Time for a new picture of Arden?
I took this photo with the intention of posting it on twitter but it's making me wonder if I should change the Arden's Day masthead image to more accurately reflect how Arden looks today. The image I use on the site is only about two years old but I guess she has really grown since then.
What do you think? Do you like the one we have now or is it time to change?
Free books from Lilly Diabetes
In the summer of 2011 Lilly Diabetes and Disney partnered up to introduced a new character named Coco. Coco is a monkey (see below) and she has type I diabetes. Coco's backpack holds her D-Supplies, she wears an ID bracelet, hangs out, plays and checks her blood glucose while attending Goofy's birthday party. Arden really enjoyed seeing a character in a book that was so closely modelled after herself, sans the monkey thing of course.
Coco
This year Lilly introduced four new books that are written for the tween in your life. Allie is a soccer player, Justin the captain of his basketball team, Tim plays corner for his high school football team and Oliver is a friend of Hannah Montana. Each book is centered on a person with diabetes and the situations that type I brings to their lives.
They also introduced a cookbook called 'Dishing It Up Disney Style'. The book calls itself a "cookbook for families with type I diabetes". The recipes are not ultra low carb and the ones that we've made so far have been very flavorful. The book considers itself diabetes friendly because each recipe comes complete with an accurate carb count to help make insulin calculations easier. The goal of the cookbook is to offer meals that your kids will actually like while keeping the carbs per serving at a manageable level. I find this idea attractive as many 'diabetes friendly' recipes can often taste like wet cardboard.
I was given each of these books at the recent Lilly Blogger Summit. The books are sadly not available online or even in bookstores. The only way to currently get them is by asking your endocrinologist. Your doc has access to these books through their Lilly rep, they are free to the doctor and free to you. I know this isn't the greatest delivery system, time will tell if they are able to find other avenues to get these books into your hands. For now you'll have to ask your doc if you're interested.
Titles:
Up for the Challenge
Power Forward
Running Interference
Uptight (Oliver's All Right)
Coco and Goofy's Goofy Day
Dishing it up Disney Style
Disclosure: I attended an event hosted by Lilly Diabetes, who paid for my airfare, travel, hotel and meals while I was in Indianapolis.
"Diabetes", a poem by Arden
Arden's Poem, "Diabetes" I found this poem in Arden's writer's notebook at the end of the school year and I wanted to share it with all of you. I asked Arden and she gave me permission to post it. I believe that these are the first words on Arden's Day to come directly from Arden.
So without further ado and transcribed exactly as she wrote it... I present, "Diabetes" a poem by Arden, age seven.
Diabetes
Why did you pick me?
Why's diabetes diabetes?
How did diabetes get here?
Why is diabetes called diabetes?
Why is there type one diabetes
and type 2 diabetes.
How did diabetes get in life?
Why are you here?
I'm not scared of you evean
that something could
haping!
Arden's poem was choosen by @BestBetesBlogs as 'Best Diabetes Art' for June 2012. Thank you to the person or people that nominated Arden's poem. You guys rock!!!
Father's Day 2012 brings great news!
I have some great news and I couldn't think of a better day then Father's Day to share it.
A lot of wonderful things have happened in my life and I have my family to thank for most of them. I think of myself as having two families actually... the first is made up of my wife Kelly and our two children, the second is much larger and it includes all of you in the diabetes online community.
Kelly, Cole and Arden have brought countless joys into my life and the time that I've spent with my children over the last twelve years as a stay-at-home dad has been, and continues to be, an irreplaceable gift. My family has taught me lessons that I never imagined existed. Our experiences, struggles and victories have left me with a million great stories and a unique perspective. What is traditionally considered to be a mother's role in our families is so much more then I expected when I quit my job in the spring of 2000 to stay at home with Cole. The immense effort, endless worry and constant feeling that I'm not doing my best is but a fraction of what it means to be the parent whose responsibilities range from grocery shopping to amateur child psychologist and everything in between.
As if from a dream the two things in my life that I feel most passionate about have converged and their combination has brought me a wonderful gift. Being a stay-at-home dad has lent me a sincere appreciation for a traditional mother's life while my five years as a diabetes blogger have taught me how to tell my story without (hopefully) boring the pants off of my readers. Writing for all of you is not unlike being a stay-at-home dad as I find both to not only be a privilege, but an honor that my life is greater for. When I started this blog I considered myself a storyteller that had a young child with diabetes and my only hope was that sharing my experiences might make yours just a little easier. The blog grew, my writing along with it and today Arden's Day is one of my greatest sources of pride.
It is with that pride held very close to my heart that I type these next words... My first book from Spry Publishing will be on shelves in June of 2013. The yet to be titled book about my life as a stay-at-home dad and a diabetes caregiver to my daughter Arden is my first written offering outside of the blogging world (unless you count 'Star Wanted to be a Star' and 'Grammy and the Green Ford', my two 'Young Author Award' winning efforts from grammar school).
A brief announcement about my book as well as a number of others from some prominent DOC members can be found on Spry's website. I'd love to tell you what they said about my writing here but I'm actually a little embarrassed. I can share this however... I am working very hard to give you all a book that lives up to the high praise that you'll read if you follow that link.
Wishing you a very Happy Father's Day!
Best,
Scott
Exercise and type I diabetes blood glucose control
Arden followed in her brother's footsteps last week when she tried out and was selected to play on our town's all star softball team. Yea Arden! The girls have been practicing each night since and I am learning more about blood glucose control before, after and during exercise then could have imagined.
Her second at bat.
First thing I learned is that all of Arden's activities from the past don't put nearly the strain on her system that an intensive two hour practice/game brings to her. Arden experienced a latent low in the early hours of the morning that followed her first practice. It was nearly eight hours since that practice began when her BG suddenly dropped. I couldn't cut off the fall by suspending her basal so I woke her up to drink a juice box. Normally I can fend off lows at night with a temp basal, this was different, a more powerful drop. I was awake and ready for it because I expected it but if I hadn't been, there is no telling how low she may have gotten.
So the next night I was ready! I kept her BG a little high before bed and didn't cover a small snack after practice. This turned out to be a winning combination. Night two went well.
On the third night I tried to mimic the success from the evening before but it turned out that a new site on her leg wasn't working the way I expected. When I combined keeping her BG a little high with a small snack and a site that wasn't up to snuff, I got a high BG that wouldn't come down easily. Hindsight has me wondering if the leg site was perhaps less effective because of the large amounts of running that she has been doing, as they normally work very well.
After I moved the OmniPod to her abdomen the next few nights went as planned, however I had to put quite a lot of effort into keeping things balanced. These last few weeks haven't just proved to me that strenuous activity can cause a low but that high BGs effect athletic performance. I noticed that if Arden's BG gets too high that her speed seems to diminish (I hope that you can share your experiences with me in the comments about this). Normally a very fast runner, Arden couldn't perform as she usually does if her BG began to rise above 220. I think that I also saw a decrease in her hand-eye coordination during this elevated period.
Last night before her first game I tried very hard to keep her BG around 100 before game time. I added carbs as the game was about to begin, a few slow acting and about 15 grams of juice. I was hoping to keep her steady without going too high during the game. I was able to do this with a lot of help from her DexCom CGM and she never went above 190 but wow was it a lot of work... though totally worth it to see her have such a good time.
This first game didn't just teach us more about type I diabetes, it also gave us our first look at Arden's competitive nature in a sporting moment that she regards as very important. Arden took this game seriously, she had fun but playing well was definitely high on her list of priorities. It goes without saying but we are very proud of Arden and the extra effort that is required for her to participate makes that pride shine just a little brighter.
Your child can definitely play sports at a competitive level with type I diabetes, that fact was never in question. All you have to do is give the moment the forethought and preparation that it requires, it'll be tough at first and you may spend a night or two battling lows but once you have a system in place it's not unlike the rest of your days with diabetes. You can do this.
Have fun out there!
One of the two outs Arden recorded in her first game.