After we became used to the idea that Bart had diabetes I always wondered,
what about Flo? How can you tell if a baby in diapers has diabetes? By this time I was sufficiently paranoid and wanted to know. She witnessed all that
Bart went through and knew that if his behavior changed suddenly we were to test his blood sugar because he could be having
hypoglycemia(low sugar). One night about six months after Bart's diagnosis Flo was misbehaving pretty badly and asked me to
check her sugar, having seen this practice done when Bart misbehaved. Here was my chance. I put a fresh lancet in Bart's finger
pricking device and stick her I did. My stomach lurched for the basement. Her blood sugar was 305! Here we go again. We
called the endocrinologist who put her on a low insulin dose to begin with. She didn't have to spend any time at the
hospital because we already knew how to manage diabetes. Having two children with diabetes has some benefits for them. They
don't have to feel alone with their disease and one child doesn't get to eat something the other one cannot have. Having two
diabetic children has been both a comfort and a nightmare.

Here is what a few years of insulin has done for Flo

Taken on a canoe trip August 15, 2004. She's quite the young
lady now.

Flo at Bart's graduation ceremony June 2005.

Flo on the dock waiting for our tall ship tour of the Boston
harbor June 2005

Flo is a very talented gymnast. She started just a year ago
and is already at the pre team level. Her body is like a human rubber band. She has long bones and muscles. Her arm from the
elbow to the shoulder is probably as long as my leg is from the knee to the hip.

Here she hams it up for the camera in a muscle pose.

This is Flo's all time favorite activity, taking riding lessons
on Cricket, the school horse. She hopes to get her own horse in a couple of years and compete in the hunter/jumper shows.

Here is rock chick Flo with her new electric guitar. She's been
taking lessons since she was 7 and is pretty good. She can play tunes from Johnny Cash to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
She really loves to rock!

Flo on Dakota this past summer of 2008. She is a superb rider
and Dakota has turned into a great horse and foxhunter.

Homecoming dance 2008
|