her blood sugar does become low, she will need to snack or juice  and sit out for 15 to 20 minutes and then recheck. If it is still low, she has to do this 20 minutes all over again until get blood sugar is within normal range.  Kaci does not like to stand out- or be different. She will not take advantage by stopping unless she needs to. I promise!

I am not sure if there is a good time that you can let the other girls on the team know about her diabetes. It would be helpful if they were aware in case there is a situation where they would be able to help her by getting her juice or meter should she need the help.

What Dance Mates should know:

*You can't catch diabetes

*Kaci takes 5-6 shots a day and that many finger pokes

*Sometimes (especially after exercise) Kaci's blood sugar may go low- she needs juice or candy quickly to raise her sugar to a safe level. If she is disoriented someone should get her sugar quickly.

*Type 1 is not caused by diet, weight or eating too much sugar. Your pancreas just stops working.

*She will never OUTGROW diabetes and there is nothing she can do to make it go away.

If there are any questions you have for me, please let me know.

Maybe you can share this email with the other teachers who will be on campus at Line Camp.

So- please say a prayer for Kaci and for me- for all the teachers at the camp, for her teammates and for Clint and Bailey that we make it through this week without any hitches! Looks like it is time to remember these 2 quotes...

“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable!” - Jilliam Michaels

"Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain. ~Author Unknown

We will cross the mountain....Kaci can do it. I know she can!

Are you my type?

It's that time of year again! 

We are taking orders for Kaci's Krushers 6th annual "Say Boo to Diabetes" family walk to cure Diabetes!

This year the shirts will be purple with lime green writing. 

The front will say "Are you my type?" 

The back will say "Kaci's Krushers 2014- 

Walking with JDRF to cure Type 1 Diabetes"

T-shirts are $20 each or $18 if you buy 2 or more.

They are available in the following sizes:

Youth S, M,L and XL

Adult S, M, L, XL and 2 XL

All proceeds go to JDRF.

The walk will be held at the Domain on 

Saturday, October 26 at 9 am. 

We would love to have you join us! 

Kaci was diagnosed with 

Juvenile ( Type 1) Diabetes on July 28, 2009. 

We will never lose hope 

that a cure will be found!

Beer Butt thinks Safety First!

Not sure what made me decide to try and cook a Beer Butt Chicken on my own this week. My neighbor made one a few weeks ago-and I think I read some of my friend's post on Facebook talking about how they were giving it a try...so I guess I thought ...what the heck! I can do that!

It was pretty easy- First- Amber pulled out his neck, heart and other gross parts. Then,  I drank 1/2 of the beer, and I rubbed Big Bird down with butter and sprinkled whatever was in the seasoning drawer on him. Next, I cut up an orange and put 1/2 up his butt and 1/2 on his head (what a cute little hard hat).I sprayed the beer can with Pam (for easy removal later) - and balanced him on the grill heated to 200 degrees! I checked him every hour- or when I heard him sizzle (he got a little tipsy and fell over once or twice)  Three hours later I pulled him off the grill and he was PERFECT! Everyone loved it - easy, peasey!

  

Well- Miss June is still hanging around.  Clint caught her swimming in the dog's water bowl outside yesterday morning. Of course, I had to run outside to get a few pictures!

Well- you will never guess what I find this morning....

June was in the water bowl relaxing with another frog! So funny! I screamed and then almost died laughing. 

Miss June squats in the water ( pretty much like she is just sitting)- but the frog dangles his legs out long underneath himself in the water!  I am pretty sure they were on their first date.

The frog is much more skittish than June and hopped out and far away before I could get to my camera! I am going to try and catch them again in the morning!

They reminded me of Mamma June and Sugar Bear from Honey Boo Boo! Stay tuned for more pictures......

Payton and Papa!

Here is a great new picture of Payton and Papa! They are really good buddies!

Payton gave us quite a scare this week. She woke up in the middle of the night on Tuesday with a bad cough. The cough progressively got worse throughout the day on Wednesday and she and I were up ALL night. If she wasn't coughing- she was throwing up. Of course, I googled "dog cough" and discovered that she either had cancer, heart worms (in the late stages), had fluid in her lungs, or possible kennel cough. When you add to the search that she was also vomiting- even more awful and life threatening options appeared.

I made her an appointment with the vet that morning as soon as they opened. Dad was at my house by 6 am- as I had been texting and worrying him all night as well. Together we took her to the vet and left her for observation (and they were squeezing her in for us, so the vet would see her in between appointments)

Turns out she has "Chronic Airway Disease" We have known for over a year now that Payton suffers from horrible allergies. Unfortunately, they are not seasonal. Whatever it is that causes her red itchy skin, runny nose and eyes - is present year round at our house. For over a year now, I have been taking her in once a month for shots. She gets an allergy shot every 30 days and about every 60 days she was getting a steroid shot as well. However, about 2 months ago we started her on a new allergy medicine that comes in pill form. Very expensive, but easier than shots and saves me the trip once a month to the vet. It is called Apoquel and it is AMAZING! Her red splotchy skin cleared within 24 hours and her itching became non-existent! Forget that is is $2 a pill and that she needs 2 a day! YIKES!

Well- anyway, the vet called me around 12 requesting that I allow her to take an x-ray of Payton's lungs. She said that although it sounded a lot like Kennel Cough- there was not really a time that we could pin point that Payton would have been around another infected dog. She wanted to view her lungs to check and see if she saw the typical marks of chronic allergies. I consented to the x-rays and she called me back with the news.  She said that although the Apoquel is really good for the allergies of the skin, she feels like Payton really needs the *extra* steroid in her to take care of the congestion in her head, nose and throat. She feels like because it had been over 60 days without any steroid- this was causing the awful cough.  She also felt like the airway may have become infected over that period of time and wanted to prescribe her some antibiotics and a cough med. 

It has been 3 days since I took her in and she is doing much better. The cough still lingers a bit and often comes back when she gets excited or starts to bark a lot. I got her a bigger pill case and more hot dogs (our pill hiders) and we are on our way to well. For now- she is taking 8 pills a day- but in a few weeks she will be down to just 3 a day. Bless her heart. I love this dog!

Dog sitting again!

The kids got another dog sitting job this summer. Our sweet neighbors are on a trip to Indiana to celebrate 

Ms. Teresa's dad's 90th birthday! WOW! We hope they have a great trip.

I tried to get a picture of BaileyDog and the kids, but she is much too quick! The only way we could get her to slow down was to hold her bone up for her. Even then...she was still moving! LOL

Bailey and Kaci are having a great time keeping an eye out on her~