Let's Talk About Camp!

Diabetes Camp!

We were newbies into the d camp world and for a few years I kept putting it off saying Joey wasn't ready well this year he was ready and didn't refrain from voicing his thoughts on how much he wanted to go.

I started the camp process a little later than the average d momma. I got all the forms in May and kept putting them off till June when I knew these forms had to be in or he wouldn't be able to go. Filled out all the forms, health questions that I could, got our Dr. form filled out and everything off in the mail to Camp Setebaid. 

Once I mailed all the forms in I waited for the email to tell me they still had spots available and he was in. Once I got that I then put camp out of my mind until the week before.  Its now the week of August 4th and camp drop off date is August 10th. We gather the "things you need to bring to camp" list and make the shopping trip and declare success as we cross things off  flashlight-check extra batteries-check shamp00-check soap-check towels-check  etc etc.. 

Saturday I started packing for a week of camp. In the camper packet they give you luggage ties but only 3! 3 bags! Yikes! how the heck is all this stuff gonna fit? Somehow, someway, I stuffed those bags and we made it work. I wanted to pack the car so we can just leave on Sunday. I am overly making sure everything is going smooth because both Joey and myself are nervous I can tell he is by all the questions he has. "Mom do you have my socks packed? Mom did you pack my extra shoes, Mom did we pack a jacket Mom did ya pack.."

Its Sunday and we are off! Check in time is 1 and its a 2 hour drive.

We arrive safely and a little early, phew so far everything is going great!

We unload the car and head for the line to check-in but first we get to go with group 1 on a tour of camp.  Joey is smiling and listening attentively as the tour guide is telling everyone about camp what he will be doing and where. As the tour raps up we now officially get to check in.

We do all the check-in stuff sign a few more papers, see a nurse, a doctor, hand over pump supplies, and meet with a nutritionist. They then send us off to his cabin to help him get settled. This is where we have to say goodbye.

So far I did great no tears, staying strong, and holding it together.

I help him make his bunk. Pull out a few things from his bags like bug spray, flashlight, and his camera. Meet his cabin counselors take a few pictures and mom and dad are off with a few hugs, kisses and well wishes to have a great time!

 

I did it!! No tears! ♥

Now comes the easy part you would think right? 1 week free from checks, site changes, carb counting, sleepless nights. Nope! It was not as easy as it sounds and I was very on edge all week some might even have called me a bitch! I didn't enjoy it my worries now are is he having a good time did he make friends, is he sleeping..now mind you I didn't worry about his d care because I knew they got that, it was all worries about his social experience at camp.

and so I stalked the camp Facebook page and came across this..


He does not look like he is liking it or having a good time at all. Insert mega worry!

 

I look for more pictures everyday some sign that he is having a good time and I am left with nothing.  I didn't get any phone calls so all has got to be good!?! Or so I hoped and that's what I told my self all week.

It's finally here! Pick-up day..

We have to be there at 9am. We leave early get there with plenty of time to spare. They usher all the parents to a pavilion and we wait for the campers to arrive. Have a closing ceremony and hear about all the great things they did and learned. 

waiting waiting waiting.... Wootothefreakinghoo I see him!!! AND he is smiling!!! I breath a huge sigh of relief get a gigantic hug, he runs back to sit with his friends and sing us camp songs! 

 HE LOVED IT!!!

1/2 way through the closing ceremony his counselor handed him a paper that he immediately ran over to us.

 

 Super proud mom and dad moment!

Half of the ride home we got to hear how awesome camp was all the great things he did and how he cant wait to go back next year! The other 1/2 way he slept.

Camp success for us newbie campers! 

August Suprise me... but make it good

I can't believe it's August already!
Joey is leaving for Washington DC on Saturday he is going with my parents and they are staying until  Wednesday! Yes, that's right Wednesday! I am filled with nervous emotion and also excitement for him. I am full of  appreciation and gratitude that my parents didn't exclude him from the tradition of taking each grand kid to Washington when they turn 10.  I'm in a few parents of type1 d children groups on facebook and this isn't the norm unfortunately most children with diabetes are excluded from many sleepovers, school activities, and camps.


So today I made a list of things for my parents, I know Joey will be leading the way for them these next few days.

•  Just normal checks in the morning at night and before eating, and of course if he feel he needs to.
• Making sure I have step by step instructions on how to do a site change ( this one makes me nervous and I hope Joey will be ok trusting his Poppy to do this) So far he says he does.
• We recently had a miraculous discovery that Joey feels his lows not only during the day but in the middle of the night. Hallelujah!!! This alone makes me feel more ok with this whole adventure for him.
• Pack the calorie king book and smarties, fruit snacks, and juice boxes. Along with lots of extra supplies!

What I don't want to do is overload my parents or Joey with information and things to do that will make everyone worry. Just leaving the worries up to me. As long as they do checks count some carbs and give some insulin all should go fine.

He will have his cell and probably get sick of my calls and texts but oh well!

This all  ought to go unhitched and he will be back Wednesday night to leave for d camp on Sunday!! Another first for us.

#Bringchewyhome

8/14/14 ***Update*****
Its official Chewy is home!!!

#Chewyishome

***********UPDATE CHEWY IS COMING HOME************ I should prob update this again.. incase anyone is following this story. Chewy is not home yet. Not sure what happen or whats going on but as of 8/7/14 Chewy is not home.

Have you seen the hash tag around twitter or facebook?? Hopefully you have!

This is Chewy with his boy Evan

Ya see, the org that scammed us Warren Retrievers, SDWR, Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers, or whatever name they are using now has taken this dog away from Evan and he needs him back! They have resorted to the unthinkable this is just a disgrace and disgust me. How dare they think this is ok.

I want to share their story:

"Evan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on October 9th, 2011. Within a couple months of his diagnosis, things turned for the worse very quickly. It was impossible to get a handle on his crazy blood sugars. Since I am also a type 1 myself, the stress was causing my health to decline. My husband and I started researching for diabetic alert dog companies, hoping these amazing dog could help us watch over our son.

Hours upon hours of research later, we chose Warren Retrievers because the owner, Dan Warren, called us personally and assured us that he was going to take amazing care of us. Another thing that was appealing to us was the fact that Warren delivered the dog to our home. We wouldn’t have to travel anywhere and take time off work to get the dog.

Chewy was delivered to us on August 2, 2012. She was 13 weeks old and was only obedience trained. In order for us to keep Chewy, we had to sign a contract. If we didn’t sign the contract that day, the trainer was going to have to take Chewy away and we would lose the $1,000 deposit we already gave the company. Financially, we were in no place to lose that money and we had already fallen in love with the dog. We looked over the contract and we were extremely concerned. We signed it anyway, and it was under duress.

We only had two training sessions from WR. The first, when she was delivered. The second, 90 days later. Soon after, we were hearing rumors that Dan was running a puppy mill and was running a shady business. When we started calling Dan to ask about the rumors and try to clear things up, he stopped communication with us completely. He kicked us out of the WR Facebook pages and stopped responding to our emails.

A few months later, Chewy started losing a lot of weight and wasn’t eating well. We took her to the vet and found out she had a birth defect called a hooded vulva. A lot of female dogs are born with this and it is an easy fix if you get the surgery done before the dog is spayed. Dan Warren knew about the birth defect and he was supposed to release this information to us before selling us the dog. By this time we were beyond upset and made the decision to stop paying on our balance. We had already paid just over $7,000 towards and dog and we felt that was more than enough.

When we found out about the birth defect, we emailed Dan’s attorneys with the paperwork from the vet and within an hour we got a response from Warren saying that he would forgive the rest of our debt and we could keep Chewy as long as we signed a gag order. We refused because he had already hurt so many families and we didn’t feel right doing it. Since we declined, he sued us in Virginia, along with several other families who owed him money for untrained dogs. Just a day before we were to go to trial, Dan dismissed most of the cases and that was the last we had heard from him.

Since Chewy was never trained properly, we paid to have her trained by another D.A.D. company, Heads Up Hounds. They were able to train Chewy as a true diabetic alert dog, and since she has been trained with them, she hasn’t missed one low blood sugar.
Now, nearly eight months later, he filed a motion to get the dog away from us because he “feared for the safety of the dog.” The sheriff came to our house and took Chewy away without any notice. Our hearts were broken. She was a part of our family and she has been with us for nearly two years.

She has been a constant companion for Evan and we are lost without her. A part of our family was taken away by an evil man, and we need her back before he can hurt her. Yes, Mr. Warren, sue us for the money we still “owe” you. Take us to court to try and get every single last penny you think you deserve, but don’t take our sons best friend away from him. Don’t take the one thing that has given us comfort the past two years since Evan’s diagnosis. What you did is wrong and we will get Chewy back. "

 

 

They have a gofundme page lets show this family support even its $1 it all adds up!!!

http://www.gofundme.com/Bring-Chewy-Home

 

 

Here is the link to a Facebook page to follow this story and help share. https://www.facebook.com/bringchewyhome/photos_stream#!/bringchewyhome

 

 you can also take a picture of your pet with the hashtag #Bringchewyhome  and post it to the page.. Show your support to this family that can use it right now.

Sniper supporting #Bringchewyhome

 

 



 





SDWR - I hate you

During my time involved with SDWR I met some amazing families. I have been blessed to have been able to hold onto some of those relationships in spite of how I feel about the org and how our journey went so wrong.

I also know what it feels like to be dropped like it hot because I don't share the same feelings about the org. What I thought to be friends.. ok not just friends but good friends.. have turned their back completely. These are people in the DOC these are other d moms who I thought would never let a service dog organization come between a bond much greater..

Wait. Time to come clean myself... In the beginning of my journey I did that to..  I turned my back to people that I thought were just trying to cause trouble. Why? Because I hoped for so much.. I hoped the trainers would work with us to get our dog to alert. I hoped I would have what we set out to achieve, a Diabetic Alert Dog.  I hoped Dan Warren was telling me the truth. I believed him when he said they were lying. I believed so many lies... 

I know what it feels like to be afraid... to be scared to speak up.. I cant tell you how many late night conversations I had with families currently still involved and claiming of working dogs.. about how our dogs do not alert and asking ourselves what the hell did we get our families into.

I know what it feels like to be on both sides of this organization. I also know what it feels like to say I am sorry to families I have turned my back on. I was wrong and hope for forgiveness. 

But what I cant understand is how so many families are still standing by, praising his glories.  Why continue the charade. 

There has to be a point when you say enough is enough already, and start doing what is right. Get your head out of the sand and speak the truth. 


****************************************************************************************
an update on the legal stuff

There are currently still over 20 complaints against SDWR filed at the Virginia Attorney Generals office. ***Edit*** 07/17/2015 over 30 complaints now  http://www.ag.virginia.gov/ComplaintTopicSelector/Search/Details/55414

There are active lawsuits http://www.scribd.com/stopthescammers/collections 

There are other state and federal agencies doing investigating as well.
*****************************************************************************************
When will it end... when will this be over and families stop getting scammed?

despite all the negative we still have a pretty cool dog who loves to play soccer ♥

D Blog Week Day 7!!!

Click for the My Favorite Things - Sunday 5/18 Link List.
As we wrap up another Diabetes Blog Week, let’s share a few of our favorite things from the week. This can be anything from a #DBlogWeek post you loved, a fantastic new-to-you blog you found, a picture someone included in a post that spoke to you, or comment left on your blog that made you smile. Anything you liked is worth sharing!




Thank you Karen @  http://www.bittersweetdiabetes.com thank you for letting me be apart of such an awesome week!!!!!! 

So day 1 was about issues that really fire us up. I loved this post http://thelifeofadiabetic.com/changing-the-diabetes-world-dblog-week/   

Day 2 read this one if you didn't yet. http://justicesmisbehavingpancreas.blogspot.com/2014/05/day-2-d-blog-week-poetry.html?m=0

Day 3 here's a good read http://blooddropsbrailledots.blogspot.ca/2014/05/on-blogging-and-emotions.html

Day 4-http://vickisnotebook.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/diabetes-blog-week-day-4-mantras-and.html

Day5-http://chasinglows.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/dblogweek-5-diabetes-life-hacks/

Day6-http://www.textingmypancreas.com/2014/05/dblogweek-saturday-snapshots.html?spref=tw. 

I am so proud lol I did it :) I did d blog week! 

D Blog Week - Day 6

Back for another year, let’s show everyone what life with diabetes looks like!  With a nod to the Diabetes 365 project, let’s grab our cameras again and share some more d-related pictures.  Post as many or as few as you’d like.  Feel free to blog your thoughts on or explanations of your pictures, or leave out the written words and let the pictures speak for themselves. 

I really wanted to complete the week. So going to post some pics I have from my phone. 

D Blog Week - Day 5!!

Click for the Diabetes Life Hacks - Friday 5/16 Link List.
Share the (non-medical) tips and tricks that help you in the day-to-day management of diabetes. Tell us everything from clothing modifications, serving size/carb counting tricks to the tried and true Dexcom-in-a-glass trick or the “secret” to turning on a Medtronic pump’s backlight when not on the home-screen (scroll to the bottom of this post). Please remember to give non-medical advice only! (Thank you Rachel of Probably Rachel and Kelley of Below Seven for this topic suggestion.)

I made through the week with I hope some good posts..

But today I don’t really have any good advice. 


We often swag carb counts when out and even sometimes at
home.





 I did recently get introduced to an awesome app called My Fitness Pal. This is my go to app!  I have an android phone and for some reason cant find calorie king to purchase. (Idk if I am tec dumb or its not available on android lol) 




This one is short and sweet but I hope to learn some great tricks from others today!!!!

♥

D-Blog Week- Day 4

Yesterday we opened up about how diabetes can bring us down. Today let’s share what gets us through a hard day. Or more specifically, a hard diabetes day. Is there something positive you tell yourself? Are there mantras that you fall back on to get you through? Is there something specific you do when your mood needs a boost? Maybe we've done that and we can help others do it too? (Thanks to Meri of Our Diabetic Life for suggesting this topic.)

I tell myself this! Repeatedly :) 

 

and then I reach out to 

 DOC!!

and one good look at this face and life is all

better

 

or his amazing siblings help with those hard days. Always available for a big hug and smooch! Sometimes that's all a mom needs ♥

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



D-Blog Week - Day 3

May is Mental Health Month so now seems like a great time to explore the emotional side of living with, or caring for someone with, diabetes. What things can make dealing with diabetes an emotional issue for you and / or your loved one, and how do you cope? (Thanks go out to Scott of Strangely Diabetic for coordinating this topic.)


A break-
I know when I'm at work and I need a break,  I can get up, walk out. regroup, come back in and pick back up refreshed.
Diabetes doesn't take a break... Yes sometimes I get a break from d care. but my son.. NEVER... He will never get a break from the wonky numbers that brings highs and lows or from the constant carb counting, ratios, finger pricks and needles....
and
That is what gets me down.... 

when I start thinking about it all ..I can.. I DO.. drive myself insane and almost immediately bring myself to tears..

Control-
What control? and the next person that asks me if his diabetes is under control.  I will give you a snarky response.. because.. never are things the same so never will there be control..
I unfortunately do try and control what I can. So yep I micromanage all d care.. Which makes my whole family mad because not consciously I tell my family how to do things my way and well, there way might be just as good but the crazy always have to have control mom in me wont hear them out.
and
That is what gets me down....

Being a mom I need control I want control and to have diabetes in our life has taught me so much about learning to roll with it.. deal with it in the moment. Don't dwell on the crazy numbers or the whys.  and repeatedly tell myself this one high is not going to cause damage or this one low wont be the one to cause a seizure.. why.. because we caught it we caught that number and are fixing it accordingly..

why-
I still ask why.. and I know someday that will be answered.. someday.. one day.. he will do something amazing.. be someone amazing.. and d will be in the background.. yet he can say.. I did this.. I accomplished this or that even with diabetes...

♥

DBlogWeek - Day 2 - Your diagnosis type 1 diabetes

This year, Diabetes Blog Week and TuDiabetes are teaming up to bring out the poet in you! Write a poem, rhyme, ballad, haiku, or any other form of poetry about diabetes. After you’ve posted it on your blog, share it on the No Sugar Added® Poetry page on TuDiabetes, and read what others have shared there as well! 

Be nice my first go at this :)

 
Your diagnosis type 1 diabetes

I had no idea
no idea why you were so sick
we went to the doctors
not once
......twice!

 
They kept saying you had a bad cold
you would get better soon


you were drinking alot
throwing up
breathing funny

we went to the emergency room
I thought dehydrated...
I thought we will be home soon..

I promised you I would not leave your side
I promised the Dr's would make you feel better
I promised we would be home soon
I promised I WOULD NOT LEAVE YOURSIDE!

You went with strange faces
In a helicopter
To a better hospital

I lied..you had to go alone
I lied.. you were stuck with many needles
.....you didn't feel better soon....
I Lied... we didn't go right home
I Lied...Your diagnosis type 1 diabetes


you now will know what
insulin is
this is your lifeline

You will know know what
finger pricks 
needles
carb counting
highs &
lows are....
Your diagnosis type 1 diabetes


and
what misconceptions are
people not knowing what type 1 is


The questions you are asked
why did you get that?
how did you get that?
did you eat to much sugar?
does that hurt?
will you grow out of it?

the list can go on and on...
yet you continue to smile
you continue to be brave


always so strong
so brave
you got this
diabetes doesn't have you
its just your diagnosis


You are

MY HERO ♥

D Blog Week - Day 1 Change the World

 

 

Let's kick off Diabetes Blog Week by talking about the diabetes causes and issues that really get us fired up. Are you passionate about 504 plans and school safety? Do diabetes misconceptions irk you? Do you fight for CGM coverage for Medicare patients, SDP funding, or test strip accuracy? Do you work hard at creating diabetes connections and bringing support? Whether or not you “formally” advocate for any cause, share the issues that are important to you

D.a.d's

After diagnosis I scoured the Internet for anything. Anything that would make life better. And so began my journey for a diabetic alert dog.

I did research.. I actually did alot of it but, when we began our search the amount of info out on d.a.d's was limited because they were new. TOO new, I should have waited another year or 2 and boy O boy would I have went down another road.

But here the thing, I believe I was meant to go through this journey I was meant to get scammed. I was meant to not have a working dog.. So I can be a voice for new families looking for a d.a.d. For families beginning their own search for a 4 legged life saver.

Hopefully one day they come across my story on the big world wide web... stop, think, and do maybe a little more research about that organization that sounds so good. I have learned if it sounds to good to be true.. IT IS :) !!
Also, not always is the most expensive way the best way.

I also like to include in most if not all of my posts here or on Facebook that my family is paid in full. We have paid all 20k and have a dog that could care less if my sons blood sugar is high or low.

Endo visit already?

It seems like we just had a visit and here we are our 3 month visit again. Already!

From what I have read online through the DOC (diabetes online community) some most endo offices have an A1C checker in the office that only needs a finger prick. How I would love one of these amazing machines in our endo's office. we don't have the technology and they don't plan on getting it. I think I ask every time if they are even thinking about it because blood work SUCKS!

Blood Work nightmare.....

 We have to go for blood work every 3 months and this past time it was a nightmare.  The vampire
drawing the blood was moving the needle around in his arm I believe they call that fishing. He starts crying. kicking, screaming and yelling for me to make her stop. I didn't know if I should calm him down just to get it over with, or punch this nurse and tell her I wanted someone else to do it, and  if I went that road will he even let someone else finish? All these thoughts running through my mind while holding his legs from kicking and his other arm from punching her himself. I heard the praises when she finally got it. Needless to say we didn't walk out of there happy.  And that alone makes me angry because our last blood work he did so well no tears at all.   

so we go to our visit and we hear  "they didn't pull labs on his a1c your going to have to go back and get it done again" 

We are going to have it done but waiting a week or so, hopefully the nightmare of our last labs wont be so bad and we wont have another nightmare experience.
 

Honestly I kind of liked the appointment because neither of us knew that "grade" what was the number what could it be. We went over his pump upload did some adjustments and off we went.  No stress of the a1c at all.. Cant all appointments be like this? Ok maybe not all but 80% of them :)

Ignorance

I recently posted in my diabetes online support group about an incident that happen to me at work, and wanted to share it here.  If people would only think before they speak. Regardless of your age. Age is a sad excuse for the elderly. Its not ok to spew crap because you think you have been through it all and know it all!

 Here it is-  I Just had my first ever I want to smack the heck out of you and I don't care if I am at work moment.

 client says- I am excited the VA approved me for more money and better benefits because I have ptsd
I in return say- well that's good but sorry for your added diagnosis
Client says- yea I will be the first person you ever hear say this. I want diabetes I would get more money and even better benefits.
I say- well Sir my son would be glad to give you his the needles the insulin the finger pokes the highs lows carb counting and everything else. You can have it.

He did apologize- but it wasn't a true apology he didn't care about my son or type 1 diabetes. He just wants better health care and more money.

After this I think I breathed fire and needed to just walk away from my desk for awhile and take deep breaths.

How dare someone wish this disease on themselves. I know the majority of all people are not educated enough on type 1 diabetes.  Is someone like this even willing to be educated? My thought is no, he was an arrogant ass who was old, loud, and knew it all.

In the end, I still wouldn't wish him to ever get diabetes, but I do hope that maybe next time he will think before he speaks about a disease he clearly knows little about. 

so far 2014 you suck!

I am going of topic of diabetes so far our d year has been ok... and yes I am Very Extremely  grateful.

 

Not sure I could handle a d issue on top of all the other issues right now.

 

I don't want this to be a poor me pity me post. Trying not to let it go there, trying hard, but we have fallen on some ridiculous difficult times.  I have had the most terrible anxiety. Or whatever this feeling is. Not sure what feeling comes with anxiety but sometimes most of the time in last week or so... I can barely breath, my heart races and my stomach is in knots. I have reminded myself to breath. The kind of kick in the gut feeling you got when you heard your child has been diagnosed with d. That's the feeling I have been having.

With that being said please, keep my family in your thoughts we can use all the prayers, well wishes, & positive vibes! 

Enough of the pity party....  I can sit in my shit and cry about it all I want, its not going to change the fact that I need to do something about the mess we have here...  

How about a update on the not so much a service dog.. service dog we have!

Some recent things I have seen happening with Service Dogs by Warren Retrievers... Now they are withholding training if you haven't fundraised a certain amount of funds.  And yet they say they want to see their "families" succeed. BULLSHIT!  

Also to date we have no training scheduled and no one has contacted us. Are you surprised? Nope me either. But they have our money lots of it.

Currently we still have no alerts and doubt we will ever see one. There comes a time when you must accept the fact that its never going to work out the way the "Dream" was sold to you. I hate that my son will still try and say mom Sniper alerted even though I know he didn't. I hate that my son still wants this so bad he will do anything to believe its working.  This dog was supposed to make life better for him. Instead it made it more difficult.

Also with in the past few days some videos have been released on the facebook scam page. I tried listening to the 1st one posted couldn't do it heard that bastards voice and shut it off. Tried listening to the second one and just about puked my way through it. The third one, the last one they posted was taped conversation I was on. Talk about bringing up old wounds. After I listened I felt like the day we said enough is enough and told the truth about our experience. I felt like a shitbag for hurting true friends and believing that slimeball over the truth. I wanted to cry..

Here is the link again to the scam page if interested in listening https://www.facebook.com/#!/stopthelies.now  You will here Dan Warren talk about how not all dogs are scent trained and how some families are given the option to send scent in but not all. You will hear all the lies. 
 

 
Sniper with his boy!

 

What If... he alerted

If only... we got what we purchased

What if... the organization was not a SCAM

What if.. the information and resource available now

were available when we looked into a d.a.d

If only... I can stop more families from this nightmare. 

Endo Visit

This has been sitting in draft for a month. Guess its time to publish about our last endo visit.

Did you ever hear reference to the curse of the endo visit? Well I am here to tell you its real!!! Wow talk about the week before our appt. The wonky numbers! We had highs,highs and more highs!!! 

A1c-down from last visit!
Score one for us!

I also inquired about a cgm.  She noted his record we spoke about it and will decide at our next visit if we for sure want to pursue one. My thoughts on the cgm... I was always; I wouldn't say against a cgm but I was against another site.  Now I am looking forward to learning more about one and eventually trying it.

I think at every visit we have been to since diagnosis we do some kind of tweaking. This time we changed target range to a much tighter one 80-130.
We do lots of correcting seems hard to stay so tight for an active 9 year old boy!

ohh and one last thing we are switching to the Contour Next meter.  I like the meter so far but I hate dislike the case it comes with!

ok one more one last thing..  I am so sick of the report card reference when his endo said you get a B+ but we want a A+ I almost puked!