You can call me Wiki

I interrupt this blog for this important message.

What are the symptoms of Juvenile Diabetes, and how is it different than Type 2?

Let me first say, that I loathe that both diseases have the same name.

They are both so different.

It's like comparing comedian Steve Carell to Paulie Shore.

You see the difference?

Okay, symptoms for Juvenile Diabetes.

Excessive drinking, extreme hunger, dry flaky skin, vomiting, weight loss or no weight gain, a fruity or wine smell to the breath.

Other symptoms include extreme fatigue, bed wetting, flu like symptoms.

Now obviously, don't freak if your child has any of these symptoms, it doesn't mean Juvenile Diabetes.

But if your worried, go ahead and insist on urine pee test.

They pee, they dip the stick, and you will most likely know.

They will look for sugar and ketones in the results.

So many doctors only do this once a year at well check visits, but it should be mandatory that they do it all visits.

The strip is so cheap, and can literally save lives.

I took my daughter to the pediatrician three times, only to be sent home telling me it was "nothing" when I finally insisted on the urine strip.

If they suspect JD, they will also do a finger blood test.

Okay? 

So now, what is the difference between ONE and TWO?

Well, first, Type 2 diabetics produce insulin, Type One's don't!

Type 2 diabetics usually don't have to take insulin, they can control or rid themselves of the disease through diet and exercise.

They also take oral medications, at least most do if they don't control their eating and exercise.

Type ONE's will have TYPE ONE, until there is a CURE!

Type ONE was not caused be eating junk food, it is an autoimmune disease that affects the pancreas.

Okay!?

One is autoimmune, the other isn't.

Type One's don't get any better through the years, and if exercise and nutrition could cure Type One, then Tony Cervati would have been cured years ago.

He works out like a demon, eats extremely healthy, and is going to do the craziest ride "The Tour Divide"

Okay?  Do we all understand?

You know, some people are just not ever going to understand.

I tell some people that "L" has Banting's Disease sometimes...

Let them google it...

It's frustrating, it really is.

That's why I like to say "Juvenile Diabetes" over "Type One" as well.

So there you go, I gave you the info, you can now call me "Wikipedia" if you like.

Please comment if you or your child had different symptoms.

Now back to our scheduled blog, Tony Cervati with his "Delusional Pancreas"

The sweet things in life: Starburst jellybeans and the Navigator

So, did you all get to read about the adventures of Tony Cervati?
For some reason, everytime I say or write him name, the song   David Duchovny, Why Don't You Love Me? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOP5wsSXY8w   pops in my mind...

Anyway, Tony and I decided to meet after his meeting with ADA in DC.

What did they meet about you wonder? Stay tuned.

Okay, he wanted to know if Bret Michael really has bright blue eyes or are they contacts.

Can't believe he got a meeting about that? Just sayin.

So, around 8P, Tony drives past my house, my daughter  "L" said that must be him, there's a bike on top of his car.

Yup, and there was also a bike in his car!

If I looked really hard, I probably would of seen a bike hidden in his ear.

Tony and I hugged, and I must admit, a chill went through my body, warm and tingly all over, why? I felt his Navigator. The Navigator on his upper arm.. So oval, so gray, so damn beautiful.

Tony doesn't even need tape on top, I think deep down he doesn't want to "hold the Navi" back.

As many of you know, I'm obsessed  with the Navigator.

"L's" broke.

Some women dream of diamonds, I dream of Navigators.

"L" heard me going on about the Navi one day, and she said "You love the Navigator so much, why don't you marry it"
Well, you know what?
I would If I could.

I compare the Navi to a man.

It may take him ten hours to warm up, but after that, BAM, full force.

Stuck on you, protective, powerful, doesn't talk much, except for a beep, yea, freaking perfection.

Back to Tony and "L"

"L" met Tony, and he was so sweet and polite.

She showed him her pump, the Pink Ping,  and Tony showed her his cozmo pump.

Tony was teasing her about games being on the pump, and how if you win, it gives you insulin.

She thought it was hysterical, and has brought it up a gazillion times, thanks Tony.

After "L" said goodbye, Tony and I headed to the hotel to get down to work.

When we got to the hotel, the first thing about Tony I noticed was has long and big it was.

The tubing of his pump people, geez.

It upset me, It made me sad, when my daughter gets older, will there be a cure, will Dr. Damiano's Artificial Pancreas be out, or will she need such cumbersome tubing.

I found out that from the day Tony was in the hospital, he had to do all his own shots.

He was on NPH and Regular for years.

He had four seizures in his life, and he was never told to carry around fast acting with him.

I asked him if he lives in fear of seizures, he looked at me like I was crazy.

Fear is a word that is blacked out in Tony's dictionaries.

We decided that we would talk, then get something to eat.

I looked at the Navi, and was shocked at how he stayed in the gray line, never hovering above
120.  No spike, nothing.

Tony has a whole system that he developed for years to accomplish this.

That will be in a future post.

So we talked for hours, then I  noticed that Tony had that weird look in his eye.

A look that only people with Type One in their families would notice.

But how?
The Navigator was sitting in arms length of me, it didn't beep.

I gently picked up the Navigator and it said 59!
I'm like "Tony, do a blood stick, why didn't it beep, it always beeps!"

Tony told me that he turned the low alarm off!

I'm fuming inside.

This man is blessed with a lifesaving device, and the low alarm is turned off?
Anyway, I got into "mom" mode and made him check his blood sugar.

Yup, he was about a 54.

I started panicking, Tony told me not to panic, he started eating starburst jelly beans, lots of them.

I had the receiver in my hand, waiting for it to budge.

About 25 minutes later, it started to rise.

Throughout the whole time, I was freaking, Tony was totally, totally calm.

Diabetes is lows and highs, there is no rhyme or reason sometimes, it happens.

Nothing is going to happen if you treat the low.

I was very, very impressed with how he dealt with the situation.

The next time "L" has a low, I'm going to replay that event in my mind.

We decided to call it a night, and I would meet him in the morning to discuss more of his upcoming projects.

As I was riding in the car, I was sad, happy, scared and inspired.

Tony is going to ride this "crazy race" he's going to ride like hell, he's going to be the first Juvenile Diabetic to do something like this, and when he gets to Mexico, I'm going to be sad, happy, scared, but most important, inspired

My first post, please be kind and rewind

Hello!  Welcome to my new blog about an amazing man, Tony Cervati.

 

Please bear with me, and join me/hold my hand on my blogging adventure.

Before my daughter was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes, I would have had ten posts written, not overanalyzed every word, changed the wording a zillion times,  but not for nothing, since her dx, I'm not the same person.

Yes, my life has changed, my daughter's life has changed.

 

Dealing with Juvenile Diabetes is literally a 24 hour game that makes up it's own rules.

 

When the numbers are good, I feel like I won a prize, a big teddy bear. When the numbers are bad, and I can't get them "good", no matter how hard I try, I feel like I just lost all my money in the slot machines.

 

Or for you guys in Jersey, one of those stuffed animals that looks like an alien with bad material that you throw out on the way to your car.

 

This is why I have decided to work with Tony Cervati.  No matter how good or bad his numbers are, he always feels like he won the lottery, and you know what, I will get there also.

 

Tony was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes when he was eight years old.

 

Tony is 41 now, though in person, he looks at least twenty years younger, with no complications at all, and a passion to help children and their parents deal with Juvenile Diabetes. YES!!

 

I "met" Tony on Facebook.

 

I don't remember who "friended" who first, but when I checked out Tony's webpage, I almost freakin fainted.

 

Here I am, afraid that my daughter might go low doing gymnastics, and Tony is a mountain biker, motivational speaker with such strength and courage, that I felt guilty not letting my daughter to lessons due to my own fears

.

I pm'd Tony a question about my daughters blood sugar, and was shocked when he replied.

 

An instant friendship was born.

 

I starting reading his blogs, looked at his blood sugar numbers, which are literally phenomenal, but what really blew me away was a race that he's going to do in 2011, the "Tour Divide"

 

The Tour Divide starts in Canada and ends in Mexico.

 

This is no  ordinary race, this is a "what the hell are you thinking" race.

 

Not just for someone with Type One, I mean anyone!

 

Tony will be going through mountains at unheard of elevations, will be dealing with the elements, sleeping on dirt, but the biggest thing to me was, where the heck is going to keep his insulin and fast acting on a bike?

This is no "candy coated" race, this is down right crazy, in a good way.

 

The race covers 2,745 miles, it's the longest and toughest mountain bike race on the planet being 95% off road, covering 200,000 of elevation, and it must be completed completely unassisted.

 

I'm proud when I get where I can with a broken GPS... sure puts things into perspective.

 

He told me that he will be wearing his Navigator, YEA! The man also is a Navi lover, but even so, what happens if Tony gets sick?

He will be in the middle of nowhere, and it could take hours for someone to help him, by PLANE.

 

I'm like, OMG...

 

 

Tony was also discouraged by some doctors, not good.. just makes him more determined

 

Tony is doing this race for my daughter, your daughter, your son, your brother, well you get the point.

 

Tony wants to prove that Type One Diabetics have no reason to live their dreams, reach for the mountains, okay, cliche there, LOL..but seriously, if Tony can do this, there is no excuse for anyone with diabetes to not reach for the stars.

 

Now let me get this straight, Tony is "Tony Cervati" TypeOneRider, not to be confused with "TeamTypeOne"

I made that mistake

 

Team Type One is great as well..

 

They have seventeen members, and four of them are Type One, that is fantastic.

 

But there riding is very different than Tony's, so if your fans of them, great, but I just wanted everyone to know that there is a major difference in the riding, riding styles etc.

 

In my next post, I will tell you about my first meeting with Tony, and how I asked him to pick up his shirt so I could feel his stomach.

 

Now get your minds out of the gutter, I wanted to feel if he had scar tissue, nope, but why wasn't I afraid to ask, and why would he do this?

Because like it or not, all of us with Type One in our lives are connected on some level.. Like it or not.

And not for nothing, I'm proud to be "connected" with Tony Cervati.