more learning

Last week, we had yet another teaching session at the hospital.  This one was different - it was a group session.  Us and 3 other families, all with children dx'ed within 2 weeks of each other.  We learned about how to adjust insulin levels, and when to do it. We learned about long term complications, and how newer developments can help prevent them from occurring. We learned about parenting styles and how some are more efficient for managing chronic illness. We also learned about the importance of nurturing relationships and sharing the work load

And then I started to cry.

The thing is, there are parts of this that are really easy to manage. Counting carbs? Check. Math to figure out serving sizes? Check. Calculating recipes? Check. Proactive parenting approaches that are neither too firm nor too lax? Check.

But sharing the work load? That one is hard.  I know that my hubby being solely in charge for the weekend I was out of town for a funeral was wonderful…but in reality it is a GIFT. A gift to my mama's heart. A gift to my mind. A gift to our daughter. A gift to our relationship.  That so early on in the process we have been able to rely on each other for support is something truly wonderful, and sadly, not terribly common (as explained by the social worker on our team). I know I've got at least one friend who is also great at care-giving, because she's already shown that to me (thanks, B, thanks). Her teacher has been amazing and keeps us in the loop on school days (oh, I, you have no idea how much that means to me). Eventually, we'll trust her care to someone else too.

Another very important piece of the learning puzzle was this: doing everything right 80% of the time is success, and even if you did everything right 100% of the time, there would still be strange numbers and moments, that's just diabetes.

Those sentences? They gave me a sense of freedom. Because right now, we are doing everything "right" as much as we can, but there are still going to be moments where we don't. My math might be wrong. Her body might react strangely (as it has for land exercise vs. swimming already). The seasons change, and require adjustments - we've been told April is a very common month to re-tweak dosing as the weather changes and kids are playing outdoors more. She could hit full on puberty and everything will become a mystery again. As long as we slog along, doing our best, we're doing our best for HER.

<3<3<3