The Olsen Update

 This is one of the saddest posts I've had to write in some time... Two weeks ago I got a phone call from my brother in law, Brad.  He started the conversation with a little laugh and "I think your Alana has rubbed off on Reed" I was perplexed.  Oh no.  What did Alana do now?   "It looks like Reed is a type 1 diabetic too" I was floored.  I had just gone to Alana's school to give a talk on T1D, now we have another child in my husband's family who is insulin dependent. (My pancreas prop) Reed and Alana were born a year and two days apart. Reed had to go to the hospital in DKA on his tenth birthday.  It's the worst birthday present EVER!!! I felt hopeless and all I wanted to drop everything and fly out to Utah to help out.  But Alana was turning nine the next day and there was just no way I could make it happen.  So we scheduled to skype that night. While laying in his hospital bed, we talked to him, c...

I've had a few people ask me what I want for my birthday and rather than responding to these messages one by one, I think I'll post it here for all to see.  What do I want? I want a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. I know that seems to be an odd thing to ask for. Maybe unreasonable, but even my little Alana asked for it for Christmas last year. I want my daughter to have the childhood that she once had. I want her to be free from finger pricks, site changes and getting her insu lin pump tubing stuck on door knobs. I want her to be able to pushed into the pool by her friends (with out the worries that it will kill her pump). I want her to be able to eat carbs with out counting them and indulge in chocolate and ice cream with out an injection or fear that her blood sugar will be high.  This is my simple birthday wish. Please donate to JDRF and type one diabetes research. Help us find that cure. Even if its a dollar. Every cent counts. Thanks. ♥

While at fundraising event for our Walk to Cure team, I was asked the same question several times.       So who's Alana? After pointing her out their response to her was... But you don't look sick. How many times do you look at a person with a handicap permit and say... They don't need that.   They look fine. I'll admit.  I've shamefully said it before.  So many of us look at people with a disease or disability as if it's something you have to see for it to be real. If you don't see Alana's insulin pump or see her check her blood sugar, you might not realize she has a disease at all.  She's a pretty healthy kid, diabetes aside. She rides her bike, swims, climbs the monkey bars and gets good grades. But we're that family.  The one who's counting every single carb that enters Alana's body.  Always referring to our Calorie King app for the right numbers.  We're that family who dreads pizza night because we know that it make...

Like Tony Stark, Alana's Insulin Pump keeps her alive... Copyright  www.AlanasBraveCrew.com In honor of Alana being on the insulin pump for a whole day, we decided to mark the event with a mini photo shoot in my studio. Alana an her sisters all love Iron man. This image only seemed fitting. Enjoy. (feel free to share this image but please give credit/link) Lets find a cure for TYPE 1 DIABETES! www2.jdrf.org/goto/ABC  

She's a crack up. I loved her reaction when I told her that she wan't getting her night time injection anymore.

Today is Alana's 4 month "Diaversary".  I'm just amazed with how far she has come.  The reality of her diagnosis is second nature.  We're at the point in her adjustment that we are now looking into getting an Insulin pump and CGMs.  Our next Endocrinologist appointment will be the true tail. Will our insurance fight us?  I'm sure of it. Alana's blood sugar is stable (for the most part).  She never goes hi and if anything has more problems with it dropping at random times.  The lowest so far being 44.  Scary!  I think the CGMs will be very helpful for those lows.  I recently watched a video on YouTube about a family who lost a daughter in the middle of the night.  She had an extreme low and went into a coma. In the morning, her mother found her.  She was gone. Where they live, CGMs are not available.  It would have saved her life.  I talked to this mom on a group page on Facebook.  She is an amazing woman. I ...

... Short that is. Today we promised Alana that we'd take her out for ice cream. So after going to the store and picking up dinner I checked Alana's blood sugar and started to prep her Novolog pen.  When I went to dial the dose I realized we only had 2 units left in our first pen (same one we got in the hospital.  Momentous I suppose) 2 units short of the dose needed to cover her carbs.   (sorry for the bad cell phone pics) I'm happy that we were close to home and could run home to get a fresh Novolog from the fridge.   I can't imagine what it would have been like to run out of insulin and be stuck.  Now I know what the limits are on these pens for next time.  But it was still scary.  Alana had her ice cream and was happy.