March 11, 1998

I applied for this cool program called Jimmy Insulin.  It is a great program for Type 1 diabetics to mentor & coach others with Type 1.  I applied to be a mentor, and had to submit my "diabetic story", which is below.  I thought I would put it on here too.  Some of the references you can see are now updated (last paragraph about trying for children).  I wrote this letter at the beginning of 2012.

This is a picture of me one month before my diagnosis.  I was drinking water like crazy, all day, every day.

My story started in 5th grade, and just like any other kid, I loved to play outside, run around, and had a wild imagination.  Things slowly started changing and these strange symptoms were starting to worry my family and teachers.  I started drinking water excessively, which led to frequent bathroom trips.  My skin was so dry and dehydrated that I started getting rashes and bleeding from my knuckles.  The weeks before my diagnosis, I would take afternoon naps, which was not normal for me.  One afternoon while napping in my parent’s room, I wet the bed. Ten years old is too old to wet the bed, and my mom decided to take me to the doctor.  It was March 11, 1998.  My mom took me in and out of school 3 times that day to get various tests done.  I first went to get my urine tested, then pulled out again to get my blood tested, then pulled out once more when the blood results came back.  She picked me up from school, and while wiping her tears, said, "It is official, you have Type 1 Diabetes."  I might have cried myself if I really understood what it was.  In the car I remember asking my mom, "So what happens today? I just have to go home and look for sugar free things in the cabinet?"   I thought diabetes was simply a disease where you will be fine if you don’t eat sugar.  I did not know how complex it would be.

I was in the hospital for one week. I remember my first insulin shot the nurse gave.  The needle was much bigger than the ones I would use at home, and it was in the stomach, which is my least favorite spot to inject.  After the shot, I looked at my mom and simply said, “I don’t want to.” We both cried. 
My mom and dad were so sincere during this time, and often said if they could take this disease from me they would.  I would ask why this happened to me, and they said, “You were given these challenges because you are strong enough to live this life, and Heavenly Father knew that”.   I took that as a compliment, and remember that being the first smile related with diabetes. 

The first few months of diabetes, was almost fun. It was my “honeymoon stage”, and in a weird way it was new and kind of exciting. That didn’t last too long. I wasn’t bad the next few years, but I was growing, and often found that at times when you do everything you are directed to do, you might still get a high and low sugar reading.  I had two low blood sugars at school, which required attention from an ambulance within a few weeks.  I was later told that one teacher made ignorant comments about how she wasn’t surprised it happened twice, because I do not take care of myself.  That comment made me livid, because those were the days I was trying really hard, and I think that was the start to my rebellious days.

Most diabetics go through a stage where they are too cool for diabetes.  I had the theory that if I felt fine, I was fine, so why would I test?  It lasted several years, and I had several episodes because of it.  I didn’t listen to people trying to help me, because I didn’t feel that anyone understood.  I often thought to myself, “Well, let’s see you deal with diabetes, and see how you would do.”  My left eye today has a blind spot, which I will never get back, even after having Lasik eye surgery.  Ironically, I think losing some sight in my eye is what made me wake up and see how poorly I was treating myself.  I just hope that is the worst result from my rebellious days. 

Today, I work full time in the administrative field, for a company who offers amazing health benefits.  I am active, and often go to the gym.  I was married last year, and my doctor gave me the clearance to try for children.  My husband and I will be hoping for a baby in the next few years.  I would love to be there for a young diabetic who can complain to me about their troubles and I can listen, understand, and most importantly, help them.


I was accepted as a mentor, but this program is still new and growing.  They dont have as many young kids looking for a mentor.

Walk to Cure Diabetes- 1999.  Me, Matt, Megan, and Mom. 

Diabeetus

I swore to myself that if I ever got a blog, I wouldn't make it a diary to journal my angry feelings or to vent.  Well, I will try hard, but this one might come off angry here and there.

I'm not sure who reads my blogs, but I bet most people who do, know the differences between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and know how frustrating both can be.  I am writing this more for me than anyone else.

Type 1:  (This is what I have!!)
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) can occur at any age, but is most commonly diagnosed from infancy to the late 30s.  In this type of diabetes, a person's pancreas produces little or no insulin.  T1D occurs when the body's own defense system (the immune system) attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.  People with T1D must inject insulin several times every day or continually infuse insulin through a pump.

While it's causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic and environmental factors are involved.  It's onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle.  There is nothing you can do to prevent T1D, and-at present-nothing you can do to get rid of it.


-- A type 1 Diabetic is very sensitive to insulin.  Having to continually calculate how much insulin is needed based on many factors, being off by even one tiny unit of insulin in your injection, can cause a high or low blood sugar.

Type 2:  (Most people mistake me for having this, majority of diabetics are type 2) Type 2 diabetes typically develops after age 40, but can appear earlier, and has recently begun to appear with more frequency in children.  In this form of diabetes, the pancreas still produces insulin, but the body does not produce enough or is not able to use it effectively.  Treatment includes diet control, exercise, self-monitoring of blood glucose, and, in some cases, oral drugs or insulin.


Gestational Diabetes
About 2 to 10 percent of pregnant women develop high blood sugars during pregnancy. Although this type of diabetes usually disappears after the birth of the baby, women who have had gestational diabetes are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

Common myths that frustrate me:

- "I can cure my diabetes by diet and exercise".  Really...?  I was active in high school and a personal trainer for years.  There were a few years where I was very strict with my diet, too.  If this myth were true, I would be cured by now.  Believe me.

- "I got my disease by eating too much sugar/junk as a kid"   Truth: Bull crap.  We couldn't afford sugary foods.  Yeah, my mom worked and still works in a bakery, but grocery store bakeries are nasty. I still find that food repulsive, and have never enjoyed it.  Sorry to the store owners.. I just don't like that food.  Plus, if that were true, do you know how many more kids would have it?  I was the kid with tuna on wheat bread at lunchtime.  I was jealous of the kids with Lunchables/ Capri Suns/Kool aid squeezies and Hostess snacks.  It was just a luxury we never got.


- "I cannot eat any sugar or fast food"-- No I do, and I enjoy it, and my sugars are great.  It is hard, yes.  I wish the only worry for me when eating fast food were things like: "Will this give me love handles?", and "Will it rot my teeth?".  If given enough notice, I can test my sugar and give the proper amount of insulin (which is a LOT--but often worth it) and enjoy the same food all of you do.

- "I need to look at the amount of sugar grams on every label"  -- I rarely look at how much sugar is in something.  However, it is important that I do look at Carbohydrate grams.  Carbohydrates break down into sugars when you eat them, and that is the most important thing to me on food labels.

"Diabetes Management is a full time job that I didn't apply for, didn't want and cannot quit.  It involves what, when, and how much I eat, while also factoring in exercise, medication, stress, blood sugar monitoring, and so much more--each and every day"  

I hope type 2 diabetics do not get offended reading this.  They have their own struggles, and it also sucks.  Just because they are not required to test as much, or often don't need nearly the same amount of medication, it is still frustrating for them.  It is possible for type 2 diabetes to run in your family.  They can get type 2, but not be considered "obese", while other bigger and more unhealthy people just get lucky.

But honestly, I would trade for type 2 in a heartbeat.  They are just so different.  If my pancreas could make just a little bit of insulin, dealing with diabetes would be much easier!

Diabetic Etiquette Cards -- would never get these, but I wish  I could pass them out.


So please, do not judge me, or think I am not taking care of myself by eating a cookie.  I love cookies and if I get a chance to eat them, I will.

Also keep in mind, the amount of insulin I am told to give changes often, especially during pregnancy.  Your body changes as you grow, especially a woman's body.   My body needs more insulin now than it did as a kid, and needs more now that I am pregnant.  But this is all figured out by sugars starting to trend high or low.  That means a lot of highs and lows.

With that said, I can do everything right by the books, do everything I am told to do exactly when I am told to do it-- but occasionally I will still get a high blood sugar or low blood sugar, just by the body changing.  Please don't ever think to yourself, "I'd be able to handle it better" or "Is it really that hard to take care of yourself?"--- because yes, yes it is.

OK, sorry with all the venting -- I will try to end on a positive note.


Below is a picture of my grandpa's older brothers and sisters.  We believe the older girl died from Type 1 Diabetes-- it was before insulin was founded and there was not enough knowledge to take care of it.   I am happy to be alive when I am!

- I am very very thankful for the love and support from my family.  Especially from my husband and mother who have both dealt with the many mood swings my diabetes contributed to.

- One time I went low during class, which totally sucked, but it was during a test I wasn't ready for.  I had to retake the test the following week.  The bright side -- I got an extra week to study. 

- I have met great people along the years.  As a child, I attended "Diabetic Camp".  I know, sounds way cheesy, but it was so much fun, and those are some great childhood memories for me.

The best part of this picture is the shirt.  I was just making fun of my sister for wearing this in an old picture, and here I am making my debut at Diabetic Camp with a hard core, sunflower, ying yang shirt- AND it was a third time hand me down. hahah. 

- I do take care of myself.  I always wonder if I didn't have diabetes,  would I not treat my body as good as I do now?  Would I care how much soda I drink or how many cookies I eat?  Maybe I wouldn't, and with not having to worry about what I would be putting in my mouth, maybe I would have no limit of what I put in it.

When I lived with my nieces, they would love to watch me get ready and do my make up.  One night before I started getting ready, I tested my blood sugar and had a very frustrating and unexpected reading.  I was sad and my emotions were showing.  My niece came up, saying nothing, and simply kissed me on my head.  I asked her to do it again so I could take a picture.  I hope I never forget that night.



Famous people with TYPE 1 diabetes
Click here for low blood sugar symptoms.
And here for high blood sugar symptoms

Then there were two..

I was debating if I should write this blog or not.  I was afraid it would sound too depressing or sad.  But I thought it was important to journal my thoughts, plus it isn't as sad and depressing as it comes off.

Here is a picture of the ultrasound from when I first saw the heartbeats.  Yes, that is plural.  We conceived twins.   It was very surreal, and everyone was beyond excited.  We were also very excited, and a little scared of all the planning we would have to do, but thrilled.   The above picture is at about 5 or 6 weeks.


I went back 2 weeks later, after telling our families and a few friends, to find out only one baby made it.  I was a little sad, but my doctors were all very optimistic.  They told me because my blood sugar levels are so great, and my diabetes is under control, there will be no problem having another pregnancy.   Besides, we didn't loose both babies.  There was still one perfectly healthy baby and heartbeat.  We are still thrilled to be parents for the first time.  In the picture above, they were still so small.  Even though there was only one baby now, my next checkup was very exciting seeing how much it grew in just 2 weeks time.

We did have a really cute pregnancy announcement.  Check out the pictures below..

Two feet is still a lot to grow by!

One doctor actually said, "I hope I don't put salt on your wound, but I am really happy you are only having one at this time.  Your pregnancy is very high risk, and there has to be so much watch and control. If you were having twins it would make everything a lot harder. You'll be able to have another one day."

From that point forward we knew it was meant to be.  Plus I like to think I have one super baby that took the power and smartness from the other.  :)

Oh boy!

I get an ultrasound a little more frequently than the average pregnant lady.  I do not mind, I feel safe getting the extra care,  and love seeing my little guy.

At our 12 week check up with our perinatologist, he told us they can tell the gender this early with about 80% guarantee.  We wanted to know!  He is a great doctor, and was cracking us up.  Saying, "Oh Kari, that is a big boy, you'll need special diapers!" 


Kris and I talked several times about doing a fun gender reveal idea we got from Pinterest.  The cupcake idea seemed fun and easy, and it was!  The only hard part was that Kris forgot about the cupcakes, and once we found out  it was likely a boy, he was so excited he text the below picture to his family.

 We already bought these "Fun Da Middle" cupcakes where you can enter cream filling, so I still wanted to make them for a few people anyway.  They were simple instructions to follow, and we just used food coloring to make the cream blue instead of white.

 Turned out pretty cute, yeah?

I took them to my Mom's house and had my sisters come over with their children.   I had them stand in one corner if they thought boy, and the other if they thought girl.  My mom said she was standing in the middle because she had no idea.

A few weeks later we went to a 3D/4D Ultrasound location to determine the gender - 100%, because my next doctor appointment wasn't until 20 weeks, and we were anxious to know for sure.

The cool thing about that place - they have a big couch so we could invite friends and family.  Both of baby Cichoski's grandmas came, and lots of Aunties and 2 cousins.   It was cool to see it, and have everyone there. My mom hasn't seen an ultrasound in person since I was in her belly!! I can only imagine how much the quality has changed.

100% Boy stuff.. He already has a few new outfits.  Aunt Kristen got him a cute swimsuit. I got the cutest little sweater he can wear next winter.  So beforehand,  I wanted a girl, but after seeing a healthy boy and cute boy clothes that do exist, I am so happy, and am already loving this little boy.  You can bet we will be doing all the cute baseball stuff for this little boy.  Pinterest has given us the best ideas. :)

That aint no etch a sketch...Your ego is preggo

We found out June 22nd that we are expecting! :)  I took a test that I had previously bought from a false alarm a few months prior.  I threw the instructions away, and that had the instructions on how to read it.

I thought I remembered-  One window would be a plus or negative if the test was taken properly and the other window would be plus or negative saying you are pregnant or not. WRONG.

This is not my pee stick, but a picture online of what the test I took looks like.  I saw the first window positive, and I thought "OK I did it right" and the other window was one line, so I thought "negative, not pregnant."

Then a few minutes later I decided to check online to make sure I read it right.. And I had the windows all wrong.  1st window is positive if you are pregnant, and the second window will have a line through it if it was done right.  My heart started beating really fast, and I thought "Oh man, this is not good for the baby"..

Kris wasn't home yet.  I wrapped this little bat I bought months ago, and had him unwrap it when he got home. 

Below is a video of him opening it.  He told me not to post on Facebook,  well this isn't Facebook. :)

Don't mind his outfit, he was trying on new clothes from a Zappos order.   The shirt I am wearing says "Rookie of the Year" and points to my belly.  He saw that in my laundry before I was pregnant so I wanted a little something else to tell him.   I was wearing that shirt... in the video he says, "Is this for real?"  I say yes, and unzip my hoodie so he sees that shirt.

And below are pictures of how we told our family.  Kris was the photographer, and yelled the "On three, say Kari is pregnant!"  We loved the reactions. :) 

Saw this survey on a friends blog, and I wanted to copy it.

How far along? 15weeks

Total weight gain: about 10 lbs...
Maternity clothes? I have a few things.  Most my clothes still fit, they are starting to get uncomfortable
Stretch marks? No, I have 3 different creams to see if I can prevent that.
Sleep: I love it. haha.
Best moment this week: Seeing our little boy on the ultra sound and confirming 100% that HE is a boy.
Miss Anything? I've had the urge to go in hot tubs. :(
Movement: Flutters below the belly button. Few times a week.

Food cravings: Everything bad for you- Fried food- hashbrowns, steak, pizza. Anything greasy.
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. Chicken used to.
Gender: 100% Boy Stuff
Labor Signs: No

Symptoms: Tired. Achy hip and a few headaches. 

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody?  I'm like a baby. Happy most of the time, but when I'm tired or hungry I am moody as can be.  Sorry hubs.