World Diabetes Day!!

So I have decided to go with donations toward the Canadian Diabetes Association and directly to dcamps, a summer camp for children living with Type 1 diabetes.   Candy was able to go to dcamp, camp redfox,  this past summer and she has met long lasting D friends there.  

Everything is in place.  The school is on board, the newspaper is all a go, we have the exercise class, UFIT,  on board and a healthy snack, provided by Atlantic Superstore,  for all the students. 

One last thing is to confirm our local news to be on board and print off the posters to give to the school!

If you would like to show your support, wear BLUE on Thursday November 14th.  

Candy's Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis Story

Hello I am Alisha Wolf the mother of Hannah Wolf from Mme. E grade class 6, at home we call her Candy. Candy is a very happy, horse loving little girl. Candy was born July 2002 and was a healthy baby and toddler. 

Type 1 diabetes is a form of diabetes that results from autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. 

Type 1 Diabetes runs in our family and therefore In 2006 I decided to have Candy screened for the Trial Net Study at the IWK, to test for genetic markers for Type 1 Diabetes. 

TrialNet is a study that screens close blood relatives of people with type 1 diabetes because relatives of people with type 1 diabetes have a 10 to 15 times greater risk for developing the disease than people with no family history.

These blood tests came back with results that were not so welcoming, Candy was labeled HIGH RISK for developing Type 1 Diabetes. 

In the summer of 2009, following one of her bi-yearly blood tests, she was given a 90% chance for developing diabetes within 5 years. This news was very upsetting but at the same time I was able to prepare myself for what was to come. Candy continued to have bi yearly blood tests at the IWK. 

The IWK performed a test called an oral glucose tolerance test(OGTT), a standard dose of glucose is ingested orally and blood levels are checked two hours later to determine how quickly glucose is cleared from the blood, this shows the pancreas’ functionality. When glucose is found in the blood at high levels after the two hour mark the patient in then consider a diabetic. 

February 2012 Candy's OGTT came back in the the abnormal range but she was not diagnosed diabetic at that time. Candy was having some bladder tests done during this time and there was glucose found in her urine, The urologist that was seeing her said "you need to get Candy’s diabetes under control” the urologist was unaware of Candy's medical history and increased risk for developing Type 1. Her paediatrician and family doctor did not believe she was a diabetic at this time and therefore did not do any further investigations at that time. 

June 2012 Candy had her scheduled OGTT done and it was in diabetic range. She was then officially diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic. At that moment Candy’s life changed forever. 

From June until November Candy would check her blood glucose levels many times a day. In November her blood glucose started to rise more often and Candy was required to start insulin injections. 

November 4th 2012 was Candy’s first insulin injection as her blood glucose was in the 20’s when normal range is 4-7 mmol/L. From that moment on Candy has been required to inject insulin a minimum of 5 times a day via a needle and to check her blood glucose, by poking her finger to make it bleed and using a blood glucose meter to measure her levels, a minimum of 6 times a day with an average of 10/day. 

In October 2013, she has been very blessed to be able to be started on an insulin pump where the pump is connected to her via a small needle inserted under the skin and replaced every 3-4 days and connected to a small device that looks like a pager that gives her small doses of insulin continually all day long.  Every time Candy wants to have something to eat she needs check her BG and tell her pump to give her more insulin to cover the food she eats to prevent high blood glucose levels. 

Candy also wears a small transmitter 24/7 on her body that has sensor under her skin which is replaced every 6 days by using an needle insertion device.  This device is called a continious glucose monitor (CGM) that monitors her blood glucose every moment of the day which is allowing her some relief from poking her finger as often as she once did. 

Diabetes is a very serious disease that needs to be closely monitored 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Diabetes never sleeps and diabetes, at this time, can not be cured. 

Although Candy has insulin to keep her alive it can also kill her as well.

If she is given too much insulin it will make her blood glucose drop rapidly and can cause her to go into a diabetic coma and have seizures and/or die. 

On the other hand, if Candy does not get enough insulin she can also have some serious problems as well, Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is when there is not enough insulin and the body switches to burning fatty acids and producing acidic ketone bodies that cause most of the symptoms and complications; such as vomiting, dehydration, deep gasping breathing, confusion and occasionally coma. DKA is a medical emergency, and without treatment it can lead to death. 

Even though Candy lives with this disease she is able to live just as normally as other children.

Candy can eat what she would like and do any activities that she would like to do. 

The only difference with her is that she needs to monitor her BG levels and also count the amount of carbs for her foods that she wants to eat and administer insulin accordingly.

In one year of being a Type 1 diabetic Candy has poked her finger to check her blood glucose approximately 3650 times and injected herself with a needle to administer insulin approximately 2190 times. 

Candy and I are very passionate about getting the word out to people to let them know that Type 1 Diabetes is around and it is not invisible also that there are people all around you who live with this disease everyday. 

We would like to ask you to join with us on November 14th, WORLD DIABETES DAY, and wear BLUE to show your support and to get the word out and let people know about this disease. 

Will you join us?

Bedtime snacks - Which one will we NOT be having again ;-)

You may already be very aware, being a mom to a T1, that bedtime snacking is one of the hardest times of the day.  Well that is the hardest time of the day for me.

Our society encourages us to eat healthy and have lots of fruits and veggies along with lean protein and dairy products.  Which I think is a great way to live life and we, as a family, try and do that as much as possible!

So last night Candy was doing her night time checks, as it goes every night, and her blood glucose (BG) was 5.4 mmil/l (convert it here).  That was fantastic, I was super happy about that number just going to bed.  One little issue, Candy really wanted to have an apple for a bedtime snack.  Ok so you might be thinking "what's wrong with that?  It's healthy isn't it?"  Well yes it is BUT, apples seem to affect a lot of T1s.

Candy counted her carbs and administered a shot of insulin, as per every time she eats.   Being that worried mom I am always up checking her numbers as we really desire to keep them in a tight range and be careful to not go high or low.  So an hour after she went to bed, and our first check of the night, her meter registers 15.0 mmol/l.  OOPS!! I guess that apple was not such a good idea, even with insulin.  So I give her another injection of insulin and about 1 1/2 hours later I check again, we are going on 12 -1 am here, 18.9 her meter is registering.  Ok time for another needle.  My poor little Candy baby always being woken up for pokes and injections.

By this time I was so exhausted and I crawled into bed and didn't wake up until 6:30am.  I was so nervous that I had to rush and make sure she was ok after I gave her that last shot last night.

Her morning BG was 7.3!!  OH YEAH !!! I was so happy to see that.

Moral of the story : Apples are not a good thing for us for a night time snack.

Thanks for reading!  Don't forget to check out our YouTube videos too!

Alisha Wolf
Candy diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic June 2012 - Insulin Dependant - 5-6 needles/day - 6-10 BG checks/day

Welcome to my blog

I have decided to start this blog to share what living with a Type 1 Diabetic child is like.  I am just setting this blog up so please bare with me as I get started!  I will try and post as often as I can on some of the most pressing issues that us moms all face daily with our Type 1 child.

Hugs to all you supermoms out there!

Alisha Wolf
Candy - Diagnosed June 2012 - Insulin Dependant - 5-6 needles/day 6-10 blood checks/day