Celebrating life.

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.

February 18th 2005. The day I got that awful call. I remember almost word for word what the Dr said. At first I was confused. I didn't understand, really, what Type 1 Diabetes was. I had quickly looked up the symptoms that she had been showing and mentioned it to her pediatrician the day before at her well check visit. He ordered some lab work and we went home. The next day, our lives were changed (once again).

February 18th 2005. Admitted to the children's hospital where she would stay for 5 days.

Here we are 6 years later. We don't usually do a lot for her anniversary. I wouldn't call it a celebration, really. I usually write a blog post, we talk about it, maybe have a special dessert. This year we had planned on making a special cake. But plans changed.

February 18, 2011.



Exactly 6 years to the day she was diagnosed, she was once again admitted to the same children's hospital where she had been before. It was, of course, not what we had planned for that day. But that is where we ended up and that is where she'd spend the next few days.

Influenza B was the culprit. First Ladybug got sick and ended up in Urgent Care on February 17th getting IV hydration and antibiotics for an ear infection (which we would later find she is allergic to. We already knew she was allergic to Penicillin and this one, Cefdinir, gave her the same reaction.)

The next day Butterfly and Bee both started getting sick. All three of them had high fevers ranging from 102-103.8 all day. Bee woke up with ketones that I was quickly able to get rid of. I thought all was going well until she started getting worse and ketones were up. Way up. That, with vomiting, BG's in the high 500's and chest pain, made me rush her to the ER.

The same way I had 6 years ago.

All these emotions were filling up inside me. I wanted to cry once again. Not only because of the current illness we were dealing with, but because all of the feelings from 6 years ago were coming right back. I was angry as well. Angry because had it not been for D, Bee would be able to recover from this at home just like her sisters were. But this had made the complications with D very dangerous and as I would find out after some lab work, she was on her way to DKA.

After a few days of meds and IV hydration, we were able to get rid of the ketones and bring her BG levels way down. The Endo asked us if we were comfortable going home and although I was still worried, I told him yes. Bee had been in tears for 3 days asking when we could go home and I wanted her to be more comfortable, even if i was still worried. She slept most of the next few days away only waking to take sips of water and Gatorade here and there. I don't think I have ever seen her sleep so much!

This illness has been hanging around for almost a week now and it is just now letting up. Butterfly and Ladybug started to feel better a couple of days ago, but for Bee it lasted a bit longer.

As soon as she feels 100% better we are going to make that cake and celebrate the fact that 6 years ago, her life was saved.

Saved because I knew something was wrong and I had her checked in time.

Saved because our pediatrician listened to my concerns. I have heard many stories where pediatricians don't listen.

Saved by insulin. A life saving hormone. Something my daughter now gets via insulin pump. Something that, if she didn't have, she wouldn't be able to live. Something we are SO lucky to be able to get access to so that my daughter can stay alive.

Some children are not so lucky. (Click to see how you can help)

So, now maybe those who think we are a bit strange for celebrating the diagnosis date will understand WHY we celebrate. Her life was saved. She is here with us. We are blessed.

It has been 6 years of finger pokes, shots, site changes, highs, lows and many tears. But I am just so glad that she is right here with me even if D is here too. I'll take all of this over the alternative any day.

Happy 6 years Bumble Bee! Here's to many more.