It's a shame in a way that such little things can be so influential.

By now you've read about my struggle to find an endocrinologist since moving to Phoenix. The first doctor I saw? What a joke. And then to Mayo where I loved the staff, but couldn't afford the out of network bills. While I've been mostly satisfied with Dr. R's office I have felt for a while that I settled on this office. And I don't really want the bad karma, but I seriously think I did settle.

And I think that point was driven home last week when a friend of mine saw a different doctor at Dr. R's practice. Her first experience there was much like my first endo experience here. She was completely unsatisfied and has vowed to never go back. (READ MORE)

The nurse slapped the small piece of paper down on the table.

I glanced at the 8.2 and then looked away, disinterested. I figured as much. Like I said, it’s been a high summer.

I spoke to the nutritionist first, then the CDE and then the doctor.

Charlie’s height is trending fine, but his weight had dipped in the last three to six months. Despite the A1c of 8.2, Charlie couldn’t have heard better news from the dietician.

"Let’s up his food. Make it more like 185 to 200 carbs per day."

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At a recent family get-together, I gave a subtle "psssssst" to my mother and pointed over to the kitchen where Charlie was hunched over, lining up the pricker against his pinky. She had never seen him test himself.

She watched with a tear in her eye.

This brings up something I've been wondering about. Now that Charlie has decided to start testing himself, does that mean we just hand the responsibility over to him full bore? He is only 7. When is the right age to relinquish a task like this to a child? Different for everyone, I imagine. We have basically continued to test his blood sugar throughout the day and Charlie takes one or two if he's up to it.

I suppose the gradual approach is the right way to go about it with Charlie as he made it perfectly clear recently that he wasn't ready to prick his fingers on a full-time basis. (READ MORE)

Friday's endo appointment was a solo affair. Susanne stayed home with my little one who had suddenly come down with a fever. I don't like going solo. I like having Susanne there with me for these visits. We're a good team. We help finish each other's sentences. Also, you never know if an endo or a CDE is going to get a little nutty with the accusatory tones, etc. so, it's nice to know someone's got your back.

And if a knife fight broke out, I'd want Susanne there so that I could hide behind her.

The ride into Philadelphia went as usual. I got really lost, got stuck in awful traffic and made it to our appointment about an hour late. It doesn't take much for me to get lost in Philadelphia. I still don't know the city very well. This time, a detour did me in. I gave Charlie my camera and he documented the car ride. (READ MORE)

We have Charlie's endocrinology appointment tomorrow. In his last two visits, we've seen a minor decline in his A1c. From 8.1 to 7.9 and then from 7.9 to 7.8. Unfortunately, I think the downward streak ends there. I'm anticipating an A1c back in the low to mid 8s.

Hopefully I'm wrong. When looking back at Charlie's blood sugar control over the last three months, the high times are the ones that stick in my brain and give me an unsettled feeling. Charlie had a two-week period of terribly high blood sugars. Although it was just two weeks, it feels as if it has tarnished the whole three-month period that the A1c will review. The two weeks of troublesome highs feels like an eternity. I want to hit a re-set button and just start over. Start over when things are better. When he's not having crazy growth-spurt highs or crazy virus highs or crazy full moon highs.

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With all the Hannah Montana and Halloween hullabaloo, I forgot to mention Charlie's last endo appointment. I actually like these appointments. It's a day off from work and a rare opportunity for Susanne and I to spend time with just Charlie. And there's always a hopeful thought that this time we'll get good A1c news.

Heading into Philadelphia on Route 95 we pass a factory on our left before the skyline comes into view with the sun reflecting brightly off of the Comcast Center building. I ask Charlie what he thinks the factory is making.

"I think it's a factory that makes other factories," he says.

  (READ MORE)