One Year Ago

One year ago today, our lives changed. What had been a normal existence for the first 25 months of her life was shaken when Emma was admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. We knew nothing about what this would mean to our family.

There were days and hours that we wondered if we would make it through. There are days that feel “almost normal” – at least our new normal, and there are days that are downright exhausting.

My husband and I are completely sleep deprived. That’s what happens when you have to get up 1, 2, 3, and sometimes even 4 times a night to make sure your child isn’t at risk of a seizure from low blood sugar, or suffering from high blood sugars. The delicate balance we try to achieve in our lives, and in her body, is often elusive. There is no end in sight to this aspect of the disease – as the finger stick is THE way to definitely know what is going on in her little body.

But Emma’s a trooper. In the past year, she has had her finger stuck approximately 4000 times. 4000 times we’ve had to stick her finger and test her blood to see whether her blood sugar levels are in range or not. In the first 6 months with this disease, she endured more than 1000 insulin injections before moving to an insulin pump – the most wonderful technological invention that has reduced her injections to once every other day and enabled us to achieve a much tighter level of control.

So we are now one year into this disease. One year ago, I never expected to be where I am now. But we made it through – sometimes day by day and often hour-by-hour, but we made it through.

I’d thought I’d share where I was one year ago this evening:

















And here's Emma now!



For our second year, we will be walking as a family in the JDRF Walk for the Cure to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. I encourage you to check out our walk page and see how our fundraising is going. If you are local to the DC area and would like to join our team and help us raise funds for JDRF, feel free to email me.

2008 JDRF Walk Page - Emma's Strollers