kids like me

The White House is sponsoring a campaign called, The Final March for Reform.  The campaign is highlighted by people printing out a sign the reads, “I’m here for” and then they fill in the rest...  Arden submitted two photos with Cole, the one that you see here and the other is on our OmniPod blog. {link}

Arden’s Day steers clear of most everything political.  However, on the issue of health reform we are vocal.  If reform is passed, Arden and every child like her will never again be at risk to lose their healthcare because of a preexisting condition.  No longer will we be scared to switch jobs or fear the day that she is too old to be on our insurance.  Health reform won’t just secure Arden’s ability to stay healthy, it also will relieve a major source of our stress and worry.  Add your voice...

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/finalmarch-visualization

The White House is sponsoring a campaign called, The Final March for Reform.  The campaign is highlighted by people printing out a sign the reads, “I’m here for” and then they fill in the rest...  Arden submitted two photos with Cole, the one that you see here and the other is on our OmniPod blog. {link}

Arden’s Day steers clear of most everything political.  However, on the issue of health reform we are vocal.  If reform is passed, Arden and every child like her will never again be at risk to lose their healthcare because of a preexisting condition.  No longer will we be scared to switch jobs or fear the day that she is too old to be on our insurance.  Health reform won’t just secure Arden’s ability to stay healthy, it also will relieve a major source of our stress and worry.  Add your voice...

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/finalmarch-visualization

Well meaning but wrong

Our children interact with people while they are at school and we as parents can’t control what they hear.  Most days I think of those interactions as moments that enrich my kid’s lives.  They get to hear points of view and thoughts from other people, other cultures and those interactions help to make them into who they are and will be. 

This week however, I’m not so thrilled.

Arden had photos taken at school yesterday and someone (an adult) told her not to worry if her OmniPod was visible because, in Arden’s words, “it can be photoshopped out so the picture will be pretty.”.  We are not pleased to hear that any overtones were made that indicate that Arden’s pod is in any way, something to be ashamed of.  Whether purposeful or inadvertent comments like that can and will lead to Arden having an unhealthy view of her insulin pump and of herself.

We teach Arden that her pod is a normal part of her life, we don’t care if people see it, stare at it or ask about it.  It is what it is and we will not hide, not for our comfort or for anyone else's.  

Arden is “pretty” and would be even if that pod was sticking to her forehead.  We addressed the comment with Arden and with the appropriate folks at the school and I’m confident that my message was heard.  We hold no ill will to the adult and I personally see this incident as just another teachable moment in our life with type I.  It is also a reminder of why good and clear communication between you and your child’s school is so important, this could have been a very uncomfortable moment but it wasn’t.  

**

The following are archived comments from this post. You can post new comments below.

Scott

I just spoke with the photography company and they assured me that they won't retouch Arden's picture.

Friday, March 19, 2010 - 04:50 PM

Aunt Megs & Uncle Mike

I would like to correct your blog...Arden is not "pretty", but BEAUTIFUL in and out and we are so proud of her!

Love you Ards!

Monday, March 29, 2010 - 08:52 PM

Amy

did you ever recieve these pictures. I would like to see them.

Sunday, July 18, 2010 - 08:52 PM

Will meters get better

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators are taking a closer look at how well devices used by diabetics to monitor their blood sugars work, seeking possible changes for device makers to help make them more reliable.

At a two-day meeting to review blood glucose meters, Food and Drug Administration officials and staff pointed to a number of issues that can prevent people from getting proper treatment and sought input from medical experts and industry on ways to improve test results with the widely used devices.

The FDA gets about 12,000 reports of errors with such meters each year and is currently weighing new industry guidelines, said Jeffrey Shuren, director of the agency's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

The rest of the story is here:http://us.mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/AnyArticle/p.rdt?URL=http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62F5HV20100316

Six Thousand Hits

Today Arden's Day reached 6,000 hits on the splash page -  www.ardensday.com!  Some of you may remember that our hit counter was wiped out over a year ago by a technical glitch (re: I messed something up), the glitch zeroed out the main and splash pages of the site and we had to start over  When that happened the site had well over 5,000 hits.  

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every person on our mailing list, 120 of you receive our periodic updates.  Of the 6,000 people that have landed on our main page at ardensday.com 5,500 of them continued on into the site... I like that number a lot!  You are to be commended for your dedication and support.

In honor of our 6,000 hit I sent a milestone email to site supporters, you can read it here.  To be added to our email list just click this link.

$100k for research

Brett Michaels, 80’s glam rocker, reality show star and type I diabetic just won his challenge on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice sending $100,000 to the American Diabetes Association.  Great news, congratulations to all involved!

Twitter tags for this story:

@bretmichaels, @AmDiabetesAssn, @CelebApprentice,@ArdensDay