Saturday, November 26, 2011

Two Drink Minimum

So wish I was alluding to some awesome event Ubergeek and I got all dolled up to go to, but alas, no.

I'm talking about Bean's night last night.

We had a fabulous time at a post Thanksgiving get together with friends.

Well, other than a few D slip ups.  Bean had been at a party for most of the day.  She neglected to mention when I picked her up, however, that her pod had alarmed while she was there....at 1:45pm.  Now, at 6:45pm, while we were preparing to eat dinner, she tells me that she thinks she remembers her pod alarming at the party.

UM, HELLO?!?!  Kinda important information!

She was 'scolded' while I was trying to activate a new pod.  Yea, trying....stupid thing wouldn't 'beep, beep' after filling it with insulin.  (We've had a 'bad run' with this shipment...way more alarms and issues that normal.)  Thankfully Ubergeek had a pod in his backpack that he keeps with him all the time.

Then during the 'party within a party' (one Bean's friends was celebrating her birthday since everyone was there anyway!) Bean conveniently forgot to test and dose for the cupcake she was consuming.  I made eye contact with her no less than four times, eyebrows raised, trying to clue her in to the fact she was EATING a flipping CUPCAKE, and had forgotten something.

About 30 minutes later, she comes to me asking for water....um, high much?  So I had her test....lovely 434.  At that point, she was 'scolded' again for eating (a cupcake, no less!) without testing.  She corrected, and bolused for the cupcake and went on her merry way.

We kept an eye on her BGs via Wilma (our dexcom) the rest of the night and she seemed to be doing better.

We got home and I sent her upstairs to get ready for bed.  Ubergeek called her back down to test (standard procedure before bed) and she was at 56.  Lovely!  Juice, cheese, wheat thins; then off to bed.

I set my alarm to check her at 2...slept through it...ugh!

Wilma buzzes at me through the monitor at 3:28....down the hall I go to test Bean and she's at 60.  WHAT?!?  Guess that decision to cover some of those carbs wasn't a good one.  So, another juice box is consumed by a sleeping Bean.  I also reduced her basal to be on the safe side.

I set my alarm for 6, hoping that I'll wake up this time.  But at 5:58, Wilma buzzes at me again.  66.  WHAT, WHAT?!?!  This never happens...juice box at 3:30 should totally get her through the night just fine, not to mention a reduced basal to boot!  Love it when D does things it usually doesn't do!!  So, yet another juice box is slurped (any one else have a kid that burps in the middle of the night with a juice box, but never during the day?!?)  and basal is turned OFF for two hours.

Bean wakes up and comes into our room shortly before 9....gotta love late mornings after late nights!  She tests and is at a respectable 144.

She's been doing this lately....crashing for no real reason, needing less insulin than before.  Guess the growth spurt or whatever is over.

Time for some basal tweaks....could swear I just did some of those not too long ago!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Bean's Thankful List

Yeah, so this should have been posted yesterday, but we were busy sleeping in, hanging out, going to a movie, and eating dinner with family, so whatever!


Bean is thankful for:
*insulin
*my family
*my diabetes friends
*my life
*the world
*everyone trying to cure Diabetes

And Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without 'hand' turkeys!!



Hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day!!

I am truly thankful for all of my bloggy friends.  I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!!

Because it would be nearly impossible to edit real names, I"m not going to post the news story on the blog.  However, I am willing to email the link to those of you who we know and can trust to keep the names to yourself! ;)  So, email me at momofbean@mysweetbeanandherpod.com and I'll send you the link if you'd like to see it!

Monday, November 21, 2011

It's Quiet

The girls are in bed...pretty close to 'normal time,' but it feels like it's way early for some reason.

Ubergeek is at a meeting...love that he's in the thick of it at Bean's school, but sometimes it's annoying when he has yet another meeting.

At the moment, the TV is off...no Shake It Up or Good Luck Charlie or Jessie in the background.

The only sounds are the aquarium, refrigerator, and heater.

I know it won't last long, this quiet.

Soon enough Bug will cough.  Just can't seem to shake that nasty cough.

Soon enough I will have to hear the 'beep....beep, beep' of a  BG test for Bean or the vibrating of Wilma (her CGM) alerting me of some issue with Bean's BG that will need my attention.

But for now I can enjoy the quiet.  I can let my mind slow down.  I can just be and not have to do, for a while.

At the beginning of this Thanksgiving Week, I am thankful for the quiet...even though these moments are few and far between, I am thankful when they come around!

Friday, November 18, 2011

DxONE ~ sneak peek!

*first off, no, the world isn't about to end...I am actually posting two days in a row!!!  now if I could just get around to reading your blogs and commenting, the world might just stop turning!!

Ubergeek has been following the progress of DxONE, the short film about living with Type 1 Diabetes.  He had this great idea to contact the creator about showing it at an ADA Family Link event once it was finished, so he sent an email the other day.

He now has a new BFF Type 1 Dad in the film's award winning creator!  They have emailed back and forth, chatted on the phone from one coast to the other, and got permission to have a screening of the film once it's ready.

What's super cool is that we had the opportunity to view a rough cut last night and OMG it was amazing!  It's like he wrote our story, all of our stories.  The middle of the night check, the having to adjust a dose for a high BG, the behavior issues that come with highs and lows evoking the 'you better hope your BG is responsible for this' comment we've all made at one point or another, the constant back of the mind worry, everything.

It's powerful.  It's accurate.  It, I hope, will shed some light on the day in, day out-ness of this disease for those who can't possibly imagine it because it's not their life, their child's life.

If you would like to check out some of the scenes, visit Dan Masucci's You Tube channel.  You'll be glad you did!


*on another quick note, Bean and I were interviewed for a piece for Diabetes Awareness Month for a local TV station.  If I can get it edited to remove real names, I'll post it. :)  It was nothing big, but it was crazy to see ourselves on the news!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

What's In A Number?

...a LOT!

Yes, I know; I know:  I'm not supposed to let that number define me, grade me, judge me.  I know that.

So why do I find myself wanting to scream and throw a fit when that number prints out?!?!


Today was Bean's appointment.  I was hoping, no make that expecting, a significant drop in her A1c.  She's been podding Apidra for three months and we are seeing much better numbers.  Way more time 'in range' and way fewer 300s and high 200s.  Sure, she's had lows more often that usual, but nothing terrible and a little basal tweaking is in order and should 'fix' those lows...as much as they can be, anyway!

So when we were chatting with our ANP at her new office...we were the only ones there and we're more like family than "doctor/patient" and Ubergeek went over to the machine and said "8.7" my response was "What the Heck?!? That can't be right."

Last appointment she was at 9.1, which was up from 8.8.  I was bummed, but I knew that a lot of that was summer issues and trying to figure out her insulin needs with the mega shift in routine.

I was hoping for low 8s.  But I also knew in the back of my mind that it might not be quite that low because the last week or so hasn't been fabulous and I've heard that even though it's supposed to measure the last 90 days, the two weeks prior plays a more significant role. (Don't quote me on that, just what I remember hearing somewhere!)

But the hope was there none-the-less.

I got the usual "you are doing an amazing job; these numbers are looking great" comments which I tried really hard to accept and not just roll my eyes at because I totally don't feel like I'm doing anything amazing right now.

But, Bean is happy, healthy, growing, and her BGs are looking better.  I really should focus on that and not the stupid 8.7...so hard to do, though!

Lowest A1c to date, so that's something.  Not where I want her, but honestly, what are the chances of me getting what I want with this stupid disease?

Now it's time to start working on the next 90 days!  Ugh.

Monday, November 14, 2011

'Circle' of Blue

In honor of World Diabetes Day, I let Bean break the rules a little bit. According to the dress code at her school, nail polish can only be light colors.  So, a sparkly, bright blue doesn't really qualify.


And you know all the girls had to get into the action!  I'm usually a clear polish kind of gal; even when I had acrylic nails, I always went for a French manicure.  So, it's been quite the switch to have blue on my nails, but it's growing on me, I must admit.

It was our small way to participate in World Diabetes Day.  A way for us have a visual reminder of this invisible disease that effects so many, from one side of the globe to the other.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Joys of Ketones

Last week was our first experience with ketones.  Yeah, go ahead and hate us for a minute.  OK, time's up!

Even when Bean was diagnosed, she only had trace ketones, so we would read stories of kids having stubbornly high BGS with moderate or high ketones and wouldn't 'get it.'  Sure, we know ketones are nothing to be flippant about, and they can cause some serious issues, but they were never an issue for us.  Bean could hang out in the 200-300s for the majority of the day and would finally respond to a correction and would have only trace, if any ketones.  Thankfully she doesn't do that often, but there are those days, as everyone knows!

That brings us to last week.

Last Wednesday, Bean was running pretty high.  Like 300s high.  And since Wilma (our dexcom 7+ CGM) was giving us the wonderful ??? we didn't know if those 300s were spikes or if Bean was running consistently that high. Each BG test showed high 200s and 300s; even the overnight checks, even after some pretty big corrections. When she woke up Thursday morning and she was still in the 300s, I knew we had a problem.

We did an early pod change (she was due that evening, so it wasn't that early) and a dexcom sensor change (again, due for one, and with those darn ??? I was more than happy to stick on a new one ~ Bean, not so much, but she dealt with it!).

Ubergeek suggested that I test Bean for ketones.  My response was less than cooperative for many reasons...1) it was morning; 2) Bean never has more than trace ketones, if any; 3) I had just done a pod and sensor change; 4) I was sick and didn't feel like being out of bed much less like going to work; and 5) it was morning...perhaps I mentioned that already.

So, he got out the meter and tested for ketones.  Can I just say that I LOVE our blood ketone meter!  And a 2.1 popped up.  Um, what?!?!  He had to do some googling to find the chart of what that reading meant since we haven't ever seen anything above 0.2.  Finding that 2.1 was not a good thing, Ubergeek insisted Bean stay home from school.  Since I had taken Wednesday off (kinda funny when they have to get a sub for a sub!) because I wanted to chop my head off because my throat hurt so much, there was really no way I could take Thursday off.  So, Ubergeek said he would stay home with her.

He pushed water, gave an additional unit of insulin by syringe (the FIRST Bean has had in over a year of using the Omnipod), and contacted our CDE to double check he was doing the right thing...he was. :)  By lunch, about 4 hours later, Bean was down to 117 and 0.2 ketones.  NICE!

After some thinking things through, we decided that it was most likely a combination of a 'bad' pod placement, filling said pod with the last of the vial, so it most likely was 'done,' and Bean had been fighting a bit of the same cold that was kicking me in the butt.

So thankful that our ketone experience was short and easy to resolve.  And very thankful that Ubergeek has the kind of job that allows him to work from home in situations like these...and that he is on top of D things and was the one to think of checking for ketones!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

The Bean Team walked to Stop Diabetes

     Sunday, October 30th, was the StepOut Walk to Stop Diabetes.


We woke up to the first snow of the season, 
so it's a good thing the walk was inside!!


There were lots of vendors to visit along the walk and they had a cool "Red Striders' Lounge" (Red Striders are walkers with diabetes) where they had free supplies, books, hot cocoa, homemade banana bread, and a massage table.  (Oh, yeah, totally got a massage!!)

We were joined by Ubergeek's parents, G and her parents, and another one of Bean's friends and her mom (our friend).  We were a small group, but we had a blast.

The girls got their faces painted.

We gathered 'goodies' from the vendors and other volunteers at the stations around the walk, including a really cool pen that's shaped like a syringe.


We made a connection with a mom and her daughter who had flown in from Nome.  It was amazing to meet them and we were in awe that they had been living this life for four years as the only family with T1 in their area. We look forward to connecting with them more, both via email and when they come in for appointments. That's always the best part of these events....connecting with other families who live the same life as we do.

We raised more than last year.  Last count was over $1400.  A drop in the bucket, but every penny counts.  Best of all, it more than qualifies Bean to go to diabetes camp next summer...something we are all looking forward to!