Bonjour a partir de la Suisse!

We share our story from a parent perspective today:

Switzerland is absolutely beautiful! The Alps, the castles, the old towns are all breathtaking. You can not capture just how pretty everything is in photos.

We have been in Switzerland for six days now.  The flying, the time change, and the food changes are all things we prepared for and for the most part have affected Cara’s blood sugar as we suspected they would. Cara changed her pump time to Swiss time during our flight, knowing when we landed it would be morning and she would be awake most of the day to test and make adjustments as needed. There were the highs caused from adrenaline and the delayed lows from a ton of walking…or hill climbing as it would be more fitting to call. We just had her add some extra testing and adjustments before and after practices. I would say overall though she has adjusted quite well!

But…as you know life as a Type 1 diabetic always includes ‘hiccups’ (that’s what we like to call them).

It is not uncommon for Cara to unhook from her pump while she skates (don’t worry, Dr. approved). 16 skaters arm in arm with sites and tubing tends to raise the anxiety level a bit. So, this is what she chooses to do.

After their morning practice, Cara went to re-attach her pump and realized the screen was half displayed and the buttons were not working.

Being in a foreign country and having her pump die four hours before the competition of a lifetime is something we did not plan for!

At typical competitions, it is common for the parents to be in closer contact with the skaters. Cara being here representing as Team USA added an additional level between parent and team. Luckily, we were allowed to stay in the same hotel as the team and luckily, Team USA travels with a team doctor. We were notified of her pump issues and quickly went down this list of what to do in our head…you know the one where you notify Medtronic, call the clinic, and try to remember ‘old school diabetic’ protocol of doing injections? It just takes A LOT longer when you’re not in the same time zone, have WiFi connection, or an international phone plan!

Apparently, Cara’s pump display and buttons are not working, but the pump is giving a basal. We know this because her blood sugar numbers are in range. She is making sure not to miss a basal time, and is giving an injection at meal times. So far so good!

The Team USA Doctor is monitoring her, and I can’t begin to tell you how less stressful that makes this situation.

Her coaches and teammates have been amazingly supportive. On a day to day basis, they usually are but, when a trial affects even one teammate, they rally and step it up even more and for that we are so grateful!

After the craziness of the day, I’m happy to report they skated amazing! They competed their short program…and are currently in 2nd place going into the long program!

I am SO proud of how well Cara has been handling this ‘hiccup’. She has remained positive and continues to smile that beautiful smile!

As a parent, you try your hardest to stay calm and I thought we both did pretty good! Tears flowed after they competed…and continue occasionally when I’m reminded that for her, every day is a ‘competition of a lifetime’!

Read Cara’s first blog post here.