Your Favorites: March 2013
The most popular blog posts from March 2013 are:
Pooh. Gilly. Bear. - (Originally posted 12/12)
The Not So Great but VERY Powerful Bolus
Meanwhile over on FaceBook
This image received the most 'Likes'
I'm posting the March 'Your Favorites' just a bit before the end of the month because next week is going to be overrun with book talk and I don't want this post to get lost in the confusion.
My first book, 'Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal: Confessions of the Stay-At-Home Dad' will be officially released next week on April 2nd. You can get it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kindle and NOOK today, but iBooks and in-store purchases won't go live until this Tuesday (April 2nd).
I hope you understand that my level of excitement about the release will likely border on childishly high. I promise that excitement will only overtake Arden's Day next week. Then it's back to it.
After the smoke clears... I'm working up the nerve to write in detail about Arden's first seizure, we'll be talking about the new OmniPod and much more. Until then, I hope you can give me a pass - because I am going to be out of my mind excited next week... I'll be posting reviews, links, reader pictures, personal thoughts on seeing my first book published and lots of other book centric blogs. I hope that you enjoy the ride because without you... I'm not taking it.
My heartfelt best,
Scott
The Not So Great but VERY Powerful Bolus
Arden's CGM vibrated on my leg. Earlier during the previews I asked Arden to give me her G4 so that I could monitor her BGs while we watched 'Oz The Great and Powerful'. The vibrations that her CGM sent through me were too intense to ignore and moments later I was greeted rudely by the message on it's small glowing screen.
Arden's CGM indicated that her BG was 94 and the number's accompanying arrow was pointing straight down. You can see on the chart below that's not good news.
Prior to the movie we stopped for a light meal, Arden had a salad and one baked potato skin. I pre-bolsed for twenty carbs, ten minutes prior to the waiter arriving with our food, she ate as I expected. A little over an hour later we settled into our theater seats (about thirty minutes before the movie was scheduled to begin). Arden was holding a box of Bunch-a-Crunch, a small popcorn and she was talking about sharing a few gummy candies with her friend who was joining us. I pre-bolused for forty carbs at this time. We donned our 3-D glassed and the movie began.
95, one arrow straight down
A CGM reading of 95 doesn't phase me, and one arrow down doesn't really cause me to become alarmed anymore, "Just missed with the bolus", I thought. Then I looked at the time on the OmniPod PDM and became a bit more concerned. This was all happening only one hour into the movie, I had more than "just missed" - I significantly over estimated how much Arden was going to eat. I shook the candy box, reached into the popcorn bag and discovered that she really hadn't eaten any of the treats that we initially believed she would. I reached into the gummy candies, put five in her hand and whispered, "Eat these please, your CGM says 95, one arrow down - I think I gave you too much insulin".
Arden ate the candy quickly but three more alarms were already shaking my leg
Now her CGM was reporting a BG of 84 with one arrow down, seconds later it was 76 and then the arrows doubled. 76, two arrows down. Arden's BG was running away from me. I had already opened the juice box by the time the double arrows hit, Arden knocked it back like a shot as I tested to autenticate the numbers on her CGM. Her BG was 56 on the meter and the arrows were staring back at me as if they were awaiting an answer to the question, "What are you going to do Scott?".
I recounted the carbs in my head based on what I now knew she had eaten and then added the new carbs that she just wolfed down to that total. I was okay, I knew that the numbers matched. I told myself, "Just wait, don't over treat" but no sooner than I was able to talk myself into that response...
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP - "LOW, two arrows down"
I could feel my adrenaline surge when the beeps angrily blared out. I started looking around to see which way out of the aisle was less blocked, thought about where the snack stands were located and considered sending our son Cole for a cup of regular Coke. Then I looked at Arden, she was sitting next to her friend who came along with us for the movie and I just didn't want her to have to rush around like the world was coming to an end in front of her pal. So I quietly slipped Arden a glucose tab (We never use glucose tabs), I asked her to chew it up quickly and swish the powder around in her mouth.
She did so dutifully, then leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "am I going to be okay?"
Those words broke my heart and brought a tear to my eye but I answered without hesitation, "absolutely, Daddy has it all under control, go back to watching the movie", but I wasn't sure. The CGM still said "Low", though now it was reporting only one arrow down - so I tested again and this time Arden was 68. I could breath again, she was going to be fine.
I asked Arden how she felt and she responded, "A little dizzy but I'm okay". I told her that we caught the fall and that she should go back to watching the movie. Her friend never saw a thing, I did however miss the flying baboons... I heard they were fierce though, Arden told me later in the car. She knew because she never had to take her eyes off of the screen, mission accomplished.
The DexCom CGM is an indispensable tool in our day with type I diabetes. I genuinely never imagined that Arden wouldn't eat the amount of food that we bolused for. This was a complete anomaly, movie theater food always needs a strong bolus, this never happens - until it did. CGM technology is the best. Who knows how this all goes with out the Dex, maybe Arden would have gotten dizzy and told me that she didn't feel well, maybe the movie would have held her attention to the point that she didn't notice. I'm thankful that we didn't have to find out.
I gave her way too much insulin, that happens. The DexCom CGM makes that eventuality feel less scary.
My new book, "Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' is available now - Amazon/Kindle - Barnes&Noble/Nook
New OmniPod Wherefore Art Thou?
I can remember bugging my parents unmercifully one Christmas for the Omnibot robot from Tomy. I couldn't think of anything else in the months leading up to December 25th. I was hooked the very first time that I saw the Omnibot commercial on television... my wildest dreams were about to come true!
I feel like that little kid again today as I patiently wait for the new OmniPod to arrive at our front door.
Insulet's phone message: It's not super cool like the commercial you just watched but Insulet has recorded an audio message for their customers. You can hear the message at my link or by dialing (888)-7-GET-POD.
Questions about the new OmniPod
I'm sure you've noticed that some people are beginning to receive the new OmniPod. Arden hasn't received hers yet, but as soon as she does I'll begin to make notes about our experience so that I can pass my thoughts on to you.
Until that time, and let's hope it's soon... if you have any questions about the new OmniPod that you would like me to address please leave them in this discussion thread. Hopefully, I'll be answering them before Christmas.
Wierd side note: I knew that I wanted to write about my desire to own the Omnibot robot as a child. When I began to consider this post I, no lie, I couldn't remember the name of the robot - only what it looked like. After some Googling I found an image and couldn't believe that my robot, from all of those years ago, was called the Omnibot. That's the kind of stuff Alanis Morissette writes songs about, don't cha think?
My new book, "Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' is available now - Amazon/Kindle - Barnes&Noble/Nook
Wrong Button
I learned a valuable lesson about diabetes blogging a few years ago. One of my readers told me that there are times when reading caregiver blogs can make her feel like a failure because so many of them only talk about what goes right... I try not to do that anymore.
The other night, for the first time in over six years, I pushed the wrong button. As you can see on the DexCom graph above, Arden was having a bit of trouble with lows after she went to bed. I was able to avoid waking her prior to midnight by shutting off her basal insulin for 30 minutes. When her BG began to fall again sometime around one in the morning, I decided to restrict her basal once more, this time for one hour.
I've looked at the menus a bunch since this happened but I still can't figure out how I made this mistake, but I certainly did. To make matters worse I didn't hear the DexCom alarm until around five in the morning. When I walked into her room and picked up the Dex, I couldn't believe what I saw, "INSULIN DELIVERY SUSPENDED". I somehow shut off Arden's insulin delivery instead of setting a temp basal. I don't know how. I felt sick when I learned what I had done.
I immediately turned her insulin back on, tested and delivered a bolus. Then set a positive temp basal to aide the situation. It took almost four hours for me to get her BG back to where we want it and Arden was two and a half hours late for school.
I think that it's very important that we all recognize and accept that we can't be perfect all of the time and that we are going to make mistakes. This one was just my most recent. Please try not to beat yourself up too much when something like this happens (I know you will), you're doing a great job and you're doing so under difficult circumstances. I'm very proud of you, be proud of yourself.
I pushed the wrong button.
Update
on 2013-03-19 01:43 by Scott Benner
My new book, "Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal' is available now - Amazon/Kindle - Barnes&Noble/Nook
Life Is Short: Kindle
Life Is Short for Kindle
Today, my first book became available on Kindle. It will arrive in paperback and on the rest of the eReader formats soon, but today was the first time that someone could actually buy the book and take it with them.
I haven't been able to get up from my desk today because of all of the well wishes, FaceBook posts, tweets and the rest of your outpouring of love and support. I keep saying, "thank you" but those words don't feel like they are enough. This is one of the most wonderful days of my life and it's completely due to all of you. I'm beyond touched.
One of you sat in your car this morning and began to read on your phone, a book on a phone - in a car. So excited to begin reading my book that you sat in a cold car and read on a tiny screen. There are no words to express how that made me feel. No words.
It's a funny line to walk when you write a book. I want you all to like it, but more importantly I want you to feel well served by it. I hope that after you finish reading that the experience feels worth your personal investment and kind support. The words in that book are my only chance to properly say thank you for the time you spend on this blog.
My Best,
Scott