49er
It's Monday night, I'm up late working on the website and watching Monday Night Football. Not long after the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons, I heard Arden's CGM wailing away. Four beeps, not good.
This is what I found... Coincidence?
I'm interested to see how the juice box that she drank will effect this number. Her lows have been stubborn lately. Hoping to get to bed around 1:30 am. Happy Christmas Eve!
Follow up. The juice box brought Arden's BG to 102 by 1:00 am. This morning she woke to a finger stick of 137. She's spending the day with Kelly at work while I finish some super secret Christmas stuff.
Helping Children with Diabetes Gain Independence
This is part four of my six part series on helping children with diabetes to gain independence. I wrote this series for the makers of OmniPod, they are running it on their blog called, Suite D. If you missed them you can read the first three parts on Arden's Day here or on Insulet's site.
Part five, 'Taking it one moment at a time', is live today only on Suite D.
Part 4: Diabetes Management Plan
I began part one of this series by talking about technology and how it aids my family every day while we manage our daughter Arden’s type 1 diabetes. In part two, I spoke about the health and educational issues that lead me to want to do things differently. In part three, I jumped to the end of the story by sharing proof of my changes in the form of a much lower A1C and the elimination of missed class time. Today, I’d like to talk about the nuts and bolts of Arden’s diabetes management plan. It’s super simple…yet amazingly effective!
I’ll begin in the early morning because starting the day with a manageable blood glucose number gives you a reasonable chance of getting the rest of the day to follow suit. I like to check Arden’s blood glucose about an hour before her alarm is set to go off so that I can knock a high blood glucose or try to adjust a lower number with a temp basal. We test when Arden rises and pre-bolus for breakfast. The timing of the breakfast bolus is planned so that no more than two hours goes by before our next blood glucose look-in at 9:30 AM.
In between the breakfast bolus and 9:30 AM, Arden will text me if her CGM indicates that her blood glucose has gone below our low limit, above our high limit or shows arrows that indicate a fast rise or fall in her blood glucose. Most days, however, I don’t hear from her until the 9:30 AM pre-snack look-in. Both of our phones are programmed with matching alarms to remind us of CGM checks, pre-bolus needs, blood glucose testing and activities, such as gym class. The alarms are a back-up, as there are times that we both need reminding.
Arden’s text will arrive as simply as this: 140 >.
Depending on the situation I may say something like, “15 carbs,” “test” or “juice.” Arden responds in a few moments with the suggested bolus, a blood glucose reading from a finger stick or a suggestion for a different source of carbs. Our conversations generally last less than two minutes.
The next alarm sounds 15 minutes before lunch and we always test. I like, when the situation allows, to have Arden pre-bolus lunch unless her blood glucose is borderline. When that happens I have her bolus some of the lunch carbs early and then we do the rest when she is seated in the cafeteria. Arden’s 504 plan allows her to leave for lunch five minutes early everyday so that she can settle in and communicate with me prior to the insanity that surrounds the children piling into the cafeteria. We normally speak to each other at this look-in because there is a lot more going on surrounding a meal than during a simple CGM check or test and bolus. Our 504 plan also allows for us to call each other whenever we need, at any time of the day.
Two hours later, we take a look at the CGM. Too much lunch insulin? Not enough? This is a great time to find out and the check gets us ready for the bus ride that’s coming in a couple of hours.
Handling Low Blood Glucose Readings at School
At this point you are wondering how we handle low blood glucose levels, am I correct?
We have a stash of juice boxes, pre counted snacks and water in Arden’s classroom. Additionally, Arden carries herOmniPod PDM, CGM, lancing device, test strips, fast-acting glucose and a juice with her in a small purse. The combination of well-timed look-ins and our reminder alarms stave off most unexpected lows, but they still happen. Last week Arden’s blood glucose was falling fast during gym class. I received the following text…
“61 arrow down”
I replied, “juice then test.”
This is the moment when you have to trust the system because you have to wait for a minute or two to allow time for drinking and re-testing. It can be nerve-wracking…I won’t lie.
Arden: “Juice in.”
Me: “Dizzy?”
Arden: “No, I want to go back to gym.”
Me: “Calling.”
We spoke on the phone and Arden told me that her CGM arrow was already turning back up, she did not feel dizzy and reiterated that she wanted to go back to the activity.
As much as moments like these can scare me, most of the fear that I’m feeling is really Arden gaining independence, and of course, me giving away control. But isn’t that what I want and is there really a better way for her to learn?
Please know that I was compensated for my writing in an amount that would be considered standard for freelance blogging. My family pays for Arden's OmniPods with insurance and out of pocket cash. My writing for Insulet has no impact on my opinions or the information that I share here or anywhere online.
My new Diabetes Daily interview
When the multitalented and overwhelmingly delightful Ginger Vieira asks you to sit down with her and talk about diabetes, you clear your calendar.
Check out my interview that just went live on Diabetes Daily. It's centered on raising a child with type 1 diabetes and a few of the changes that I hope to see one day in health care, including a magic helmet that lets my wife and I go to a movie.
Arden's Day has been redesigned!
Over the past few months I've been feeling like Arden's Day was looking a little dated... so I changed things up.
For the most part everything is the same, all of the content, pages and links remain (Except for one, I'll talk about that in a second), they are just organized and look a little different.
Now when you log onto ArdensDay.com you will be taken to a home page instead of directly to the blog. I've freshened some of the images, choose some new design elements and generally brought the blog up to today's standards for interactive community blogging. For example, you are now able to 'Like' blog post and user comments - give it a try!
At the present time, this new platform does not support a bulletin board. For that reason the 'Ask Me Anything' portion of the site could not be migrated, I'm hoping that this feature will return soon. Until then, feel free to ask question in blog comments or by using the "Contact" link located at the bottom of each page. Have fun!
Below is a quick video that walks you through some of the changes, I hope you love them!
There is also a new app on the Arden's Day Facebook page that allows you to browse Arden's Day from Facebook. Fancy! You can check it out and follow at this link.
'Life Is Short' shout-out on FEaB
There I was two weeks ago minding my own business on the sofa, watching television out of one eye and looking at Twitter out of the other. I saw that Matt Mira (From The Nerdist) was asking if anyone wanted to ask Scott Mosier (Film producer and all around great guy) a question for the next episode of their PodCast, FEaB. I had no context for his question, but as it turns out, they were about to sit down to record an episode and wanted listener questions.
I, having taken a photograph of Scott in the distant past, replied...
Scott Mosier
@MattMira Does @smosier remember/still have this photo that I took of him? #preDogmaand just as I was about to press send I thought, "What the hell" and added, ...& Would you guys read my book?
I haven't thought about sending the tweet since that moment, until today when I heard this.
Anyway, how mind-bending is it that a photo I took in 1998 when I was twenty seven, at a Kevin Smith film festival, would lead to a book mention in 2013? The Internet is indeed a strange and wonderful place.