Diabetes In Photos

Below is a link to Teresa Ollila website. She is a mom with a son living with Type 1 Diabetes. She is a photographer and has captured images and the emotions of living with diabetes.

So many of her photos remind me of the difficulty of living with diabetes in my family and the everyday struggles we have. But it also reminded me that we do not let diabetes run our lives. I mean diabetes is a part of our everyday life but we do not focus on it. We have adapted it into our routine and of course we have to think about it constantly but then we move on.

Anyone who has contact with Grayson is effected by diabetes and know exactly what I mean.

Teresa Ollila

The Note

So yesterday, I had to go pick up Grayson from school just after lunch for a dentist appointment. As I was signing in at the office, this man came up to the front dest with a sticky note that looked a little familiar but I dismissed it. Well until he said I found this sweet note on the floor in the hall from someone to their child. I took a closer glance and was said "OMG that is Graysons carb count list for lunch!" Thoughts of him not dosing to cover lunch flooded my mind - where is he and was he ok. How could he just lose that?? But while I was worrying about all that, Grayson was finishing lunch and the teacher had just dropped it on the way to the lunchroom. All was right because by the time I found him he was finishing lunch and it was perfect timing to bolus.

Now what was funny was the man reading what I wrote to Grayson on his lunch carb count list. I am a mom so I have the right to do this and to be honest I just can not resist! I ALWAYS add a little note at the end of the carb list to hope he has a fun day or some note of encouragement or something along those lines. Then ALWAYS write something about LOVE - yes for a Third grader I am sure if this note became public he would be embarrassed - but a simple I Love You everyday and maybe with a little penciled heart - well it just has to be good for any ones soul. In fact, I admit this - I add a note in Marshalls Lunch frequently - could you imagine the consequences if that note was found in fourth grade :))))

I Love being a MOM!!!

Product Reviews

So to compensate for my downtime during the ongoing knee recovery period, I started to write a few product reviews for Andy Johnston, a pro mountain biker from Atlanta. Andy is one of the most accomplished cyclists in the Atlanta area, with a career spanning over 20 years and having three Mountain Bike National Champion titles under his belt. As a pro cyclist and a very successful coach for CycleYouth, Andy is constantly on a lookout for the newest products, allowing better performance, functionality and convenience.

His Product Review Blogs will feature new products that he will personally field test and discuss their attributes. In collaboration with his review efforts, I have contributed a review on dzNutz Bliss chamois cream and the Marmot Alpinist Bivy, both products I have tested beyond their limits and can personally praise their quality. Both reviews were also posted on www.examiner.com.

It was fun to share my insights and relive the memories of all the miles and hours I have logged and knowing there are many more to come even as I sit here icing my knees.

LOOK FORWARD TO MORE REVIEWS TO COME...

Caring

A Poem By Grayson Butler

Caring is the best policy.

A caring person is a responsible person.

Raising money helps others in need.

I think you should care for someone else in your life.

Nice people are willing to donate are you.

Grow by caring for others. If it's hard or not, think of someone else.

Knee Rehab - Life After The Needles

Cricket Butler via TotalCyclist Mountain Bike Team:

Yes, this is me - on a bike - on the road - in a light drizzle - pedaling! How could this be?

I can not even remember how many weeks it has been now since the knee surgery - 6 or 7 maybe 8 - too many that's for sure. My recover has been progressing with good days and yes bad days and I started to spin on the CompuTrainers at TotalCyclist (www.totalcyclist.com) a little in hopes to progress from no resistance to hopefully being able to watch my power start to build again. Of course, still completely unable to pedal standing up even after a few weeks of spinning with little to no resistance. With a second knee surgery looming in the near future, my one hope was to ride again outside on the road with the wind in my face - and I would even take the rain and snow and hail at this point even bugs and mud - before I start this process all over again. Still working with Mark Kane (www.kanetraining.com) 3 times a week for knee rehab, he began to sense my frustration with the inconsistencies of how my knee would feel and move on a day to day basis. So I think instead of hearing me explain my need to be back on the bike and train with my teammates again and again and again, Mark suggested a new approach in addition to the soft tissue and mobility/strength exercises.

Now, anyone who knows me, knows I have three great fears in life. I will not name them all but one happens to be needles and I was about to come face to face with one of the big three fears. NEEDLES! Mark suggested Trigger Point Dry Needling. It is a technique...

Read More...

Remembering The Fear

The uncertainty and fear that comes hand and in hand with being a parent of a Type 1 diabetic child is something we become comfortable living with daily. It was not until today that I was taken back to those early days. Scheduling a sleep over for Grayson for the weekend, the mother of Graysons friend said she would love to have him sleep over at their house but she was scared she might not know what to do at night. She felt a little bad that Grayson has always had his friend over at our hose and that they had never had him over for an overnight stay. But I get it and I am happy and fortunate that Grayson has such a close friend. It really is no problem where the boys sleep as long as they get to spend this time together.

I discussed with her, if she was interested, in learning how to make the situation more comfortable, I would help come up with a plan for a night time sleep over - Grayson's midnight blood sugar testing and if he has a low in the night. I have been faced with this already and have several options that work for Grayson and the family he is sleeping over with. There is always a way. But it is important that we remember the uncertainty and fear - even though we accept it and are comfortable with it now - understanding others apprehensiveness is important. It is also an open avenue to spread Type1 awareness and a method for open dialog!

Like I said - there is always a way!

Legos Legos Everywhere

The Annual Lego Convention was in Raleigh NC this weekend and Marshall, Grayson and I were there!! I think every child under the age of 13 was there! The excitement was like electricity in the air every time you heard a child scream "look what I just built or look at this"!!! There were some amazing creations being built by kids of ages and that is including adults alike. Master Lego builders were onsite to help teach and to showcase their unbelievable designs. There were games, building stations, and contests galore! One of the most impressive activities was this giant floor outline of the USA - kids were building their own creations on a small platform (8" X 8") and then submitting it to the Lego Helpers to place it within the USA boundaries. This small LegoScape was being built 1 block at a time by everyoneattending - IT LOOKED SO AMAZING!

The second station that caught our attention was this giant pile of Legos just dumped onto the floor - it was just massive - I mean people were just sitting in the pile building, they were walking on the pile, they were digging into the pile! Marshall and Grayson immediately ran into the pile and I lost sight of them - there were so many people and Legos the boys were just camouflaged into the background. I found them a few minutes later on the outskirts of the ocean of Legos working on a couple of small towers. I went to find a seat to rest my knee while I let them continue to build. Grayson was running laps around the pile and I heard him screaming "Build For Free - Donate Your Creation"... He was very excited. I went back to were they were sitting and Marshall had 5 younger kids helping him build - he was teaching them how to help

create a Lego City. Grayson was rummaging the pile for Legos and bits of older creations to include into their design. It was a definite team effort and that team was growing. I left them alone and kept watching from a distant knowing that something big was about to happen here. They both continued to build and recruit others to help - showing the others what to do. People began to gather around pointing and taking photos of the ever growing expanse of the Lego City. It was unbelievable how the boys got kids from toddlers to teenagers to help in this giant building effort. Everyone had their part! This woman came up to me and asked if I was their mother - she was a reporter for the newspaper and wanted to interview them about what they were doing. She said she had noticed them earlier in the pile and was watching this unfold and how they had engaged so many others into their project. Among hundreds of kids building today with their parents or on their own, Marshall and Grayson had a vision and were actively seeking help to execute it. Watching the enthusiasm from every child helping and seeing how proud to each child was to have their small creation part of the larger city was priceless as I knew it all started with that small tower from Marshall and Grayson.

I was so beyond proud as I watched both boys conduct themselves with the upmost professionalism with the reporter - you could see they knew they had done something really good here. After the interview, they were so pumped - words could not describe it- but their faces sure could! !