Paige Barnes

How can you help the Haitians who have diabetes or other chronic illnesses since they have very limited access to health care at the moment? Check out Haiti Relief Efforts from dLife. ~Paige

Reason #18 that I love my husband: Some of the things he does. Like he went and bought me feminine products when we were on a trip once. Keep in mind this was before we were married. We were engaged at least! He commented that in that particular country town in Alabama that probably made us legally married! :) Like the fact that today he is going to buy special formula and gas drops because I can't get out with the baby and she's not tolerating her formula well. Like the fact that he could hold his own with a Diabetic Educator on such topics as insulin pumps, carb counting, and diabetic foot care. Like the fact that he is learning infant CPR because we have a new baby who was sick when she was first born. Like the fact that he hates needles, but can give an insulin shot or implant the new insulin port without flinching. (Although he, we both, hate having to do that). Like the fact that he is now our son's new Cub Master, even though he doesn't like standing in ...

Big Red the cowboy! Daddy and his girls. Reason #22 that I love my husband: He has given me two beautiful children. Big Red (7 1/2) is outgoing and outspoken. He is funny and creative and so smart. He has a tender heart, and is very inquisitive. He likes to learn about all sorts of things. He is a strong, brave boy, who truly is my hero. He prays every night for lots of interesting things, but he never forgets to pray for all the kids who have diabetes that don't have access to health care - that they will be taken care of. That humbles me. He is the most beautiful child in the world. Baby Girl (3 weeks) is dainty and girly already. She has her daddy and mommy wrapped around her small little finger already. She is a happy, contented baby and is such a joy to us already. She gave a quite a scare during my pregnancy and when she was born. We look forward to watching her grow. She is the most beautiful child in the world. ~Paige

Our diabetes talk at the boy's school went well today. I am so proud of my son and how he is so brave and courageous to deal with this on a daily basis! Paige

The other day we encountered a situation that we haven't faced yet with the diabetes. A little boy in my son's class told him he was afraid to touch him because he was "afraid he would get diabetes". Of course, this very much upset my son and it upset the teacher, too. Now, let me say that I understand this child meant no harm, and probably was scared. There are no hard feelings and we explained all of this to Matthew. So, tomorrow I am going to Matthew's school and he and I will teach his class about diabetes. I plan to let Matthew be the biggest talker (this should not be a problem for him)! In preparation for our talk tomorrow. I interviewed my Red on the Head. We have done lots of talking about diabetes when he first was diagnosed, but I think it's been awhile since I sat down with him and just listened to how he really feels. I know how I feel - like my heart is in a million pieces on a daily basis, but I was humbled and wrecked to hear hi...

Last night we took Big Red to the Jonas Brothers concert. We have been waiting several months for this. Matthew loves the Jonas Brothers. Nick is his hero, as Nick has Type 1 diabetes just like our boy. So amid all the screaming tween girls, is my boy. Waiting to see his hero. He'd even been practicing singing the songs for about two weeks. At some point during the concert Nick comes out on stage with just a white piano. He begins to play and sing his song "A Little Bit Longer', which he wrote the day he found out he had diabetes. He told the crowd that diabetes had changed his life. He thought he was going to die. He was scared. But then he told those who had diabetes, to "never let diabetes slow you down". He talked for about 10 minutes and it was very inspiring. I watched my brave boy, my hero, out of the corner of my eye and he was listening ever so intently. I was trying not to let my tears turn into a sob, and I'm pretty sure I saw the hubb...

Today has been a good day. I had a little energy and spunk so I decided to paint the trim in our front bathroom that we are remodeling. I so hope we can get it finished before the baby is born. I worked until I was exhausted, and I hope the hubs think I did a good job! I got several calls today from the school about the boy. His blood sugar was running high and he was struggling. I was worried that he might have to come home or they would send him home, but he hung in there and made it the whole day! I cried because he was struggling today and then realized that maybe this is harder on me and the daddy than the boy. I sent a note to his teacher just to check in and see how things were going on her end. I keep in daily communication with the worker in the health room, but I had not touched base again with his teacher. He has to scoot out a few minutes early several times during the day to go check his blood sugar and get his insulin. She had the sweetest words to say. She said ...

So last week, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in the hospital. I am a nurse in a busy emergency room and was actually at work when it happened. I passed out and the next thing I knew my fellow nurses were taking care of me and giving me the good once over. All details aside, it looks like this pregnant girl had some low blood and electrolyte levels and more than likely the mild heart condition that I have was acting up as well. They took great care of me during my time there. I only work weekends, so I have spent the past week trying to be calm, still, rested, and quiet so that I will be ready to go back this weekend. Very hard for me to do. During this time, I have been talking a lot to God and listening to some of my favorite Bible teachers, and really listening. I wonder if God helped me to my knees (literally) to remind me that I need to spend more quality time with Him. I cried myself to sleep last night thinking of my boy going back to school in a few weeks. I'v...

There is a new project starting up in the Barnes household. (Aside from the baby that is currently growing in my belly). :) We are going to be writing down our experiences over this past year since our son's diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes. We have no idea of knowing where this will go, of course, but we have spent this last year spinning up and down and all around. If there is an emotion to be had, we've had it this year. And we have grown as a family more than we ever imagined we could. So we decided that perhaps others could be helped from our experience. We have long given this diagnosis over to the Lord for Him to make us (especially our son) stronger because of this. For Him to use this to help others. So after a night of being awake all night and feeling a prompting from the Lord, and after a family meeting - we are all in! So, we are praying about where God would lead this new endeavor. And we give it over completely, 100 %, whole-hearted to God for Him to use i...

So last night we changed Big Red's infusion set at dinner time. You are supposed to check blood sugar 2 hours after a set change to make sure that the insulin is going in and the infusion set didn't hit the muscle or kink up on insertion. Since I worked Sunday and Monday night and came home to home school during the days (read: I only got about 4-5 hours of sleep those two days), I went to bed. The hubbs was taking care of things. So hubbs comes to bed and says that when he put Big Red to bed two hours before his blood sugar was 409. I knew something was wrong. So we got him up and checked ketones - trace. By this point his blood sugar was up to 500. So we changed the infusion set and when we pulled the old one saw that it was kinked. He hadn't been getting any insulin! No wonder his blood sugar was through the roof. We put the new one in and spent the rest of the night getting up to check his blood sugar. It steadily went down and was 146 when he woke up this mor...

Here are a couple of updates for those of you who keep up. 1. The pump is ordered and will be here next Monday!!! Then we head next week to Children's so they can teach us how to use it. I am excited and scared at the same time. Luckily grandparents and an aunt will get to go with us to the training and learn along with us. This may come in handy at a great ministry weekend that will be coming up right after we go "live" on the pump. 2. Talked with my mom today who talked with a patient who lost his 19 year old daughter last year due to a stroke. She also had diabetes. This shook my mom up pretty good. I knew I shouldn't have asked her what the age of the daughter was, but I did. 19 years old! My breath escapes me as I contemplate the pain and heartache this father must feel. But I know that I can't live everyday waiting for the other shoe to fall regarding the boy's diabetes. We must live life to the fullest! 3. Watched a documentary about eatin...

Well, our trip to the endocrinologist was pretty uneventful. I guess that's good. He weighed 53 lbs and was 3'11". He's catching up to me! His A1C was up from 6 to 8.2. I knew it would because of all the highs he's had since we last went in. Doctor seems to think he's still coming out of his honeymoon period and that is why he's having the highs. She made some adjustments in his insulin and we are going to see if that will help. I hope so! We'll have our pump at the first of the year and go back to see her in March. So we keep on keeping on. He's doing good and we've got to get these blood sugars under control - try to keep him in his target range. It's hard as they are younger because they are growing and that causes the blood sugar to fluctuate. But still, this momma nurse and his engineer dad try really hard! He asked Santa for a cure for diabetes for Christmas. What a wonderful gift that would be! We sent a thank you to s...

Tomorrow we go to see the endocrinologist for the boy's 3 month check-up. They should do an A1C and I am little nervous about that. His blood sugars have been higher since we saw the doctor 3 months ago. We strive to keep his A1c where the doctors want it because this will help him down the road hopefully avoid the serious complications that can do along with diabetes. The higher your blood sugar is over a longer period of time, the higher your A1c is. So, we'll see how tomorrow goes. I talked to the Animas rep today about our insulin pump and we should be getting it right after the first of the year. We researched all the ones on the market and decided that the Animas One Touch Ping was the best choice for the boy. His will be black and not the pink one you see above. We'll have another learning curve when it comes in and we learn how to use it, but I am excited for the freedom and better control it will give the boy. We are looking for a babysitter. We had a gre...

To those of you who read this blog, thank you for your sweet words of inspiration and encouragement after my post yesterday. You may never know how much they mean to me. I guess as the nurse/mom/wife/firstborn/type A personality, I always try to be strong and keep it together. Several of you mentioned to me that what I am feeling is ok . I really needed to hear that. I think just hearing that it's ok that I am angry or depressed or sad sometimes helped push me to the next place - which just may be acceptance again. I am reading a very old book by Max Lucado called "When God Whispers Your Name". I got home from working last night around 11:30 and couldn't put it down. I guess I finally settled into bed around 4am this morning! I've had that book for at least 10 years but have never read it. Yesterday I was just kind of drawn to it. That book and your sweet words and constant dialogue with the Lord are lifting me up. I am so thankful that God hangs in t...

I just realized that I am moving through the stages of grief. Even though I am a nurse and have done my fair share of counseling others as well, I guess I didn't realize that having your 6 year old only child diagnosed with diabetes would send you into the stages of grief. But I have been in them and apparently I am still moving through them. In some ways it's compounded by the fact that our family members (namely moms) have been busy with their own issues. They haven't really been there to help. I feel alone sometimes. Like nobody understands. I guess it would be nice to know that someone could watch the boy so the hubbs and I could have a date once in awhile. But so much has changed since the diabetes. Our family doesn't live in the same town as us and when they are in town they don't come by or call. I know they will read this and I'll probably be looked at as the bad guy (again), but it's how I feel. I've had to deal with their issues and ...

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Halloween this year was celebrated with our friends. We had so much fun! Since this year was our first Halloween with diabetes, we weren't sure how the boy's blood sugars would run. We gave him insulin to cover him for a s'more and he so enjoyed having the experience of eating it. He said to me "Mommy, real chocolate (as opposed to something with a sugar alternative) tastes so good". Yes, son, it does. And it keeps me going most days! Anyway, he got a bag full of candy. We have decided to let him have one piece per day with a meal. Hopefully this will keep his sugars in his target range or at least very close to it. We had a great time this year and hope you did too!

Today, I'm struggling. My son has diabetes. He would die if we didn't give him daily doses of insulin. That's heavy. Most days I am so thankful that we aren't facing a disease that has a death sentence. I am so thankful for all the strides that are being made to help those with diabetes live as normal a life as possible and also to hopefully find a cure one day. But today I am struggling. Last night the hubbs couldn't sleep. He, the one who is not a worrier, was worried about the boy. Yesterday the boy had a good day and there wasn't any reason to really be worried. We wouldn't have to check his blood sugar at 2 am. But my husband could not sleep and woke up at 2 and then at 3, 4, and 5 checking his blood sugar. Just to be sure. I've spent all day praying and reading Diabetes magazines and researching everything I can get my hands on that might help my boy. Sometimes I even wonder if we've made the wrong mistake by taking him out of schoo...

Today was our walk for diabetes at UAH. Most of our family was able to come walk with us which totally blessed my heart! They all had to drive several hours to be here with us. We had a great day of fellowship with family. We started by going to church at The Bridge . Our brother-in-law and his wife have begun to build this body of believers. We are excited for them and just know God is doing a great thing over there in Huntsville! We were blessed to be able to worship with them today. We felt the freedom to worship and the presence of God in that place (and they meet in a school!!). John (our brother-in-law and the pastor) talked to us about the walls we all can build. Powerful and insightful. Then we all went back to their house for lunch! When it was time for the walk, we all headed over to UAH for the walk. We met Cole's parents and my dad there. We all got to wear t-shirts proclaiming our role in the cause to fight diabetes. The boy was given a different shirt. ...