Step Out for Diabetes

So yesterday my family and I trekked our way out to Wild Horse Pass to do a 2 mile walk to fight diabetes.  We actually joined the team of the 12 year old girl in my ward whose family has been so helpful to me since discovering I had diabetes.  It was really easy, and we were home by 9:30 in the am, but it was pretty cool.  I've decided next year that I'm going to actually create my own team and really try and hit all of you up for money to find a cure for this blasted disease! :)  So, just be prepared.  Start saving now so that next year you can give all your hard earned cash to this great cause! (just kidding) But seriously, next year...Team Crandell!!!!

Diabetes...It sucks

Well, perhaps you've been waiting on pins and needles to find out about my diabetes diagnosis that I teasingly referred to in July.  Or, maybe you haven't.  (Probably you haven't...but I'm telling you about it anyway!) :)  Here are the most commonly asked questions:

#1 What were your symptoms?

Well, first I was drinking water like it was going out of style.  Literally. I was downing more than a gallon a day and peeing like crazy!  I would get up 2 to 3 times a night to go to the bathroom, and I wasn't pregnant, so I knew that was weird.  If I didn't have water with me I could almost not think of anything else because my mouth was so dry and I just could not get enough.  Even if I was almost home from somewhere I would have to stop and buy a bottle of water and then drink most of it before I got home.  Then I would get a LARGE glass of it as soon as I got home and drink it.  Apparently that's a big sign of diabetes, but I didn't know it.

#2 I was also sick to my stomach.  I really thought I was pregnant because I was peeing a lot (even at night) and I felt sick to my stomach.  I even took a couple pregnancy tests, which obviously came back negative.

#3 I had talked to a lady whose daughter was diagnosed with Diabetes in December and she had mentioned similar symptoms, and I thought about it, but put it out of my mind.  But when I was telling my mom and Allyson about it they told me that I needed to go to the doctor because it sounded like Diabetes to them.

#4 I was losing weight.  I have worked hard this last year to lose weight--exercising 3 to 4 times a week and eating better.  I had lost 30 pounds...but from about March to May I had stopped going to the gym and eaten out A LOT because of baseball season, and I STILL lost about 6 or 7 pounds.

 At church the day after I talked to my family, I talked to that lady again and told her what was going on and she said she could check my blood sugar for me right then.  When she did, my sugar was at 357 (I had eaten 3 hours earlier).  Apparently that's VERY high, since normal blood sugar is from 60 to 100 before meals, and no higher than 120 after meals.  HMMMM....so then we pulled an EMT out of class to talk to me, and then a dermatologist in my ward.  They all convinced me that even thought I felt FINE that I needed to go to the emergency room because it was very serious.  

I thought maybe I could just wait until Monday and go to the doctor, but they talked me into it because they really thought I should.  (It turns out I could've waited, but no one knew that and it's OK because we did what was best at the time).  When I was in the hospital my blood sugar was all the way up to 382.  They gave me 2 liters of fluids to bring down my sugars and it only went down to 272 or so.  They discharged me and I went to the doctor the next day.

I got my blood work done and they do a test called an A1C that checks where your blood sugars have been for the past 3 months.  You want to be below a 6, and I was at 10.7.  That means that over the past 3 months my blood sugars had averaged around 250 a day.  They also tested my bloods for the past 3 weeks, called a Fructosamine test, and it should be between 190 and 270.  Mine was 503.  So, yea...high numbers.  I was spilling a lot of glucose in my urine.  Basically I was peeing out half of what I was eating (thus the weight loss).  (Apparently it's a great diet for a while!! :)  That Tuesday my blood sugar went up to 453, and the doctor told me to come right back in.  He put me on a 24 hour insulin that I would take every night at the same time.  (It's called Lantus).  He still thought I had type 2 diabetes, even though I didn't totally fit the profile (Type 2 generally runs in families, happens when you are overweight or very unhealthy, and if you've had gestational diabetes--which I had--you are at a much higher risk for this.  With Type 2 you can usually control it completely with diet, exercise, and sometimes a pill.  If you're very severe you might also need to take insulin shots.  But basically Type 2 is insulin resistant...their bodies just don't use the insulin they produce correctly.  Type 1 is insulin sensitive--meaning your body uses it very well, but it is an autoimmune disease where your pancreas stops producing insulin because your body begins "attacking" itself.  If you are type 1 there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it or to prevent it from happening in the first place.  You will be required to use insulin shots for the rest of your life because your body does not produce it anymore.  Type 1 diabetics are the ones who wear the pumps, or have to give shots of insulin at each meal and check blood sugars 6 to 12 times a day).  Well, it turns out I'm Type 1.  

So...now I get to check my sugars when I wake up, every time I eat, 2 hours after I eat, and any time I might feel "low."  Feeling low feels MUCH worse than having high sugars.  It's where there's too much insulin (maybe you gave yourself a shot, but didn't finish the meal you were eating--and you decide how much to give yourself based on the carbs you're eating), so your sugars drop.  You feel sick--sweaty, shaky, like you want to eat everything in sight, and like you're going to pass out.  If this happens I have to eat straight sugar (glucose tablets, jolly ranchers, juice boxes, etc.) and then when my sugars rise a bit I eat something with more complex carbs.  This can be dangerous, though, because if they fall too fast I could pass out and not be able to take anything, so people have to possibly give me a shot or rub cake gel into my gums, etc.  I need to order an ID bracelet now because I'm diabetic.  Basically, it's pretty much changed my life forever.

Can I have more kids?

Well, Troy and I were planning on getting pregnant at the end of the summer, but it turns out I really can't until my A1C scores are down in the 6 range (which takes a long time and a LOT of hard work).  Right now it's iffy that we will have anymore kids, which makes me quite sad since I don't feel done.  Also, Allyson's having one in October, and now Lana's pregnant and having one in May.  I really wanted to add one of our own to that cousin mix, but alas...not to be.  Type 1 Diabetics can have babies, but it's much harder and higher risk.  Also, if you conceive during a time when your sugars are really high there is a much higher risk for congenital birth defects.  We wouldn't want to risk that.  So right now we don't know what will happen.

So, there you have it.  Everything you wanted to know, and probably more, about Diabetes and me.  It sucks!  (I don't recommend it to anyone). :)

Cooper as the new VP

So this year Cooper decided that he would run for Student Council Vice President.  I was nervous for several reasons.  #1 I don't want my child to be devastated if he doesn't make it ( but I also know that I can't stop him from trying, and that it's OK to try for something and fail...it just makes me sad to think of them being sad....anyway, you get the point).  #2 He has some serious behavior issues and problems, and I was very worried that if he did make it, it wouldn't last long (turns out I had much more reason to be worried about this).  

Regardless of this, I told him I would help.  So we made him a poster, made him campaign stickers to pass out, and so it began.  The problem for me was that I could NOT for the life of me come up with a speech for him.  I knew it needed to be funny and not the totally lame: "I will be a good vice president because..." kind of thing.  Finally, the night before the elections I was desperate.  I called Lana because I figured she would probably have some great ideas.  I told her what I was trying to do and that I had been thinking about it for a week and couldn't come up with anything.  5 minutes later (yes that's right...5 MINUTES LATER) she calls me back and says: "So, I typed up a speech, tell me what you think."  Wow.  Needless to say, it was brilliant, Cooper performed it brilliantly (with some BRILLIANT coaching from his mother), and he WON!!!!  (He even got cut off before he could finish the speech because it was longer than 1 minute...and he still won!)  So, here's the speech:

Cooper’s student council election speech:

 This morning I was pretty nervous as I got up to face this day.  I mean, it’s a HUGE day for me.  I’m gearing up to be the next VICE-PRESIDENT of Student Council.  Wow…think of the doors this could open for me.  The next step is lobbying in Washington for rights for….um, for the power to…um, for political stuff.  Next step, supreme Jourt Custice...I mean Court Justice.  Anyway, you get the idea, I have big dreams, and this day is the start of something special. 

 

So, I started out by doing some daily affirmations in the mirror after carefully flossing my teeth.  (I’ll have to give you my speech on the importance of good dental hygiene some other day…)  Anyway!  Here’s what I told the Me in the mirror:

 

1. Cooper, you’re one handsome kid……(pause)  What?  I gotta give myself a little power boost to get going, don’t I?

 

    2. You need to make some changes around here.  You have some good ideas.  (Like Quarter Sales...I want them back.  And Agent WannaBe--I wanna see you more often!) 

 

3. You’re good enough, smart enough, and dog gonnit, People LIKE YOU…oh my gosh, am I growing nose hair?!?!?!  Um…moving on.

 

The point is, the 2008-2009 school year is starting off so well.  We have the power to make it what we want.  I want you to have great memories, I want you to have FUN, and I want you to vote for Cooper Crandell for Vice President…..and man, I want a snickers!  Uh…..  THANK YOU!!!!!!

Is it any wonder he won??  Thank you Lana!  So any of you needing student council speeches for your kids, Lana is the one to call.  She's booked through the Presidential Elections, but after that I'm sure she'll be free. :)

Potty Trained!!

Yep, folks...it's official!  Brooklyn is now and officially potty trained!  This has been a very long and drawn out process.  She basically started peeing on the potty when she was 18 months old, but it was just kind of here and there and very inconsistent.  When she turned 2 we thought the time had truly arrived.  Unfortunately, parents have to be consistent in the actual training, and sadly, we were not.  She could go pee any time, but would choose not to quite often.  However, she could NOT go poop.  It was exactly the same with Cooper.  Finally right at the end of the summer I decided I'd had it with pull ups and accidents, so I told her she would have to go poop and that was final.  We ran out of diapers and pull ups and I told her I couldn't buy anymore, so she had to wear her panties.  She had an accident, but did pretty well.  When she had to poop she was freaking out because she absolutely could not or would not go on the potty.  I finally just made her run around naked and she kept running back to the potty, but as soon as she got on she couldn't go.  But...thank goodness poop has a way of making an appearance whether you like it or not---she FINALLY did it!  It was an exciting night of dancing and reveling at the Crandell household, I will tell you!  Since then she has had some accidents for sure, but mostly done pretty well.  She now poops on the potty regularly, and even takes naps in her panties.  We finally stopped putting a diaper on her at night, too, because she kept waking up dry.  So--now that she's woken up dry for a week straight wearing panties, I can say she is NOW and OFFICIALLY FOREVER POTTY TRAINED!!!! YAY!!!