Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Who knew how much we needed the "Arrows"

An update from Ubergeek:

Finally an UPDATE!!!! What's three years in between blogs among friends.  So I am sure many of you thought that we fell off the face of the earth or worse but nope everyone is doing great and we have just been living life.

First I want to talk about SweetBean's Non-Type 1 little sister who likes the nickname little "g".  She is an amazing 8 year old kid now.  To have a conversation with her blows your mind because it is almost impossible to believe she is 8.  I really have no concerns about her because at this rate she will probably be one heck of a lawyer or a CEO of some big corporation.  She is also probably SweetBean's biggest advocate and supporter.  We of course as Sweetbean's parents think we are but on many days little "g" is in on the action way before we are and even sometimes before SweetBean is.  Like I said amazing kid!

So I looked back at the last blog post and I never knew at the time it was written that it would tell the future.  "I NEED The Arrows!!" Well let me first apologize as many bloggers know life just happens and blogs are put away for a while like an old shoe box full of old pictures and letters in a closet.  That is exactly what has happened here, literally it has been 3 years since our last blog and might be another 3 before post again.  We got busy, very busy as if the Type 1 life isn't busy enough it seems like we got even busier.  SweetBean is now SweetArcher, 13 years old and is now well into her 6th year with Type 1 Diabetes.  Yes I said 13 years old....INSANE.  

  SweetArcher (Kearstyn) is a thriving young lady who happens to also have Type 1 and she does a really good job of pretty much never letting T1D slow her down.  So back to the post "I NEED The Arrows!!" this title could have never been more true for her.  Many of us know the importance of having the arrows on our children's CGMs so we "need" the arrows and there comes a time when they "need" those arrows.  However, for SweetArcher she also found about two months after this last post 3 years ago that she needs the "Arrows," the kind you shoot from a bow.  We went to an Archery experience event in May of 2014 and it changed the course of her life.  The following day she asked if she could start shooting Competition Archery.  Well it has been an amazing ride since then.



One of the amazing things she has done with Archery is tie Archery and Type 1 Diabetes together.  She did this by starting her very own Diabetes Fund Raising Archery Shoot 2 years ago and this last November she went statewide with it.  She designed the targets, scorecards and everything.  We have also had the opportunity go to the world's largest indoor Archery competition for the last two years in Las Vegas where she had the chance to compete on an international level, shooting with kids from literally all over the world. She also has taken State Champion in many tournaments here in Alaska and is working her way up through the international ranks.  So, as for us, we are doing great and little "g" and SweetArcher are thriving.  It maybe another 3 or more years before another update from us but know we are just living life.  If you would like to keep up with SweetArcher you can follow her on her Instagram account at she updates that often.


As SweetArcher says "There really isn't anything she can't do except produce insulin and that really isn't that big of a deal." until next time "Try to stay on target"

Friday, March 14, 2014

I NEED The Arrows!!

So, Wilma (Bean's dexcom G4 CGM) has been out of use for almost 6 weeks.

We started noticing lots of ???s and then lots of 'out of range' times and then had to call and reset the receiver.  During that phone call, I was told that we would need to replace the transmitter very soon because it was well over its 6 month life expectancy....like it was pushing a year of transmitting!  Okie Dokie.

I called our third party medical supplier, who shall remain nameless at this time because I'm nice like that, and started the process of getting a new transmitter. (I will mention that I HATE having to deal with them because we used to be able to deal with dexcom directly and they are AWESOME!)  The dude suggested that we go ahead and get a new receiver, too, because it would most likely need to be replaced soon because of the whole 'it's been over a year and they aren't supposed to last that long' thing.  Great.  Get the paperwork ball rolling.

We wait, and we wait.  Meanwhile, we try to keep Wilma limping along until it just wasn't worth having more blank spaces than anything.  Bean was kinda OK with being without a sensor and receiver on her, so we dealt with it.

We wait, and we wait.  I made a call to our contact at the third party company and she tells me that my insurance (secondary, and one that we didn't have when Bean initially got the G4) needed BG logs.  So, we provide those and wait some more.

While we wait, Bean has lots and lots of lows and highs that I KNOW could have been prevented by Wilma.

I call, again, and our contact gets an earful and she suggests I call my insurance.  That lady gets an earful, too, and things get approved the next day.

Well, guess what we get in the mail....the RECEIVER....not the TRANSMITTER!!!!  Nice, huh?  Can't sync our old transmitter because it's totally bitten the dust by now.  Another phone call, another even more intense earful and I'm promised that it shouldn't take long at all because the insurance just approved the receiver.  Yes, I totally mentioned about a million times that it's a SYSTEM and having only one part doesn't make any sense AND that our initial order was for the transmitter not the receiver.  And I spit out words like nocturnal hypoglycemic episodes that are potentially fatal.  Yep, pulled the 'she could die' card.  Don't judge!

So, when the door was knocked on yesterday and the transmitter arrived, we all did a happy dance!! Bean was excited to have Wilma back and didn't even protest when we inserted the sensor.
I have never, ever been so happy to see numbers and arrows in my life!!!!

And, after a night of BG hell on Wednesday, I was beyond happy to have numbers a arrows last night to help with boosting and dosing and whatnot!!

Monday, March 3, 2014

Snail Mail...Finally Ready!!

Ugh!

Why does it seem to take me FOREVER to get things ready to go in the 'real' mail?!?!

Thank you to all you fabulous people for waiting patiently...or not so patiently, but at least not nagging me!

The Diabetic Dabs are finally ready to go in the mail!!


ugh! why is it sideways?!?!

So....I still need an address from Julie L.  And, Amy, I have one I can send to you, too!

Taking these 6 to the PO tomorrow, so expect them within a week at the most, I would think!!

:)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

A Little Diabetic Dab Will Do Ya!

No, I'm talking about Brylcreem...though if you got the reference, good on ya!

I'm talking about Diabetic Dabs, a cool new-to-me product that I was asked to test out and offered to write about.

I'm always up to try out products that I think Bean will like, and when they are developed by other T1D Moms, I'm super excited to see them!  Plus they make a donation to the American Diabetes Association, so double point in my book.

"Diabetic Dabs are a disposable, inexpensive, convenient breakthrough for blood glucose testing.  Diabetic Dabs are nontoxic, highly absorbent sheets that are designed to fit conveniently in any blood glucose testing kit."

That pretty much sums up the product.  They are these cool little towelette thingies that hangout next to your BG meter so you can wipe off that extra blood on your finger instead of wiping it on your pants or licking it off.  Not that any of us have ever done any of those things! ;)

Bean has used a piece of paper towel in her kit for such a purpose in the past, and although effective enough, it was kinda nasty.  The Dabs are way better for her...and they are in the shape of a heart, so my girly girl loves that!  Yes, they also come in a square shape, and she thought those were awesome, too, but they were quickly ranked #2 when the heart shaped ones arrived!!

Here's what they look like in her kit....


We chose to take out her extra FreeStyle meter to help with the space issue, but it wasn't totally needed because the Dabs are squishy enough to compensate for that.

In use a breakfast out in the wild...


No, she wasn't low....though she rarely gets OJ because it's hard on her BGs in the mornings.  This was a 'treat' and a HUGE one at that!!  (BTW, we kicked it in the pants, along with her bagel and cream cheese...starting BG 183, hour post meal 191.)

Now, as you can see, she doesn't dab and toss...that's a bit of an out of this world expectation for her since she doesn't throw away her strips after each test either, hence the bio flip from Stick Me Designs.
Bean prefers to use one Dab for the day, and then I toss it at bed time.  Because they are so absorbent, it generally only goes through to the very next Dab, so I don't feel like she's having to toss several each day. 
It works for her and it keeps the extra blood from ending up wiped on her pants or on her kit!

Here's a close up...



They come stacked together kinda like post it notes and have an adhesive backing so that the stack stays put in your kit while you whittle away at the 50 dabs in each pack.  You get a four pack of 50 sheets for $9.49 US, including shipping, which makes them 21 cents a sheet.  Pretty reasonable, if you ask me!

Would I recommend them...YES, YES, YES!  Bean loves the convenience, and I do, too.  I've taken a Dab in with me to do the wee hours BG check so I don't wipe the blood on my PJs.

And, lucky for you, I have some to give away!

So that I can spread the love to as many of you as possible, I'm going to break up the two four packs they sent me to give away.  
That means that 8 lucky readers get a stack of 50 Dabs to try out for FREE!!
Oh, and I have a heart one that I'll give away, too, so that makes NINE LUCKY DAB GETTERS!!

Since it's been quiet around the ol blog lately, I think I'll make it sweet and simple and let the first nine commenters win!  If more than one of you wants the heart ones, I'll do a random draw for those.

So, comment away!


Yes, Diabetic Dabs sent me Dabs to try free of charge.  No, they didn't ask me to rant and rave about their product, and if I didn't like them, I'd have told you.  Yes, I plan to order some and pay real money for them in the very near future!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Sometimes You're The Windshield...

....sometimes you're the bug.

Well, today, I feel like I've not only been squished on the windshield, but like I've then been scraped back and forth with the wipers!!

Yeah, not the best.

And, of course, the majority of it is directly related to the big effing D.

I was awake four times last night because of Bean's BGs.  None of which were remotely close to a number you'd like to see.

It started yesterday with a call from the sub-nurse with a report that Bean was at 290 for her lunch check.  Nice.  Well, she can't not eat lunch at school, nor can I bring her something less carby to try to help the situation, so it's her usual cheese sandwich, applesauce, and milk....lovely.

Another call, which I missed because, well, I teach and can't always answer the phone, reported that she was 320.
Now, that, in an of itself isn't a fabulous number.  BUT, when you consider it's about a 90 minutes post meal that started at 290, it's pretty good!

The afternoon progressed about the same and we chalked it up to it being pod change day and crossed our fingers that a new pod and an extra 0.50u with the first bolus would help things get back on track.

Ha, Ha, Ha....if only...

After dinner, Bean spiked into the low 400s and then before bed we got the lovely HIGH reading.  Rage bolused and temp basaled and sent her and her attitude to bed.

Midnight check showed 70s (Ubergeek did it and woke me up with his less than stealthy ways and less than quite comments about there not being any low supplies upstairs.)

Wilma alarms around 2 with a Below 80...and yep, she was in the 70s and I gave her an applesauce and turned off her basal for an hour.

Wilma then alarms around 4:30 with another Below 80....and yep, she was and I gave her a juice and climbed back in bed hoping to be able to catch another 45 minutes of sleep.

I leave before the whole breakfast thing happens, so I don't know how her morning went, other than when I checked Wilma she was pushing 100, which is perfect.

Then the lovely text message comes from the secretary, who plays nurse when one isn't there and does a kick ass job, around 10:30 and Bean's at 390.  You can insert your own choice words because I'm sure just about every one of them ran through my head in a millisecond.
We had her correct, pushed a ton of water, and low and behold at lunch about an hour later she was 266, which is progress, I suppose.

We'll wait and see what the rest of the afternoon brings and make some adjustments tonight that will hopefully produce some better results tomorrow...*sigh*


Generally speaking, I love roller coasters.  However, I detest beyond measure the BG roller coasters Bean has to deal with.

I know I shouldn't, but I still see those obnoxious numbers and feel like I should have done more, done better, done SOMETHING that would be successful and help her feel her best.  Alas, not so much.
There's only do what we can and what we think will do the trick and wait and see.  And that, my friends, sucks massively, hugely big time!




Monday, January 13, 2014

Shawty Stays Lo, Lo, Lo, Lo

yes, I totally made myself giggle when I thought up the title and now I can't get the song out of my head!!!



Bean has been having some odd lows lately.

I mentioned them on FB, and received some great advice from those who know (aka, anyone else living the crazy D life!).

Here's the issue...that magical juicy juice apple juice box seems to have lost it's powers.  Used to be we could count on that cute little green rectangle to boost Bean a good 60-80 points in less than 15 minutes with no rebound issues.  Now? Not so much.

She's had at least three lows in the past week or so that just haven't responded to 15g of carbs of juice.  Then, haven't responded to either another juice, an applesauce, or other random beverage the school happened to have (I think it was a V8something-or-nother).  But, after 45 minutes, she shoot sky high and we have the toughest time getting her back down.

It's not only frustrating, but a tad (OK, more than a tad) disconcerting because one never wants to see a similarly low number after having 15g of 'fast acting sugar'.


So, dinner tonight just happened.  Bean started at 68.  Usually a number we'd throw an apple juice at, but she was about to eat, so I didn't.  I also had her go ahead and bolus, knowing it would reverse correct (give her less insulin because her BG was low), and that it would be a good 15 minutes before it would kick in.
She scarffed her lasagna, bread, and milk in about 10 minutes and was ready for ice cream (which I forgot she had asked for, so it wasn't included in the carb count).  I had her test, and she was at 65.  Bring on the ice cream!  Another ten minutes pass and she was at 90...headed up, but slowly.  Thirty minutes later and she's at 197.  Wilma shows double arrow up...great...so I bolused for the ice cream carbs.

*sigh*

Hoping for a nice leveling out soon and no delayed pasta issues...usually not a problem, but I'm sure now that I've said that.....


...and, no, she doesn't own any boots with the fur....fleece, yes; fur, no! ;)


Saturday, January 4, 2014

Looking For Less

It's that time of year again.

The time when we take stock of things and set goals and hope against all odds that this will be the year those goals are met and not left by the wayside yet again.

This year, I'm looking for less.

Less in the obvious areas like my weight, among other numbers the blood work at the end of December revealed.

Less in Bean's BGs that have been all over the place due to random colds, growth spurts, and just general growing that warrants increased insulin amounts that just kinda sneak up on you.  Which also leads to less in her A1c that I soooo don't even want to know what it is and am totally happy to wait for a few more months to find out!

Less in the out-of-control I sometimes feel because life is just too damned busy and things that need to be on the top of the priority list fall to the bottom.


But at the same time, I'm looking for more.

More connections with friends that truly matter and make my life more complete.

More time with my family that is quality driven and not just quantity driven.

More making myself matter and realizing that I need to take care of myself, too.

More connections with the DOC and diabetes in general, because I know that my lack of connection is part of the issue with Bean's numbers.


Here's to 2014!!