We ate the Big Apple

This weekend we were invited to attend the Diabetes Research Institute Conference "Focus on Technology" in New York City. It's hard for me to pass up an opportunity to be surrounded by the best minds in diabetes research. It gives me hope to hear about all of the research that is being done to find a cure for this disease. Just last week we got some bad news about Dawson's health. For months Dawson's endocrinologist has been worried about Dawson not gaining weight. We have been watching him closely. Since Dawson's diagnosis almost 2 years ago Dawson has only gained .5 pounds. He weighs 48 pounds. The weight of an average 5 year old. Dawson is now 7. He has a BMI of 5. I was anxious to talk with the specialist in New York about different injection treatments that are used by many diabetics who struggle with gastric digestion issues. We are going to take it one step at a time. Lots of new doctors will see Dawson in the next couple of weeks. Between Diabetic Dietitians, Gastroenterologist, Endocrinologist, and Nephrologist appointments we are going to do our best to try and get Dawson healthier and fatter. This weekend was also a first for Dawson because he had a session with a child psychologist who specialized in children with diabetes. He was able to talk about his feelings about the disease and what he doesn't like about diabetes. It was a first for him and he told me later that day in the car that it felt good to talk about all of the things the disease makes him feel. I was glad he had this opportunity. I am not a touchy feely kind of person or mom. I don't walk around asking my kids how certain things make them "feel". I was glad he had this opportunity and I am going to try to talk about our feelings more.

The DRI conference was the perfect excuse to take the kids out of school for one day to spend 3 days and finally do New York City. Parker loves American history and this year Dawson learned about the statue of liberty so it was perfect timing. We had a blast as a family and made memories that I hope the kids will not soon forget. After looking at all of the pictures it looks like all we did was eat. In between eating we saw Time Square, went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, saw Radio City Music Hall, Wall Street, Central Park and we even ice skated at Rockefeller Center.


We ate New York Pizza
Cupcakes and White Kastle Burgers




And to top it all off, we happened to experience one of New York's famous street festivals on Madison Avenue on Saturday. They closed the entire street and vendors from food, arts, crafts, and musicians provided a true sense of what it is like to "live in the city".

On the way home I asked the kids what they thought of New York City.
Parker "There are too many people and the city is filthy but it was a fun weekend."
Dawson "I loved it all. I could live there."
Reagan "It has really good food."