The Eagle Has Landed

Alright...a NASA space shuttle has not landed in our back yard but it might as well have landed there. This week has been a week of celebrations in our house.

On Tuesday, we packed the car for a full day of learning at Children's Hospital. We were making our journey towards pump insertion. We have to admit from a Mommy and Daddy point of view that after our first class we felt numb. We looked at each other and thought, "I feel like a kid trying to learn how to ride a bike all over again." We knew that there would be falls, scraps and bruises along the way as we learned all these new formulas, buttons, and methods of keeping Samantha Grace's blood glucose levels in check.

Towards the end of the class, we were able to insert the pump (which is much like an IV line) into SG. Mommy was overjoyed, for she was the one to draw the short straw, that SG did not cry when the inset (site where the line is inserted into her little body) was place on her bottom. Samantha Grace, we have to say, had had a wonderful time playing with Mary Austin while Mommy and Daddy were learning which helped in the overall "trauma" set-up. Following her pump being inserted (with only saline this week), we all enjoyed a peaceful ride home with a sleeping baby.

Wednesday proved to be the first bump in the road. SG woke up very fussy. (Side Note: She is not a morning person at all.) So Mommy attributed it to being sleepy, adjusting to the pump, and possibly teething. So being the "responsible" parents, Mommy and Daddy decided to begin the pain prevention process with a little Motrin. Well...

After a huge struggle to get her to eat breakfast, which ended up consisting more of candy corn that anything nutritious since that is all I could get her to eat, I found her blood sugar to be going off the charts (406) just before lunch time at school. We later discovered that she was running a 101 temp. So off to nap time we went with another dose of Motrin.

Following nap, Mommy thought all was well because Samantha Grace woke up sweaty and seemed to be "back to normal" personality wise. However, we soon found her back into a state of crabbiness, magnetism (attached to Mommy's side), and a temp up to 103. At this point in our journey, we now visit the doc. All tests came back negative so we were diagnosed with a fever virus. (Side Note: She was also have difficulties using the restroom.)

We continued the overlapping of fever meds through the night along with elevated blood sugars. (When diabetics run fevers they tend to run high.) She woke-up this morning with a semi-high blood sugar level, but the fever seemed to have subsided. However, as I now write, the fever has returned and we are trying some new remedies to get her digestive system back in order.

Mommy and Daddy ask that you pray for little SG. She is in quite a bit of pain due to the digestive problems. Also pray for the fever to break soon because the fever is using up the liquids we are trying to get down her which doesn't help the other problem. We thank you for all your prayers and support.

P.S. She is doing great so far with the pump. Doesn't really understand the whole thing yet.

You Are Approved!

Many of us on a weekly, if not daily basis, receive stacks of credit card mailings or even phone calls notifying us that we have been approved for an amazing, beautiful and "free" credit card. This week we received many of those mailings and several of those polite offers; however, we so graciously turned each of these offers away with a polite, "No thank you," or a trip down shredder lane. Yet on the upside we did receive an offer this week that one, at least in our household, could not turn away...

We found out this past Wednesday that Samantha Grace had been approved to receive her insulin pump by the insurance company. I might add that this was completed after all the paperwork was complete and a doctor's visit made in what our case worker for Blue Cross stated,"Record time!" Less than one month has passed since our doctor's visit and only 4 days had passed since the receipt of the paper work to our insurance company. I have to say that a lot of this would not have happened without some God-sent angels to help us along the way with Blue Cross Insurance.

After getting the wonderful approval phone call, we set-up for the delivery of the pump, which will be next Wednesday. Following the delivery, we will set-up several Birmingham appointments to get her actually on the pump. We will also, at this point, make an appointment to see a pediatric eye doctor for precautionary measures that were stated in a previous posting.

We could not be more joyous over this fabulous news! The Lord provided at a time of much need, for Samantha Grace has had quite a week with her blood sugar levels running in the high range for a good portion of the week.

We covet all of your prayers as we journey through these next few phases. We also ask that you pray as Mommy and Samantha Grace travel to meet with one of our Congressman as an advocate for Juvenile Diabetes on Monday, September 28. Thank you again for all the prayers. Our God is so good!

4 Month Update Full of Artistic Ability

Yesterday we marked some major milestones in our lives…Samantha Grace turned 17 months old yesterday. We also marked just over the 4 month mark of her Type I Diabetes diagnosis. Finally, the biggest news of all is that Samantha Grace’s A1C level (a level that marks, basically, whether or not a person’s blood sugar levels has been somewhat in “normal” range) has drastically changed for the better. We have moved from a score of over 11 down to a score 7.8!

Mommy was moved to tears at Samantha Grace’s doctor’s appointment. Her doctor was extremely moved as well. We all had a “group hug” moment to celebrate. SG has also grown almost 3 inches since her diagnosis. This is great! Dr. L, the bestest endocrinologist, was very impressed by SG’s new looks!

Dr. L gave Mommy and Daddy a HUGE round of applause for their hard work, lost sleep and unending love to helping Samantha Grace be as healthy as can be with diabetes. He said that without our dedication her A1C levels would not have changed this drastically in just 4 months.

On a more prayerful note…there were some concerns that Dr. L still had about SG. 1) Dr. L is still a little concerned about her weight gaining process. She has not gained any more weight in the past 1 ½ months. (I keep telling myself that she is just growing taller and leveling out in weight for a time.)
2) There are also some concerns about her depth perception abilities. She tends to struggle perceiving the depth of steps and has to “feel” her way a lot of times. Therefore, Dr. L has suggested that we see a pediatric ophthalmologist. It is possible that prior to her diagnosis that her sight might have been affected from drastic fluctuations in blood sugars.

Dr. L also gave us some awesome tips to help with the “stresses” that could be causing such fluctuations in blood sugar levels while at school.

Finally, we should have an insulin pump in our precious hands in less than 2 weeks! Once we get the pump in our hands, we will be setting up classes in Birmingham followed by some back-to-back doctor’s appointments in Birmingham. But as Dr. L put it today, “It will ALL be definitely worth it!”

On a lighter note…We were also able to enjoy some “Girl Time” while in Birmingham. Samantha Grace enjoyed playing dolls at Pottery Barn for Kids and entertaining all the employees while Mommy and Godmommy “shopped” for big girl bedding in the future. We later met up with Mary Austin for a scrumptious bite to eat. We all couldn’t decide if SG was more interested in eating or flirting with the waiters (quite a distraction). SG was also privileged enough to have the mayor of Birmingham hold the door for her on her way out of the restaurant. (Honestly, Mommy nor SG would have known it was him if Godmommy hadn’t pointed it out.)

Overall, today has been an awesome day! We could not be happier with SG’s progress. We do ask that you pray about the two concerns that were previously mentioned. We should be seeing an eye doctor around, hopefully, the same time we go for pump education classes. Thank you in advance for all your prayers and support!

P.S. Samantha Grace decided today to express her true inner artist by painting our hardwood floor, tile, kitchen and herself golden yellow. Following her painting activities, she explored the musical side of her artistic abilities at Kindermusik.

Roller Coasters, Nursing Homes, Kisses and More

Alright to all my faithful followers, I send my deepest apologies for the lack of writing over the past few weeks. Our life has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride from every angle.

I will start with the most important update...SAMANTHA GRACE.
I have to say that these past few weeks she has been at the front of the roller coaster ride. We and her doctors are at a loss for what her body might be going through besides the normal things that 1-year-olds go through. We have experienced some of our lowest lows and highest highs in quite some time since diagnosis. Unfortunately, last week we also experienced one of our first at-home-scares. SG had a "Degree 2" seizure. (This type is one where the patient is unresponsive to one's name being called and stares with glassy eyes into space, much like day dreaming but unresponsive.)I was so thankful that her preschool teachers noticed a change in her demeanor and came and got me immediately.

The mystery of the seizure is that it occurred when she was overly high (472) not low, which is usually when one occurs. This is one of many mysteries to her endocrinologist. In addition to the occurrence of the seizure, Dr. L doesn't know why we can't get somewhat of a leveling or consistency to her Blood Glucose levels. In less than a 24 hour period her readings were 223, 411, 412, 107 & 82. This has been her story for over 5 days.

We are still waiting to hear from our Insulin Pump rep. in Birmingham to see if we are going to get the pump without a "fight". The good news that I owe a HUGE thanks to a wonderful church member is that our "special" insulin will now be able to be filled here in Montgomery! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

On a much lighter note...Samantha Grace has had quite a few new life adventures. She has now joined the in-home ministry visiting team. She went to Wesley Gardens with her Godmother and Aunt Phyllis becoming quite the hit with all the people there distributing kisses to all of the residents. Mr. Harwell, a church member, drew a picture of a puppy for SG. They had quite the fun-filled day enjoying a nice lunch at Panera afterward followed by an elongated nap.

SG has also officially started preschool! She is enjoying the playtime with other children and all the wonderful attention that her fabulous teachers give her. I am enjoying being able to witness all her interactions (I am the assistant director at the school.) as well as the fantastic naps when we get home!

We have enjoyed traveling to a variety of destinations as of lately for some quality family time. SG experienced her first Montgomery Biscuits game this week supporting Juvenile Diabetes all the while. We are looking forward to visiting Ama and Papa this week to celebrate Papa's 60th birthday! SG will be able to see a HUGE baseball stadium this week and her first Atlanta Braves game as well!

As a family, we continue to thank our Lord for so many of you that have and still are praying for us. As you can see by this entry, just when things appear to be stabilizing we are thrown another curve ball. Our continual prayer request is for stability. Along with that we are still praying for the decision makers of BCBS of Alabama that they would see our need for the pump. Finally, we ask that you would pray that the Lord would pour large amounts of wisdom in some medical and other decisions that will have to be made in the near future.

The Votes are Needed

We all could use a little extra cash in our pockets these days right?! Well, my sister and brother-in-law have found the perfect way. They recently went to Panama City on vacation and, as we all do on vacation, took several pictures. After returning home they found out about a contest with their local newspaper, The Tennessean, and their photo has been picked as one of the top 20 photos. Now it is up to the readers to vote on the top picture. Right now they are in 2nd place so that is where you come into play! Click on this link and vote for picture number 6. If they win, they will take home that extra cash. (I am hoping a get a little split for publicizing all of this Justin and Rachel! HA! HA!)

I will post a little later today about other things going on in our little world. Have a great day!

Heavy Hearts

Dear Friends and Family:

Joshua and I come to you this Lord's Day with heavy hearts. We found out just before bed last night that a dear couple in our Sunday School class lost their twin girls during birth. The couples names are Ashley and Barrett. Our entire class is deeply saddened by this loss. Joshua and I found ourselves unable to sleep last night not knowing how to best minister to and pray for this couple.

For we know what it is like to sit at the feet of Jesus and pray that he spare the life of our child, but this is a loss that has deeply impacted us. We found ourselves drying tears during church as our pastor beautifully intertwined their story into his sermon about going through the storms in life.

I write to ask for your prayers. This is a couple that will need deep prayer even weeks, months and years from now. I thank you in advance for all of your prayers. Also, if you feel compelled to give to this family in the manner our Sunday School class has chosen via monetary gifts to purchase frozen meals for the future, please contact me via e-mail.

In His footsteps,
Carri

THE Pump and Magic White Sauce

So I have been composing this update for four days now, but it has yet to be "penned" onto the actual blog site from my head. I have to give all credit to Daddy for coming up with the title for this entry. It came to him over our weekend trip to Grandbo and Mimi's house with the events that took place. Details later...

For so many who have asked either in passing, on the phone, at church, etc. for a medical update it goes a little something like this...Samantha Grace is doing fabulous! She has now been sickness free (minus our current yeast infection due to the antibiotics we just came off of a few weeks back)for almost 2 1/2 weeks! Mommy cannot express how relieved she is not to be using the nose syringe, not giving insurmountable doses of Tylenol/Motrin, not purchasing or giving antibiotics, steroids, and, most of all, not giving an extreme number of extra shots every day!


(Being a typical toddler enjoying...OREOS!)

SG's blood sugar numbers are still unstable; however, as we have explained before this is to be expected with a toddler. For example, last night she played non-stop over at her Godmother's house from 3:00 - 8:30. Therefore, she had a low blood sugar reading prior to bed, but no sweat, especially for Samantha Grace because this means she gets to go to her "special" drawer in the fridge and pick out a mini Juicy Juice box. (This is one of her favorites! And she can drink out of the juice box all by herself. One shall not try to help her because she is Miss Independent!)

The exciting news in her medical world is that she is in the working process of getting an insulin pump. Which means her set eating schedule will be no more. (Can I get a HUGE AMEN!?) However, it does mean that our trips to Birmingham Children's will be more frequent for the next few months for check-ups and more education classes. A LARGE prayer request right now is that the insurance company will approve her for the pump despite only being on the shots for 3 months. We should know something in 2 -3 weeks. If we don't get approved right now then we will wait until November (our 6 month mark) which still is not bad. We are just excited to reduce her injections, not blood sugar testings, to only 2 or 3 a week from 30+ per week. The other good news is that once we pay for the pump (our copay) then all of her equipment will be completely covered by insurance no more out of pocket expenses!

(She thought it was funny that she got OREO in her hair!)

Now onto Life news...
Since my last entry, we ventured to Nashville for a quick weekend get-a-way. We were able to spend time with Mimi and Grandbo. We also visited Daddy's grandparents who will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary later this month, which we weren't going to be able to attend due to prior engagements at home.

We discovered, over the past few weeks, that one of the best ways to insure that SG will eat is to have something to dip her food into (i.e., ketchup, mustard, etc.). Well, since ketchup is pretty high on the sugar count, I explored and found that sour cream was really low on the carbs (1g per 2 tablespoons for those of you who are interested). Well, lets just say we now refer to sour cream at our house as the "magic white sauce". She loves to not only dip her food into sour cream but to eat it by the hand fulls. Hence, this week she was eating a cheese quesadilla and dipping it into her sour cream in Daddy's office. I turned my back to talk to Mr.Chip and Daddy, turned around, and found Samantha Grace's entire hand digging out a scoop of sour cream! Pictures below tell all...




She also enjoys applesauce and sugar free syrup as her dipping sauces. She also knows how to say the word "dip" and will say it as she is dipping her food. Quite hysterical!

This week we also found out that our sweet friend Ruthie Grace was going to be having some surgery. (She is only 2 months old.) We were quite shocked but we also knew that this surgery was probably going to have to come sooner or later. I am glad to report that she made it well through surgery. And after talking to her Mommy this morning (Dr.M), she is doing great. She woke up about 11 PM last night talking up a storm. They are actually on their way home from Birmingham as I am currently writing my fingers raw. (Whew! What a week off of the blog will do to you?!)

We also found out that Ruthie Grace will not have to have hip surgery. She has hip dysplasia and has been wearing a harness to help "heal" it; however, if the harness did not work its magic surgery was going to have to be the next option. But this is a HUGE praise that the harness was once again proven faithful. (We have another friend whose baby wore the harness as well and it worked wonders too!) HUGE praise this week!

I close this week asking, again, for prayers for Samantha Grace's continual good health. Also, that the health insurance company would see the need for SG's pump and approve it without any hesitations. I ask, in advance, for a smooth transitions as we experience some new changes with medical and other needs. Lastly, I ask for prayer for Ruthie Grace's healing process. It might be a long road but it is definitely one that God is in complete control of every minute.