Life goes on...and life is good

Seeing Leah tonight, playing in the marching band, dancing and smiling, you might think that the only difference from a year ago, besides the haircut, was that she was a year older. It's hard to believe a week ago tonight we found out about Leah's diabetes.  And nearly 10 weeks ago, she was recovering from spinal fusion surgery. She has (okay, we have) been through a LOT this year. But it's so good to finally be back on track. The past couple of days have been pretty good. Leah continues to learn how to manage her carb intake, and her blood sugars continue to stabilize. Today, 2 of her 4 readings were within the normal range! Since she is on a "diet" for the first time in her life, she is (understandably) a little obsessed with food, as indicated by this text she sent me during the football game tonight: "Hey, on a normal game night, when I get on a more relaxed schedule, I'm thinking I can maybe have a hot dog, chips, and most of a Laffy Taffy stick. :) I know, thinking way ahead of time. :) " Although she has to limit her carbs, if she wants to have something special, she is able to do so if it fits into her carb count. At supper in the band room, she had a chocolate cupcake (without the frosting) for dessert, and for a bedtime snack she had a chocolate chip cookie. So life is still good.

I find it interesting that after her surgery (while she had this little disease we didn't yet know about), we had been encouraging her to eat a LOT, and pretty much anything she wanted in an effort to help her gain weight.  Most of the time, she was eating frequently, and was always hungry. And yet she was not gaining (and at the end was losing) weight. Now we know this is because her body did not have insulin to turn this food into energy, and instead started taking energy from her fat and muscle. So now that we have her on a "diet," but more importantly on insulin, she is gaining weight! She has put on about 10 pounds (of the 20 total she lost) in the past week...how's that for a diet with quick results?

Her spirits have been pretty good as well. We've had a few more tears, but MUCH more laughter. She is having fun looking for Type 1 Diabetes memes on Pinterest, and sharing them with me. Suddenly we're part of this "type 1" club, with its own set of inside jokes and issues. For example, this Diabetic 1st world problem: "Why do I always have tons of lancets and not enough test strips?" See? We were able to laugh at that, but a week ago, it would have sounded as stupid to us as it does to most of you. Haha. Sorry, you can't join the club. But we'd be happy to explain any of our silly jokes to you if you'd like us to.

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So...life goes on...and life is good. Sometimes there are just a few bumps in the road.