Attention NJ Residents
Call New Jersey Governor Corzine: Ask him to Sign AB 267 and Support the Health and Safety of Students with Diabetes!
Hello Everyone,
I need you to take action regarding legislation that would allow for better diabetes management. Assembly Bill 267 permits students to remain in the classroom while they monitor and treat their diabetes, instead of the current situation in which they miss classroom instructional time, interaction with their peers during lunch and extracurricular activities because in many cases they can monitor and treat their diabetes only in the presence of the school nurse. The bill also allows for trained volunteers to administer glucagon when a school nurse is unavailable.
This legislation overwhelmingly passed the Assembly and now sits on Governor Corzine’s desk ready to be signed. Call the Governor and ask him to support the health and safety of students with diabetes by signing Assembly Bill 267 into law!
Contact information and talking points are below:
Office of Governor Corzine: 609.292.6000
As someone who is directly impacted by Type 1 diabetes, it’s important for me that Governor Corzine sign Assembly Bill 267 into law.
This legislation permits students to manage their diabetes in the classroom and allows for trained volunteers to administer emergency medication when necessary.
Until there is a cure for this disease, it’s critical that students be able to manage their diabetes the best they can, in a manner that is not disruptive to their educational instruction.
Please sign Assembly Bill 267 into law and ensure the health and safety of all New Jersey students who deal with type 1 diabetes on a daily basis.
Five Months Later - A1 Cya later
Just a quick update to let you all know that Arden’s A1c level has fallen from 8.5 to 8 since see started using an insulin pump! An 8 indicates that Arden’s average BG is about 205 which is a bit high but still in range for her age group. Hopefully as we begin to understand some of the pump’s more intricate functions we can bring her number down even more. The OmniPod should definitely be credited with this successes.
More info about A1c - Hemoglobin A, a protein found inside red blood cells, carries oxygen throughout the body. When there is glucose in the bloodstream, it can actually stick (glycate) to the hemoglobin A protein. More glucose in the blood means that more glucose sticks to hemoglobin, and a higher percent of hemoglobin proteins become glycated.
Once glucose sticks to a hemoglobin protein, it typically remains for the lifespan of the hemoglobin A protein — as long as 120 days. Therefore, at any moment, the glucose attached to the hemoglobin A protein reflects the level of the blood sugar over the last two to three months.
The A1c test measures how much glucose is actually stuck to hemoglobin A, or more specifically, what percent of hemoglobin proteins are glycated. Thus, having a 7% A1c means that 7% of the hemoglobin proteins are glycated.
Walk registration is now open
The JDRF has announced the date for Arden’s 2009 Walk to Cure Diabetes and registration is open.
The details...
the walk
where: Bucks County Community College - Google Map Link
when: October 25, 2009 at 9 AM
become a walker
signing up to walk only takes a moment, all you have to do is click on this link, provide a few details about yourself paying extra attention to the Participation Information section filling it out exactly like in the example below.
If you are walking as a family please sign up each member individually so that we can keep track of how many people are on Arden’s team (it makes getting the walk shirts together much easier).
why walk?
Last year the JDRF walk raised 1.8 million dollars nation wide. Arden’s team collected over $12,000 making us one of the top ten fundraisers in the Philadelphia area. The money raised funds that support countless research initiatives with the goal of curing type I diabetes in our lifetime.
Please consider joining us this October, last year our team was 50 strong and we all had a wonderful morning strolling through the park. Please take a moment to watch our 2008walk video and then sign up to join us in 2009. Ask a friend or ten to join you, many of our walkers have their own mini-team within our team.
how do you raise funds?
After you sign up you’ll get a link to your personal walk page, from there all you have to do is send the link to your friends and family, post it on your FaceBook page and so on. Most walkers are able to raise $100 with very little effort, in fact one of our supports raised nearly $3,000 almost exclusively through FaceBook in 2008. If fundraising makes you uncomfortable we completely understand but please don’t let that stop you from joining us on walk day.
Please contact me with any questions, I’d be happy to help in any way that I can. As always we are humbled by your support.
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OmniPod Disposal Program
The makers of the OmniPod just removed one of my only complaints about their product by announcing a pod recycling program. I am a proud recycler, the guy that reaches into the trash to pull out a improperly discarded soda can...
One of the great aspects of using the OmniPod is that it’s disposable, every three days the pod comes off of Arden and a new one goes on. The problem that creates is that the pod has a needle, insulin, circuit boards, plastic and batteries in it when you drop it in the trash. There is no correct place to dispose of something with all of those various components (trust me that there isn’t because I spent a day on the phone calling every municipal entity I could think of and they all agreed that it had to be dropped into the garbage because it didn’t fit into any recycling category). Until now...
From OmniPod
You take care of your health with OmniPod. Take care of the planet with OmniPod’s Eco-Pod Program. The first industry program for the environmentally safe disposal of insulin pump components, it is a natural extension of OmniPod’s mission: to make diabetes a smaller part of life. Our goal is to enable our customers to dispose of those Pods in an environmentally sound way, reducing landfill and taking hazardous waste right out of the waste stream. Working together we can succeed.
OmniPod’s Eco-Pod Program is quick, easy and effective. Just return your used Pods (we supply the shipping materials, you supply the postage) and we take care of processing.
Find out about the program - It's NOW FREE! (2015)
I’d like to thank the people at OmniPod for putting this program in place as I imagine that it is at some expense to them... But I also want to thank anyone who participates in the program because I know that while Omni is running the program at no cost to the user there is still a $8 shipping charge that the user will have to absorb quarterly. Additionally, the program will require you to store the discarded pods for three months, make a trip to the post office and of course pay the freight. The last thing anyone dealing with type I needs is another thing to be responsible for but this thing seems to be worth the effort IMO. Arden just signed up and we hope you will too!
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The following are archived comments from this post. You can post new comments below.
pumper
I'm impressed! I already liked OmniPod, but am using a Medtronic pump. Great addition - thanks for shaing.
Friday, October 2, 2009 - 12:16 PM
Scott
I wanted to update this post: Insulet is covering the shipping cost 100%! They are a fantastic company!
Monday, February 15, 2010 - 10:07 AM
Bring a friend to the walk in 2009
These fifty people raised over $12,000 last year when they walked with Arden to raise funds and awareness for type I diabetes research. If fifty of us raised twelve thousand dollars I’m betting that one hundred of us could raise twenty-four thousand this October when we get together and walk again.
We are always looking for new faces on our team and we are hoping that some old faces will bring a friend this year. We will begin to reach out to all of you in the fall. Enjoy your summer!