April 23rd, 2011 by KerriSparling in Opinion, True Stories
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(Alternate tittle: “Bring out yer bread!”)
Now that the little bird is the big O-N-E, we have completed one year as parents. And one year doing the gluten-free diet with our baby. This was important to me because I felt strongly about the ties between the early introduction of gluten and type 1 diabetes diagnoses. And after doing some research and discussing this as a family, Chris and I decided to keep our BSparl gluten-free for her first year.
It was pretty easy, to be honest, keeping a little baby off gluten. (Especially since she doesn’t have celiac, so our decision was elective instead of required.) The ease came mostly from the fact that BSparl breastfed for almost six months, and didn’t start on solid foods until just after she turned six months old. All breastmilk and/or formula made for a pretty streamlined food schedule for that first half year. When we introduced solid foods into her diet, we went with organic rice cereal and formula first, then mushed up fruits and assorted other mushed up items (like avocado and shredded chicken breast) mixed with food pouches like these from Ella’s Kitchen. Her diet was pretty mushy for a good long time, since it took about 8 months for her first tooth to bust through. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
April 16th, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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If there’s one thing that takes a consistent beating as a result of diabetes (other than my internal organs, of course), it would be this little guy:
My insulin pump. This is a part of my diabetes management plan 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Very rarely do I take “pump vacations,” so for the most part, I’m connected at all times. On an average day, the pump endures sleeping in the bed with me, the baby’s wake-up routine (which includes her grabbing the pump site, regardless of where it is located), playing all day, working, cleaning the house and my body, conference calls and email blitzes, the gym, routine awkwardness, et cetera ad nauseum.
Which means that this expensive, life-changing little gadget gets battered around on a regular basis. Apparently, these things are built to be durable (to a certain extent), as I only cracked my Minimed pump once, and I haven’t injured this one irreparably yet. (Despite the months of clumsy, pre-eclampsia pregnancy hands during which I dropped everything I touched. I was like Gravity Midas.) But recently, I scuffed into the door jamb, and was left with this new, giant white scuff on the screen. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
April 9th, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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“Everything looks good. No progress is good, actually. Means your eyes haven’t deteriorated any further in the last five months.” Dr S, my eye doctor at the Joslin Clinic, ran her fingers across the keyboard, typing notes into my online file.
“So it’s the same as back in November? When I moved from mild to moderate retinopathy?”
“Right. Still non-proliferative, but the same. Not worse, by any stretch. We’re working with a few spots, a very small bit of leakage, but nothing I’d recommend treatment for, other than watching it closely.”
I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The fluorescent bulbs in the room were bright and ricocheting off the white walls, making me feel like I was in an avalanche of light. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
April 3rd, 2011 by KerriSparling in Humor, True Stories
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It’s been well-documented that my coffee addiction is … substantial. Briefly on hiatus during my pregnancy, I was reunited with my beloved beverage after the baby was born, and now I’m back in the habit.
Since I work from our home office and I’m also the primary caregiver for BSparl, sleep is a hot commodity. Actually, I don’t get to sleep much, so the coffee is very much my friend these days. Work hard, play hard, drink much of the coffee.
The other day, I was out with the baby, running a few errands. I had to visit the post office, the grocery store, CVS … and Dunkin Donuts. I try to make my order sound fresh and new (versus something I say almost without thinking), and I leaned out the window to order into the drive through speaker. (Instead of into the garbage can, which is something I’ve done more times than I’d care to admit.)
“Hi!” Total joy. “Can I please have a medium iced coffee with cream and two Splenda?”
“Sure thing. Please drive up.”
So I drive up. But when I get to the window, there’s a little bit of confusion.
“Okay, so one coffee with milk and sugar, two doughnuts, and a bagel with cream cheese?” The boy attending the window had a bag of deliciousness in his hand. My stomach said “YES! YES. THOSE BELONG TO ME.” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
March 24th, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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As a kid, I wasn’t an advocate for type 1 diabetes. I was a kid. I went to diabetes camp (CBC 4 LIFE) but that was the extent of my involvement with any kind of diabetes community. It wasn’t until I was out of college and feeling like I existed on a diabetes island that I began to crave interaction with and understanding from other people with diabetes. So, at Chris’ suggestion, I started a blaaaaaagh and everything just got all sorts of exciting. Namely, I had finally connected with other people living with diabetes. And it felt gooooood.
Now that there is an established online community for people with diabetes (PWDs, caregivers, and loved ones alike), there are a lot of opportunities for engagement and advocacy. The DOC isn’t limited to adults living with diabetes; there are blogs written by parents of CWD, spouses and significant others of PWD, and even doctors who care for PWD. And it’s not even limited to people who are interacting online – the diabetes community is offline, and on. And after meeting with the new CEO of the JDRF, Jeffrey Brewer, last week in DC, I realized once again that we’re all in this together. This guy gets it. His kid has diabetes, making me realize that Jeffrey is just like my mother in that he wants what is best for his child. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
