Another Line of Hope for a Cure for Type 1 Diabetes

Researches have found that 2 common Leukemia drugs can cure type 1 diabetes in mice. Todd called a few minutes ago to tell me he had just heard that on NPR. I fell over myself trying to get to the computer to look it up. I found this article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE4AG78H20081117

I read it, then cried. This is the third line of hope in the cure for type 1 diabetes that I am clinging to.

Given how bad Allie's A1c's have been in the past year, how sick she's been lately and how bad her vision has been, these little strings of hope are all I have to cling to. They force me to stay on my feet, to keep pushing forward, to keep climbing back up from the depression that hovers at my shoulder every time I see Allie drawing up a syringe of insulin to keep herself alive.

Thank you to all the researchers who continue to search for a cure. I love you all.

Another Bad A1C

Last week Allie had another quarterly exam. Her A1c had gone BACK UP to 9.5.

Sigh.

It's the snacking! She knows it. She doesn't want to shoot one or two units of insulin here and there between meals while she grazes. This is so incredibly unhealthy. I can't get her to stop that habit.

Plus, because she only shoots in her stomach, she's getting insulin lumps which are not absorbing, adding to the high blood sugar numbers.

She shocked me during the appointment when she asked the doctor to switch her from her current routine (Lantus and Novolog) to NPH. I nearly cried. This is going to be so much more stringent; she'll HAVE to wake up at a certain time and EAT at the same times every day. She'll HAVE to snack...and the snacks (along with her meals) will HAVE to contain a set amount of carbs.

STRESS. I AM SO STRESSED.

But something HAS to change. She's almost 15; I can't follow her around all day long nagging her to check her sugar. I don't always catch her when she's sneaking snacks. If she believes this change will help her, then I have to allow her the chance to try.

Even though I'm scared.

But I was scared already.

I've been scared since October 18, 2006.

Very High A1c

Allie had a quarterly checkup yesterday. Her A1c (a test which measures the average blood glucose level over a 3-month period) had gone up astronomically. It was 9.7! If you have a child with type 1 diabetes, you cringed when you read that number, which is what I did in the doctor's office.

I knew that Allie hadn't been keeping a close check on her sugar, and that she has an unhealthy habit of skipping lunch at school, then "grazing" the rest of the day, evening, and night. The doc said something has to change (obviously), because Allie's no longer in the "safe" zone and skyrocketed right through the "unsafe" zone and nearly touched the "danger" zone with her A1c number.

What that means, basically, is that her blood sugar has been consistently high enough to start damaging her kidneys, eyes, and heart and that she's more in danger of going into ketoacidosis which can be fatal. I think she was upset enough in the doctor's office that she will take this seriously and start doing what she needs to be doing to stay healthy.

This disease sucks. I hate that Allie has to go through this; that anyone has to go through this. It's heartbreaking. It's a loss of freedom. WHERE IS THAT CURE?