Facebook Archive - September 2020

Sept 1 - Ian: "I feel like the only reason I'm alive is because of you. And not just the diabetes, but I wouldn't make it very long without love."

Sept 8 - I made Ian stand for a first day of school picture for consistency. I made him put on real pants for our walk at lunch. His school day was good from a technology standpoint and only a little emotional. I’ll take it.

Sept 9 - Ian and I have been going for walks this past week. We've been driving to random locations to walk around and while he was resistant at first (and still insists on wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt for anxiety protection despite the heat), we're having a lot of fun. We saw cute houses downtown, some guys on hoverboards, people playing disc golf, some dogs doing scent work, and lots of flowers.

Sept 10 - I just got the letter confirming that Ian has Type 1 diabetes. He has two of the three autoantibodies present. I've never had that test myself, so that was neat to see. The Zinc Transporter 8 Antibody (ZnT8) normal range is 0-15 and Ian's is over 5000. The number actually made me laugh out loud because it's so obviously a "HEY YOU HAVE TYPE 1 DIABETES". It's nice to have something be certain. His thyroid numbers are fine and he doesn't have celiac. They'll test those periodically, but he's fine for now. As a side note, he has been an absolute champ managing his blood sugar. I know he's still in the honeymoon phase so he's getting a little help from his pancreas, but it's nice to have that break-in phase to a new lifelong illness. I'm so stinking proud of him.

Sept 16 - Ian has learned the states that border Virginia in Social Studies. The pneumonic (or mnemonic ... I was so close) device is Mustard With Ketchup Tastes Nasty (Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina). The phrase is really helpful even if I don't agree with the sentiment and think mustard and ketchup go great together.

Sept 23 - Ian managed to poop *before* school started today, which is a big win since a bowel movement for him takes longer than some Zoom meetings. He also scored a win by going outside to play. He's been anxious about the Outside World for months and he's not a warm-weather creature. He literally talks about when he grows up he's going to move to Canada. So he has been happily rollerblading in the driveway in the 60F weather. He also was a legit help to me getting the pool cover installed.

Sept 30 - My job is easy compared to virtual fifth grade. I've been sitting in Ian's classes with him (one in particular that wears us both out) and it's rough. Canvas, IXL, Get Epic!, Clever, Zoom, Zoom that's now authenticated through his school account, StudentVUE, STAR assessments, a new Active Directory email to check, ClassDojo. It's a lot to manage. But we're making progress. Progress, not perfection, is the key. Yesterday we went for a one month follow up for Ian's diabetes at CHKD. His A1C went down from 7.7 to 6.7 already. They were happy with all his blood sugars and health. We are starting the process to get an insulin pump, but that process is not quick and is largely controlled by what insurance will allow and when. But it was a good visit.