Avery's little fingers have to be poked at least 10 to 12 times a day to keep his blood sugar in check.
Avery is on a insulin pump that gives him insulin whenever he eats and throughout the day to keep his blood sugar as normal as possible. I give him his insulin for meals and monitor what hes getting throughout the day with a remote that works with his pump. It has been so much nicer having his pump rather than having to give him 4 to 6 shots a day. He still gets a shot with his pump but now its only a site change every two days. This is what it looks like.
This adds up to around 340 finger pokes and 15 site changes a month. And that's not including when he gets sick. When Avery is sick, finger pokes have to be almost doubled and he goes back to regular shots with a syringe until we are comfortable again with all of his dosages. Being sick is hard for any kid, but being sick with Type 1 diabetes has its own mess of complications and most of the time involves a hospital stay.
When we get Avery's medical supplies every month its still seems to amaze me what it takes to keep him healthy and alive for just1 month...
Like I have said on here many times before, Avery makes me so proud of him on a daily basis with how well he takes all of this. Its hard when something like this happens to a teenager or an adult, and its even that much harder when you found out at 2 years old. He is so brave and Id like to think that so far he doesn't let it bother him. I do get questions though every once in a while. "Mom? Why don't the boys at preschool have pumps?" "Why do I have diabetes?" "Will Landon get it too?" These questions have answers but as a mother they are so hard to give. I don't want to give him any reason to feel bad about this, so I word my answers very carefully, he listens and then usually goes on playing. I don't look forward to the day when things really start to hit him that he has to do things differently then most people do.
The worst fear you have as a mom is that something bad will happen to your child. And then if that something bad does happen, your next worst fear is that they will suffer because of it and in some cases be made fun of and feel different then other kids their age. I hope Avery will take the attitude that he has had this past year with his diagnoses and carry it with him the rest of his life. I want him to be an example to other children and to help them as much as he can. I know there will be bad days when he absolutely hates having this disease. All I can say about that is, I hope the good days out weigh the bad!
Our lives and especially Avery's have forever changed with him getting diabetes. In our attempt to encourage and support our son, while educating those we know, we have formed Team Avery in hopes of doing 2 things. 1) Raise money to support the research required to find a cure, and 2) To provide Avery with support and love and to let him know that he is not alone in his fight against diabetes.
The walk will be a wonderful place where Avery wont feel alone with this disease and we hope it will teach him that he can accomplish anything he wants with hard work and determination! As a 4 year old there is only so much Avery can do himself when it comes to fighting this disease. The walk is something he can do, and with your help we can make his very first walk his BEST one!
Please help us reach our goal!!
Here is how you can help..
Make a contribution in support of Team Avery!(any amount is welcome!) Get online and head to http://www.walk.jdrf.org
or just click on the link on the side of my blog page. Make sure you type in Avery's name or Team Avery and just follow it from there. We would also love for anyone that wants to, to not only donate but to join Team Avery as well! Just follow those same steps and join us to walk with Team Avery on August 21st at 9:00 a.m at Wheeler Farm! Our team goal is $2,000.00 and at LEAST 30 walkers so please join us and help make it a memorable day for Avery and all the other children affected by Type 1 Diabetes.
I will be posting more and more information as the weeks go on. This is where most people will be getting all of the information about Avery so please don't get sick of reading and please help us with the wonderful cause! My friend Shelley put this darling flier together for me.. This also has a lot of the information on it.
