We CARA Lot Team and The Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes

Ever since my 3 year old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes I have wanted to find a way to get involved with the diabetic community and families. We thought about going to support groups, but with 6 children it is very hard to find people willing to babysit. So when I received the information for the Telus walk to cure diabetes I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for my family and I to get involved. I instantly went on-line and registered at www.jdrf.ca/walk. This web site is great, I was able to place a picture and write a few words about Cara as well as form a team for the walk. We called the team We CARA Lot (I love the name) http://jdrfca.donordrive.com/team/WeCARALot. I am planning on having a team get together before the big day and making t-shirts for all who come out and support team We CARA Lot.

I just hope that I’m able to make it successful. Sometimes I just feel that I care a lot more then anyone else and it is such a struggle to get others motivated.

“I Hate You Mom”

The first week after the diagnosis was busy, confusing and overwhelming. On many occasions I found myself listening to a doctor or a nurse about Cara or something that I needed to do for Cara and the minute they would walk away I had no idea what they had just said. Thank God most of the time my husband was there with me. I would turn to him after the doctor or nurse left and we would go over everything that they had said. It was the only way that I could retain all the information that I was being given in such a small amount of time. I found myself constantly reading all the books and leaflets that they had given me about type 1 diabetes and jotting down notes when I learned any new information. My husband and I both were going through classes in the hospital, teaching us everything we needed to know before we went home. The hospital staff, doctors, nurses and dietitians were all amazing. They all were so nice and patient with us and Cara. The first night in the hospital, Cara was woken up almost every hour for a blood draw and the second night about every three hours. She was getting no sleep, she was scared and she was mad!! The only time that I cried in the hospital was when Cara told me she hated me. I think it was the 3rd night in the hospital and my husband was sitting with her on the bed and I was reading a diabetes information book on a chair in the corner of the room. It was getting late and my husband was getting ready to go home to our other 5 children that our parents where taking turns watching. The nights were hard on Cara and myself being constantly woken up and poked after which she would want to go for a walk around the Peds floor before getting back into bed. So before he left my husband was telling Cara not to do something, she asked him why and I started to explain to her. She turned around and said “I HATE YOU MOM” she looked back at my husband and said “I LOVE YOU DAD”. I just sat in shock, my husband started to tell Cara that was not nice to say and I ran for the bathroom crying. I knew that she really did not hate me but she was so frustrated and mad with everything that was going on all around her. That night I was thinking about what she had said to me and I started to feel mad at my husband, I was the one that brought her to the E.R. and waited 4 hours with her, I was the one holding her legs when they tried for the 4th time to get a line in her arms, I was the one there in the night when she was being woken up and poked, I was the one there any time any thing bad was happening to her. I knew that it was not his fault, I was the one there because he was with our 5 other children and he was trying to keep the house functioning when I was not there. Other then that one time I have always had a positive outlook on Cara’s diagnosis I know that we are going to go through hard times and I know that it will be a long road for us as well as Cara but like I say I will take a diagnoses of diabetes because it could be so much worse. I’m so thankful that we have a wonderful team that we are working with at the diabetic clinic and that we have people in our lives that offer their support.

February 13th and diabetes

On February 13th 2009 we realized that diabetes was our new reality. After one month and a half of sickness, a few visits to the doctors office, a course of antibiotics and 4 hours in an E.R. waiting room our 3 year old daughter was diagnosed with type one diabetes.

The first thing people say to me when they find out about Cara and diabetes is how did you know that she had diabetes? The answer that I give is that I did not know. It took about a month and a half to figure out that there was something really wrong. Maybe it was because she would get sick with the flu (so we thought) and then in four days or so she would begin to get better. Just as she was starting to seem better she would get the flu again. Every time that she would get sick a few of our other kids would seem to have the same thing. Cara started taking a little longer to get better and soon she was not getting any better and having very different symptoms then the other children. The weekend before she was diagnosed she formed a yeast infection. I was socked and a little embarrassed, thinking that it was something that I had done, not bathed her well or not made sure she wiped herself properly after going to the bathroom. I’m not sure why mothers always seem to blame themselves. A few days after the yeast infection formed she began peeing A LOT. She was always in the bathroom about 2x’s more then normal. So I thought a yest infection + constant urination = bladder infection. Then soon after she was extremely thirsty, always asking for anything to drink juice, milk, water and Cara never asked for water she would actually complain about having to drink water normally. She also had lost a tremendous amount of weight in a very short period of time and that is what scared us the most. We made another doctors appointment for Cara. The doctor ordered blood work and sent us home. We had lunch and Cara went down for a nap because she was so tired. When she woke up from her nap she vomited for the third time in about two months. I thought to myself there is no way that she has the flu three times in about 2 months. This is when I brought her into the E.R. I was actually scared they were going to think I was crazy for bring my daughter to the emergency room for the flu. I knew that something else was wrong. As I was getting ready to leave for the E.R., my husband said “it my be diabetes”. Four hours later the doctor told me the same thing Cara had type one diabetes. Her blood sugar level was 53.2 when she was admitted to the pediatric floor.