Dream Big...

In January 1922 in Toronto, Canada, a 14-year-old boy, Leonard Thompson, was chosen as the first person with diabetes to receive insulin. The test was a success. Leonard, who before the insulin shots was near death, rapidly regained his strength and appetite.

Thank you Dr. Frederick Banting.  Less than 100 years ago a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence.  Literally.  There are people alive today who lived in a time when there was no known successful treatment for T1d.  Today there is a treatment -- not a cure -- for diabetes.  But we are working on that.

This weekend J had the chance to attend a camp founded on a dream of Sean Busby. Sean is a professional snowboarder -- who has Type 1 diabetes. Sean, along with his wife Mollie, lead clinics all over the US through an organization called Riding On Insulin.     

 Pocono Mountains

What is your dream?  Who is your role model?  Whether they have diabetes or not, it is important to set the bar high -- It is also critical  that our kids see and recognize names of people they can follow LIVING and dreaming BIG.

Have a hockey player?  Nick Boyton, Toby Peterson, Max Domi, Cory Conacher, Taylor Vause and the legendary Bobby Clarke

Football you say -  Jay Cutler,  Jay Leeuwenburg

Racing is your thing - Charlie Kimball and Ryan Reed

Basketball - Adam Morrison and Chris Dudley

Water sports?  Gary Hall Jr., Olympic swimmer and Scott Dunton, World Renowned surfer

Golfer - Kelli Keuhne

Do you want to know more about diabetes in sports? Check out some of these resources:

The Diabetic Athletes Handbook

This is an incredible opportunity for kids who play hockey

Dskate

If you are a bike rider, there are rides both through the American Diabetes Association and JDRF

Tour De Cure --- ADA

Ride to Cure - JDRF

Or maybe you would rather walk?  Yep, there is something for you too.

JDRF Walk

Stepout Diabetes - ADA

If there isn't an event or camp out there that interests you or your athlete...maybe it's time to start one...Remember...things happen if you dream big.

~Amy~

What Does Your Normal Look Like?

Normal? Routine? Easy?  Those are words that don't usually go in the same sentence with diabetes.  After the initial shock of a diagnosis wears off, you begin to establish a new way of doing things.  A new normal.  The sooner one is able to embrace a new normal, the sooner the ability to LIVE with diabetes rises higher than the fear, guilt, worry and sadness that are also present.

Normal for us in year one post diagnosis was survival.  Good days and bad ones.  Lots of confusion, and more learning. At some point, the fog began to thin out.  Things became a little clearer.  Dare I say, a confidence was growing that I  wanted to lie claim to -- I wanted to be in charge of diabetes and teach J diabetes was an inconvenience -- not to give it any more credit than that.

Today is another day of carving out the moments of our new normal - even three years down the road.

Today, J left on a weekend adventure of a lifetime to a city he dreams of calling home someday  -- NEW YORK CITY

My "family, friends, and parents" in the #Nightscout  world also help keep my sanity on a weekend like this.  Because of the tireless efforts of the developers of #wearenotwaiting I awoke to the ability to have all of this information -- in front of me -- all the time.  Information overload for some, our normal place.

The newest Pebble watch face for the Nightscout program







Embracing our new normal -- realizing until there is a cure -- diabetes will always be an inconvenience, but not a deal breaker -- has allowed moments like this to happen for my kid.

Easy?  No, that's not going to be a word I use often in the same sentence as diabetes, but necessary is.  Is your normal a good place to be?  If it's not, that's okay..embrace that too.  Take the baby steps to shape life to what you want it to look like... LIVE with diabetes...don't endure it.

What in the world I am doing here?

Friends, (If you are a passer-through, thanks for stopping by!)

As I stare at this blank page, I think...What do I have to say that someone might want to read? What I am supposed to write? What in the world I am doing here? Here being, starting a blog.

No one asks to be on a battlefield -- let alone in the battle against Type 1 Diabetes.  I mean  no one.  Yet, I am here.  J is here. My family is here, and because we are -- at diagnosis and now -- my commitment to myself and them was and is that we will fight - and LIVE with this disease.

Many of you have said what a difference and a help my posts on social media have been to you -- it is because of your encouragement -- I decided to take those posts to the next level -- this blog.

My first or technically second disclaimer, but probably not my last -- I have no idea what I am doing.  What I do know is that I am not alone, and if you are on the battlefield, you aren't either.  Educate and Advocate -- those are two words I say a lot -- two words I believe in with all my heart.  If one person is better off because I spoke, wrote, or said something -- then it's worth it.  See already another disclaimer -- I don't like spell check, and my brain sometimes is very, very busy.  I have a lot I want to share, and my fingers just don't keep up.  I will do my best, but please extend a blanket of forgiveness for typos and sentence structure, now and forever.

Back to what in the heck am I supposed to say here?  I don't know, but I am sure as the days unfold, things will come to me.  Please feel free throw out an idea, a question, a comment.  Someone recently asked me to share our care management strategy for night time --perhaps that will be first blog. (technically second)

Before that..let me simply paint a snapshot of who we are.

We are "The TN Bahn Bunch," "Amy, Stuart, and a whole bunch of kids," "A Crazy Hockey and Soccer Family"  Okay, enough of the name calling..except we are also a family in need of an updated picture...

From (L) to (R)...J who is now almost 14, L is 15.5, G is close to 17, Stuart and Amy (not saying ages) and K (AKA Princess of three brothers...born on Christmas day..really..and she is 12)  Oh yes...Reno, Our Diabetic Alert Dog.

I will probably only write this once -- so pay attention -- Four kids -- all healthy, one happens to be LIVING with T1D.  J=Joshua, L=Lucas, G=Gabriel and K=Katie.  J was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1d) a little over three years ago when he was in the fifth grade.  He uses an insulin pump, a CGM, and has a DAD.  I will keep them all (having just had 7 snow days...in a row...You know I must REALLY love them).

So there you have it.  Us in a two paragraph blurb.

What's next?  Let's discover that together.  I am glad you have read this far -- thanks.  I am excited to see what I can learn from you -- and what I am able to share here.  Please check back often...The website is filled with some awesome links, and I will be adding to it as worthwhile things come across my desk. For now, if we aren't connected on FB, send me a friend request. (Amy Cramer Bahn)  You can also see what Reno is up to on his page -- Reno The Diabetic Alert Dog.  As the days go on...it is my goal to merge all things diabetes here...in one spot..for you and for me.  

~Amy~