What do you want from Diabetes Awareness Month?
So November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Okay. Now what?
Aside from building awareness, which is a goal that I hold in high regard, what do you want to happen this month? What change, lesson or tidal shift would you like to see occur after the diabetes online community shines their bright light onto the life of people living with diabetes?
"Something tangible", is always my less than complete answer. But is it reasonable to expect that people who don't live with diabetes have the time or space in their busy lives to commit to understanding a complicated disease?
Using myself as an example. I am a person who understands how difficult living with a chronic illness can be, I know how important it is to the people who are effected to get their story into the world. Yet, when I see a pink ribbon or a football player trying to kill another man while wearing pink shoes... I just think, "Breast cancer awareness", but I don't really know the first thing about breast cancer. I've never made a donation to a breast cancer charity, except to honor the passing of a friend, and I don't proselytizing about breast cancer awareness.
I'm as aware as I can be, and I can't tell you one thing that my awareness brings to the people whose lives have been forever changed by breast cancer. But maybe that's enough?
Maybe that's all the breast cancer awareness people can hope for, that I know they are out there and that their lives have been impacted in a way that makes them want to teach others about their plight. Perhaps their efforts are more about adding compassion to the world and empathy that is rooted in honest concern.
Now, if you handed me a magic wand and put me in charge of diabetes awareness, I'd cast a spell on the world so that everyone would know what to do when Arden gets dizzy in the middle of her practice. I'd make it so that each person could feel the insane mix of pressure, stress and fear that I felt last night when I looked down at Arden's glucose meter and saw, "32". I would selfishly turn the entire world into care givers for Arden and each of you. I think that, if I'm being honest, that's what I want from Diabetes Awareness Month - full and complete understanding for my little girl and all of you.
What I expect however, is no more than my reaction to seeing a pink ribbon and maybe that's enough. I hope that it is.
Since I don't have a magic wand, in honor of Diabetes Awareness Month I'm going to dig even deeper and share our life with type I this month in as raw and honest of a manner as my soul can stand.
It's diabetes awareness month. I'm diabetes blogger. That's my magic wand.
Fool proof tips for handling Halloween with Diabetes
Every year, just before Halloween, I receive a few inquiries about writing a freelance piece about 'How to handle Halloween with Diabetes' and every year I politely decline to write about that topic. Why... because I think it adds unnecessarily, to the hysteria that exists online surrounding this non-issue. However today I'm feeling kinda giddy... So without any further ado, here are the tried and true ways that we handle Halloween in our house, you may want to write them down so you don't forget.
- We count carbs and cover them with insulin.
- Due to the nature of how some simple sugars react to the insulin, we test more frequently.
- Walking can decrease a BG so you'll need to carry some sugar... hey wait a second.
Seriously, that's all we do though having a DexCom CGM does help. Tell you what, just so you don't feel ripped off for clicking on this blog entry, here's the stuff I would have written if I excepted those writing jobs.
- Trust yourself, you know what you're doing.
- Practice moderation.
- Test a little extra.
- Get home with enough time to allow active insulin to finish before bed.
- Check on your little ghoul a few times after they go to bed to make sure there's no crazy drop in BG.
- Relax and eat your kid's candy so you don't have to deal with this crap tomorrow.
Okay, well, that's it, except to say this to my freelance suitors... aren't you glad you didn't pay for that!?
Update
on 2013-11-25 15:40 by Scott Benner
Finally getting around to post a picture of Arden as a zombie.
Happy Halloween and don't forget to log your BGs and exercise with The Big Blue Test!
Pound the (Omnipod) Alarm
From: System Documentation: New Omnipod PDM Model UST400
Have you ever experienced an Omnipod alarm that wouldn't stop?
Have you gone online to find out how to save yourself from the incessant squeal and receive tips like: You can open the pod and take out the batteries, put it in the freezer, hit it with a hammer, or my favorite... I put it in the driveway and ran it over with my car.
While I have to admit that a few of those tips sound like a great stress reliever, you don't really have to go to all of that trouble. All you need actually, is a paper clip. The new smaller OmniPod has a manual shut-off port (Just like the first generation did) for stopping that annoying alarm! If you'll refer to the diagram above that I borrowed from page 131 of the system documentation for the new Omnipod PDM Manual (Model UST400), you'll see where the port resides.
Just follow the instructions and don't forget to give the paper clip a firm push (It has to break through a thin layer of plastic) and the alarm will be no more. Best part? You won't slip with a kitchen knife as you try to crack the shell open and cut your finger off.
Bermuda Triangle
Last week around eleven in the morning, Arden texted from school to say that it was lunch time and she couldn't get any of her test strips to work. "I've tried five and they've all errored", her text read.
No problem I thought, "What's your CGM say?"
"???", Arden replied.
We found that Arden could still deliver insulin with her OmniPod PDM so we bolused for lunch in the blind and I told Arden that I was leaving to bring her a backup meter. On the way to the school I spoke with OmniPod customer service (Picked up on the first ring!) and they suggested that I try a new vial of test strips. The CSR finished the conversation by saying that if the test strips weren't the issue, they would happily overnight us a new PDM.
I met Arden in the office a few moments later and we tested successfully with the new strips. The CGM sensor however, was toast, so we changed our testing strategy slightly and synched our reminder alarms. Arden went back to lunch and we managed the remaining four hours of the day the ole fashion way... with a meter.
In all of the years that Arden has had diabetes, this is the first time we've experienced a total and simultaneous loss of the ability to quantify her BG. Even though the timing couldn't have been worse, I never felt frazzled and I can only attribute that calm to having so much experience. I'm quite certain that this moment would have given me an aneurysm five years ago.
Before I say this next bit, I want to remind you that I am not a medical professional and that the things that I share on Arden's Day are never meant as advice. There is a disclaimer at the bottom of the page if you'd like to read it. I gave Arden her lunchtime insulin in this situation without testing or the benefit of a CGM based on a number of factors. Time of day as it relates to her last bolus, we spoke about how she felt at length, based on historical data - Arden's BGs at this time of day over the week, the fact that she was going to immediately begin eating and I would be there with a new meter and strips in less than 10 minutes. I would never bolus without knowing the state of her BG in a normal situation.
We swapped Arden's DexCom G4 sensor (It had done more than its fair share... if you get my drift) when she arrived home and we were back on the path of technology based diabetes care, by dinner time. The PDM/meter has not given us a problem since, so I'm chalking this all up to an anomaly caused by faulty strips - but who knows.
Big Blue JDRF Walk
2013 JDRF Walk
On Sunday we participated in our eighth consecutive JDRF Walk. The walk provides something different for everyone. Community, support and hope are but a few of the good things that emanate from the gathering. I always think back to our first walk, it was just two months after Arden's diagnosis in 2006 and we were still reeling from the shock. The people that walked that day were each and every one, a stranger - but they helped me immeasurably just by being there. The stress that I felt was lightened when I saw so many living well with diabetes. Their presence made everything feel possible and the smiles on thier faces seemed to promise me that we were going to be okay. Today, eight walks later, I hope that our smiles have made someone else feel the same way.
And speaking of exercise and doing something good... When we got home from the walk each member of our family logged their information at Big Blue Test dot org.
from BigBlueTest.org
Since 2010, over 40,000 people helped themselves while helping more than 10,000 others. Most participants in the Big Blue Test experience an average blood sugar drop of 20% and by every Big Blue Test result a donation is made by the program sponsor to help others around the world with diabetes in need.The Big Blue Test is a program of the Diabetes Hands Foundation that encourages people with diabetes to test their blood sugar, exercise for 14-20 minutes, test again and share their experience on BigBlueTest.org. For every test, people with diabetes in need receive life-saving supplies through Big Blue Test grants that are awarded to humanitarian diabetes charities in the US and around the world, made possible thanks to the program sponsor. In 2013, the Big Blue Test grants will benefit two US-based initiatives (each will receive US$2,500) and an additional US$5,000 will support projects in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This year, we’re seeking to reach 20,000 Big Blue Test entries, which will translate into a donation that will help save lives.