As you all know, this has been a rough D year for little Lilyboo. It all started with her nemesis...Dex. She hated Dex with every little part of her body. Lily wears the Omnipod and therefore, is not used to having to carry anything around with her or having to wear a fanny pack. The cool fanny packs we bought (yes, I said cool), even the custom made with photos of her and Scooter, did nothing. She simply hates Dex. And after multiple attempts, multiple drownings of Dex (my fault) and several hours/dollars of therapy...I caved. Dex is on hiatus. Lily no longer wakes every morning horribly depressed, saying she wishes she was dead, that she hates herself, or that she hates diabetes.
In true Lily form though, she has now moved on to wanting to control her site location. Based on the advice from both the endo and the therapist, we have let her choose and alternate just between her arms. Well, that turned into not just arms but ONE spot on each arm. As a result, Lily now has a pretty bad rash in that ONE spot on each arm. And it's pod change day. So, her daddy convinced her to try a new spot on her arms. It was either this or the tummy. She chose the arms again so here is to hoping that there is no fit tonight when it's time for the change.
It's so hard as a parent to figure out when to let your children make necessary choices. It's a VERY fine line with diabetes management because it is not optional and there is not much room for error. As an adult, I feel like I have no control over the disease so I can only imagine how out of control Lily feels. I can take a break when she's at school, etc. Lily can't ever have a break. And I want her to be a good decision maker and think things through. I want her to understand that her body is a vehicle to get her through this life. Hers, although in mint condition, is not perfect and she has to really maintain it to keep it healthy. So, I have struggled a lot this year with having to make the choice of what choices Lily gets to make. So far, so good, but I am just sitting back and waiting for the storm to come again. And that's not fun.
Will she accept making a choice between two alternatives, the pod site vs. multiple shots? Another ides - how about making a chart with sites marked, and letting her pick, and mark out (or color in) the sites she has already used this month, or quarter, or what-ever time rotation you need to use? Her own picture could be the face on a life size outline, and non-usable areas could be decorated as rewards when needed.
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