3 Year Anniversary!

This week is Nathan’s 3 Year Anniversary for being diagnosed with Addison’s disease and type 1 diabetes. I have a lot of feelings about this but mostly I feel grateful for the progress he has made in those 3 years.

Nathan at the hospital learning to give himself a shot.
When I think back to his 1st Year Anniversary, I remember feeling so discourage and over whelmed. Nathan was struggling to thrive. He was hardly going to school at all and because he had brain trauma when he first got sick he was relearning how to read and write and add again. For about 3 months that year we watched my 10 year old slowly wither away to 42 pounds. His Addison’s was going crazy which was life threatening and made his blood sugar levels drop at a rapid pace all of the time. Which was also life threatening. I felt I was watching my son die before my eyes. I felt lost and scared.

Nathan at his 10th birthday party.   Last year at his 2nd Year Anniversary, we had recently moved to Wisconsin. I was trying to get used to new doctors and a new way of doing things. Nathan was doing much better at school. The time and effort we put in to relearning had really paid off but he was still very behind and struggling to stay in school. He had gained weight back and was looking much better. His big acheivment this year was getting a pump to help manage his type 1 diabetes. It helped a lot but we still struggled with the combination of Addison’s disease and type 1 diabetes. His numbers would be fine one moment and then drop so fast we couldn’t keep up. I nicked named it a death drop because if we didn’t catch it in time that was exactly what was going to happen. Night times were the worst because I was so afraid to sleep. Right around his 2nd Year Anniversary Nathan had 2 major seizures. One of them was at the school where they feel that they almost lost him. The burden of being with my son 24 – 7 was starting to weigh me down. I felt alone in his care and was searching for ways to help him live a safer and happier life.

Nathan getting ready to go in for his big school choir concert.
Now we have hit his 3rd Year Anniversary. He has continued to do better. He is growing and gaining weight like he should, he is getting more and more caught up in school (although that is still a struggle), and we found Sunny, a diabetic alert dog that will change his life. I cannot believe we will be getting Sunny this week, during his 3 Year Anniversary! What an amazing sign of hope! He still has his hard days and I am still with him where ever he goes but I know he will continue to improve. With Sunny’s help he will be able to start down a path of independence. I am humbled and grateful for the help and support we have received. This has been a year of miracles and I know that the Lord has sent angels (those of you who have helped) into our life. We are truly blessed!
 

Nathan and Sunny relaxing on his bed. This was taken 2 months ago when Sunny got to visit for the weekend.