Just a short update while I have a few moments. I started this in the early afternoon, but then we had some visitors and meeting with the doctor and now it's dinner time. I'll try to quickly finish this and perhaps post more later if there is more time.
Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragment. We do appreciate them.
Thank ypu also for the advice on not looking things up. I really wasn't trying to look up info - just trying to find out when our local walk for Juvenile Diabetes was occuring. It was then that I stumbled on to the other page. I have plenty of info here to read and am just going to look at that.
I think we'll be staying another day in order to make sure that we are comfortable with all we need to do to treat Joshua during the days and also in the event of an emergency. I know that some of my issues with leaving early are from leaving early after Eliana's heart surgery. This ended up being a difficult thing for us when we got home. I talked about this with the night nurse and she said that she has only sent one family home as early as we would be if we left today. That made me feel better and I don't feel like we are being rushed out of here either. Everyone has encouraged us to take the time we need here. That is a really nice thing!
We've met with one of the doctors this morning to review information and esp what to do when/if Joshua has low blood sugars. This is a potentially dangerous thing for him, It's good to know, but can also be a little overwhelming to think about too. I'm trying to focus on the facts which can help me to remain calm, but for me, there is a little boy behind all of these facts that bring in my emotions and heart,
I've done the insulin shots several times now (at least 4?) and am pretty comfortable with giving it. The hardest part is mixing the different types into one shot and getting the doses completely accurate (with no air bubbbles) and seeing the tiny half markings on the bottle.
I did the first finger prick today too. I was caught a little off guard - just someone walking in and asking. That was probably good as it didn't give me a lot of time to think about it. I still started tearing up. I am not sure why I'm so uncomfortable with this part of it, but I am. The doctor and others seem surprised that I'm OK giving the shots and not the prick. I can't explain it, but hopefully I'll get more comfortable with it. I'm sure I will as I will be getting a lot of practice.
Just got a phone call from Roger and we have a sick child. :-( Throwing up. One more good reason to stay. Would you pray for health and healing for our family? I really don't want this sweeping through the family and most especially not Joshua.
More to write, but need to go read with Joshua. Thank you friends for your visits, gifts and phone calls. We appreciate all of them! If you have sent an email, I most likely have not gotten it. I use webmail here and most of my mail has gone to my home where I can't get to it until I'm home too. Confusing, but it is the way it is.
*** More from the afternoon. We visited the playroom which is really nice. I'll post pics later if I can. We (Roger and I) had another meeting/teaching time with the doctor. She is really nice and does a great job both encouraging and explaining things to us.
Roger also got a turn to try the finger prick and giving shot. Neither of us have been successful in using our testing machine (can't remember the name of it) because so much blood has to go for the test strip for the hospital that there hasn't been enough left for our strip. Roger did let me test his blood (and it looked great!) so we could see if the machine worked.
This is feeling factual. Things are going pretty well. We are learning a lot and it is a little overwhelming. The need for structure and details in order to manage this something that doesn't come naturally for me. I am organized (not structured). I've learned a lot though with Eliana about how to manage things outside of my comfort zone. This will be a challenge, but one that I'm sure we'll all learn to manage together.
I wanted to post some pics, but I have to say thank you to our friends that have been sooo sweet! Thank you for bringing food to my family at home, taking the kids swimming, visitors for Joshua, balloons, cards, games and even a photo album for him, a new CD and trail mix for us too. We are so blessed to have such dear friends caring for us - in prayer and in other ways too. Thank you - all of you!!!
As I was praying and feeling a little overwhelmed, God reminded me of a verse. I thought was a good one for a number of reasons. I loved where it is found too. I also appreciated that this is a verse that I learned from a children's heart and it also reminded me how important it is to hide God's word in my heart. (And to help my children to do the same!)
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
God is commanding us to be strong and courageous and not to be overwhelmed or discouraged by all that is going on. How can we do this? By knowing that God is with us wherever we go. I love the promise in this! God is good.
Blessings
Leslie
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