Today is November 1, which means the beginning of Diabetes Awareness month! I found this awesome challenge online for those who want to experience Type 1 diabetes for a day! Simply text T1D4ADAY to 63566. While no virtual campaign can recreate the many needles required or the physical and financial tolls of this serious disease, T1D for a Day seeks to deepen understanding of the many heroic steps our friends and loves ones with T1D take each day.
We strive to make Laila feel as normal as possible, there's nothing she can't do besides produce insulin. She can swim, run, play, sing, dance, eat, and many other things. In fact, checking her blood sugar on a consistent basis has it's perks-for the third year in a row Laila has earned the "responsibility" award at school! We're all very proud of her and her daily accomplishments. We've learned not to dwell on the bad, but look for the good. Each sugar check is knowledge, and knowledge is power. The more we know, the more we can use that information to make the next time better. Her sugars have been consistently within range, and she has another appointment coming up near the end of the month, and we look forward to meeting with the endocrinologist and hearing her take on how we're managing Laila's diabetes.
Halloween, luckily, went much smoother than we planned! The kids all had a blast collecting candy, and were joyed to be able to pick a small bag's worth of items to keep. The Switch Witch is a tradition we started a few years back, and the kids truly love the idea of getting something for all the candy they know they'll never be allowed to eat anyway! This really helps eliminate all the "no's" and "not now's" Laila anticipates each time she asks for candy. I'm not a mean mom, just a cautious one, diabetes or not. Even my non-diabetic children don't get to eat more than a few pieces of the Halloween candy before it's long gone!
I hope this month spreads the awareness that's on our minds year round, it's a daily struggle, not just in the month of November.
As I always say, ask questions and educate yourselves.
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