Saturday, March 19, 2011

Helping out a new T1 Family...(pics incl.)

I got an email earlier this week from a mom of a newly dx little girl. She was dx on Feb. 28 (almost 3 years to the day that Syd was diagnosed.) . Brooklyn spent her 4th birthday in the hospital. All of us T1 moms remember how hard those first few days, weeks, and months are. You are in information overload and emotional chaos. Brooklyn's family lives in the same town as us and so I asked if she wanted to meet for lunch so we could chat with her and answer some of her questions and to let little Brooklyn see another T1 kid checking her blood sugar. I personally think camaraderie with children who have Type 1 is very important for their overall success and self esteem while dealing with a chronic disease.

We had a wonderful lunch and Sydney was so sweet with Brooklyn. I'm very proud of her because she decided not to get her insulin for lunch with her pump. We brought a needle and she let Brooklyn help give her a shot. She wanted Brooklyn to see another kid who needs shots and insulin and she wanted to help her be brave. It was wonderful and sweet and cute. I love my little advocate who is so willing to help others. Here are some pics of our lunch with Brooklyn and her super sweet and lovely mother Melanie. Under that are just some fun, random pics of the girls.

~~Brooklyn was finding the "fatty tissue" on Syd's arm.

~We said do a fast poke and it hurts less. She did a stellar poke!

~See Syd's face...she was being so brave because the shot did take a little longer. Brooklyn got to push the insulin in and then take the needle out. She did a great job and, again, I'm SO proud of Sydney. She didn't need a shot. She chose to have one because she knew it would help someone else.


~After the shot...they are buddies. Brooklyn is teeny tiny for 4 years old. She was born premature and weighed 2lbs 14oz.
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MISC pics of my beautiful girls. This is Morgan doing ballet in her Cinderella dress. :)

~Syd is such a helper and can make and give Hadlee a bottle. (Morgan can make a bottle as well!) What great little helps!

~Last weekend we were able to have my mom watch Syd and Mo and my aunt watched Hadlee and Loren and I snuck away for a couple of nights in a resort town about 3 or 4 hours from home. My great grandparents are buried in this cemetery next to the great author Earnest Hemingway! Here is a pic of his grave. Pretty cool eh? The whiskey was a gift because he sure liked the bottle. :)

~My great grandparents. She passed away young because of a stroke and he died 3 years later from a broken heart. When he lost his wife and best friend, he gave up on life so he could join her. Their son, my papa, lost his wife 4 years ago. At his last birthday we said, "Papa I bet you could live to be 100!" And he said, "Well I can't do that. You see, I have a date with an angel." It was so sweet the love this family has for their spouses.


~Miss Hadlee in her carseat with her "Grandpa's #1 Girl" shirt.
~~Speaking of shirts, I want to have one made for Sydney that says on the back,

"Yes I have Type 1 Diabetes.
--Then put a picture of a delicious cupcake or donuts or whatever.
Then have it say, "And YES, I can eat that."

:) cute huh?

Well that's my update for now. I hope you all are doing well and T1 families, please read my post below. I hope you are working on your emergency evacuation backpacks in case of a natural disaster in your area. (If this is the only post you can see, go ahead and click my header at the top of the page and it will pull up the whole blog and previous posts.)

20 comments:

Sandy said...

I just came across your blog and love it! Love the story of one helping another. How sweet :)

Andrea said...

This brought tears to my eyes! You have got to be so proud of Sydney!! I am and she's not even my daughter! Our kids are so brave and strong! As much as D bites, it has instilled things in my son that he will take with him for the rest of his life! Nothing is going to stop our kids!!!

Tammy said...

Wow - she was so generous and so brave to let a little person give her an injection! Sad to learn of another T1 dx. :0(

Stringham Family said...

You have a beautiful family! Syd is amazing and so brave! That was so sweet of her to want to help a friend going through the same things! You are an incredible family!

Heidi / D-Tales said...

High five Sydney!!!!

I agree that it's important for our kids to spend time with other T1 kids.

How nice that you were able to get away for a couple of days!

:) Tracie said...

Yea for Syd! What a brave thing she did.
Great pictures of the girls too!

Cool shirt idea! :)

ashycam said...

Way to go Syd. You are the best little girl, and you are always thinking of others. Love you guys.

Misty said...

Wow, Sydney, you are AMAZING!!! What a very sweet and kind thing to do. So great that you and Syd were there for this new T1 family. I remember those early days all too well, and it is the kindness like yours that got me through it!

p.s. LOVE Sydney's short hair! So cute!

Lora said...

So sweet!! I am sure you guys made that Dmamas day. <3

Meri said...

Syd was so brave! I'm so proud of her! ANd of you, you are a wonderful advocater/friend!

And woo hoo for getting away! What a blessing!!

Hallie Addington said...

Wow! What a brave girl!! So sweet!

Michelle said...

That's awesome that Syd was so brave!!! I always enjoy talking to and meeting new T1 families...I can remember our early days and the overwhelmed feeling we had and just hope that we can do a little to help other families dealing with that.

Also, have to say that I love what your Papa said about having a date with an angel...sounds like my grandpa (he'll be 98 in June). It's always heart-warming to hear stories like that...you can just tell that they were so in love :)

Lori Haapala said...

Great story !! Way to go Sydney !! We will also be at Children's Congress this year. My son Jay was diagnosed at 6 and is now 13. We are so excited to meet everyone. I was wondering if you guys have the Bag of Hope program at your chapter? We have delivered several over the years and Jay has always enjoyed it. My email is lorihaapala@yahoo.com.
Big HIGH FIVE to Sydney !!!!

Lorraine of "This is Caleb..." said...

You just must give Sydney a hug from me. That is so wonderfully, amazingly awesome. It speaks so much to her character and yours to do something like that to help someone else. It warms my heart.

Anonymous said...

Good job Syd! You were a great example to your new friend. I am so very proud of you!
You guys are doing such a wonderful job with her and are such an inspiration and 'light of hope' to so many others!
I love you!
Mom

sarefamily said...

good job syd for bein brave, and good job shamae for helping all the T1 moms, u r amazing!

NikDuck said...

Hello, I just came across your blog through some of the other D-blogs. My daughter was also diagnosed at the age of 4 last summer. She is now 5. Your little girl is so brave and I am so impressed that she let the other girl give her a shot when she did not need one! I look forward to reading more of your blog.

the author said...

Hi! I just found your blog from your video that you made awhile ago. my 3 year old daughter was just diagnosed 5 weeks ago. I blog at www.type1diabetic3yearold.blogspot.com. my email is jenes14@yahoo.com. Your video was amazing btw. I reposted it, hoping others will see the true life of a diabetic family. jennifer

Shannon@ The New Normal Life said...

HOW wonderful and so loving of your daughter!! It brought tears to my eyes!!
PS Ill totally buy one of those shirts!! Just tell me when!!

Unknown said...

My son was diagnosed with TI just over 8 months ago now. He was 2 and half at the time and he is now 3. I don't need to go into detail on what a roller coaster it's been so far, but we're figuring things out. My husband and I are planning a Charity 5k this spring and all proceeds will go to JDRF! It's called the Crazy Pancreas 5k and this is our blog with more info.

http://www.idahocrazypancreas5k.blogspot.com

Anyway, we were told to contact you because you might know of some business that could help out with sponsorship for the race. We are super excited about doing this and have found many businesses willing to donate prizes, but we still need some money to purchase T-shirts, ribbons and food. We were also told that your daughter was chosen to represent Idaho in Washington DC on June 5th! That is so neat, but we were sad because our race is June 4th so you guys will miss it! Your daughter sounds pretty amazing with her willingness to help others going through what she does. Thanks for all your posts, it brings me comfort knowing I'm not the only one going through the TI life!