OmniPod Rash?

If you've ever experienced a rash under your OmniPod, CGM or infusion set adhesive, read on.

Before I begin I need to say that I'm not a doctor and you should never confuse me sharing my experiences with health care advice. Never make adjustments to a care plan without first checking with your physician.

In the summer of 2010 Arden began to develop a rather severe rash under her OmniPod. I was confused because she had been wearing her OmniPod for a rather long time with no issues and it seemed random that she would suddenly have such a reaction. I turned to the internet, called Insulet and was presented with a number of "solutions". My problem with the answer that I was given was that it included buying more stuff and it complicated the pod application process. I really believe that the simple answer is often the best, so I held off on putting the conventional fix into practice and took another shot at diagnosing the issue myself.

Before I could put my thinking cap on I noticed that I was rubbing my finger tips against my thumb and that my finger tips were sore. I looked at them and saw that they were dry and begining to crack. I drifted away from Arden's issue momentarily to wonder about my own and then it hit me - I'm always touching alcohol swabs, that's probably why my fingers are so dry.

That realization led to an epiphany and suddenly I (thought) knew why Arden was developing rashes. At Arden's next pod change and every DexCom and OmniPod application since, I have cleaned Arden's sites with warm water and a clean towel - nothing else. Not only has she never had another rash but her pods don't stick to her like they've been cemented on when it's time for them to be changed (don't worry, they don't come off prematurely).

Turns out for Arden, chemically wiping away the oil that her skin makes naturally and then covering the area with an adhesive strip, wasn't a good idea.

I've shared our process with Arden's endo NP. She wasn't thrilled that I stopped disinfecting Arden's sites before poking a hole into her but she does acknowledge that we may have had to discontinue using Arden's pump without this adjustment. For us it's a calculated risk, you and your doctor can decide if it's the right thing for you to do. I wish you much luck!

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Bionic contact lenses?

Here's an interesting article about emerging technology. It mentions how the tech could be used to monitor glucose levels. So much fun to wonder what tomorrow will bring... check it out.

A link to the source article is just below... Click 'References' for more.

Thanks to Arden's Day reader (and Arden's mom) Kelly for the article!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From my family to yours...

Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving!

Bird turned out pretty good this year...

We have a winner! Amazon Gift Card giveaway.

Many entered (some unknowingly) but only one could win...

I am please to announce the winner of our first giveaway. The results were tallied (pulled from a hat) by the accounting firm of Arden, Hat & Arden. The results have been confirmed (I looked at the slip of paper) and now it is time to reveal the lucky winner!

Please imagine a BIG drumroll before you keep reading

Our winner is Cherise Shockley! Cherise is a diabetes advocate extraordinare! She has a wonderful blog about her experiances as a type 1.5 diabetic and is also the founder of the DSMA. As a matter of fact, if you don't know her name or something that she is involved in... well, I'd be surprised. Check her out on Twitter @Diabetic_Iz_Me or learn more about her Blue Friday's innitiative. She is a lot of wonderful things but at this moment, what she is more then anything else, is $50 richer!

Thanks to everyone that participated! If you'd like to keep up with other Arden's Day giveaways, consider taking a moment to become a site member. There is one other giveaway going on right now, surf over and take a look.

Guest Post: Mila Ferrer of Jaime-dulceguerrero.com

I first met Mila Ferrer early last summer while she was investigating different platform options to launch her type I diabetes blog. In only a few months she has proven to be a strong voice in the diabetes blogging community and I am proud to feature her today as my first guest writer. Take it away Mila...

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Hi, I'm Mila Ferrer, I write a blog in spanish about Type 1 diabetes. Why? My younger son Jaime was diagnosed at the age of three. Since then, our family has been learning and educating ourselves about this condition, to be able to provide Jaime the best care. My blog Jaime-dulceguerrero.com is filled with experiences, education and mostly support to other families. During this learning process we've met the most amazing group of parents and patients, people that are as committed to educate and support as we are. This wonderful community or DOC (Diabetes Online Community) is eager to help, promote education and inform about anything that might be useful to us parents and patients. 

As a parent my first search was to meet other families, having a young kid diagnosed with T1 Diabetes can sometimes be overwhelming, and it's nice to know that we are not alone. Thats how I met Scott and Arden, I started reading his blogs and really connecting with his feelings. My family wasn't alone. Scott and I have decided to share some of our posts, that way we'll keep sharing our thoughts and experiences through this journey.

I want to share with you my thoughts and feelings about the DOC. That group of people who are always there to answer questions and lift your spirit when your feeling blue. This link will take you to the spanish version. I also created a tab on the page that is named Mila's Blog, there you'll find some of my posts translated. Hopefully you'll enjoy my posts and find them helpful to you and your family, feel free to ask me anything in english, I'm fully bilingual (sometimes I like writing better in english than spanish). 

You can find me on Twitter @dulce_guerrero (english and spanish information)

or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Jaimemidulceguerrero

Mila

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Please take a moment to check out Jaime-dulceguerrero.com but before you do... dust off your high school spanish and give Mila's DOC post a read... It is linked above but I'm including it in it's entirty right here.

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¿Qué es una comunidad? Para mí, una comunidad es un grupo de personas que trabajan o buscan un fin común. Ese grupo de personas que hablan el mismo idioma, viven experiencias similares y se ven reflejados en otras historias. La comunidad se apoya, busca el bienestar de todos y comparte ideas e inquietudes.

Algunos de mis compañeros de viaje en esta travesía llamada Diabetes.

Afortunadamente cuento con una gran comunidad que apoya a mi familia y me ha servido de ejemplo en este gran proyecto de educación.  Me refiero a el DOC (Diabetes Online Community) o la Comunidad de Diabetes en Línea. Esta comunidad cuenta con tanta gente maravillosa, talentosa, inteligente, pero sobretodo comprometidos con la diabetes. Lo más curioso es que no he conocido personalmente a ninguno de ellos, sin embargo en nuestras conversaciones en Twitter o Facebook es como si nos conociéramos de toda la vida. Siempre dispuestos a ayudar, a contestar preguntas y apoyarte cuando te sientes frustrado.

En muchas ocasiones cuando tengo alguna duda o me ha pasado algo fuera de lo común relacionado a la condición de Jaime, recurro a mis colegas blogueros de diabetes. Através del DOC he conocido padres y madres de otros niños igual que Jaime y pacientes adultos que llevan años manejando la condición. Quién mejor que ellos para contestar preguntas, aconsejar y dejarnos saber que no estamos solos. Ellos viven lo que yo vivo, tenemos las mismas preocupaciones y queremos lo mismo; el bienestar de los pacientes de diabetes.

Durante este mes de noviembre el DOC ha trabajado mano a mano creando conciencia y apoyando las actividades benéficas que provean un mejor tratamiento a los menos afortunados, la Gran Prueba Azul fue un éxito. Otra actividad que hizo el DOC fue crear un intercambio de tarjetas postales entre familias y pacientes diabéticos. Alrededor de 530 personas participaron de este intercambio, Jaime envió postales a Canadá, Australia, Reino Unido y varios estados de los Estados Unidos. De igual manera él recibió tarjetas de estos niños, la carita de emoción de Jaime al leer cada postal fue de gran valor. Inclusive hasta una nueva amiguita por correspondencia hizo. Esta actividad nos relaciona con otras personas y crea un lazo muy fuerte entre los pacientes.

Me siento muy orgullosa de pertenecer a una comunidad tan activa y deseosa de trabajar. Una comunidad abierta a recibirte, dispuesta a ayudarte y compartir entre si educación, información y sobretodo apoyo. No estamos solos, hay toda una comunidad que con mucho gusto y placer te darán la mano cuando lo necesites.

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Mila, gracias por compartir tu blog con mis lectores y por su amistad en elDOC. Mejor de mí, Scott (lo siento, pero tuve que usar Google Translate,espero que funcionó!)