The Life & Times of Finnegan Buckley The terribly exciting and ever expanding world of me, myself

TrialNet

On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d call today a 4 so far.  We started off bright and early and went to LabCorp.  Dad even came with us so I thought we were going to do something really fun.  He said he was going to go into work late so that he could go with us.  Oh boy.  Little did I know what was going to happen once we got there.

Mom sat down in a chair and I got to sit on her lap.  But then the mean lady held my arm out and tied a Really Tight elastic on it.  Youch!  I tried to kick her but she wouldn’t stop.  From there things went further down hill.  She took out a big giant needle and jammed it into my arm.  Can you say “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  So Not Fun!  No matter how hard I tried to get away I couldn’t.  I think she may have been trying to drain all the blood in my body.  Thank god it was over in a minute or so.  Well at least Mom gave me a Dum Dum pop for being such a brave boy.  Hooray!

So the whole reason Mom and Dad subjected me to this torture was because Mom put me in a study called “The Natural History Study of the Development of Type 1 Diabetes.”  I heard Mom telling Dad that she lives in fear every day of me developing Type 1 at some point.  So the point of being in this study is that there’s a way to tell if I carry an autoantibody that would increase my chances of  developing it.  It doesn’t mean that I would definitely develop it….it would just increase the risk.  Right now my risk is 10-15 times greater than everyone else’s.   And if I come back as negative for the autoantibody, that doesn’t mean that I’m out of the woods…it would just decrease my chances.

The goal of this study is to learn more about how Type 1 Diabetes develops in “at risk” individuals.  Participants in the study are offered the opportunity to enter into prevention, or early treatment studies when available.

So if the test comes back positive for the autoantibody, then we’d move on to Phase 2 of the trial.   Phase 2 is the Baseline Risk Assessment study.  It’s used to determine what my risks are of developing T1 at some point during the next 5 years, based on having the autoantibody.

From there we’d move on to Phase 3 which is basically the follow-up study.  But the key to all this is that by participating in this study we’d be offered enrollment into the prevention study which is now working to preserve insulin-producing cells.  That would help to manage the disease and lessen the chances of complications in the long run.  That’s the part that Mom is really most interested in.

So now the wait begins.  We should know the results in roughly 4-6 weeks.  So stay tuned!

And if you want to learn more about this study, please read this Fact Sheet.

Get screened

If you have a family member with Type 1 and you, or other family members would like to get screened, follow this link to see if you’re eligible for the study.

If you want to help out, by donating to researchers in this field, follow this link to the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)!

UPDATE:  We received our letter on Friday, with the results to Finn’s test.  It’s NEGATIVE for autoantibodies!!!!! Yeah.

Look Ma, I can brush my teeth!

Today was a big day.  Mom brought me to see Dr. Taylor today to check out my teeth and make sure everything is the way it’s supposed to be.

The hygienist was not very…hmmm….kid friendly I guess would be a good way to put it.  He kept switching back n’ forth between baby talk and telling me to not touch anything.  The countertop was littered…and I mean littered with toys and fun stuff, yet he didn’t want me to touch any of them until after he looked in my mouth.  Ok, fine, take a peek.  Here you go.  Aaahhhh…

Apparently everything looked good in there.  He said I have 19 of my 20 teeth, and the 20th is starting to come through as we speak.   He also said there’s a chip in my front tooth from when I busted my lip open (and went to the hospital).  No surprise there.

After he finished checking out the goods I got to sit and play with the video games while we waited for Dr. Taylor to come in.  At least they had a Cars game….that was pretty cool.  And I got some really groovy DeWayne Wayne glasses.

When everything finished up checking my teeth they gave me a token to put in the giant gumball/prize machine.  Out popped a tattoo.  It was a little girly (a hummingbird and a flower), but hey, it’s still a tattoo.  Girls dig guys with tatts right?  Makes me even more manly looking.

My girly tatt!

Mom tricked me and took me to the doctor’s office today.  She said we were going to play with the trains.  So, maybe she wasn’t lying, but she did omit some important information.  But at least I got some fruit snacks and a lollipop out of the deal.

Here’s My Stats:

Weight: 31 lbs 6 oz – 85th percentile

Height: 36 1/2″ – 92nd percentile

Head Circ: 51.5 cm (not sure why they do this one in cm?) – 97th percentile

So, apparently I have a big head, and I take after EJ.  I prefer to think that I just have some really large brains stuffed in there.

The doctor said that I looked good to go.  She loved my singing prowess and said that I make great eye contact.  (Note: I know the ladies love that!)

Mom asked her why I wasn’t trying to talk more but she reassured Mom and said that some boys just like to take their time.
Ain’t that the truth!  You can’t rush greatness, right?  All in good time I say.  I figure, if I space it out….do it nice n’ slow….throw one thing at a time at then, then Mom and Dad get REALLY excited when I finally do something.  And you know what that means? More treats!  Now tell me who’s the smart one here…

Pre-Op Room

So Monday was not my most favorite day.  It started in the early morning hours…I was rudely yanked out of my bed at 5:30 am and thrown into the car.  No diaper change…no clothes…not even a pair of shoes.

I thought, woohoo, big adventures await.  The possibilities were running through my brain – the beach, the aquarium, the zoo, or maybe even another plane ride to god only knows where.  But no.  We pulled into the hospital parking lot.  Uh oh, this can’t be good news.

After about 20 minutes of playing in the waiting room we were whisked into the pre-op area and lots of people in PJ’s kept coming in and out of our little room.  Some even had really funny looking hats on.  And they gave me a wicked cool nightie that left my backside exposed (finally! My boys get a little air!), and an AWESOME pair of bright yellow socks that gave me big bird feet.  The nurses were actually pretty cool and they took me exploring while we were waiting (waiting for what, I have no idea, but I’m sure it’s probably something pretty awesome!)  We got to check out some really cool equipment that had lots of buttons…a bunch of people lying down on their beds (I bet they’re going to the same slumber party as me!)…and a TON of people wandering around in their PJ’s.

At the end of the hallway we went in to a room where they asked me if I wanted to sit on the bed and take a look at the mask that the big guy was holding.  He said it smelled like bubblegum so I figured, how bad could it be?  I took a humongous breath and…Hmph…what?

Next thing I know someone is calling out my name – and it wasn’t my mom, mind you – and I’m laying on a bed with a tube coming out of my arm.  Aaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  GET ME OUT OF HERE!  This is the worst slumber party I’ve ever been too.  I am SO not coming back here ever again.  If any of you come near me I’m going to go all ninja on you.  I know karate!  And don’t even think of trying to butter me up with that orange popsicle.  Just leave it on the nightstand and be on your way.  And don’t let the curtain hit you in the arse on the way out!

After what seemed like a lifetime, my mom and dad came around the corner to save me.  It’s about time folks!  A lil’ help here!  Geez.

To be fair though, my mom looked like she was about to hurl her cookies all over the recovery room.  At least I got to sleep through the whole thing.  And now I’ve got a cool scar that I can show off to all the girlies when I’m in high school.

Today started like any other day. Woke up about 6:30, had an english muffin with Dad. Mom came down after her shower and we waved goodbye to Dad about 8:15. About 2 hours later, all hell broke lose.

While Mom was making the bed I decided to explore her closet. Now understand, I’m not a closet novice, I have treked through closetville many times without incident. But, like many others, I lost concentration for just a second.

Wham, down I went like 31 pounds of limp toddler.

I can’t tell you exactly what happened, but it hurt. I’m not sure if my tooth went through my lip, or if I just bit it, but I do know I was losing blood at a rate that hasn’t been seen since Rocky II.

Help Help! Someone Call 911 !

Mom picked me up and told me everything was going to be okay, but I wasn’t buying it.

We called Dad at work and asked him to come home. I think Mom was panicked.

Dad was home in about 20 minutes, by then blood had slowed from a gush to a slow seep. Dad suggested that Mom call the pediatrician and see what they suggested. Some sadist there thought a couple of stitches might be in order.

A few minutes later we were on our way to WakeMed Cary Emergency Room. Dad kept muttering about, “there goes three hours”.

When we got to the ER, we waited in the waiting room for a while with Jerry Springer blaring, and no toys.

Things actually moved along fairly quickly, we were in an exam room in about 30 minutes. That’s when they said something about “stitches” and disappeared. I was hoping that they forgot about us as we watched Tom & Jerry.

Nurse Ratched

No such luck, nurse Ratched and her evil sidekick returned with a cart filled with instruments obviously taken from Saddam Hussein’s  torture chambers.

First they quietly sneaked me onto a baby papoose board. Then they wrap me up with the velcro until I was completely immobilized. As I waited for the water boarding to begin, I felt the male nurse hold my head steady, someone slipped a paper thing over my head with just an opening for my mouth, then, I’m told, a gigantic needle came towards my big, sore, swollen lip.

About 3 seconds after my bloody, cut, painful lip was stuck, and injected twice with a needle the size of a Louisville Slugger, I feel the tug of dissolving thread being pulled through it. In case I haven’t mentioned this yet… OUCH!

After what seemed an eternity, the blood soaked paper thingy was removed and I could see my parents standing there. Yup, just standing there. Not trying to stop the torture, not calling 911, just standing and watching.

I feared they were about to sell me into some Asian slave trade or something, but apparently they had finally snapped out of their funk, and now were all lovey-dovey. They asked the nurse for a Popsicle for me, but I was so traumatized I couldn’t even eat it.

I rode home in a state of semi-conciousness, sucking my thumb, with my green popsicle running down my arm, until I finally gave up and closed my eyes. It had been a tough morning and the only way to deal with it was to take a 3 hour nap.