Thanksgiving - 2011

Well, it’s Thanksgiving morning and I am the only human awake in the house.  It is quiet except for the whining of the dogs who constantly need something.  I thought this would be a good time to write my Thanksgiving blog.  A lot of people have been doing a daily exercise of posting what they are thankful for on Facebook.  Being the procrastinator that I am, I saved them all so you can read them all in one swoop. 

I started this tradition last year (http://squireponderings.blogspot.com/2010/11/thanksgiving.html) where I would throw out a list of things for which I am thankful.  I realize that I am very blessed by a great family, loving kids, God’s grace, and a roof over my head.  My list spans the gamut from serious to off-the-wall.  For those that clicked the link and read last years; yes, I have repeats.  So, as I sit in my kitchen on November 24, 2011 – here is what I am thankful for (in no particular order):

·         My friends who are in the JDRF community as staff who chose their role.   They are working and fighting every day for Kyle and those of us who didn’t choose to join the diabetes community.

·         Jeffrey Brewer, who has a vision for JDRF and is determined to get us there.  He willingly took the role of CEO, but like the rest of us, didn’t choose the role as a parent of a child with T1D.

·         Grant Currin made the state cross country race.  It enabled the Currins and Claytons to meet up.

·         Joe Dubin agreed to be in the JDRF golf tournament and play with me and Joe Dillingham which led to a very enjoyable day of golf and frivolity.

·         Opportunity to see Journey, Night Ranger, Motley Crue, Posion, and Buffett in concert this year.  Included in this was the joy of Kyle’s smile that wouldn’t wipe off at his first concert (Journey).

·         My friend Cheslie celebrated her first Wednesday without chemo in many months yesterday.  They stopped because they worked.

·         The charcoal in Lynchburg.

·         The fact that the Bellevue Pub was packed on January 15, 1993 and there wasn’t a parking spot.

·         Clicking sounds of Boxers walking on floors.  My Sadie, Angel, and Nikki drive me crazy at times, but bring much joy.  They are always happy to see you when you walk in the door.

·         Fredrick Banting

·         Patrick and the Fillin’ Station.  Though, I don’t frequent it as much as Norm, he stills knows my name.

·         A great job that I love and look forward to every day.

·         Martin Methodist College and the fact that a former classmate is teaching a friend of Will’s.

·         Sammy, Michael, Joe, and Chad decided to put out a second CD as Chickenfoot. 

·         Dr. Najjar listened to Kyle explain why HE wanted to switch from pumping to injections.  Too often, we think we know what is best for someone else.

·         That I decided to buy the Calico Trail CD finally.  Great disc.

·         I get to see where my Company’s “rubber meets the road” by looking across the cul-de-sac in front of my house.

·         I reconnected with my kin – Lorie Melton through Facebook.

·         Neighbors who make life fun.

·         Kingston Springs UMC and all the people there – a place where everyone knows your name.

·         The South Cheatham Choral Society and the KSUMC choir who give me a chance to sing even though I don’t know much about reading music.

Finally, if you are ready this, I am thankful that I could type this out, publish it, and that you took the time to read it.  I know there are many more things to be thankful for, but I will close for now.

Zach, A Thankful Squire

T Plus One

Many of you probably thought about a rocket launch and the countdown.  When NASA launches a rocket, the countdown starts and is typically marked with “T minus 2 minutes”, etc.  Once liftoff occurs, you switch to the plus side of the countdown.

Today marks T Plus 1 year for the Clayton family.  When Kyle was diagnosed with Type I diabetes on January 31, 2000, many in the diabetes “club” talked of a cure being found within 10 years.  Well, that came and went last year and we are still dealing with Kyle’s diabetes. 

Am I bitter – maybe, but not too much.  Yes, I would give my islets (inside joke) for him to be cured, but what will that cure look like?  Eleven years ago, I thought a cure would be that Kyle would take a shot or IV and then, BOOM; he’s cured – no more shots, no more finger sticks.  But today, Kyle is on an insulin pump which puts insulin into his body continually and allows up to dial up more insulin based upon what he eats.  All this is done through an infusion site which he changes once every three days.  There is also a Continuous Glucose Monitor (we don’t use) which is inserted under the skin and provides glucose readings once a minute and even has alarms for low or high glucose trends.  Clinical trials are occurring which pair these two devices and let them “talk” to each other; creating an artificial pancreas.  If this could be available, is this what the cure looks like?  Maybe not in the traditional sense, but close. 

I look back on what our diabetes regime was when Kyle was diagnosed.  He was on two types of insulin (Humalog & Ultralente) which required 5 daily injections (at a minimum).  We checked his blood sugar with a meter that took a very large drop of blood.  We then would calculate his insulin dose using an insulin to carb ratio which we calculated ourselves.  Today, his is on the insulin pump with one type of insulin.  His meter calculates his dose based upon his reading and communicates with his pump via infrared signal. 

Yes, we have come a long way, but there is still work to be done.  The Clayton family became a member of a club that no one wants to be in eleven years ago.  Though we didn’t want to be in it, we have met some great people in this club who have blessed our lives.  Whether it is the great medical staff at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and the Eskind Diabetes Center, the great staff at the Middle Tennessee JDRF chapter, the Type I kids and their parents, the JDRF friends we have met nationwide, or the faceless names of folks I have e-mailed on the web; all are great people who have blessed our family.  I wish I had never met them, but I am glad that they were, and are, there.

Let’s not let number get too high on the “plus” side of T.

Zach, a Type I parent and a Tennessee Squire

Thanksgiving

Every time I see or hear that word, I think back to rocking my boys when they were babies and we rock them to music.  Often, it was Jimmy Buffett’s Ballads, Linda Rondstadt’s Lullaby, or Harry Chapin’s Gold Medal Collection.  The Gold Medal Collection also included clips of interviews with Harry.  As you may know, he was very involved with hunger issues, etc.  One clip in particular started with Harry yelling “THANKSGIVNG!” before going on to explain how he wished schools would focus on feeding the needy year round, not just at Thanksgiving.  That would always come on and give the boys a startle and often wake me, as well.

Sorry for the digression.  I do feel obligated since I blog to post one for Thanksgiving waxing poetic about what I am thankful for.  I will go ahead and tell you that I am thankful for a loving beautiful wife (I know I married up), two great boys, a great new job, great friends, and God’s mercy.  Now that those obvious ones are out of the way, there are a few slightly off-the-wall ones that I have.  I am thankful for:

• The person who came up with the “Right on Red After Stop” rule.
• The fact that the Bellevue Pub was packed on January 15, 1993 and there wasn’t a parking spot.
• That second trip through the charcoal in Lynchburg.
• Fredrick Banting for discovering that particular hormone which has a unique smell and regulates blood sugar.
• The fact that Alex Van Halen had to deliver papers so he could pay for his guitar.  This enabled Eddie to pick up said guitar while Alex was gone.  The rest is history.
• A community who doesn’t wait for government to act.
• A place called the Fillin’ Station where everyone knows my name.
• A great group of ladies at JDRF – Middle Tennessee who are working for my Kyle and millions of others.
• A coffee shop named The Red Tree whose owners have hearts of gold.
• A company that not only allows me to perform charitable work, but encourages it.
• The ability to download just one song on iTunes vs. buying a CD for that one song.
• That I was able to get tickets to the Jimmy Buffett benefit for W.O. Smith School many moons ago.  Best show ever.
• That I have a decision to make on WHICH benefit plan I want at work.
• A company named HealthTrust, Inc. where I started my career.  Made lifelong friendships there.
• Martin Methodist College – a place where deep friendships were made and still exist today.
• Caller ID
• Neighbors who make life fun.
• Friends made through JDRF, but we all wish we never had to meet.
• The backup warning beep on my F-250.
• Microsoft Outlook’s Meeting Planner
• Rosa & Miguel and their smile, their food, their free chips and salsa, and their margaritas.
• A church known as the church that cares for its community.
• That the traffic light and lanes are repaired at the middle and high school.
• The fact that I am able to write this, post it, and that you can read it.

 Please feel free to add your own as a comment.

Zach, a very thankful Tennessee Squire

A Tale of Three Zach's, or Zak or Zack

One of my volunteer activities with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is volunteering as a cyber-volunteer with the Online Diabetes Support Team (ODST). Members of the ODST answer questions posed by people via the JDRF website (www.jdrf.org). The questions range from detailed questions about diabetes and school to general about how to cope with a newly diagnosed child.

When my youngest son, Kyle, was diagnosed with Type I diabetes at the age of 18 months old, our world was rocked. There wasn’t an ODST to turn to or an organized outreach effort. Besides JDRF, one of the places I turned to was a website tailored to parents of kids with Type I (www.childrenwithdiabetes.com). One of the features of this site (CwD) is an e-mail group of parents. These e-mails deal with support, gripes, fundraisers, etc. I really don’t get too involved by posting to the group, but I read the e-mails that come across.

Now that you have that background, here is the story. I received an ODST request from a newly diagnosed family in South Africa wondering about online support groups. Since JDRF doesn’t have a chapter in South Africa, I referred the father (Zack - #1) to JDRF’s social networking site – www.juvenation.org. About a week later, I was reading the CwD e-mails and someone indicated that they couldn’t make a fundraiser due to the distance. As I looked at their sign-off, I first noticed they had a son named Zak (#2) and that they were in South Africa. They also were “experienced” Type I parents meaning that their loved one was diagnosed a few years ago. The light bulb went off immediately. I asked them if they would mind if I shared their contact information with the newly diagnosed family. Of course, they said “no problem”; so I did share the contact information. About a week later, I got an e-mail from the newly diagnosed family indicating that contact was made and they were even able to meet at the doctor’s office.

Hard to believe that this Zach (#3), sitting in Kingston Springs, TN could hook up two people in South Africa.

Zach, A Tennessee Squire

A Decade

A decade. As most know, a decade is defined as a period of ten years. Today marks the end of a decade for me and my family.

At noon on January 31, 2000, Dr Jennifer Najjar altered our lives forever with the words "Kyle has diabetes." "Isn't that what old people get?", "what did we do?", "can he get rid of it?", and "how will this impact his life?" These were some of the thoughts going through Momma Squire & I's mind that day. Kyle was diagnosed with Type I (juvenile) diabetes when he was just 18 months old. Ever since that day ten years ago, he has had to have insulin injected into his body in some form or fashion. That is 3,653 days of watching what he eats, monitoring blood sugars (minimum of 5 finger sticks a day), counting carbs, and dosing insulin. While I would give anything for Kyle not to have endured this, some blessings have come from this. Sound strange? Let me explain it on two different fronts.

First, when Kyle was diagnosed, we both were working full-time jobs, running crazy, and our idea of eating in was ordering pizza. Lori had quit her job @ HCA to go to work in a bank branch for less pay (35%), but more potential (bonus). I think that step down in pay was God's way of preparing us for what was coming. When Kyle was diagnosed, Lori quit her job to stay home and take care of Kyle. Thankfully, we had taken that intermediate step down in pay so it wasn't like suddenly stopping from 70 mph; it was more like stopping from 40 miles mph. Kyle's diagnosis slowed us down and made us focus inward on what was really important - our family.

Secondly, when Kyle was diagnosed, I heard about an organization called Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). We immediately got involved by walking in JDRF's annual Walk to Cure Diabetes that fall. Ever since that day, Lori & I have volunteered with JDRF on the local, regional, and national level. We have met people who have become life-long friends by working side-by-side for a cure. These friendships were forged by having a common bond and we have leaned on each other through the years and we are the richer for it. We have met medical professionals who have dedicated their lives to helping find a cure and caring for those with Type I until that cure is found.

Speaking of cures, when Kyle was diagnosed, we were told that a cure would probably be here within 10 or so years. Well, we are now on the "so" part of that expression because right now, Kyle's insulin pump is putting insulin into his body as he sleeps. Honestly, my idea of a "cure" has changed over the last decade. I believe there won't be a "magic" pill or potion and "poof", Kyle's diabetes is gone. I think it will take multiple steps to finally realize the cure. A cure could even be in the form of an artificial pancreas. Who knows?

God has blessed us in so many ways in addition to those mentioned above. Yes, it is a nasty disease that keeps everyone on their toes, but when Kyle was diagnosed, God helped us with that as well. The only bed that was available for Kyle at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital was on the oncology (cancer) floor. Kyle was the "wellest" baby there. Daily we would hear parents wail as physicians told parents bad news regarding their children and we would see very sick children in the halls. We realized that most of these kids would not be going home with their parents - ever. Our Kyle would get to go home and live a full life.

A decade does make a lot of difference.

Zach, A Tennessee Squire

From out of nowhere.....

Being an only child of two only children, I never got to experience the typical interactions of brothers and sisters. Even my best friend growing up had two sisters, but he was an "oops" about 8 years behind his youngest sister. Think about it - I have no aunts, uncles, or cousins. Family reunions could be held in a Smart car.

I digress. I mentioned the absence of sibling interaction to say that when Lori & I had two kids, the interaction between them was foreign to me. I have no doubt that deep down my two boys, aged 13 & 11, really love each other. When smaller, they always played great together and would occasionally pick on each other. However, as the years have passed, the "picking" has become more frequent, more aggressive, and much more annoying to Lori & I. Often, she will say "you know, they are just being brothers." Well, no I don't know. I really wondered sometimes whether or not they really did like each other.

Then, it happened. As all kids do, they surprise you when you least expect it. I was performing the never-ending task of "sign-this", "fill this out" for Will one morning. He had to fill out a questionnaire for one of the teachers which asked various questions about the students' likes, dislikes, and favorites. The last question, or should I say the last answer, restored my belief that they really do like each other - they just don't always show it.

Question: What would you do if you won the Powerball lottery?

Answer: Donate it to JDRF so they could find a cure and Kyle would not have diabetes anymore.

'Nuff said.


Zach, A Tennessee Squire