February Blogger Basal!

Basal is a curious thing. It is the silent hero in the war we fight every day. Drip Drip Drip...it is easy to forget it is there. It is automatically programed to support our children's life...a hero for sure!

Blogger Basal is the silent hero as well. The steady stream of posts throughout the DOC blogosphere silently keep the hearts of readers pumping. It saves us emotionally. We are lifted up by the power of "same."

Today I am proud to host the February Blogger Basal and give you a sampling of the posts that steadily pumped out droplets of light into our souls. Instead of giving my take on the blogs...I'm going to let the bloggers use their own words to warm you...Let us begin!

Haley from NaturallySweett: Diabetes Camp and a Dash of Diabetesaliciousness.

"Diabetes camp is my "heaven on earth" that 2 hour drive is full of insane giggles and smiles. I know I will have the best week of the year, and it is so hard to keep in my excitement. The camp is amazing, the food is amazing, the activities are amazing, the staff is amazing, and my friends are amazing!"

Misty from Life is Like a Box of Chocolates: 2 Years Ago Today...

Haley from the above NaturallySweett wrote Ally a super sweet letter. Allison wrote her a letter back and asked her mother to post it on her blog on her Diagnosis Anniversary...Misty writes:

"My Sweet Allison has something to share. She wanted to write a letter back to Haley. The funny thing is that when we read the letter from Haley at the beginning of the week, she wanted to respond right away. Then she asked me if I could hold onto it and make sure that we sent it to her on Thursday, February 10. So here it goes..." (Click on over to read Ally's sweet letter!)

Kim from Texting my Pancreas: Reaching the Unreachable

Kim wrote a touching post about those out there in the blogosphere that we can't reach...the ones who need understanding and love the most. She writes:

"This Sister- and Brotherhood of the People With a Broken Pancreas - we have an amazing ability to help people live better by being open and honest about life with diabetes, and there are so many more that can be brought into the fold. We ourselves are proof of the power that community has, because of the changes we've seen it bring to our own lives. We have all felt that void - or recognized its existence only after having brought to light and sealed up - before." (Amen to that!)

Reyna over at Beta Buddies: Mixed Emotions on 7%

(We've all been here. We set the bar so high for ourselves!)

"A 7% is GOOD. So why in the heck am I feeling a little bummed? I realize it is ridiculous. And. I hope I am not offending anyone out there with my slightly heavy heart over a perfectly good number. I was secretly hoping for a 6.9% or a 6.8%. Yes, as I am typing this I realize I am a F*&@ Nut. 7% is fine and I should not get stuck in the "numbers trap" and I should not be hinging my emotions on a tenth or two tenth variance from my "desired" A1C. I am setting myself up for failure if I base my mental well being on a number, whether it be age related, weight related, grade related, or diabetes related."

Trev at Three2Treat: Exercise-Good or bad?

"Well, I believe it certainly helps with lowering the A1C and I must say, personally it has probably enabled me to survive 28 years with out complications, especially the first half of my life with D, prior to my understanding about tight control, MDI's, and Pump therapy." He also goes into the fact that it exercise is extremely complicated when it comes to being Type 1. He ends with..."So to answer the question; is exercise good or bad? I guess that depends on how prepared you are."

Donna over at The Sugar Kids Blog: We've Come A Long Way Baby!

Donna talks about an epic low that her son had during church service...

"All of this is not uncommon for us D peeps... we live and re-live this scenario over and over and over again. But, almost two and a half years after diagnosis I was able to do that entire scenario so quickly, so smoothly that no one around us even had a clue that there was something not right. All they saw was a tired little boy and girl sitting with their mama, and mama doing what she could to keep them quiet during mass. Only those sitting right next to us may have noticed the test being done and the juice coming out. The other difference: it used to really rattle me. This saving of my sons life in the middle of church... the grocery store... wherever. Now, its just something we handle. Quickly, quietly, and without incident."

Joanne at Death of a Pancreas: The Understudy

Joanne likens our roles as a pancreas to an unprepared understudy.

"But thankfully, I have always loved improv and I'm pretty good at thinking on my toes. And so here I am; with a pretty big role in a very important production. We're 2 1/2 years into our run and even though I've flubbed a few lines, been late to rehearsals a couple of times and had some diva moments where I've refused to come out of my dressing room, I think I'm doing a pretty adequate job in my role of pancreas."

Alexis at Justices Misbehaving Pancreas: Perception

"How things affect you can solely depend on how you perceive them. Diabetes sucks. We know this. Its bullshit. I hate it. You hate it. Our kids hate it. But tonight as much as I may want to write all the negative, all the things I hate the most I realized my mood, Justices mood, my feelings can be shifted If I change my perception." (This was a great post, and is on the exact same lines of a post I've had brewing in my head since yesterday. :)

Sara at the Ethan and Isaac Show: Grab your O.S. Handle you're in for a ride!

This analogy gave me a big smile. :)

"I'm not sure what other people call that little handle that is above all the passenger doors inside a car but I like to refer to it as the "O.S. handle." You know, the thing you grab right before you feel like yelling, "OH, S@#T!" Well, that's a bit how I feel with diabetes lately. Like stepping into the car with my husband..." (Just wondering...do all husbands drive looking at the scenery, rather than at the road?? :)

Beth at The Beth Chronicles: I'm sorrrryyy. So Sorrryyy.

This is a post where she updates after a long absence of illness, (Boy, can I relate!) One of the things she did was help clean a homeless shelter. Beth writes:

"Saturday, T and I helped our church clean up from Room in the Inn. I met some homeless men and women there, some of whom I would have never thought were homeless if I had met them on the street. That was my first time I had met a homeless person. I never knew I had these misconceptions and stereotypes until my eyes were opened."

Amy at Diabpeepees: Things that go bump.

"Yes, that's a hospital bed you see. And, no, that's not my son wearing girly leggings. It's my 2 year old daughter in the ER. We found ourselves here just days after making payment plan arrangements to cover our 3 year old son's diabetes bills. And though I agonized about going in, I agonized more about not going in and paying the consequences."

(This post speaks too all our crazy mom moments. In the end, she knew she had to take care of her little one and forget about the pocketbook. :)

Michael Hoskins at The Diabetic's Corner Booth: Keeping The Faith For a Cure

Michael wrote this after the JDRF controversy...Money for a cure? Or Money for advancements toward quality of life?

"I'm sure there are many research ideas and various funding issues to delve into, but I'm not qualified to know about that. When it comes to what the JDRF has done for me: they're trying the best they can. I think as a layperson, and as someone who they are doing this all for, that provides me comfort. Regardless of whether I understand all the decision-making and annual report confusion or not... I'll leave the rest to people much smarter than me."

Kandice at Cherished Children: An Unfair Opponent

There have been quite a few deaths in our community this year. Kandice ponders what we can do...

"The problem, however, lies in the fact that even if we were to do every single thing "correctly", T1D doesn't follow the rules. There are so many variables (growth, hormones, activities, nightmares, etc.), that we can never care for our children perfectly. It is in this helplessness, that we continue to do our best, hoping and praying that our child will always wake up the next morning. There have been so many mornings I go to wake up Joyful Monkey and I find myself holding my breath. I guess, I just know that I can't completely control it."

Ashley at Tales of SWAGing: Another Day, Another Retraction

Ashley talks about the misinformation being thrown out there in the media, and the weak retractions that are issued after our community gets up in arms...

"This misinformation, even when it’s retracted, hurts me. And it hurts my community. These people make their retractions and apologies and go about their business. My fellow PWDs and I - as well as our Type 3s - are quite literally bombarded with these myths at every turn. Everyone I come in contact with fancies himself a diabetes expert. Everyone except those of us who know that there’s no such thing."

Amy over at Three*Thirty*Three: Receiving is pretty awesome, too.

Amy won a giveaway and shares the joy with her readers. There are currently many giveaways around the blogosphere! Don't miss out! Amy says:

"Being a parent of a child with a chronic illness, I often find myself depleted and exhausted. The simple nature of T1D is you must give over and over again 24 hours a day 7 days a week 52 weeks of the year . . . you get the picture. Sometimes receiving is pretty awesome too."

Diane from Our Type 1 Trip: New View

"First there is the mom in Julia's class who, in my opinion, is determined that her daughter will have Type 1 diabetes. (I am trying my best not to punch her.) Second was the person who asked me if Julia "still had that diabetes thing." (I didn't even know how to answer that.) Finally was an acquaintance who has no idea about Julia's diagnoses that asked me if I can finally take a deep breath now that both of my kids are in school all day. (I haven't been able to breathe since November.)"

But then she met someone who "gets it!" And it made the day SO much better.

Michelle at Sugar Coated: Disappointment and Determination.

"I'm trying hard to get over my disappointment. But I'm having a hard time with it because I feel like in some ways I've failed my little girl. I know that the higher her number, the higher her risk for complications later on in life. She's been battling this for just over 5 years now and she has many, many more years ahead of her...so I want to make sure that we do the very best we can to keep her as healthy as possible!" (Man, don't we all have this same dialogue go through our head after a disappointing A1C!)

Denise from My Sweetest Boy: Give me a "D"
I liked this post so much, I'm printing it in its entirety!

Devastating diagnosis
Insulin dependent for life
Always on alert
Blood sugar roller coasters
Eat everything but count the carbs
Test throughout the day
Every day, every hour, every minute
Sugar is medicine

Tracy over at The Superhero and The Princess: Who's in charge...

Tracy writes on how she has taken over the basal adjustments for her son, while others are at the mercy of their endos...

"I have a few other T1 Mamas who I know are NOT allowed to make ANY changes on their own. Seriously. One of them was told that if she made any changes on her own or put her son back on his pump, they would call CPS. So, her son ran HIGH for days before they would call her back. The endo made her take him off the pump while he was in the hospital for ketones. He is still back on shots now, and this was a while ago."

Wendy at Candy Hearts: Candy Hearts Supports Life Of A Child

"It is estimated that there are 100,000 children with diabetes around the world who are in need of assistance to access insulin. Without insulin, these children will die within 1 week. $1 (or more) for each of these children. That's our mission. Let's get started."

Wendy has recruited vendors who are willing to give a percentage of their sales to Life Of A Child. The Candy Hearts Collection of Blue Circle Merchandise will bring in funds for insulin for the children who need it most. Click on over and check out her efforts!

Nicole at the WeCARALot Blog: Today is the day..."D" day!

Little Cara celebrated 2 years with Type 1 Diabetes...

"I realize now to mark or label a date with titles like anniversary allows us to realize and recognize how far we have come. It allows us to look back and learn from our mistakes, to find celebrations in our accomplishments and to look forward to the next coming years with new hopes and new dreams of what life will be."

Laura at Houston...we have a problem!: Tiger Mother Approach

Laura links to an article siting the Tiger Mother Approach. That is a very strict approach for managing children with Type 1. This approach was necessary back in the day when we didn't have the amazing tools we have today. Laura doesn't want to hold her son back...she wants to let go of the tiger. Laura writes:

"When Nate was diagnosed we took him out of his preschool class due to fear of the unknown. He’s spent the past year and a half with me but I took the leap last week and signed him up for pre-school starting in the fall. I am both excited and nervous at the same time. I've held him so closely to me since his diagnosis that I do believe he has missed out on things that his sisters got to experience. That stops now. Ready or not world --- here comes Nate!!"

Hallie of The Princess and the Pump: I Could Really Use That

"During the day... completely out of nowhere... came THIS conversation: Sweetpea: Dad, Do you think there will be a cure for diabetes? J: I sure hope so. We will do everything we can... and keep raising money so there can be a cure. Sweetpea: Thanks, Dad. I could really use that."

True dat Sweetpea! True dat!

Heather at Sweet to the soul: Dear Diabetes

Where Heather asks diabetes to back off for awhile. :)

"The problem is that you make my life much more complicated. My life is already complicated. I didn't need one more thing to make it even crazier. Seriously? Are you hearing me here? Especially the past week. The roller coaster you have put me and Lovebug on is just, well simply put; Hell. She doesn't feel good, I am even more exhausted then I normally am (up until now I didn't think that was possible) and my moods are as up and down as Lovebug's blood sugar numbers."

Lora at My Diabetic Child: Thanks

Lora has been having a hard time, my like myself. She posted what was in her heart, and true to form the DOC came to her side to support her in the comments section. Lora writes:

"THE purpose for this post is in response to some of the comments. I laughed through some of them, cried through some of them and then some made me think. Of course, I can relate to them all."


Jen at I Am Your Pancreas: 365:195 Here's To You

Jen blogs about the ups and downs in a 24 hour period. Her day ends with a support group meeting:

"Today, I joined in a monthly Diabetes Support Group. It always feels good to go and meet up with other parents in person and just tawlk (my NY accent is showing). One of the ladies in the group had a lot of extra insulin because she had just switched brands and brought them for some us to stock up on. It was funny to be there in the coffee shop, passing around baggies with vials of insulin like it was normal. Well, I suppose now it certainly is."

Kristi over at My Sugar Bugs: Celebrating Life

Kristi blogs about how her daughter ended up being admitted to the same hospital exactly 6 years to the day when she was admitted and diagnosed as Type 1.

"I have been asked by a couple of people in the past why we celebrate the anniversary of Bee's Type 1 Diagnosis. It must seem crazy to them to celebrate something that changed our lives, and not in a good way. So, I just explained to them that it's not the anniversary of the diagnosis we celebrate. It's the anniversary of the day her life was saved. That is how we look at it."

Heidi from D Tales: I'm Back


Where Heidi catches up on her hiatus! She begins with a heartbreaking battle that their family has been fighting on behalf of their son:

"On top of the health issues, school issues surrounding diabetes had become increasingly worse, so much so that we had to switch Jack’s teacher and place him in another class. Scratch that. We had to battle to ensure his safety at school. The process was upsetting, ridiculous and stressful. And then we had to train a new teacher. (I need to tell you, though, that it was all worth it. His new teacher is fantastic.)"

Lastly is lil' ol' me. :)

Meri at Our Diabetic Life: The most awesome thing I have done, in spite of diabetes is...

I didn't let a diagnosis stop me from having more children. That is a victory for sure!

"We were told we had a 3% chance of having a second child with diabetes. That is a 97% chance that we wouldn’t. But who cares about percentages. You never know where you will fall, so they are useless. All that is important is I have two of the most precious souls in the universe here in my home. Yes, they have diabetes. Yes, I wish they didn’t have to endure diabetes…But they are thriving. And they are happy. And they are part of a bigger picture."

Thank you for those that submitted your posts! And a double thank you to those who made it all the way through this one! Bravo!! (Holy longest post ever Batman!)

Next month Tracy at the Superhero and the Princess will be hosting the Blogger Basal. Be sure to submit your links to her!