Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wordless Wednesday ~ Night Check Mishap


nothing like dropping the strips container during the middle of
the night BG check...and yes, I totally just picked up a strip
and left the mess for the morning!!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Guest Post: Adam from Socks4Life

EDITED TO ADD:
**On August 23, 2012, I was sent an email and asked to 'unlink' to the links I had.  Until I hear otherwise, they will stay disabled. Thanks for your understanding with the company until they resolve their Google issues.**

A few months back I received an email from some guy from some website that was putting together something about diabetes.  I let it sit in my in box for a while then finally replied to see what it was all about.  Come to find out, Socks4Life was developing a resource guide for not only their customers, but for the population as a whole who happened upon their website.  I am proud to be included as one of the many DOC blog links on their site.  They also have other great information about diabetes.  You can check it out here.

In the back and forth emails, I 'met' and 'got to know' Adam.  He's the Outreach and Philanthropy Coordinator at Socks4Life.  He's been patient with my delayed responses...life got really busy around here a couple of months ago!  He asked if I would share about the resource page and if it would be OK for him to do a guest post.  I'm always up for sharing about people who are doing things to help out the diabetic community.

Please take a minute to check out their resource site.  And if you happen to be in the market for socks, diabetic or otherwise, they have those, too! :)

Without further ado...here's Adam's guest post:


Don’t Let Diabetes Stop you!

            During second grade, a family moved in on my street and one of their kids was Michael who happened to be my age. The first time I met him was at the bus stop for our first day of school. He was a nice kid and we quickly became friends. We would talk on the bus and play soccer during recess and after school. Over a month after we had met, we were shooting hoops in my driveway one afternoon and had a really close game going on when he suddenly said that he needed to run home for a few minutes. We were almost done with our game, but he insisted he’d only be a few minutes and he walked down the street to his home.

              He returned shortly after and we finished the game a few minutes later. At the end of the game, I asked him why he couldn’t wait a few minutes for the game to finish and that’s when I learned that he had diabetes. He showed me this gizmo looking gadget (I now know is a pump) that was clipped on the inside of his shorts. I had never really noticed the bulge on the side, but like any curious 7 year old, I asked him questions about diabetes. To this day, I’m surprised that he completely opened up about the disease and made it sound like it was no big deal. He explained to me how he tested his blood sugars, how he kept track of what he ate, etc… All of this sounded so overwhelming, but he made it seem like it was nothing at all.

            We are still friends to this day and I have never seen him let the disease get in the way of enjoying life. When I was home recently, we were playing a friendly game of football and we still tackle and drive each other into the ground. I never treated him differently with the exception of giving him a few minutes to treat a low or test his blood sugar levels. He even played on the soccer team during his sophomore and junior years at college.

            When I asked him what it was like to be the only player with diabetes on the team, and possibly at the university, he said it was shameful. Many coaches are hesitant to have a player with a disease on their team. On the other side of the coin, he spoke to many people with diabetes who don’t want to play sports due to their disease. I was shocked to hear Michael say that, considering there are several well known athletes who have type 1 diabetes. The list includes, and certainly is not limited to:
Ø  Jay Cutler: Quarterback for the Chicago Bears
Ø  Brandon Morrow: Pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays
Ø  Mark Lowe: Pitcher for the Texas Rangers
Ø  Ty Cobb: Arguably a MLB legend who set many records during his career
Ø  Chris Dudley: Played with many NBA teams

 These are just a few professional athletes with type 1 diabetes who have careers in professional sports. The point is that you should never think you can’t do anything you put your mind to, despite having the disease. Just because you have diabetes doesn’t mean you can’t be the next best quarterback in the NFL!


In the interest of full disclosure, I did receive a gift certificate for some socks from Socks4Life. But I'd totally share this resource site and let Adam guest post without it! :)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Wordless Wednesday ~ Scat


black bear scat, about 30 feet from the playground at school 
and right next to the stairs for the third floor entrance

Monday, October 17, 2011

Pod Ponderings, a year later

Last Friday marked the one year mark for Bean using the Omnipod insulin pump.

It's hard to believe it's been 365 (well, 368 now) days of button pushing instead of injections.  In fact, Bean hasn't received her insulin from a syringe or pen in all of those days.

Has it been fabulously wonderful; full of rainbows and glitter?  Um, no.  Would I go back to MDI?  Um, hell-to-the-no!

Our first shipment of pods had an alarming pod in it...yep, even before I had opened the box one of those little stinkers was beeeeeeping at me!  The rest of the box was alarm happy, too.  In fact, the first pod we put on Bean alarmed when we were getting in the car to leave our appointment.  And there was a week that we did five pod changes instead of the 'should have been' two.

Thankfully the boxes to follow have been way better.  The alarms have gotten fewer and farther between.  And except for the pods that alarmed, we've gotten the full life (72 hours, give or take a bit for ease of scheduling) out of all of the pods.

Bean has really enjoyed having only one 'shot' every three days instead of at least 4 injections everyday.  She doesn't enjoy the pod changes a whole lot, but even on the days when the split second, automatic insertion hits a tender spot and it hurts for a while, she still wouldn't trade it for any other insulin delivery system.  I LOVE the easiness of the pod changes.  In fact, Bean can pretty much do the whole process herself and even walked the new school nurse through a pod change at school when her pod alarmed.

As far as the BG numbers go....we've had our fair share of ups and downs, highs and lows.  The pod wasn't (and isn't) a magic fix for perfect, in range BGs.  However, it has made a big difference in how we manage Bean's numbers.  On MDI, we wouldn't give her an 'extra' shot to bring down a high.  That made things difficult for her and for us.  With the Omnipod, we are able to correct highs with a push of a few buttons; and it accounts for that insulin when calculating other doses within our set time frame.  We're also able to set multiple basal rates instead of having to hope her Lantus is releasing evenly or chasing lows during the night to keep from chasing highs during the day because of the amount of Lantus injected.  Now that we're pumping Apidra, we're seeing even better numbers.  Still not perfectly in range, but much better.  I'm anxious to see what Bean's A1c will be in November.

All in all, we are extremely please with the Omnipod.  Is it perfect? No.  But I don't think any insulin delivery system is without its faults.   Bottom line, it works for us...for Bean.  And that's really what it all comes down to.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

A D Disconnect

I am feeling a bit disconnected with Bean's D care.

It's an odd thing to say because I'm still counting carbs, weighing food, doing basal adjustments, changing IC ratios, waking up in the middle of the night to check her BG...all the D care stuff.  Everything I've been doing for the past 16 months.

It's the 'school care' part that I'm feeling most disconnected from at the moment.

That's another odd thing to say since I'm AT Bean's school now.  But, I'm out in a portable, not in the main building.  And that's actually a good thing because she's going through this weird, clingy phase at the moment and I think it would be really difficult for her if I were more accessible.

There's a disconnect because I'm not always the first call or text when something's up with Bean.  And with her doing more of her own care in the classroom, my main point of contact (the secretary, because we still have a nurse only a few hours a week) doesn't see her as much as she did last year.

I'm thankful that Bean is able to do more of her own care in the classroom...especially being on the third floor...but it makes for some gaps in information that are driving me a bit nuts.

Thank God for Wilma (our dexcom 7 plus CGM).  She is helping me fill in those gaps.

I can see the horrible post breakfast spike that I still can't figure out.

I can see her dip low (far too often lately) in the afternoon for no apparent reason.  And then the lovely bump from the trusty apple juice.

I can see her sky rocket when she feels she's too low to dose for lunch and then forgets to dose at all until she's in the 300s.

But even seeing all that data, I feel so disconnected with what's going on with her.

The BG numbers tell one story, while the CGM graphs tell another.

I'm adjusting basal rates to try to ward off the highs only to end up with lows instead.

I'm adjusting IC ratios to try to ward off the super spikes with no success.

Even though I am still a full time pancreas, I feel disconnected.

I look at the numbers, the graphs and it's like I'm looking at something completely foreign.

Not that I don't understand, there's just something that's keeping me at arm's length.

Like I just can't focus.

Almost like I'm looking at someone else's kid's numbers.  They mean something, but don't mean something to me.

I'm frustrated.  Not just with the disconnect but with the issues Bean is having because of the disconnect.

I think it's going to take a appointment with our NP and CDE to bring some clarity.

I'm hoping they can see what I'm unable to see no matter how hard I look.

There has to be a reconnect...for my sake and for Bean's!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Step Out with The Bean Team

October 30th is our ADA Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes.  I'm a bit late in getting out our letter, but with me working now, it's had to take a backseat until now.
I know that most of you have your own walks and fundraisers, but if you'd like to support our team, even small amounts add up!
Here is our letter:



     
Hi!

This fall our family will be joining more than 130,000 walkers from across the country in this year's Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes to raise money for the American Diabetes Association.

We will be gathering donations and walking to help Stop Diabetes.

We are asking for your help. By making a donation on Bean's behalf, you will be helping the Association provide community-based education programs, protect the rights of people with diabetes and fund critical research for a cure.

Why help us Stop Diabetes? There are 25.8 million Americans living with diabetes, a disease that is outpacing heart disease, cancer and AIDS. If we don't act now, one in three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime.

We believe that our participation in this year's Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes can and will make a difference. Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes is one of the Association's biggest fund raisers. With the help of people like you, the American Diabetes Association can raise over $20 million to help Stop Diabetes.

Please help us reach our goal and go to my Web Page at http://main.diabetes.org/goto/thebeanteam, to make a secure, 100% tax deductible donation.

Every donation, no matter the size, will help us reach our goal.

Bean has the opportunity to go to Diabetes Camp next summer if she meets her goal.  She was able to go last year because of your generosity and had an amazing time.  She was around other kids (more than 50) who also had to test their blood sugar and count their carbs at every meal.  "Same" for five days was so great for her and she is looking forward to hanging out with all of her D-camp friends again this summer!

Together we can Stop Diabetes. One step at a time.

Thank you,
Bean's family

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Monday, October 3, 2011

"I Have Juice"

If you happened to 'like' the DxOne facebook page, please let me know so I can let him know if I had ten people 'like' it...would love to share a sneak peak with you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I noticed the top of a little girl's head a row up and over from where we were sitting as service started on Sunday.

She was trying to get in a comfortable, reclining position in the padded chairs and was struggling a bit.

I was concerned, as any mother would be, for a child that was obviously not having the best morning.

It took me a minute to realize it was our friend R, who is also T1.  (It was odd to see them in service (we tend to pass each other while dropping of our kiddos) as they usually don't sit near us...and in a room that can seat around a thousand people, it's not a given that you will see friends who go to the same service.)

My concern grew.

Her mom sat down and was trying to help her get settled and was pulling out a granola bar for her.

Immediately, my 'is she low?' radar went off.

So I went over and let her mom know that I had juice if that would help, if she didn't want to eat the granola bar or needed something a bit more fast acting.

She smiled and said, "Oh, she's not low, she just doesn't feel good and is hungry.  Thanks, though.  That's really sweet."

We chatted briefly as everyone was singing and I gave R a little 'feel better' rub on her head and then I went back to my seat.

I watched, knowingly, as R's mom dosed her for the granola bar, feeling a tug at my heart because we live that same life.

Nothing's easy about anything, even a little snack during church when your kiddo isn't feeling well.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

DxONE ~ go 'like' it!!

If you haven't heard about this film, then for Pete's sake, go check it out!

DxONE is a short film about Type 1 Diabetes.

So, now that you know what it is, head over to their facebook page and 'like' it.
 
  The creator is going to give an on line sneak peek to those who get 10 friends to 'like' them, if they get 883 'likes.'

I don't do facebook, so I'm not sure how it would work for me, but maybe if you mention my blog in a comment?  Dunno...or if those of you who do facebook get friends to like it, then I could join the viewing.

However it works or doesn't work, just spreading the word about this project is important.

So, 'like' away!!