K is for... Kind of...

Sometimes life is hard. We all have those times when we feel lost, overwhelmed, and not sure that we can keep our heads above water. The last few months have been like that for us. Back in September, our older daughter, Mackenzie, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  And if you'll recall, our younger daughter, Kayleigh, was showing symptoms and put on a "diabetes watch" by Mackenzie's endocrinologist.

Well now he's Kayleigh's endocrinologist too, because she was officially diagnosed this past Tuesday. I'm not going to go into the details of that in this post (I will in the future) but I will say that getting the second diagnosis is not any easier then the first one. Even if you know it's coming, it's still just as heart breaking. And there's a phrase in the T1D world called YDMV. Which means "your diabetes may vary." True story. Diabetes is always changing within one person and it never looks the same within two different people. The best you can do is manage it one number at a time. It's hard.

So when you find yourself in a difficult, even painful, place in your life you have a few options. You can, and should, grieve over it.  You can count your blessings. You can be furious and stomp around and probably make yourself, and everyone involved, feel worse.

I'm very big on counting my blessings at times like this because if I didn't I'd probably go mad and not be able to to take care of my babies who need a lot of care.

So as I sit here feeling sad for the difficult life that my babies have been given, I can't help but think that God is Kind of awesome for giving us some Kind of awesome people in our lives to help get us through this. This post is for them.

My friends are more than Kind of awesome. They are flat out amazing.

They're the Kind of friends who...

Remain calm when they check your (supposedly) none-D child's blood sugar and its incredibly high.


Want to learn about T1D.

When they hear your kid has T1D, start a board on Pinterest with recipes and things helpful for diabetics.

Are still willing to watch your kids even though it's now a lot more work and more than a little stressful.

Pray for your family.

Are willing to keep your kids overnight, even though it's an additional blood sugar check, or two, in the middle of the night for them.

Teach their kids, your child's friends, about T1D. So well that they think of ways to cure it or always check the carbs of what they're eating to see if Mackenzie or Kayleigh can eat it.

Curse restaurants that refuse to reveal the carb counts in their food along with you
.

When they hear on Facebook that your T1D's sugar is high, stop by to take her hiking to help bring down her numbers.

Enjoy a good diabetes joke.

Ask you how everything is going and what can they do for you.

Do nice things for your kids to help cheer them up when they're down.

Understand that diabetes is hard and sucky.

Think that a t-shirt that says "I'm with stupid" and has an arrow point to a pancreas is a brilliant idea.

Leave drug paraphernalia on your porch when you need supplies for your newly diagnosed four year old.

Are willing to bike 100 miles to bring awareness and raise money for a cure. Check out Tour de Cure to donate to my friend's ride.

Think its fun to think of ways to use an insulin pen and needle to deal with annoying people.

Keep their eyes out for food and snacks that are lower in carbs and sugar so that your kids can still enjoy some their favorite treats that aren't as good for them now.

Are simply so wonderfully thoughtful that they sometimes make you want to Kry.  (I hate that. lol)

So to Andra, Kristy, Teresa, and Wendy...

We love you!!! Kevin and I thank God for you every day!!

xoxo