One Year

One year ago 

today, an innocent trip to the park turned out to be so much more. Our sweet Mackenzie braved a finger prick in the name of science and it changed our lives forever.  One reading on a blood glucose meter explained so much about what was going on in her life. It's amazing how one moment can change everything.

That moment landed her in the PICU at the local hospital where she learned about all she needed to do to care for herself for the rest of her life. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. As of today, it is a forever disease. Until there's a cure there is no going back.

It's been a long year that has stretched our family beyond our imaginations. We had to learn how to give injections, count carbs, figure out how to dose insulin and change infusion sites. We had to learn not to walk out of the house without glucose meters, test strips, syringes, needles, insulin, and much, much more. We had to learn to function without a full night's sleep. We had to learn to not cry whenever we saw somebody just eating without thinking about carb counts and insulin. We had to try not to allow all of the what-ifs of type one diabetes to rule her life.

I look at the bowl of goldfish in the first picture and remember how easy it used to be to pack a snack for my children. Just dump something into a container and go. Now I have to remember to take the time to figure out the carbs for every, single thing that they put into their mouths. Even the simplest of outings requires a lot of preparation. It's crazy how a single moment can change everything.

Today

My girl is adjusting and doing well. I am so proud of her.  She does most of the things that she's always done, just with a lot more planning and forethought. She is a still a fabulous pianist. She still rides roller coasters. She still plays soccer. She's started running. She's better at math thanks to all the carb counting and insulin dosing.

Candy is no longer a treat but often a life saving device. We're slightly more used to people staring while we do blood sugar checks. We wish more people knew the (huge) differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We're still exhausted from the lack of sleep. We're tired of needles and sites. We're sad that, while we've survived the first year, that she has a life time to go. We are upset each time we hear of a new diagnosis or of someone who didn't survive this disease.

We're thankful for our health insurance that provides the things we need to keep them alive and for all the doctors that created them. We're blessed by the many people who love and support us. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our endocrinology team. We're grateful that there are summer camps just for type 1 diabetics so that Mackenzie doesn't always have to feel different from everyone else, if only for nine days. We're humbled by a God who gets us through each day when we really should have crashed and burned by now.

We're hopeful for a cure.

Related posts you might be interested in:

Mackenzie's Diagnosis Story
The Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes (If I had to pick one post for you to read, this one is it.)
Differences Between Type 1 and Type 2
Our JDRF Walk Page as we are walking for a cure this October