gfandt1d-blog

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We've been busy with life and haven't been interneting, iphoning, blogging, or instagramming. Sometimes you just have to give yourself a break in order to reconnect and take in all that's around you. #chinup March onward!

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Butterbeer anyone? Internet says 47 carbs...we'll see... (at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood)

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Traveling with type 1 - different experience every time or no big deal? Either way takes extra baggage space and planning a head #tsliminthewild 📷 the child herself

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#tbt to summer dog days - this was 2 years ago and as of Sunday she'll be back there! #vacation #dogsofinstagram #california 📷 my sister

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Delivering birthday macaroons to our celiac bestie - plain cookies with a flower mascarpone filling #yum

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Dinner-gf rice noodles with veggies and a peanut sauce. On the side cucumber salad. Teen approved!

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The Art of Assertion

Type 1, the complex, unpredictable, super-sensitive chronic illness, can challenge all types of people in all sorts of situations.  We have faced discrimination.  We have faced ignorance.  We have thrown our hands up and surrendered.  We have slaved to treat.  And about 88% of the time we have confidence in what we're doing. Just because we live this every minute of every hour of every day, does not mean we are not thrown surprises.  Most people fail to recognize the complexity of type one and the millions of possible variables that can factor into affecting it.  Its a lot like trying to memorize all the possible ingredients that contain gluten.  

This year has been a tough year for my daughter for a multitude of reasons.  In regards to T1 though, we have faced a lot of high blood sugars, ketones, and high A1Cs.  We ended up back at the hospital last week.  We even recognized the ED doctors and nurses, which is not a good sign.Now I know most of this could have been avoided if she had just taken her insulin (thank you Tandem for your reports features).  But she is a teenager.  She is dealing with a lot right now and I know its not easy. However, last weekend was different.  It started quickly and out of no where.  Her friend had spent the night (2 nights in a row) and they were having so much fun.  But she woke up that morning and was extremely nauseous.  She decided to test her ketones, and she yelled to me from the bathroom.  1. They were large-which we've never seen. And 2. The color changed the fastest she had ever seen.   In our experiences to date, we were familiar with testing ketones.  But they were always trace, small, or moderate and they would go back and forth between those.  This time it was different though. A few hours passed, we came home for lunch with no improvement and a higher BG.  She did a site change and we corrected with an injection.  Her BG kept rising though.  She just wanted to sleep, and I woke her up every 30-40 minutes to drink more water. Evening comes and she doesn't want to cancel our plans (a fun, family party).  I agree to take her under the condition she tells me exactly how she's feeling there and we leave as soon as she gets worse (we packed a change of clothes for her just in case we ended up in the hospital).  Not long after we got there she walked out of the bathroom, and visibly looked worse.  I was not surprised when she said she felt worse.  We checked her BG, even higher.  We checked her blood ketones, 2.7.  She could barely stand up - off to the hospital we go. We got processed and taken back fairly quickly - DKA scares do that.  Her initial blood work came back good though - no DKA.  So they give her fluids and increased her basel rate and kept her for a little bit to make sure her BG goes down.  1:30am They come in and say we're being discharged her BG was coming down and she was in the 200's.  Well, looking at her she looked better but she was still off.  They couldn't pick up on that, but as her mother I could.  I asked her to retest her blood ketones (we were running out of strips too) - 4.3.  In the hours that we were there, she actually got worse and they were going to send us home with the same instructions to keep doing what we were doing and come back if she gets worse.  Well, please describe worse to me.  Ketones were large, how do I know if that gets worse?  BG is still higher than range, what's the magic number for coming back? She's still nauseous, she still exhibiting other symptoms - tell me, what barometer do I use to bring her back? Queue the act and art of assertion. The nurse brings in the discharge paperwork and I say no.  We're not leaving.  Her blood ketones have gotten worse and I'm not comfortable taking her home right now.  The nurse totally got it (she was awesome!).  Doctor seemed annoyed when she heard my refusal, and ordered another set of labs. Her bicarb and PH levels dropped.   The discharge of hyperglycemia and Ketosis just got another diagnosis added - Metabolic Acidosis. At 4 am, they told us she would be admitted.  All I could think was that we almost went home.  In so many instances I would have just listened to the doctor, assuming they knew better than me.  But in this instance, I trusted my gut.  I followed my maternal intuition.  She wasn't actually admitted as her 7am lab work showed improvements (we corrected everything with the IVs). It was such a gracious reminder though, to listen to ourselves.  To stand up for ourselves.  To speak for ourselves and demand our voices are heard.  We each are the experts of our bodies, and while doctors know a lot more about the anatomy generally speaking, we know what feels right and what doesn't. 

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We're thinking cherry pie....😋🍒🍽

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Green Smoothies (1)

We make green smoothies a lot and have been for years.  It all started with a Kale and Banana vegan smoothie that I started making regularly when we lived in Montana.  However, I developed an intolerance for bananas so I no longer smoothie with bananas which can be limiting on my smoothie production.  But that doesn’t stop me from trying and the taste from exploding.

Summer is definitely here and we are amidst heat wave season!  Green smoothies are pleasantly refreshing, filling, and a way to boost our daily nutrients.  I’ve been known to even add a little white wine in the evenings…

For this smoothie we have included a bunch of in season fruits and veggies.  I like to add a little bit of frozen fruits just to help with that icy consistency.  We are currently on a fresh ginger kick and enjoy the spice that it adds.  I may add too much on occasion though if people are sensitive to spicy.

Ingredients:

87 g Frozen Mango

144 g Fresh Pineapple (frozen also works well)

95 g Chopped Pear

80 g Cucumber (skin on)

25 g Spinach

25 g Kale

Fresh Grated Ginger to taste

Juice from 1 Lime

100 ml Coconut Water (Unsweetened)

Ice (I’ll throw in a couple of small handfuls)

½ to 1 tsp (or more) Chia Seeds (Optional)

I throw all the ingredients (in the order they are listed) in the blender and blend until all the large chunks are gone.  Pour into two glasses and enjoy!

Voila!

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Breakfast on the go kinda morning! #blueberry #chiaseedpudding #gf #carbcounting #onfridayswewearblue #jdrf #type1 #t1d

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We're big fans of green smoothies. How do you other type1s smoothie? Do you find it hard to stay in range after? #highsandlows #bloodsugars #type1 #t1d #teenagerswitht1d #teenswithtype1 #carbcounting

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#glutenfree #chocolate #donuts - this is how we #weekend #type1 #t1d #gf #carbcounting #highsandlows #bolus #tslim #dexcom #celiac

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Homemade #glutenfree champagne donuts #weekends #carbcounting #gf #t1d #type1

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Ugh. #type1 #t1d #migraines #sickcare #celiac #highsandlows

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Loving the new kitchen and great counter space. We’ve been busy baking and this whole gluten free thing isn’t bad at all.

So far we’ve made:

*Two batches of french macaroons (our high ceilings aren’t the best for temperature control so we’ll need to work on those adjustments but have a new frosting recipe we love)

*Two batches of brownies - 1. Online gf recipe that I thought was pretty good especially after we frosted. 2. Our favorite family recipe with flour substitutes

*High protein, low carb, gf waffle bread - I will tweek the recipe a little bit for future use but overall not bad, even used as a bun for a bison burger

*Zucchini muffins - I added coconut because I’ve been craving coconut.

Cooking is fun again which is making being healthier easier too.  Now if only the little one would stop getting sick!

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#DexomG5 arrived yesterday.  Its been a while since the last one got used-who knows how long it was broken for.  She did put this one on right away though...looking forward to some more control

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Been busy- …moving apartments …moving offices …high a1cs …teenage rebellion …trying to manage making all the dr appts …broken CGM …figuring out what giving up gluten means (damn there’s a lot of ingredients to learn) …being broke and trying to set up a gf kitchen (come on, someone must want to buy our old washer and dryer) …job hunting

The list goes on and on - as we unpack from our jungle of boxes the blog will be back in action with the day to day of the single parent struggling to raise the independent stubborn type 1 celiac teen

Wouldn’t trade this life for another - challenges give us strength and perseverance