Living with Type One (part one)...my experiences of living with a child with Type One Diabetes

So back in October, I mentioned that I as going to talk about my daughter, Emilie, and all about what happened when we discovered that she was Type One Diabetic. Unfortunately, as things do, life got in the way. I have been busy promoting my debut novella Time Of Tides, posting Author Profiles of some of my other authors over at J.Ellington Ashton and generally trying to get into a good writing habit so that I can help advance my career.

I apologise, but now, hopefully, I fully intend to make up for that lapse.

Last year I turned 40. Yes, the big 4-0! Something of a milestone as I think you will agree. 
True to form, and both because I am a miserable git and because we were a little short of money, I decided not to really celebrate.In hindsight, that turned out to be a very good idea.
Why?
Because I ended up spending it in the hospital is why!

PREVIOUSLY:
We'd noticed for a while that Emilie as losing weight and a few friends and family had (helpfully?) pointed it out to us that there wasn't a lot to her. We just thought she was going through a growth spurt. She was 6, kids do that. 
Mum expressed concern because she drank a lot. She did that. She always drank a lot. It was nothing unusual. 
Emilie was tired, literally exhausted after school. We figured she'd just gone back after six weeks off during the summer holidays, she was just finding it hard to adjust to busy days at school again.

Do you see what we were doing? We were rationalizing the changes we were seeing. We were convincing ourselves there was nothing wrong, and there wasn't. Not to our eyes. It was all very normal behaviour. Apart from the weight loss. That, I admit, I was a little concerned about.

We talked about it, me and Mrs.Sparky. We discussed it. We decided to take Emilie to the Doctors and booked her in for the following Tuesday. At the very least it would shut mum up who had come back off holiday and phoned to see if Emilie was alright because she hadn't been able to stop thinking about her and was concerned. 

(This is an example of a finger prick test that we have to do BEFORE every meal.)

And that is the problem. If you live with a child everyday, see him or her constantly,then sometimes Diabetes can sneak up on you. The signs can be there, but you can choose to ignore them. Because YOU DON'T THINK ANYTHING IS WRONG. 

The very day we'd decided to get Emilie checked out, we got a phone call. It was a Friday, just before the weekend. It was Emilie's teacher, Mrs.Peachment. She was concerned too. All she would say over the phone was that it was nothing to worry about but that she wanted to talk to us. She didn't want to leave it until after the weekend.
Me and Mrs.Sparky, scared what she might say, headed down there as soon as we could. We hoped it was about the weight loss. That we knew about. That we were about to deal with. The scariest thought was that she might want to talk to us about something else, something we hadn't noticed yet or hadn't picked up on. That didn't bear thinking about.

As we entered the school, we handed over the date of Emilie's Doctor appointment. Mrs.Peachment noticed and asked if we knew already what it was she wanted to talk about. We told her we had some concerns and we thought they might be one and the same. Emilie's teacher took us into a back office. 

It turned out that it wasn't just the weight loss. Emilie had been nearly dozing off sitting on the carpet listening to the teacher. She had also been breathless during P.E (before exercise) to the point that Mrs.Peachment had asked Emilie if she had an inhaler. This despite the fact she was sure Emilie didn't.
Emilie's teacher was worried and seemed almost relieved when we told her we had seen the weight loss already and were getting Ems checked out, but she urged us, as subtly as she could, not to wait until after the weekend.

Me and Mrs.Sparky walked out of there and went straight down the surgery.
"Is it urgent? We are only taking emergency appointments." The Receptionist told us curtly.
I explained the situation and that Emilie had been breathless.
"If she's breathless, you should call 999," the Receptionist told us. I explained politely that she wasn't breathless now but that the school were refusing to allow her to do any more P.E until she was checked out.
"If you won't give us an appointment, we're going down the walk-in centre," I told her.
Magical words. What a surprise, they got us in!

The Doctor checked Emilie over and was puzzled. Then I mentioned Mrs.Sparky's mum is Type 2 Diabetic. They decided to give her a finger prick test.
A second later, they booked us in the Jenny Lind Chrildrens Department at the local hospital and told us to get down there!

Emilie was in hospital for several days. It was not pleasant but, thankfully, she was soon somewhat on the mend. She was diagnosed Type One Diabetic and prescribed Insulin. From now on, she would have to take that via injection for the rest of her life. 

In some ways, we were relieved. What Emilie had was treatable. She was going to be okay. 

What we didn't realise (or at least I didn't) was how much that might mean.

I will go into more detail in a later post, but suffice to say the last few months have been hard.
Every meal has to have its carb count counted. We have to work out how much insulin to give Emilie 4 times a day AT LEAST and work out how many grams of carbohydrate are in EVERYTHING.The injections are once for every meal and one before bed to see her through the night. If she gets ill, her blood sugar goes mental. If she gets stressed, her blood sugar goes mental. If she does exercise or rides her bike, we have to monitor her bloods. It is hard. But we are getting there.

My only thanks are that Mrs.Peachment and the other teachers at the school noticed something was wrong! Although we had intended to take Emilie to the Doctors, we had no idea how bad the situation was. Since Emilie has been back, the school has been amazing with injections and all as well. We really are very fortunate to have her at that school and I have made a point of writing and telling them that so they have something to show in writing the Governers and Offstead when they do their rounds.

Why am I writing this Blog post?

Because I want other people to be aware.

The blood test for Diabetes is simple. It takes 5 mins if that. Hell, it takes 2 minutes. The Doctor or Nurse pricks your finger, takes a single drop and puts it in a reader which gives them your blood sugar level. The safe level is 8-10. Significantly higher or lower and you need to take action!

These were the symptoms Emilie first showed:  

1) Increased thirst - always drinking lots of fluids or always wanting a drink

2) Tiredness - easily exhausted and way more tired than was normal.

3) Loss of weight - far more than you might expect. You could see Emilie's bones showing on her body.

Please, please, please if your child is showing all these symptoms, please get them checked out. It won't take long and the sooner you get it sorted, the sooner your child can start to get better. Don't leave it too late.

There is not enough awareness of Type One Diabetes out there. Hopefully if you like and share this post, we can start to get a little more out there.

More soon...

Here are some useful links for more information:

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riva-greenberg/type-1-diabetes_b_4869238.html

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Diabetes-type1/Pages/Introduction.aspx

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/What-is-diabetes/What-is-Type-1-diabetes/

Hello, hello, let me introduce myself (again), so good to know you....

So, it's fair to say that it has been a while since I last touched base and, by now, many of you who regularly follow my Blog have probably long given me up for dead and abandoned any hope of me ever returning. No such luck!!

In my defense, it has been a very busy year!

Firstly, because of a nice little return on a P.P.I claim I received back in January I was able to take myself, my wife and my daughter Emilie off to Disneyland, Paris. We were there for five days and had an absolutely awesome time that was quite simply out of this world and that now feels like a beautiful dream I had except for the fact that I have bucket-loads of photos to remember it all by! I even had my photo taken next to Darth Vader which, for a Geek like me, you can well imagine was like all my Christmases rolled into one! If you haven't been and can afford it I can recommend it- it was an experience I will never forget and I was just glad I could treat Emilie....especially in light of what has come more  recently!

 Since then, I have been concentrating on my new writing career that I started to tell you about in my last Blog post. I now have an Amazon Author page here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mark-Woods/e/B00F5ZCMAG/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_11?qid=1382973066&sr=1-11 where you can easily locate all the Anthologies my short fiction appears in. I have a piece of Flash (very,very short) fiction and another story appearing shortly in yet another Anthology that will be appearing soon but that is not yet published and am working on my first of three intended novels; the first of which will offer something Zombie related but very, very different from anything else out there! Just to whet your appetite, my newest short story to be published soon is called Dairy Of The Dead (no typo) and features Zombie Cows. The anthology it will be appearing in will be called MIDNIGHT REMAINS.

I also have a Facebook Author Page so you can connect to me here too: https://www.facebook.com/markwoodsauthor?fref=ts  and keep updated on all my latest writing news and projects. There are too many to mention here but I have at least two more projects in the pipeline that are set to be published by year end! One is currently in Editing, the other is a collaboration with FIVE other authors and will be ready in the very near future!

Something else I have been doing is Editing for my good friend Catt Dahman at her Publishing Press http://www.jellingtonashton.com/ 

This is lots of fun and not just a little bit hard work at times trying to fit it in with my already hectic, busy lifestyle but we have some truly great authors on board and you should really check out the website for some brilliant reads from likewise up and coming authors. Some, if not all of these names, will be BIG!

In between all of this, me and my family also went back to Lego land this year (you may recall we went there way back in this Blog's early days) - this time for two days, staying in a swanky hotel for a couple of nights between visits! This again was lots of fun and Emilie could enjoy it more now she is older so that was all good!

So you see - I haven't exactly been resting on my laurels. I do have SOME justification for never writing, not calling etc, taking my readers for granted but I am willing to make a change and be here for you more often...but on one condition. I want you to be here for me.

Remember when I blogged openly about my depression? Well, something else has happened recently that has thrown all the good things that have happened to me this year firmly against the wall and, once again, I want to share with you my most recent experiences frankly, openly and honestly. I will talk more about this in my next Blog Post but my young daughter Emilie was recently diagnosed as a Type One Diabetic. 

This may not sound too serious to some of you but that is why I want to share. The last three weeks have been a tense, frightening and tough period of time to cope with and have required a lot of readjusting and reassessment of our lives. Many people don't realize just how tough living with Type One ( or Type Two Diabetes either for that matter) can be. Not just for those affected but for everyone around them too...

In my next Blog Post, I will be sharing just how we found out and what we have had to deal with in the last three weeks. If you read it, please share it with your friends and family or with any others you may know who are in a similar situation. I will not be going into medical details or offering any medical advice (I am not a Doctor and that would be both remiss of me and wrong!). All I will be doing is sharing my wife's and my own experiences of Living With Type One in order that maybe just maybe I can help someone else in the same situation or maybe help somebody be diagnosed earlier by explaining the symptoms and events that lead to Emilie being diagnosed...

Until next time (soon), keep your chins up guys!

xxx Your mate, Sparky 

A few photos of Emilie.....

 We recently found a few old photos of Emilie on one of Mrs.Sparky's mobiles so I thought I would upload a small selection here so that everyone can see just how much she has grown! Some of these are really old but in all of them my little girl is just sooo cute! These are a few of my favourites that we found......

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo......

Just a short update to let you all know that I haven't yet given up on my Blog. This despite the fact that many of the others I follow have temporarily fallen by the wayside. I guess everyone else is just too busy at mo actually living their lives rather than writing about them but thats no bad thing I suppose.

Work is still shit and there is a lot of politics etc flying around as well as generous doses of paranoia and caution but we are almost back up to strength in the kitchen with two new chefs; David and Bon Jovi Roy. I call him Bon Jovi Roy both because his name is Roy (not Earl) and he is a Bon Jovi obsessive. Now I like Bon Jovi but not too the extent of this guy! Still we have similar tastes in films, music etc so looks like we are going to get on pretty well. The other chef, David Fox, seems okay as well so thats all good!

Yesterday we went to Colchester zoo (pics to follow) with Mrs.Sparky's best friend Bex, her husband Sean, their two boys and Bex mum and dad. Almost the same crowd we went to LegoLand with. It was a good day out and lots of fun and was a real shame when we had to come home. As usual the worst part of it all was the journey ~ though it took the same time approx to get home as it did to get there, I was driving on way home and it always seems to take longer when it starts to get dark! Emilie was made up and didn't stop smiling all day and took a real shine to Bex ~ constantly wanting to hold her hand! It will be good when we move back to Norwich next year and are closer to them all!

As always, leaving in the morning to get there yesterday was the usual circus it always ends up being! Mrs.Sparky always says we will leave by such and such a time but always takes longer in the bathroom than she intends to. I say "I thought we were leaving by such and such a time" so she always says "yes, but I told you that so that we could leave at so and so a time instead because you are never ready when I want you to be." She then proceeds to moan that I am not ready and haven't got my shoes on yet! To which I normally reply "Well, there was no point in my getting ready as I didn't know how long you were going to be." I then have to rush around, getting myself ready and we end up leaving later not just than when we said we would but also than the time Mrs.Sparky had intended which was twenty minutes later than what she originally said! Yesterday, we had an added complication because Mrs.Sparky didn't want to use the SATNAV with its annoying female voice so had printed off directions that didn't seem to make any sense and didn't seem to start from our house. I was then blamed even though she was driving and should've familiarised herself with where we had to go before we set off because I was supposed to be the navigator. I had an idea how to get to Colchester from ours but was so busy trying to sort out the directions that I am sure we ended up on the correct road via the long way round! Still we got there in the end and thats all that matters even if we did miss one turning because we were both too busy talking and had to cut back on ourselves. Its a good job we never have to go on an Artic expedition!! We'd probably end up in the Antartic instead....

And that would probably be my fault too!

Be careful what you wish for....

Just a quick Blog to say that Crispy has finally gone!! On Tuesday, he broke one of the fundamental laws of Catering- don't swear at the customers! This, along with one of the other most fundamental laws of the kitchen ~ try not to kill anyone ~ is an act so unforgivable that it promotes instant dismissal. By Thursday, he had been fired and now Crispy is no more..... and as you can imagine, this is a double-edged sword for me. It is good because he was a twat. But it is bad because HC is going on holiday for 2 weeks tomorrow meaning I will have to work the next 17 days without a single full day off! This time includes the day of Emilie's birthday which I am very not happy about but, overall, I am quite anticipating the next two weeks as it is going to be one hell of a challenge....Right now I feel a mixure of trepidation and anticipation and know, that by it's end, not only will I be shattered but that also that my nerves will be torn to shreds. Now you know why I would like to leave my job so much!! The problem is that, without HC, I am the only other chef with any responsibility and, in his absence, that leaves only myself and two commis to cover all the shifts with the occassional Agency chef when we are very busy. If they turn up... which yesterday, the Agency we were supposed to have did not! Yesterday I started work at 10:30 AM and worked through to 10 P.M non-stop with no break. This is my life as a chef. This is why Sparky gets narky. And this is why I complain A LOT in this Blog. Because ultimately, I have a lot to put up with in my job. And it's not that easy, especially in this climate, finding something else to do.....

To quote Duncan Bannatyne...."Let me tell you where I am right now....I'm oot!"

Sparky xxxx

Vacation time: day zero

Well, I am finally officially on holiday!!! A whole week is planned of pure relaxation, chilling and not doing anything even remotely resembling work! Mind, Mrs.Sparky has left me a list of jobs for me to be getting on with but it remains to be seen how much of it I get done. Just looking after my daughter will probably be a full-time job this week as Mrs.Sparky has been reporting to me that she is a bit of a devil child at mo when I get in from work.I should probably add that Mrs.Sparky is still at work this week for her usual three days, so we will only get Tuesday, thursday and the weekend together~ the rest of the time it will be just me and Emilie during the day. An example of my daughter creating havoc was in evidence the other morning when I updated my Blog....reme,ber I said it sounded as though she was trashing the living room behind me? Well, it turned out that whilst I had been ignoring her and typing my update,she had proceeded to toss as many of her toys as she had could lay her hands on outside through the open patio doors! I suppose thats what I get for not paying her attention but, with 5 minutes left before I had to leave for work, it really wasn't funny. And of course I had to at least attempt to clear it all up and get the toys back inside before Mrs.Sparky came down or else she would not have been best pleased! That'll teach me to ignore what my daughter is up to!

Actually, at the mo, Emilie is mostly playing up at meal and bed times! She is a bit of a pain to get her to eat at dinner time and the only way to get her to sleep at the moment is to leave her upstairs crying and go down and put the hoover on. Once she realises we can't hear her and are not going to come up then she eventually gives up and goes to bed. Sounds a bit horrible but she is testing the waters to see what she can get away with and pushing the boundaries a little so we have to show her who's the Boss or she will be forever thinking she can get away with things! It is not nice leaving her crying like that but we have tried getting her sleepy, reading her a story or two and calming her down but as soon as you go to leave her room, even if you think she is asleep, then she is up like a light and all tearful. She just doesn't want to be left up in her room on her own thats all but I am sure it is just a phase!

Crispy got another warning today when my mate Richard, the Manager of The Hotel, gave him a bollicking. He was told off for fawning over the waitresses and flirting with them, distracting them etc... One of the main culprits who always encourages him was also given a ticking off and I heard the if we can get a replacement then he will be shipped out as a trouble-maker as soon as possible. I did tell you his cards were marked didn't I? Course it's easy to just say that but the reality is somewhat different but I think it is just a matter of time before he upsets the wrong person. He nearly made Geordie Ed lose his rag again tonight and the guy is certainly doing well to earn his place on so many people's shit-lists! In a vote for the biggest prick in The Hotel, he would certainly top the poll though of course all the little girlies love him! Makes me sound as though I am a little bit jealous until you take into the equation the fact that I am old enough to be all their dads! No, it is more dismay on my part that these girls can't see what a cock he is and that they haven't got better taste! But then young girls always like the bad boys, don't they? oh but they have soo much to learn...

Finished Let The Right One in today and though I was a bit disappointed by the ending, I still really enjoyed it, would recommend it and want to see the film version. Haven't seen a decent foreign language film in ages it feels like! Had one of those moments this morning that all book~lovers will recognise where I had only a few chapters to go and had to leave to go to work! Was faced with that dilema- do I make myself late and finish the book or do I tear myself away and finish it off later. Went for the latter choice but I hate it when you get so close to a book's climax then have to put it on hold for something. Debating what to read next ~ I have Saigon which I really ought to read more of, 1977~the second part of David Peace's Red Riding quartet which was recently filmed as a trilogy for channel 4, John Connolly's latest Supernatural thriller starring Charlie Parker or Robin Hobb's latest novel set in The Rain Wilds which I bought, signed, last week. Thats the third of her books I have signed, one of which is dedicated directly to me and which I got when she came to our local Waterstones nee Ottakers,a couple of years ago now. As such, this latest book of hers will take pride of place and carries great sentim,ental value for me as I love her work as a fantasy writer! I am not keen on her books published under her own name of Megan Lindholm but as Robin Hobb, she excels ~ her characters are so believable and you can really connect with them and their world. I really want to read this newest book of hers, but I know it will take me ages to read as I will really enjoy it and savour every last word! Maybe thats something for later on in the week then...

Anyway, thats enough waffle....see you tomorrow when I will be updating you on the first day of my vacation.... au revoir

SparkyMarky :)

If you go down to The Woods today....

Well, it is over a month since last Blogged so thought I had better get my arse in gear and update everyone who reads this ~ and there are more of you than I could have imagined as I am discovering that more and more people I know are reading this which is only a good thing. Work has not changed that much of late ~ a new chef due to start didn't turn up last week but we have got a couple of Kitchen Porters just starting; one of whom is a Geordie and very good so far in that he helps with veg prep and carving when we need him too and puts his colleagues to shame with how swiftly he gets things done in comparison! His name is Ed and every time I talk to him, I find myself developing a Geordie accent in my head! Sunday just gone, I worked my arse off with a thirteen hour non-stop shift in chronic heat and felt absolutely knackered monday and tuesday even though monday was very, very quiet. By tuesday night, I felt as though my feet were going to kill me they hurt so much! I am not sure how much longer I can keep doing this but there is nothing else about at minute and believe me I am trying. The Agencies I joined have sent my C.V to a few places apparently but they are about having as much result as a chocolate teapot!

Wednesday, decided to go to beach and thought I would visit Sheringham as went to Cromer a few weeks ago with just me and Emilie (Mrs.Sparky works wednesdays) and we had a great time building sand castles etc...unfortunately, after spending some time in town, we got down to beach to find there is no sand at Sheringham- it is all stones! Looks like they have been put there artifically as a sea barrier kind of thing but sure it was not always like that! Mind~ though I have been to Sheringham a few times over last couple of years, I have not really been down to their beach since I was ickle. By that time it was too late to move over to nearby Cromer and still get back in time for Emilie's tea so found a sandy kids play area and we played in that for a while instead! Still not the same!

Thursday, yesterday, 13 of us went to Legoland in Windsor. Pictures will be on FB soon and will post a few on here also! It was amazing but a very expensive day out even though we only paid half price for the tickets thanx to Mrs.Sparky's best friend who works for a well known burger chain and got us vouchers from their most recent promotion! There were only three kids ~ Emilie and Mrs.Sparky's best friend's two boys ~ and the rest of us were all grown-ups. It was a lot of fun and I even went on several rides which is unlike me! There was a log flume ~ which we went on twice because the first time it broke down while we were on it and we had to abandon~ a pirate ship, spinning tea-cups which left us very dizzy and giddy and a water barrel ride that spun you along some rapids and which gave me very wet feet and a wet arse! We took a picnic with us but they did this good thing with the drinks where if you bought a refillable cup for £4.90 then you got free soft drink refills all day which worked out very well!!

I think Emilie enjoyed it though it was a long day for her (and all of us) and we brought her back some Duplo which she has been playing with today. Bex (Mrs.Sparky's friend) suggested we do something similar again if we can get vouchers for somewhere else as we are all off thursdays who went yesterday so works out alright! That would be great as yesterday was a phenomenal day that really was just simply excellent!

The worst bit was the journey home ~ we got stuck in traffic coming out of Windsor, then stopped to feed Emilie and get some tea ourselves and so didn't get home till gone eleven. Nearly had an incident with the car too as once we reached Swaffham, I kind of switched off a bit thinking I know the way from here to home and ended up going wrong way cos not paying attention. Found myself on an unfamiliar road and Sat Nav told me to turn round and go back. Unfortunately in the dark and not knowing where I was, I didn't realise we were on a dual bit of road- luckily there was no harm done apart from a scare for Mrs.Sparky but it goes to show why you have to be a bit savvy with Sat Nav! I always took the piss out of these people who drove over cliffs because the Sat Nav directed them that way but in the dark and confused as I was, I nearly did a similar thing!! If the Sat-Nav hadn't told me to turn around, I would've kept driving till I found a way of turning back- it's no excuse but I was tired and had a long day so followed the Sat Nav blindly! Won't make that mistake again ~ that Sat nav is proving to be less than reliable on a few occassions now- it gets you where you want to go but sometimes tells you to take second exit at a roundabout when at a t-junction just as an example or tells you to stay left when it means take the slip-road on left off the motorway/ carriageway! It is often slightly less than clear at times but Mrs.Sparky paid for it so it's her loss!

Right, next thing I need to do is write a letter to my mate Sarah but will probs do that next week! Have not got that much to say because most of it is here and I know she reads this so don't need to repeat myself but it is sooo nice to recieve a hand written letter in the post and I sooo love it WHEN she writes to me so least I can do is return the favour. She'll need to text me her new address first though as she is moving to Leeds from Hull to start her new life training as some kind of social worker type. I think it will do her a whole heap of good and it must be very rewarding to think that you will be helping others and bettering their lives so hope she gets a lot out of it! GOOD LUCK SARAH!

Right that really is it now- will try not to leave it so long next time...laters ~ I will try not to be a stranger! SPARKYxxxxx
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