D-Feast Friday - Citrus Cheesecake

Citrus Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS
nonfat cooking spray
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 T brown sugar
2 T butter or margarine, melted


Filling Ingredients:
1/2 cup of sugar
1/3 cup wheat flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
2- 8oz pkg of  cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream 
1 T fresh lemon juice
1T. fresh line juice
1T. fresh orange juice
1 lemon peel, grated
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 300 F.

2. Prepare the crust: Coat a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix crumbs, brown sugar and butter then firmly press mixture into bottom and 2 inches up the sides of the pan.

3. Prepare the filling: In a large sized mixing bowl, combine sugar and flour then add vanilla, cream cheese, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Add milk, sour cream, citrus juices and peels and beat until smooth.

4. In a separate mixing bowl, using clean and dry beaters, beat egg whites at room temperature at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg white mixture with cream cheese mixture.

5. Pour into prepared crust and bake at 300� F for 1 hour or until set. Remove from oven and let completely cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight.

6. Sprinkle with grated lemon, lime and orange zest before serving (optional.)

Serves 12.


appx 26 carbs per slice

Apidra, again.

A few weeks ago I decided to give Apidra a try for Princess.  We have had huge success with Lovebug using it and I thought maybe it would be easier to have them on the same insulin  I know that sounds like a bit of an oxymoron because they are on different pumps so I am not confused.  I am not a big fan of accidentally filling the wrong pump with the wrong insulin.  Just don't need that headache.  I have to make enough changes to basal and bolus amounts as it is!  I really don't need to make MORE work for myself.

The first week, I was seriously ready to pull my hair out.  Princess kept going low an hour after she would eat and she hadn't done that with Novolog.  I raised I:C ratios, and kept raising them. To no avail, that was not working.  So I lowered them back down and started using the Square Bolus and evening her bolus out over an 1.5 hours.  That didn't seem to work at first.  It just prolonged the low.  But I kept with it for a few days and it started to work!  A little victory, at last.

Then  we started seeing higher numbers over all.  I raised her basal rates and we are still raising them. Maybe I should say tweaking them.  I think they are as high as they need to be, (i could be wrong though) I just really need to figure out how to balance the day out with what she needs.

Take for example, over night (for us that is 8pm to 8am right now) She typically goes to bed in range and then spikes up about 200 points with in and hour after she falls asleep.  (dusk phenomenon)  We still can't get that spike to go away.  I did, for a while, but then she was waking up too low in the morning.  So needless to say we are still working on that one.  Plus we have this weird pattern that has been happening after breakfast.

I have been giving her a normal bolus and she will spike and come back down in range within 1.5 hours and then a half hour later is going straight back up again!! (double arrows up on Mini)  And has been high at lunch.   (around 200)  I raised basal for the morning but it doesn't seem to be helping. Might need another basal tweak there too.  All those tweaks just never end!

Now three, (almost 4) weeks in I am happy with Apidra for Princess and very hopeful we will be sticking with it!

Blessings

Today I made the dreaded call to set up our 504 plan meeting.  This is only the second time I have had to make the call so maybe that is why I say that I dread it.  I really don't like being forceful with teachers and school staff when it comes to my kids, but I know I have to be when it comes to their diabetes.  The girls lives are in the schools hands for the day and they need to know how to take care of her and what to do should (god forbid) the worst ever happen at school.

When I made the call I expected to hear the secretaries voice on the other end.  I know she knows what she is doing since she had been helping with the other T1 at our school for the past 2 years.  I knew she would know who we needed to have at our meeting besides herself and Lovebug's teacher.

Much to my surprise someone else answered the phone (actually I accidentally called the business office instead of the elementary office, oops!)  I asked her (assuming she was filling in for our secretary) if she would know who I should talk to about setting up our diabetes plan meeting.  She said that she could help me but that she was the other T1 kids mom from our school!!

So we chatted for a while and she told me a little about her kiddo and he uses and Animas Ping pump too, just like Lovebug!  She gave me some great advice and shared with me how they handled things as far as who did the dosing and checking to make sure things were getting done correctly.  She also said that he does go down to the office to check his blood sugars and for dosing. The secretary double checks what he is doing and then she emails her his blood sugar, correction dose if any and the amount of the bolus given.  I know this is probably happens for a lot of you but I thought that was really cool!! My though was way to go the extra mile, especially at a private school.  She keeps a mini-fridge in the office with his snacks and low fixes and told me that I could use it too.  :)

Oh, boy did it do my heart good to talk to her today!  She was so helpful and caring.  It was refreshing to talk to another d-mom right at our school going through the same day to day struggles that we are going through.  She told me to give her a call anytime I wanted to talk or needed advice.  We have never met before yet this mom was offering to do what she could for me.  How awesome is that!

She eventually did transfer me so I could talk to Lovebug's teacher, who by the way is also amazing!  She was so encouraging and excited to meet Lovebug next week at our diabetes plan meeting.  I have met her before, but don't know her all that well.  As we were talking she mentioned she lives in the same subdivision as another d-family that goes to our church.  She said she has heard how that d-mom has struggled and what her daughter has gone through. She really sympathized with me and it is refreshing to have someone whom I barely know encourage me and tell me that she will take good care of my little girl.

Needless to say I was just blown away.  I had been having a few doubts about sending Lovebug to school at the private school (mostly because of cost) but God showed me once again that she is there for a reason and I am even more convinced of that now.  This may not be the school she stays at all through elementary but for this year, she is right where she is supposed to be and I am confident of that now.  The good Lord knew just when I needed a little confidence booster!!

Determined

There have been a lot of blue candles lately.  Too many, and  it's making me sick.  But it is also making  me more determined then ever.

Determined to keep fighting for a cure. NO MATTER WHAT.  Determined to raise money for that cure.  Determined to raise funds for advancements in technology to make my girls life's a little easier.  Determined that I will NEVER stop fighting all the miss-conceptions out there about Type 1.  I will do everything in my power for my girls and all the other children and adults out there living with Type 1.

I dare anyone that questions why I do what I do, to live ONE DAY in my shoes. I dare you, just one day.  Count the carbs, measure the food, poke your kids fingers (each) 8 -10 times a day. Constantly watch what your kids put in their mouth. Every single little bite.  Even 10 little carbs can make a HUGE difference in blood sugar levels. Learn how to calculate a bolus and how to subtract insulin on board and determine if they need a correction dose, at least 3 times a day.  Poke you kids with long needles for a site change.  Then poke them with even longer needles to change their CGM sensor. Then watch at the tears stream down their face as they tell you they wish they didn't have diabetes anymore. Watch your kids suffer from low blood sugars acting lethargic, lost, unable to speak.  Watch your kids deal with high blood sugars and ketones.  Worry about whether you should make a change in their Insulin to Carb ratio or their basal rate and worry if you did it right. One wrong move either direction can have devastating consequences. Then worry every night when you put them to bed that there is a REAL chance they may not wake up in the morning.  I dare you to get up twice a night and check their blood sugar, to make sure they aren't going to suffer from a severe low that kills them or a high blood sugar that puts them in the hospital ICU.

I am NOT exaggerating this, just talk to any d-mama out there.  They will tell you. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I didn't even go into what can happen in the long term.  Like the fact that my girls are 2-4 times more likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke and have it be deadly.  One of the girls that passed away died from a stroke. She was only 14 years old.  Now tell me not to worry and that I am exaggerating. Yes, I know every parent worries about their kid dying but I stare death in the face each and every day.  Times two.

That is why I will never give up fighting and raising money for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.  No parent should have to deal with this.  No child should have their childhood stolen from them because of it.  We need a cure and we need it now.

My new friend!

Just to prove that I have THE BEST hubby in the world I have to tell you about my new  friend!

A couple weeks ago my hubby saw an ad on Craigslist.  He showed it to me and asked me if I liked it.  Of course I said; Yes, It's beautiful!  I made sure he wasn't joking around with me, and he wasn't.  I made a phone call and about 2 hours later she was in my arms!

My "just because gift" Daisy

Yep!  That's my new baby, Daisy!  She a 2 year old Persian.  I LOVE her!!  She has the best temperament, super cuddly, loves to be pet and is a PERFECT addition to our family!  I really could not of asked for a better cat!

Of course I have wanted a cat for a while, and my hubby knew it.  It was perfect timing.  I had thrown the idea around of getting a kitten but then you have the cost of spay/neutering and de-clawing.  Being the Daisy is already 2 years old that has all been taken care of.  :)

And to add to my hubby's wonderfulness, he has been getting up and checking the girls in the middle of the night for the past 5 days! It was SO NICE to be able to sleep through the night! He was doing it, in part due to my broken toe. It is getting better, I can at least walk now.  

Anyway.  Enough bragging about my wonderful hubby!  Until tomorrow! :)

D-Feast Friday - Banana Nut Granola

Banana Nut Granola 

INGREDIENTS
1 cup raw almonds
1 small ripe banana
1/2 cup brown rice syrup (or honey or maple syrup)
3 cups barley flakes
5 cups old-fashioned oats (or all oats)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (optional)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350F.

Place the almonds in a food processor and process until finely ground, about two minutes. Add banana and syrup and process for a minute, until ingredients are smooth and pourable.

Place oats and barley in a large bowl, then pour on the banana mixture. Mix well.

Spread on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Makes 16 1/2 cup servings.


Total Carbs: 35.9g
Protein: 7.6g

It's a Special Day!!

4 years ago today, I gave birth to one pretty special Princess.  

and she has grown into quite a precious little girl. 

She is full of smiles and can light up a room.  

She has a spunky little attitude!

She is headstrong and stubborn like her mama and daddy.  

She is one of the bravest and strongest little girls I know!

I am so glad that God has blessed us with her in our lives.  

Love you, Princess!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! from Mama, Daddy, Peanut and Lovebug. 

Holy Leaking Insulin Batman!

Last Sunday night I went up stairs to check the girls, as I normally do before I go to bed.  I walked in and check Princess first (as normal, I do them in a certain order so I don't forget to check one or the other!)

As I went to take her pump out of her pump pouch to check the CGM  I noticed the pump was wet.  My initial thought was, great, she leaked out of her pull-up already.  (her blood sugar had been high at bedtime) Then when I went to smell to check if that's what it was.  I did not smell pee-pee.  It was insulin. 

What the heck!?  Maybe that was why her blood sugars had been high all day?  But why hadnt' I noticed it during the rest of the day?  So strange...  I decided to go ahead and check Lovebug (after checking Princess) and then unhooked Princess's pump from her and took it downstairs to inspect it more.  

I check the outside of the pump out, it didn't seem to be visibly leaking insulin from anywhere but it REEKED of insulin.  I took the reservoir out to look and it and I noticed condensation on the reservoir.  The inside of it where the piston pushes the reservoir up.  Yep, that should NOT be there.  I called the Medtronic helpline to see what they thought I should do. (besides the obvious, change the reservoir out)  The guy I talked to was very helpful and concerned. He told me he would replace a few of our reservoirs and wanted to send us a new insulin pump.  I told him it was working fine at this point.  I didn't see any reason to replace it when it was working fine.  He told me if the pump started acting funny in any way or we had another leaking reservoir to call back and they would send us a replacement pump.  I agreed I would call back and was a bit relieved we didn't need to go back to shots for a while until we received a new pump. The man was very helpful and with it being my first experience with the Medtronic Helpline, I was more then impressed!  

Everything was fine and dandy until the next night.  Monday night her CGM keept alarming when the CGM screen clearly said that she was okay.  At one point it said LOW PREDICTED and she had double arrows up on the CGM screen.  I was up almost every hour that night clearing alarms and checking her blood sugar just to be on the safe side.  I'm so glad she was sleeping BUT it was tough on me poking her over 10 times that night. By the time 6am rolled around I just disconnected the pump and took it downstairs.  I was going crazy. I decided to check the reservoir again and sure enough, more leakage.  Wonderful. 

I decided at this point that I wanted a new pump. Something had to be wrong with it.  Since they said to call back, I did.  The lady I talked to that time was less then helpful.  She just told me to change the reservoir out and call back if it happened again.  Didn't offer a new pump or anything.  I was NOT impressed with this lady AT all.  I tried explaining to her that this HAD happened before but she was clearly not listening.  I got off the phone and was very discouraged.  

Later that morning I put a call into our Medtronic Rep.  I explained to her what had happened over the past couple days and asked if I should be pushing for a new pump at this point or just wait and see. She told me that I needed a new pump. It is Medtronic's policy that if at anytime you are not confident that your pump is working properly, they will replace it. (within the warranty)  She did not want me using that other one if insulin had possibly leaked into it. Even if it was delivering insulin fine at that point, if insulin leaked into it, it could stop working properly at any time. She was very concerned the second person I talked to at Medtronic gave me the "run around" as she put it.  

My rep ended up calling Medtronic herself and I ended up on a 3 way call with someone from Medronic, myself and my rep.  The lady from Medtronic was very apologetic and they had a new pump on it's way.  They also replaced ALL of my reservoirs I had on hand.  I'm pretty sure the lady apologized a dozen times but I was just happy someone was taking care of it.  I was very impressed with Medtronic and with my rep.  She saved the day!  

The pump arrived by 10am the next day and all has been well with the new one. Kudos to Medtronic for following through and to my rep for going the extra mile.  :)

Catching-Up

I can't believe I haven't blogged in a week!  To my defense last week was a bit of a crazy week for me.

I ended Napblopomo with a whimper as I missed a few days but life is life and it happens.  We had an endo appointment.  Princess pump had a "malfuntion" and we had to get a new pump. We got a new addition to our house.  We celebrated diabetes by eating ice cream.  We had a family reunion.   We got the design all set for our JDRF Walk T-shirts. And last but not least, I broke my big toe.

This week isn't much better in the busyness department, but I promise to try to blog a bit more!  :)  Unfortunately diabetes doesn't go away just because you are busy and diabetes has been....let's just say NOT on it's best behavior.  (and that is putting it nicely)

So, I guess I will start with our endo appointment last week.  It went pretty good.  Lovebug's A1C was up from 6.6 to 7.0 but that's not too bad. Although it was at 6.2 just 6 short months ago.  I would personally like it a bit lower but as I said earlier, diabetes hasn't been on it's best behavior lately (then again when is it ever?! ) That and I did have another child diagnosed since Lovebug's last endo appointment so despite all that, I am just happy it didn't go up more!

It was nice to get a "pat on the back" from the endo and our CDE though. Love it when the endo looks at Lovebug's pump download and says that he can't see any way to make her numbers any better so no changes.  That was nice!

We ended up taking the whole family because my hubby wanted to go to the appointment.  That was interesting!  Peanut (our non-d kid) had never been to an endo appointment so she got to see what her sisters go though at each appointment.  Then Princess finally got to meet the doctor.  Because he was full when she was diagnosed we haven't been able to get her in for her first official endo appointment yet.  (it will just be 4 months this week) She has been in for her pump start and such but we had to see one of the other doctors so we could get started earlier.  (her first actual endo appointment is the end of this month) She seems to like him just as much as Lovebug.  He is pretty easy going guy that really knows his stuff.   My hubby and I really like him.

While we were there we signed up for a research study that will tract the girls at least until they are 18. They collect information (from our endo visits)  and track the girls "progress" as well as let us know of clinical trials or studies that come up that they could be eligible for.  We are "excited" about it and what information they may be able to gleam from the girls.

We also talked to the endo about switching Princess from Novolog to Apidra.  I was a little hesitant BUT it would be nice to have them on the same insulin.  I have already almost put the wrong insulin in the wrong pump!  (we do both girls site changes on the same day.)  We did come up with a system of  I change one girls site change and my hubby does the other girls site change.  Anyway, we got a vial to try from the endo.  So far, so good.  But I have to admit that I need to go in a makes a few changes (we had to with Lovebug too).  I haven't seen as big of a change in Princess numbers as I did with Lovebug's when we switched her over last summer.  Another one of those things were you realize that EVERY kid is different and their bodies just work differently.  So, we have had yet  more change but  Princess's numbers have been so high that I thought we needed to make some sort of change.  (the other changes just weren't working they way they should) So hopefully we will start seeing some changes and drops in Princess's numbers!

If you come back tomorrow I will tell you about the new addition to our family! :)