The IEP of Dr. Visits

Monday, was Brenna's third Endocrinologist visit. I left work shortly after 2 p.m. and met my Mom at the doctor's office. Brenna was asleep so I put her into a pink umbrella stroller slung her diaperbag over my shoulder and headed toward the building. I saw a BlueBelly lizard streak across the parking lot close by and pause for a few moments on the warm sidewalk before dodging into the bushes. Nobody was in line at the check-in desk. I told the lady behind the desk that we were here for her endocrinology appointment. When I got a blank look I clairfed by saying we have a diabetes appointment. While she was punching in Brenna's Kaiser number she started to tell me that the Chronic Diseases Department moved to the new hospital building and that we'd have to go over there. I explained that we come to this building for this kind of visit when Dr. G comes to town. She was surprised that I was right and sent me over to the waiting area. We weren't there for very long when the nurse called us in. It was a little bit before 3 p.m. and Brenna was still asleep. I had to wake her up to weigh and measure her. I was hoping that I'd be able to leave her to her nap for a good portion of the visit. The nurse insisted that they had to do it now. Bren cried briefly and then was her normal happy self.

Brenna colored in her coloring book and I drew pictures and shapes on the paper covering on the examination table (I wonder what the nurses think about our doodles). The knock on the door came after a bit and in came CNE J, Dr.G and Dr. Misdiagnosis. Grrr. Why is he here again? Oh well, I addressed most of my questions & answers to the ladies anyway. We changed her Basal rate. I hope it will bring down all those 300's she's had lately but I was warned that she'll go through a lot more lows. Yikes. I don't look forward to that. I came in armed with a ton of information. I filled out all the forms that they asked me to, made photocopies of her logbook and printed a bunch of reports from the Animas Pump program. We now have a new PC in the house (I'm a diehard Apple fan and taxes went to Al's new computer, yay Al!) so I can actually download the pump information and print all kinds of cool graphs. On particularly active days I need to remember to decrease the basal rate from Midnight to 7 a.m. I could also decrease the insulin ration by 10% for meal boluses. Brenna started talking about going home midway through this long meeting. It'll be even better when we get her a meter cord!

Next, I spoke to the Dietitian who was impressed with the food choices - hey I just put it on the plate she eats what she eats. Her favorite foods - chicken, turkey, string cheese, brocolli, corn, grapes, watermelon, milk, water. I'm enjoying this while it lasts. I know the picky phase is around the corner. The dietitian suggested more protein at breakfast to keep the mid-morning spike at bay. Although really there wasn't a discernable pattern to Brenna's blood glucose readings in her log book which is a halmark of toddler-hood. I asked for suggetions for traveling to SanDiego for the conference (woo hoo! this Thursday!) Always have food & water available, make frequent pit stops, let her run around, and watch out for high readings. Brenna was really ready to go during this talk. She kept sitting in my lap putting her hands on my cheeks and looking in my eyes to tell me stuff. "Mommy, need to hold a puppy. Mommy, time to go home. Mommy, the square is red." and other important things.

Finally, we spoke to the Psychologist. She asked about the pinching issues from the last time we spoke. She is doing much better, Rowan isn't a pincushion any more. I think Brenna is adjusting well and is very happy at the moment. She was very responsive to all the other medical personell during the visit. She was running around in circles, not answering questions, and attempting to escape every two minutes.

The stats:
A1C 8.2 - I was really hoping it'd be better than that but the frequent 300's started a week or so before her visit.
Weight is 90th & height on 50th percentile - Wierd, she doesn't look it to me. She's only gained about 4 lbs since last November and has grown about an inch in the last month.
Thyroid is good.

We were out of there at about 4:15 p.m., got a number, had a snack, and went to go get Therin & Rowan. By the time we got to where we were going it was just about 5 p.m.