Recovering from a long day

Yesterday was maybe the longest day I have had in quite a while. Brendan woke up with an over 500 blood sugar and high ketones. After evaluating the situation with Drs, and Nurses over the phone, we realized that Bren's cannula had come out of his skin sometime the night before--meaning that he received no insulin for more than 12 hours. :( After a new set, many manual shots of correction, him laying on the couch feeling horrible all day and being so hungry that he was sure he would die, around 3:30 he finally tested clear with no ketones. He was still in the 300 until bedtime but he started feeling better before dinner. It was so hard to watch him feel so horrible. I know that the pump is a whole new ball game. I keep finding myself doing things like I have done the last year and a half, like waiting to make a correction bolus for a meal, or not correcting at night; when with the pump corrections need to be all the time, whenever he tests and is high. He has no long term insulin on board so he has to receive the constant boluses. We are learning--but for sure we don't understand it yet!

In addition to Bren's stress yesterday I took Ryan in for his "Sensory Integration Evaluation". After spending an hour with an amazing occupational therapist, she assured me that Ryan does need some additional help with coping strategies for his future. She is confident that he is suffering from Sensory Integration Dysfunction. As I understand it this is on the same spectrum as Autism but just on the opposite end. I have much to read and much to learn. She sent me home with two books for Paul and I to read before we start weekly therapy the first week in July. They are listed below if you are interested--some of you have indicated that you are. Something else that goes hand in hand with Sensory Integration Dysfunction is Low Muscle Tone and Strength in the upper body. She feels that Ryan is also dealing with this and will start working on building upper body strength and muscle tone. All this to say that Ryan is going to be fine and is fine, but will be better equipped overall with some help from some weekly occupational therapy. But you know I am not sure if we all wouldn't be better equipped for life with some therapy :) When asked by a friend, "how are you feeling about this?" I answered, "in light of this morning being concerned about my son going to the hospital, this is just another hiccup in life." Ryan is a very functional and normal child from what most people observe. He is very social, very creative, very bright, and he truly enjoys life. I believe that all of this is just going to better equip him to live his life in the best way possible and I am thrilled that we have discovered a way to help him do that! I am sure over the next few weeks that I will have more information and will give all of you more details about what "Sensory Integration Dysfunction" really is. But for now be peaceful and roll with the flow--that is all we can do anyways, isn't it? I am truly glad that God is in control of my life and I don't have to be, and that I can give all of this to time and trust that all will be right!

Off to the library for the beginning of summer library programs :)

Raising a Sensory Smart Child, by Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske
The Out-of-Sync Child, Recognizing and coping with Sensory Processing Disorder, by Carol Stock Kranowitz