Today marks one year since Zane was handed his new way of life (read about his diagnosis story here). One year of making him bleed every time he wants to eat. One year of making him bleed everytime he gets upset, sad or "tired". One year of injecting a man-made hormone into his body so he will stay alive - morning, noon, night and many times in between. One year of middle of the night blood sugar checks. One year of worrying, crying, praying, hugging, comforting. One year of adjusting, smiling, loving, learning, living. One year of interpreting numbers. One year of kicking myself for not paying closer attention in math class in high school. One year of counting carbs and weighing food. One year of wondering how we will ever be able to do this forever, but one year of knowing that we have no choice and knowing that we can and we WILL. One year of overcoming something we never thought we could.The day before he was diagnosed: 
A short 24 hours later - when our lives changed more than we ever knew possible:
Today is very bittersweet for me. I am filled with emotion. I am sad for my little Zane that he (or any child for that matter) was ever diagnosed with Type 1, but I am so happy that we now know we can do this! Making it through the first year is a big milestone in my eyes! I honestly had days during this year that I wondered if we'd make it but then I would have days where I'd say to myself "this isn't ideal, but this isn't so bad, we can do this" and that's just it...this disease is as up and down as my emotions, you have to take the bad with the good. I am slowly starting to learn that I have no control over what his body does, how it absorbs the insulin from one day to the next and that many days are a lot of trial and error. For someone as controlling and "black and white" as I am, that has been very hard for me to get used to, but slowly I'm getting there! I'm slowly learning to not take all of his numbers personally.
Today, I am happy to report that Zane is doing wonderful, healthy, thriving, learning and living his life to the fullest. We do the same things we did a year ago before diagnosis, we still eat out, we still build Gingerbread Houses (actually doing that tonight!), we still go on vacation, we still bribe him with ice cream from time to time, he still earns himself a time-out on occasion, he's still a mama's boy, he still goes to daycare/preschool, we still work full-time, we still LIVE!
I am so proud of this kid - I know I say that all of the time - but its true, he just makes my world go around!
One thing I'd like to say on this D-Day Anniversary is a HUGE THANK-YOU to my husband and my in-laws, we couldn't have done this year without you. My mother-in-law sat through EVERY education class Children's offered us our week in the hospital last year and she and my father-in-law are not afraid to take Zane overnight so Josh and I can can have a break. We would be lost without you. And Josh, you are my rock, you are so grounded and level-headed in your thinking when I'm in an emotional rant over #'s and why they aren't doing what I'm trying to get them to do, you have been a shoulder for me to cry on and "punching bag" on the days where I was just plain angry about this disease, you've been there when no one else has. I also know that you are Zane's hero as much as he is yours.
PS I have never punched Josh, that was just a figure of speech :)
Happy D-Day Anniversary Zane, we love you baby - keep on truckin' big guy!
