I am thankful that God gave me the children that he did. I have a friend on facebook that takes in foster children. He said that recently they were meeting their newest foster child. A 3 year old with Leukemia.
It made me stop and think about how many people don't want to deal with noisy kids or lots of homework or disciplining their children properly or getting help for their kids when they need help or adding a chronic disease to the family.
My mentor and I were talking the other day about how it was God's plan that I became a credentialed special education teacher. I am naturally a very compassionate person but also now I am educated as to what to look for in developing children and how to intervene when something developmentally doesn't seem right.
I was reading an article the other day about a woman that had preemie twins that had to stay in the NICU at the hospital for awhile after they were born. One of the twins did not survive. This woman now goes back to the NICU every Christmas and brings gifts for the moms with children in there and offers a sympathetic ear to the worn out moms.
This made me think of my trials. What we have been through in our lives and how my stories can encourage others. Not only did we have preemie twins in the NICU that thank goodness did survive, but then we also had a three year old in a body cast and then later on a daughter diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Not only have we survived one medical ordeal, we have survived several!
And now I think about our friend that is the foster father. He takes in so many chronically ill children that aren't wanted by their families. It makes me think, "what if my daughter had gone to another family?" "Would they have taken good care of her?" "Would they have wanted her?"
We have a neighbor that asked me one day if I was going to have any more children. She definitely didn't think it was a good idea. In her view, five was enough. I don't know if she has children or not. If she does, they are grown.
Does our society value children? Why are there so many abused and neglected children in our country? We have reliable electricity, clean drinking water, food pantries, free medical care available, free schools, free school lunches...
when I lived in India, I saw a love and respect for children of middle class families that I didn't see here in America. Children seemed to be treated as a joy not a bother. This is a generalization but I didn't see as much of the frustrated parents as I run into in Target in America, in India. A third world country that is supposedly behind America developmentally, yet I beg to differ. 120 degree weather in the summer and no reliable electricity, yet their children are well taken care of and loved. (middle class children)
Before I get pregnant, everytime, God has given me the name of the child that is to come. He has handpicked each child and tells me of who they are to be. There is a plan for each of my children, just as there is for every child that God creates.
Whether my child has speech delays, diabetes, a broken leg, a strong will, or a whiny day. My children, as all children, are gifts from God and I am thankful that my children's needs are still met and they are provided for in my home, no matter how much work is required or how tired I am.
God bless my friend that shows God's love to the children whose parents don't accept the challenge.
and now I need to go check on my daughter.
Our sweetie pies
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Two Rocks, a surf board, and a broken leg
Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:2-5
Today I was cleaning out my car by vacuuming inside the car and inside the trunk. I moved car seats and went through the glove box. When I came to the trunk, I moved my Trader Joe bags and the stroller and realized that the trunk also needed vacuuming. I first removed two large branches and leaves that had been collected months ago from a park. When everything had been moved, I spotted two polished rocks on the trunk floor. The rocks spoke to me and reminded me to take a moment to be thankful for all that God has done for us.
Earlier I had been praying for God to show me more items that I can sell on ebay for extra money. I was tired after all of our activities this week and just from today. I was completing work that needed to be done but hoping that God would surprise me with a blessing by the end of the day. Then I found those rocks. Hiding under the bags, the stroller, the sticks, the crumbs. Two shiny rocks that spoke as soon as they were exposed. "God has done something for you. God has blessed you. You have been in worse times and still God blessed you. Don't forget to see your blessings. "
Tonight, we sat down to watch the movie Soul Surfer again about the amazing Christian surfer Bethany Hamilton that lost an arm to a shark attack. I pulled up her website to see how old she was when she was attacked. She was thirteen. At the bottom of her website, in tiny print, was the scripture from Psalm 103, scrolling across the bottom of the page.
As we watched the movie, it reminded me of when we were called by my daughter's school. When our now six year old was just only three. She had been playing at recess at her preschool. She had lost her balance and fallen from the steps to the play structure. Her femur bone broke when she landed.
There is a scene in the movie where Bethany's mom takes her to the doctor weeks after her shark attack. Her bandages are finally removed and her stump of the amputated arm is finally exposed. Her mom stays strong while the doctor and Bethany look at the stump. Her mom steps outside and joins Bethany's dad. The dad finally asks how she (the mother) is doing. The mother finally cries and is held by the husband.
My daughter was dropped at school that morning and then later that day, I saw her again at the hospital. She was taken to the doctor by my husband and I had stayed home with our preemie twins. Our daughter was taken into surgery and then put into a body cast. She was then taken into a recovery room. My mom had come over to be with the twins, and our pastor met us as we had to hold our breath and walk into her bedside. The nurse took us close and then revealed her cast by pulling down her sheet.
That was the horrible moment. The guilt I felt as a mom that this could happen to my daughter. As I'm sure Bethany's mom felt or any other mom that has been through a tragedy with their child.
Three years later, our daughter is now a star soccer player. No evidence of a broken leg, three years ago. During that time, God taught our daughter courage.
Before she broke her leg, we read a devotional one day about how a lizard can lose a tail in order to preserve its life. The tail grows back. God was foreshadowing what was to come for our daughter. she learned that God can take care of her and she received many blessings during that time period. Our home nurse even volunteered to come over for free after our insurance wouldn't cover anymore visits. A collection was even take up for us for Christmas presents and giftcards as her cast was on through Christmas that year.
At the end of the movie, Bethany tells her dad, that the last wave that she rode "did count" even though the judges said that it didn't. Bethany realizes that surfing is no longer about winning and proving that she is the best. She realizes that how she lives her life and treats others is far more important. She surfed a great wave whether she was awarded points or not.
My daughter at age six already knows how precious her life is. She knows what its like to have to lay on a couch for two months and have to be carried from her bed to the couch and use a bed pan. She knows how to use a wheel chair. and now she has compassion for her three year old sister with diabetes.
Sometimes it takes reminders for us to value our lives and turn to God. We can learn this lesson at any age and the sooner we do, the more time we have to devote our lives to God.
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:2-5
Today I was cleaning out my car by vacuuming inside the car and inside the trunk. I moved car seats and went through the glove box. When I came to the trunk, I moved my Trader Joe bags and the stroller and realized that the trunk also needed vacuuming. I first removed two large branches and leaves that had been collected months ago from a park. When everything had been moved, I spotted two polished rocks on the trunk floor. The rocks spoke to me and reminded me to take a moment to be thankful for all that God has done for us.
Earlier I had been praying for God to show me more items that I can sell on ebay for extra money. I was tired after all of our activities this week and just from today. I was completing work that needed to be done but hoping that God would surprise me with a blessing by the end of the day. Then I found those rocks. Hiding under the bags, the stroller, the sticks, the crumbs. Two shiny rocks that spoke as soon as they were exposed. "God has done something for you. God has blessed you. You have been in worse times and still God blessed you. Don't forget to see your blessings. "
Tonight, we sat down to watch the movie Soul Surfer again about the amazing Christian surfer Bethany Hamilton that lost an arm to a shark attack. I pulled up her website to see how old she was when she was attacked. She was thirteen. At the bottom of her website, in tiny print, was the scripture from Psalm 103, scrolling across the bottom of the page.
As we watched the movie, it reminded me of when we were called by my daughter's school. When our now six year old was just only three. She had been playing at recess at her preschool. She had lost her balance and fallen from the steps to the play structure. Her femur bone broke when she landed.
There is a scene in the movie where Bethany's mom takes her to the doctor weeks after her shark attack. Her bandages are finally removed and her stump of the amputated arm is finally exposed. Her mom stays strong while the doctor and Bethany look at the stump. Her mom steps outside and joins Bethany's dad. The dad finally asks how she (the mother) is doing. The mother finally cries and is held by the husband.
My daughter was dropped at school that morning and then later that day, I saw her again at the hospital. She was taken to the doctor by my husband and I had stayed home with our preemie twins. Our daughter was taken into surgery and then put into a body cast. She was then taken into a recovery room. My mom had come over to be with the twins, and our pastor met us as we had to hold our breath and walk into her bedside. The nurse took us close and then revealed her cast by pulling down her sheet.
That was the horrible moment. The guilt I felt as a mom that this could happen to my daughter. As I'm sure Bethany's mom felt or any other mom that has been through a tragedy with their child.
Three years later, our daughter is now a star soccer player. No evidence of a broken leg, three years ago. During that time, God taught our daughter courage.
Before she broke her leg, we read a devotional one day about how a lizard can lose a tail in order to preserve its life. The tail grows back. God was foreshadowing what was to come for our daughter. she learned that God can take care of her and she received many blessings during that time period. Our home nurse even volunteered to come over for free after our insurance wouldn't cover anymore visits. A collection was even take up for us for Christmas presents and giftcards as her cast was on through Christmas that year.
At the end of the movie, Bethany tells her dad, that the last wave that she rode "did count" even though the judges said that it didn't. Bethany realizes that surfing is no longer about winning and proving that she is the best. She realizes that how she lives her life and treats others is far more important. She surfed a great wave whether she was awarded points or not.
My daughter at age six already knows how precious her life is. She knows what its like to have to lay on a couch for two months and have to be carried from her bed to the couch and use a bed pan. She knows how to use a wheel chair. and now she has compassion for her three year old sister with diabetes.
Sometimes it takes reminders for us to value our lives and turn to God. We can learn this lesson at any age and the sooner we do, the more time we have to devote our lives to God.
Monday, August 1, 2011
River Rocks
The other day, I decided to clean the top of my cupboards in my kitchen. These shelves had been neglected for awhile and had gathered quite a bit of dust. I had mixing bowls displayed with hand puppets brought back with us from India. teapots and cookbooks.I sprayed a dustcloth with cleaner and began to wipe. There was so much dust that little fluffs formed around the teapots and doll clothes as I wiped. This job required climbing on top of a kitchen chair to the kitchen counter to balance over the refrigerator to reach and grab each item and then redisplay.
After I finished dusting and sneezing and retrieving items and fending off small children that wanted to stand on kitchen counters too because "wow, how cool, that is!", I stepped back and admired my work. It looked clean but I knew it could be organized better. I began to ponder how to fix the ambiance of the kitchen. I had lots of interesting cookbooks with great photos but they couldn't be reached above the refrigerator. So I decided to display them better and in a more accessible place. I then removed some items that didn't really need to be displayed and took the puppets down for the kids to inspect and bring to life.
When I was done, I grabbed anyone that walked near the kitchen to show them my hard work. I wanted them to admire my arrangements and the new feel to our kitchen. "it feels like a cafe! right?!" I asked eagerly. looking for shared enthusiasm at my creativity.
With my new found arranging talents I decided that I had to make the counter top match. so I slowly cleaned the counter with a lavender scented cleaner and made sure that every appliance was purposefully sitting there. no loitering. when I had worked my way around to the end of the kitchen counter feeling confident that the counter top space equated the above shelving space, I was ready to rest and boil some water for fresh tea. But then I looked over by the phone. There was a large bowl of an assortment of rocks. "Why on earth do we have a large bowl of rocks sitting there?!" These had been gathered over a fifteen year period by my eldest daughter. and there they sat. Do we really need to keep these still?, I thought to myself. would anyone notice if I just scattered them to the backyard? probably.
so I left them sitting there.
The next day, we attended church. The sermon was about how Moses led the Israelites to safety out of Egypt to the promised land. These people saw miracle after miracle performed by God and yet once they were in the desert and thirsty, they began to complain and question if God was still with them. God parted an ocean for them to safely pass through, but they were now thirsty. God obviously didn't care about them anymore, or so they thought.
God did provide water and food and safety and some new rules and then finally allowed them to cross into their promised land. After traveling through the desert for forty years! All they had to do now was cross the River Jordan and they could relax and live and thrive and eat and multiply!
As they crossed through the River Jordan, God told Joshua, (whom was now leading Moses' people) to have twelve men to gather twelve stones from the River.
"Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, What do these stones mean? tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. " Joshua 4:4-7
God reminded me through that large bowl of stones to not forget all that he has done for us. That bowl has been carried with us through several moves and now been passed down from our teenager to younger ones all the way down to our one year old. Our very children are testimonies as to what God has done for us. Our oldest was an only child for eleven years.
It's easy to get caught up in all of the dust or not having all of our needs met. But we must be able to step back in those times and look at the big picture. when I stopped dusting and stepped back, I suddenly noticed a large bowl of rocks that I had previously not seen. It has been sitting there for years now, but I dust around it. God used that bowl to remind me all that he has and will continue to do for our family.
I now want to sit down as a family with a sharpie marker and put keywords on each rock to trigger memories of different things that God has done for us. Then when we forget, we will easily be reminded that God was there, is there, and will be there. Even when we are thirsty or covered in dust.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
vacation Bible school
we have been busy this summer. no vacations, but lots of kids home and needing attention. we have a high school graduate now that is going on 35. she has taken to giving me lots of parenting advice and practicing lots of eye rolling.
I decided to sign her up for vacation bible school at our church this year. the woman coordinating it asked if she felt led to be a helper. I thought, "she is helping regardless" she needs a reason to get out of bed before noon and put some of her new found wisdom into practice.
All of my kids were able to participate this year provided that I was also a helper. I was signed up to help with the fourth/fifth graders and my teenager was signed up to help with the first graders. Then my little ones were placed in a preschool class and the baby was permanently affixed to my waist.
This was my first adventure with having our diabetic sweetie in someone else's care for 3 hours every morning. I was nearby so I was able to leave as much as necessary and check her with her meter. Her teachers weren't comfortable checking her themselves so I just popped in at different times to monitor her progress and climbs up or down depending on the day.
The first day, my husband had given her her insulin with breakfast before I took her and it seemed to be a bit much as she ran low (her blood sugar levels) all morning. I had to keep reappearing with cereal and granola bars throughout the morning.
The next morning she didn't want to eat before we left so I didn't give her insulin but then as we drove to church, she wanted to eat cereal. so by the time I checked her in with her teachers, she was over 400. so then I had to keep showing up and giving her insulin to bring her down, and take her to the bathroom and find water cups for the desperately thirsty child in the nursery! (drama queen at times) (runs in the family)
by twelve everyday, she was worn out and ready for lunch and a rest. One day, she actually took a three hour nap, which is highly unusual for her. (she gave up naps almost a year ago)
everyone had a lot of fun though, even the teenager. we all learned some great songs. the kids got to dance on stage as the curriculum was a rock star theme. they made some great crafts and the little ones had a lot of fun being "big" kids.
my niece attended with us also, filling my car with 6 children! she memorized the scripture verse john 3:16. I asked if she knew that on the bottom of every In & Out cup is printed the verse reference john 3:16. she did not know that. so on Friday, for our last day of vacation bible school, I treated us all to In & out so that she could see the printed reference herself.
tonight we saw the movie Soul Surfer. a great movie if you have not seen it. Bethany Hamilton is a great example of putting God's word to practice even in tough situations. After a week of being reminded that God created us uniquely and for a specific purpose, it was great to see an example of a real life Christian trusting God.
Unfortunately we live in a world where some people just don't view every child as a gift from God, whether they be the only child or the fifth child or a son or daughter, or a nephew or niece or even a neighbor or friend, or someone that has special needs or even loses an arm.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." James 1:17.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Bethany Hamilton quotes this scripture verse in the movie a few times.
Next time you see someone not valuing a child, remember this and pray for them.
I decided to sign her up for vacation bible school at our church this year. the woman coordinating it asked if she felt led to be a helper. I thought, "she is helping regardless" she needs a reason to get out of bed before noon and put some of her new found wisdom into practice.
All of my kids were able to participate this year provided that I was also a helper. I was signed up to help with the fourth/fifth graders and my teenager was signed up to help with the first graders. Then my little ones were placed in a preschool class and the baby was permanently affixed to my waist.
This was my first adventure with having our diabetic sweetie in someone else's care for 3 hours every morning. I was nearby so I was able to leave as much as necessary and check her with her meter. Her teachers weren't comfortable checking her themselves so I just popped in at different times to monitor her progress and climbs up or down depending on the day.
The first day, my husband had given her her insulin with breakfast before I took her and it seemed to be a bit much as she ran low (her blood sugar levels) all morning. I had to keep reappearing with cereal and granola bars throughout the morning.
The next morning she didn't want to eat before we left so I didn't give her insulin but then as we drove to church, she wanted to eat cereal. so by the time I checked her in with her teachers, she was over 400. so then I had to keep showing up and giving her insulin to bring her down, and take her to the bathroom and find water cups for the desperately thirsty child in the nursery! (drama queen at times) (runs in the family)
by twelve everyday, she was worn out and ready for lunch and a rest. One day, she actually took a three hour nap, which is highly unusual for her. (she gave up naps almost a year ago)
everyone had a lot of fun though, even the teenager. we all learned some great songs. the kids got to dance on stage as the curriculum was a rock star theme. they made some great crafts and the little ones had a lot of fun being "big" kids.
my niece attended with us also, filling my car with 6 children! she memorized the scripture verse john 3:16. I asked if she knew that on the bottom of every In & Out cup is printed the verse reference john 3:16. she did not know that. so on Friday, for our last day of vacation bible school, I treated us all to In & out so that she could see the printed reference herself.
tonight we saw the movie Soul Surfer. a great movie if you have not seen it. Bethany Hamilton is a great example of putting God's word to practice even in tough situations. After a week of being reminded that God created us uniquely and for a specific purpose, it was great to see an example of a real life Christian trusting God.
Unfortunately we live in a world where some people just don't view every child as a gift from God, whether they be the only child or the fifth child or a son or daughter, or a nephew or niece or even a neighbor or friend, or someone that has special needs or even loses an arm.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights." James 1:17.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Bethany Hamilton quotes this scripture verse in the movie a few times.
Next time you see someone not valuing a child, remember this and pray for them.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
graduations
We had a busy week last week. We had prom, senior awards night, kindergarten graduation, high school graduation, grad night, grad party, and ended the week with family photos.
I was pleased looking back, that we survived all of it! I was nervous taking our whole family to several of these events but it all went well.
we had family come visit from out of town. Our daughter was awarded two awards for her senior year. Even though she felt like an underachiever at her amazing school! This year, her school had five valedictorians because they all tied with 4.9 gpa's!
One child down, four to go as someone said. but we are not done. she will still be here next year attending the junior college with hopes to transfer to her university the following year. and I don't think I will ever write my child off as "done" anyways! we are all works in progress even if just over a cup of coffee and scones to assess the wisdom of her next decision.
my kindergartener is finally ready for first grade. we had her do two years. she was a year younger than the others the first time around so now she is really ready for the challenge of writing extensive papers and coloring inside the lines.
we are getting used to traveling with our youngest diabetic daughter. she made it through several events with her petunia pickle bottom toddler bag packed with granola bars and apple juice, insulin in an insulated bag and needles, the big scary emergency shot and her lifeline: the meter.
she was able to indulge in ice cream topped with gummy worms, sprinkles, and chocolate syrup after the kindergarten ceremony. I liberally guessed 20 carbs or naively and gave her half a unit of insulin to cover the extravagant lunch time snack. But she survived. we came home and had lunch and adjusted her and off to rest time. No one even commented on the shot being given to her in the midst of the celebration.
At the highschool graduation, our sweetie became more restless as the ceremony allowed for many speeches and award announcements and no promise of ice cream immediately following the ceremony. Only a stroller ride back to her uncle's house who conveniently lives across the street from where we were. (free and convenient parking).
we gave her a granola bar in the gym to hold her off until we got home and later at home she had some party food (chips?) I don't really remember after the blur of our week! What I do remember was bringing her into the kitchen before I formally fed her and remembering to test her. When the meter read "dangerously high, over 600" I completely but calmly, panicked! A guest had just arrived and I said "hold on, I'm paging the doctor! with meter and needle in hand.
The doctor called back promptly and said just correct for over 500. 1 1/2 units of insulin. Now I remember. She had drank a capri sun apple juice from the cooler of party drinks. ( with, obviously no insulin) that's right. the doctor wasn't concerned just said to give her insulin and re check in a while. hang up.
okay then. we did. and she did come down.
so we all survived. we all made it through several new chapters in our lives. three in our family. since january of this year. diabetes. k graduation and a highschool graduate. sassiness in tact.
Friday, June 3, 2011
A very big error
"An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." Orlando A. Battista
My eldest daughter shared this quote with me as we were driving home tonight. She said that this quote is displayed on a poster in one of her classrooms.
The other two quotes that always come to mind are: "Teenagers, leave home now while you still know everything". and "youth is wasted on the young." These two make more and more sense to me the older that I become.
The first quote, however, is very apropo for this evening. It should be posted in a doctor's office or more specifically; an endocronologist's office.
Tonight, my eldest daughter and I were out shopping at Costco with my sister in law and niece. I just happened to set something on my purse in the shopping cart at the time that my cell phone rang. I noticed the vibration and located my phone. My husband was calling.
He said that he had made a mistake. a big mistake. He was supposed to give our little sweetie .5 units of insulin to go with her bedtime snack. He had, however, somehow, managed to give her 4 units.
I explained to my sister in law what this could mean.
Her insulin is supposed to match her carbs that she eats. When she is given way more insulin than what she ate, her blood sugar levels were drop and there is nothing to stop it. She would just keep dropping until she eventually went into a coma.
my first response was "why are you calling me?!?, call the doctor!!" He hung up and paged the doctor while I called our neighbor. He didn't answer at first, but then called back. I told him what had happened and he advised to start giving her apple juice right away. Last I knew, she was in the 200's so we agreed that we had a little bit of time before she started dropping drastically. I told him that I didn't know how he could have over shot that much! from .5 to 4 is quite a mistake. Then I remembered that her Lantus dose is 3.25. I suddenly thought "what if he was thinking he was giving her Lantus instead of her other insulin?? Then I really panicked. I had given her her Lantus dose before I had left. If he doubled up, OH MY GOODNESS!!!!
My neighbor and I agreed to call my husband back, find out about the Lantus and advise him to give her apple juice right away.
When my husband answered the phone, we barely said "Hi" when he hung up on me to take the doctor's call. Wait!! what about the Lantus??? I texted him to find out. I don't know if his phone allows him to read text messages and talk on the phone. (A commercial came to mind. For AT & T ? A man that forgot to make anniversary reservations and corrects his error while talking to his wife on the phone.) Well, my husband needs this phone.
As I'm waiting for my husband's reply, my daughter informs me that I have texted her by mistake. argh!!! So she resends the message to my husband. meanwhile, I try calling him back and he answers again. This time, he said that he had talked to the doctor and our neighbor had taken it upon himself to walk over to our house and help in this time of need. Praise God!
The doctor had advised that he start feeding her smarties and apple juice. They calculated that she needed atleast 80 carbs to try to counteract all of the insulin. At the moment they were handling the crisis and NO he had not given her more lantus. thank goodness.
so for the moment, I was able to try to focus on groceries and cheesecake samples again.
As we were finishing our errands at one more store, I called my husband back to see how things were going now. He said that our neighbor had gone home. They had actually contemplated watching a soccer game on television in the midst of this drama. Our sweetie was in bed now and falling asleep. Her numbers were in the upper 200's at the moment. However we still had another hour to go until that insulin had worked its way through her body. Everything sounded under control and I said I would see him at home.
When we got home, I sent my husband to get the groceries and I went to check on our sweetie. I checked her and she was 145 now.
My husband fixed some milk for her to drink but she didn't want to wake up and drink it. I went and fixed a cup of apple juice to try that. I figured apple juice now is better than glucogon later.
She didn't want much of anything but a blanky to snuggle with. I tried again with the milk and she finally drank about 1/3 of a cup. We checked her again a little while later and she was upto 179.
I felt good enough to head back to our groceries waiting for us all of over the kitchen counter.
I come out to find the pizza that I had just bought and put in the oven all over the floor. My husband had dropped it and was preparing to cook another one for me. He had tried to take it out of the oven and dropped it. He knew he had used his "get out of jail free" card already and he did not want anymore wrath for a fallen pizza. I silently decided to offer him grace for the pizza mistake.
I had already shared my thoughts on the insulin mistake.
As Anne Shirley was once told "Every day is brand new, with no mistakes in it yet." Anne took this to heart and was encouraged as she had lost her best friend due to her horrible mistake of innocently serving alcohol to her underage friend for an afternoon snack instead of a cordial.
Anne knew better than anybody how innocent mistakes could have disasterous effects. Her romantic ideas and daydreams and temper (stubborn nature), led her to many mistakes. green hair, a drunk best friend, an angry neighbor. writing her name on the classroom board 100 times.
But we love Anne all the more for her mistakes.
But how does Anne's endearing qualities translate to my husband and a diabetic daughter? The error was caught before it became a mistake. It was corrected and hopefully some sort of lesson was learned from this.
Read the bottle before you dye your hair. Check the syringe before you inject. and put on oven mitts when retrieving hot objects from the oven.
Oh, and use a spatula when flipping quesadillas in hot pans. My teenager was retrieving freezer items the whole costco trip due to burned finger tips from dinner she made. She claimed that I had told her to use her fingers to retrieve the hot tortilla instead of a utensil.
Crazy teenager delusion because I never make mistakes.
I personally wanted my hair green.
My eldest daughter shared this quote with me as we were driving home tonight. She said that this quote is displayed on a poster in one of her classrooms.
The other two quotes that always come to mind are: "Teenagers, leave home now while you still know everything". and "youth is wasted on the young." These two make more and more sense to me the older that I become.
The first quote, however, is very apropo for this evening. It should be posted in a doctor's office or more specifically; an endocronologist's office.
Tonight, my eldest daughter and I were out shopping at Costco with my sister in law and niece. I just happened to set something on my purse in the shopping cart at the time that my cell phone rang. I noticed the vibration and located my phone. My husband was calling.
He said that he had made a mistake. a big mistake. He was supposed to give our little sweetie .5 units of insulin to go with her bedtime snack. He had, however, somehow, managed to give her 4 units.
I explained to my sister in law what this could mean.
Her insulin is supposed to match her carbs that she eats. When she is given way more insulin than what she ate, her blood sugar levels were drop and there is nothing to stop it. She would just keep dropping until she eventually went into a coma.
my first response was "why are you calling me?!?, call the doctor!!" He hung up and paged the doctor while I called our neighbor. He didn't answer at first, but then called back. I told him what had happened and he advised to start giving her apple juice right away. Last I knew, she was in the 200's so we agreed that we had a little bit of time before she started dropping drastically. I told him that I didn't know how he could have over shot that much! from .5 to 4 is quite a mistake. Then I remembered that her Lantus dose is 3.25. I suddenly thought "what if he was thinking he was giving her Lantus instead of her other insulin?? Then I really panicked. I had given her her Lantus dose before I had left. If he doubled up, OH MY GOODNESS!!!!
My neighbor and I agreed to call my husband back, find out about the Lantus and advise him to give her apple juice right away.
When my husband answered the phone, we barely said "Hi" when he hung up on me to take the doctor's call. Wait!! what about the Lantus??? I texted him to find out. I don't know if his phone allows him to read text messages and talk on the phone. (A commercial came to mind. For AT & T ? A man that forgot to make anniversary reservations and corrects his error while talking to his wife on the phone.) Well, my husband needs this phone.
As I'm waiting for my husband's reply, my daughter informs me that I have texted her by mistake. argh!!! So she resends the message to my husband. meanwhile, I try calling him back and he answers again. This time, he said that he had talked to the doctor and our neighbor had taken it upon himself to walk over to our house and help in this time of need. Praise God!
The doctor had advised that he start feeding her smarties and apple juice. They calculated that she needed atleast 80 carbs to try to counteract all of the insulin. At the moment they were handling the crisis and NO he had not given her more lantus. thank goodness.
so for the moment, I was able to try to focus on groceries and cheesecake samples again.
As we were finishing our errands at one more store, I called my husband back to see how things were going now. He said that our neighbor had gone home. They had actually contemplated watching a soccer game on television in the midst of this drama. Our sweetie was in bed now and falling asleep. Her numbers were in the upper 200's at the moment. However we still had another hour to go until that insulin had worked its way through her body. Everything sounded under control and I said I would see him at home.
When we got home, I sent my husband to get the groceries and I went to check on our sweetie. I checked her and she was 145 now.
My husband fixed some milk for her to drink but she didn't want to wake up and drink it. I went and fixed a cup of apple juice to try that. I figured apple juice now is better than glucogon later.
She didn't want much of anything but a blanky to snuggle with. I tried again with the milk and she finally drank about 1/3 of a cup. We checked her again a little while later and she was upto 179.
I felt good enough to head back to our groceries waiting for us all of over the kitchen counter.
I come out to find the pizza that I had just bought and put in the oven all over the floor. My husband had dropped it and was preparing to cook another one for me. He had tried to take it out of the oven and dropped it. He knew he had used his "get out of jail free" card already and he did not want anymore wrath for a fallen pizza. I silently decided to offer him grace for the pizza mistake.
I had already shared my thoughts on the insulin mistake.
As Anne Shirley was once told "Every day is brand new, with no mistakes in it yet." Anne took this to heart and was encouraged as she had lost her best friend due to her horrible mistake of innocently serving alcohol to her underage friend for an afternoon snack instead of a cordial.
Anne knew better than anybody how innocent mistakes could have disasterous effects. Her romantic ideas and daydreams and temper (stubborn nature), led her to many mistakes. green hair, a drunk best friend, an angry neighbor. writing her name on the classroom board 100 times.
But we love Anne all the more for her mistakes.
But how does Anne's endearing qualities translate to my husband and a diabetic daughter? The error was caught before it became a mistake. It was corrected and hopefully some sort of lesson was learned from this.
Read the bottle before you dye your hair. Check the syringe before you inject. and put on oven mitts when retrieving hot objects from the oven.
Oh, and use a spatula when flipping quesadillas in hot pans. My teenager was retrieving freezer items the whole costco trip due to burned finger tips from dinner she made. She claimed that I had told her to use her fingers to retrieve the hot tortilla instead of a utensil.
Crazy teenager delusion because I never make mistakes.
I personally wanted my hair green.
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