In February and March we sought the guidance of diabetes author and coach Gary Scheiner to see if we too could "Think Like a Pancreas." Our few meetings energized us briefly, but soon enough, we were back to feeling lost and utterly confused. After about five months, the pump wasn't working out as we hoped it would.

In April we decided to throw out all carb ratios and basal levels and begin with a clean slate, following more pump frustrations and a disappointing A1c of 9.6. We felt we hit rock bottom. We worked daily with the pump educator, tweaking and tweaking and tweaking and scratching our heads until we could tweak and scratch no more.

In May and June Charlie experienced some of the longest stretches of high blood sugars in his diabetes life. We went through many ketone strips in those months and saw far too many shades of purple. But then we stumbled upon something - a bolus-to-basal ratio that was far too unbalanced. Soon after, we also found a way to avoid the disastrous highs we were seeing after every single site change.

In July, we noticed something was happening, but we dared not say it aloud. Long stretches of good blood sugars? This was unheard of! We held an auction to benefit juvenile diabetes research and did all we could despite the disappointing ban on the destruction of pumpkins for science.

In August we had an actual number to affirm that things were getting better. Charlie's A1c of 8.2 was his best to date. It took about one full year for us to see the benefits of the pump. No time to celebrate though. We were in panic mode with the start of school looming. Charlie was about to enter kindergarten and leave our sight for the first time.

In September we scared the piss out of the school district with our little Glucagon talk so much that they decided to provide Charlie with his very own personal health aide who would stay in the classroom with him. Mrs. D has been, and continues to be an absolute blessing.

In October we said sayonara to Charlie's endos after four years with them and had our most successful fundraising campaign ever, raising over $20,000 for JDRF.

In November, we took part in the PANDA study and the Natural History Study to see if my wife, myself or my other two kids have a high risk of developing diabetes. I'm extremely happy to report that we just got four letters in the mail - each saying that auto-antibodies associated with diabetes were not found in our blood samples and that our risk level is low. Phew! Of course they go on to say that they cannot guarantee that we won't develop auto-antibodies in the future. Damn it, why not!

Oh yeah, and in November we all launched a full-scale attack on Catwoman.

Some things never did improve in 2007. Site changes still suck. The croc has been as ferocious as ever. But I look toward 2008 with great hope. A fresh start with new endos beginning next week as Charlie has his first appointment at Children's Hospital. Perhaps I'll be talking about our experiences with continuous glucose monitoring this time next year.

It was a rough start to the 2007, but I must say, diabetes ended the year on its best behavior. And as much as I hate diabetes, it's only fair for me to point out its positives. Diabetes didn't lose any gold medals due to steroid use, didn't attempt to kidnap an astronaut while wearing diapers, didn't make racist remarks to an entire women's basketball team and didn't get caught in an airport men's room trying to solicit sex from another disease.

Now that is something to be proud of.

My best wishes to all of you for the new year. It's been a pleasure writing for Blogabetes, amongst some of the most brave and honest voices in the diabetes community. Thank you for your comments, suggestions and support. You are the experts. You are the real doctors. And best of all, you come without a copay.