It has been five months since I’ve even looked at my blog. I even forgot the password to sign in. This is not a bad thing though. Because, in the meantime we have been living and coping.
Blaine is halfway through 5th grade and Aislin through 3rd. Blaine’s elementary career is dashing to an end. As I read through my entries I wrote shortly after his diagnosis I realize I have more answers and more coping skills. I also have the experience to draw on which I desperately needed in the beginning- ironic, right? The lows we saw before- in the 30’s or 40’s rarely happen. The lows still happen, it’s just more in the 50-70 range. There are still highs that happen, in fact, we had our highest high the other week- 539! Yikes!
We are learning that his leg is a very hit or miss spot for injections. More often than not, when he’s had insulin and has an unexpected high, it is because he did the injection in his thigh. I don’t think there is enough fat there.
Little questions that I had before, like do we take the diabetes bag into Kroger, are now answered and just second nature (yes, we take the bag everywhere, you can’t leave insulin in the car, and it’s just best to be prepared). Over the summer I’d get upset over numbers like 229, but now he can be 400 and I just calmly say “Hmm. I guess the insulin leaked out or we miscalculated.” We correct and move on. Being high for a few hours is not ideal, but we are checking on a regular basis, so any highs are caught and corrected in a timely manner.
Blaine is doing great. They are times when he doesn’t feel like checking his BG, but he still checks. He doesn’t complain about the time spent out of class or the headaches from being high, or shakiness from being low. Sadly, a part of me knows that it is because this is his normal. He just knows that this is how life is for him, I’m not sure he remembers what it felt like prior.
He is loving tennis! He plays three to four times a week. Right now he has clinics two days after school, a private lesson on the weekend and he has played some matches. In fact, the other day he won his first match! It was a freezing cold day. They played in 36 degree weather. It was a doubles match. I could tell he was nervous in the beginning. Two of his peers were there watching and I think it was throwing him off. He finally settled in and did awesome! His serves were consistent and his returns looked great. We were so proud. I felt like telling diabetes “take that!”
He’s been working with a great coach for his private lessons- Coach Luis, from Argentina. Blaine is not one to talk on the phone or even return a text message. After that match he requested my phone to call Coach Luis. He called the coach and told him he won, right there in the parking lot. I had to fight back tears I was so proud of him. More than feeling proud that he won, that I felt grateful. Grateful that we found a sport he likes, a coach he connected with, and that diabetes is cooperating with us.
At the end of this month we have track sign ups. He had to quit last year because we just weren’t ready. I had no idea how his blood sugar would respond to exercise and I couldn’t be there to run along with him because I had Aislin with me. This year they’ve both agreed to do track again. I feel more relaxed and I think we can handle it.
I feel like we are just living again. I still have moments, and I’m sure I always will. This is still a loss for us. A loss of the life we had before, but I know there are worse things. For the most part I can truly say life is good. If anything this had made us live in the moment even more, and be grateful for each normal day.
