(15 days ago)

Susanne reminds me that these days will happen.

So, I'm trying not to dwell on it. I'm trying to write this day off and look forward.

I'm trying to forget the horrible look on Charlie's face while he dips half of his head into a bucket, coughing and spitting out toxic ketones.

I'm trying to forget that this could have been avoided if we woke up just one more time in the middle of the night to correct him.

I'm trying to forget how he curls up on the big, brown chair, riding out the discomfort.

I'm trying to forget that not even Christmas would get him off that chair right now.

I'm trying to forget how quickly the ketone strip darkens to purple.

I'm trying to forget purple altogether.

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To The Woman Staring:

You can look away now. We mean you and your family no harm. We come in peace. I assure you, the soft, black case with little rockets on it we are unzipping and spreading open does not contain materials to construct plastic explosives. You can look away. The boy is safe. We are not trying to hurt him. You are not witnessing a public display of cloning. I promise you. My wife is merely testing my son's blood sugar. It's something we do quite often. If you must know, he's 268. Surely you've seen blood before. Haven't you? Because, I have to say, you are looking at us right now like we're a decomposing octopus.

Seriously lady! Why don't you take a picture? It lasts longer. No, really, grab your camera. Quick! You can still get the blood in mid-drip. Do your kids want to get in the picture? There's some room in front. Just crouch down a bit. OK, smile everyone! CHEEEEEEEEESE!

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Perhaps it was the burning rubber and Budweiser talking, but Charlie put the national drag-racing championship right up there with going to Disney World.

A huge thank you to funny car driver Bob Tasca III and his sponsor, Ford Racing, for inviting Charlie and a handful of other children from the local JDRF chapter to be their guest for the day.

This was a brand new experience not just for Charlie, but for me too. When the sonic blast of the engines revved and the cars shook our insides with a wave of sound at 310 miles per hour, we turned to each other with big smiles, shouting over the noise.

"This is so cool!!!!"

"When do the silly cars race?" Charlie asked.

"Funny cars," I corrected him. "Soon."

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Susanne called to give me a blood sugar update.

"Well, he's been in the 200s today, but I think it's because he was so stressed out this morning."

It's the last week of school before summer vacation. No more tests. No more homework. What can possibly be stressing him out?

In a very reluctant confession mediated by his older sister, Charlie and Maeve outlined what went down earlier that day - retelling the events that left Charlie in a state of severe anxiety for roughly 24 hours.

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Susanne went to Children's Hospital to talk to a family therapist about Charlie. He's been crying a lot in school.

We do everything we can to make him feel like a normal boy, but let's be honest – living with diabetes is not normal. There are times when he must eat Jell-O in school rather than the cookies or pretzels he thought he was going to have.

So he cries. He rubs his eyes with his fists, runs into the hallway or bathroom and cries. Charlie's teacher has expressed that he's becoming more and more upset when high blood sugars prevent him from eating what he wants to eat. I'm sure the high blood sugar in itself contributes to his inability to control his emotions.

Susanne thought the meeting with the therapist went well.

Here are some "Don'ts" Susanne came away with:

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