Weekend Roundup
Happy Blue Friday, I hope you enjoy the weekend and a few of these initiatives, stories and a giveaway.
You take the quiz and a diabetes charity that we all love gets money - nice!
When you take this two minute quiz Novo Nordisk will make a donation to the Diabetes Hands Foundation.
Help Strip Safely to effect real change in the FDA's meter rules.
from strip safely: "FDA has two draft guidance documents about blood glucose meters that are open for comment until April 7, 2014. A “draft guidance” is basically a preview of what standards the FDA is considering requiring in order for blood glucose meters to be cleared — the law requires that FDA open its draft guidance documents up for comment before publishing a final version. FDA welcomes comments from the public, and so we highly encourage everyone affected by diabetes to submit their considered thoughts." - I did it last night, it's easy and important. Go take a look.
This week on Arden's Day
We are giving away a pair of diabetes circles shoelaces - easy to enter
This simple pancake recipe is easy on Arden's BGs
Does your DexCom make you sing?
I wrote a piece for Disney about spousal engagement and your child's diabetes management
Name that Tune: Diabetes Edition
You know how hearing a certain sound or word can make music begin to play in your head, sometimes you are even prompted to sing out loud? That happens around here more than you would expect and almost always because of diabetes.
You know how hearing a certain sound or word can make music begin to play in your head, sometimes you are even prompted to sing out loud? That happens around here more than you would expect and almost always because of diabetes.
Available on iTunes
This first one always gets me and most times I can't stop myself from singing out loud. When Arden's BG gets low, her DexCom G4 'beeps' three times... BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...
As soon as the tones stop, I sing, "Everybody get up...".
Check out the music, see if you hear it too.
Available on iTunes
Arden has said in the past that she can "feel the fall". What she means is that when a high BG is beginning to come down, before her meter or CGM can even tell what's going on; she can sense that it's happening.
She'll look at me very seriously as she tries to make sense of the sensation. Then she looks right into my eyes and says, "I think I'm falling...". There is something about Arden's phrasing that makes us all sing-along with Ms. Alicia Keys.
Also on iTunes
It's a simple question that gets asked about thirty minutes after we bolus for an elevated blood glucose,
"Arden, is that insulin working... check your CGM" - When everything is going as planned Arden answers, "It's going down" and the entire house sings...
"I'm yelling timber!"
On iTunes
More music courtesy of the DexCom G4. Two beeps can indicate a high or rising BG. In this house they are also an excuse to sing the theme from Rocky 3.
Rising up!
We listen to all kinds of different music but I there is just something about diabetes that makes catchy pop songs jump into our heads. I'd love to know if this happens in your homes, I think if it did... I may feel less weird the next time I belt out, "Everybody get up!". I can't wait for the next wave of summertime radio to arrive so we can replace a few of these songs, I need a new diabetes playlist - this one is so 2013. Don't worry, I'm keeping 'Eye of the Tiger'
Hey, Hey, Hey
Most Popular: February 2014
These are the most popular post from February....
on the blog
"Worried your child is too lean for an insulin pump or CGM?
most retweeted topics on Twitter
Kris Freeman at the Olympics
Miss Manners
Freestyle Test Strip Recall
Kris Freeman's abs and a smashed OmniPod where your favorite pics on Instagram -
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My book is now available. "I found this book to not only be an eye-opening explanation of the hazards of having Type I diabetes, but an equally important explanation of the many forms love takes." - Latest Amazon Reader Review
That was fast DexCom!
Looks like it is alarm week around here. The other day Arden mistook a dumpster for her OmniPod and now our DexCom G4 sounds like it has a sick speaker.
BeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrddddddEEEEEEnnnnpppp
Out of no where Arden G4 started to sound like it was being strangled. Quick beeps lasted twice as long and the sound it made was, in my wife's words, "like nails on a chalkboard". What I'm going to share next, is the only reason this story merits it's own blog post.
I called DexCom customer service around 4:30 pm EST and left my information in their phone cue so I wouldn't have to hold. They called back within 30 minutes.
The CSR went over my concern, we did a few minutes of troubleshooting and I was promised a replacement.
It arrived the next day at 10 am - 17 hours later.
In a world where blogs often complain and Facebook post are frequently about what is wrong - I just wanted to say that DexCom treated us judiciously and with amazing swiftness.
All that is left is to wait for a sensor change so we don't have to cringe every time the receiver wants to remind us of something. Currently, the speaker is as shrill as anything that I've ever heard. The CSR said he's never heard of a speaker malfunctioning, I told him that it almost sounds like it's loose and moving around inside of the shell - has anyone else had this happen?
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Opinions are my own. I do not have a financial relationship with DexCom. If I did, I'd tell you. This is just a great example of a good company doing right by a customer - and I wanted to share.
Kris Freeman, "I probably skied my last race of this Olympics yesterday"
Image from krisfreeman.net
“I want to be clear that I do not believe my subpar performances here were attributable to diabetes”
Shortly after competing in his second Olympic event in Sochi, Kris Freeman posted a 'Thank you' on his blog where he announced that his 2014 Olympic pursuits are "probably" over and that, "I am clearly far from my best right now and it would be fair to give fresher teammates a chance in the later races".
Kris speaks at length in his open letter about his training plan for the games, that he is looking forward to competing in next year's World Championships, but most of all - he wants you to know that his performance had nothing to do with his type I diabetes.
Please take a moment and go to Kris's blog to read his full message.
“I will have to adjust my training to allow for more recovery in the future”
Everyone in our family is proud of Kris and we look forward to supporting him in the future. I hope Kris knows just how much his presence at the games has meant to Arden. Such a huge inspiration!