But nothing was going to steal our joy.
We were headed to the Children With Diabetes Friends For Life Conference in Orlando, Florida!
The flight was smooth, and the girls did great! Spice's flight landed about 10 minutes after ours, and our family felt complete as we set off to enjoy her summer visit by attending this family-oriented T1 focused conference.
There have been a few immediate sightings -- Heather, Misty, Meri, Sara, Kim, Karen, Kelly, Jess, Kerri, Scott, Scott Johnson, Lee Ann, Bean's Mom, Ginger, Tim...and I'm sure there are others, but my brain is moving WAY faster than my fingers!!!! It's weird. To "know" these faces -- their stories, their struggles, their victories -- and then to casually encounter them in passing as if we've known each other for years. Oh, wait. It HAS been years. Years of keeping up with their blogs, Facebook statuses, and (occasionally, for me at least) Twitter updates. This evening, I was able to sneak a way sans kiddos, and headed to the lobby with my laptop to take advantage of the free wi-fi...as I was sitting here, they started trickling by after dinner...one by one, until I found myself surrounded by a dozen or more friends, most of whom I was meeting for the first time in real life.
Anyway, Sugar had a retinal eye exam earlier in the day, and it was completely fascinating to me. The doctor really took his time with her, and we learned that she'll probably need glasses for a slight case of nearsightedness (this has changed since her eye visit last year.). He pointed out an area of sun damage on the back of her eye, and explained that long term sun damage can lead to cataracts...don't worry...he said everything looked normal for her age, but it was a definite reminder of why sunglasses are so important. Perhaps, however, the most amazing part of her exam was this...
Anyway, in the days to come, I'll be updating about my very own Animas pump start, making art with the diabetes trash we brought along, and sharing information from the sessions. Be sure to like the Candy Hearts Facebook page for some exclusive photos you'll only find there as the rest of this journey unfolds.
Stay tuned...the fun is just beginning!
Disclaimer: Our family's attendance at the Friends For Life Conference in being sponsored by Animas Corporation. As I've previously disclosed, I have a contract with Animas which compensates me to blog/vlog about type 1 diabetes from my perspective, as a parent who is raising a child with type 1 diabetes. You can find the previous posts I've written for Animas HERE. Animas is not paying for any entertainment excursions, park visits, or mickey mouse ears for all 4 girls.
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Thanks for sharing..Looking forward to hearing more about your trip :) Wish we were there with everyone!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, Wendy!! So glad you made it there and got to see/meet so many friends from the DOC!! Sorry about the ear infection, though... :( Looking forward to all the great updates and being able to follow along via twitter to the FFL activity!!
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing a bit because I love that you posted that you saw me on the 3rd, but I didn't arrive until mid-afternoon on the 4th. LOL Unless you did really write this after you saw me and just post-dated it, in which case the jokes on me for being a jerk. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat retinal screening sounds like it was amazing - so cool that they could tell she was born premature. I wanted to do one, but the appointments were all booked up. Maybe next year!!
LOL! Because I started it on the 3rd, but didn't finish it until the 4th!!!! Except it posted with the date 7/3 because that's when I started it!!!! The entire experience was a mesh of one day falling into the next :) Just one, big, happy day!!!!
DeleteIt was such a treat getting to hang out with you, and then with your hubby! Loved meeting you guys, and it was a special honor for me to share some power prayer time with you (and the rest of the amazing people there).
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