The Sleepover...
When the mother of Arden's friend recently inquired about having Arden spend the night at their house, I responded...
"That would be great, but we'll need to talk first..."
I did my very best to convey that the overnight hours would be unpredictable. I couldn't be certain if this random night would be stable and easy or random and exhausting... The family was up for the challenge. When I dropped Arden off at their home, I went inside to go over a few things. Honestly, with the advent of Dexcom's cloud service there isn't much for the host family to do besides understand insulin, bolusing, high BGs, low BGs, what those CGM arrows mean, the importance of a juicebox and of course... a real-world understanding of what could happen in a low BG situation and how to handle it.
In other words we just had a horrible frightening conversation that I tried to make sound very matter-of-fact, because mostly it is. The parents were, to their great credit, still on board and so I left with the understanding that I would help Arden via text during the evening and they would need to be reachable over night if Arden needed insulin or carbs.
What followed can only be described as "not optimal"...
After riding an unwavering BG during the late evening I had Arden take in a small snack to be on the safe side, her BG was in the 105 range prior to the snack. Small snack, no insulin - I was hedging my bets.Everything was going great until about 1:30 in the morning when her BG began to slowly descend. So I texted Arden to see if she would respond and she did, "Temp basal, off for 30 minutes should stop the drop" I told her. Not long after a text arrived from the host mom who could see Arden's BG on her phone thanks to the Dexcom Share, "Arden's BG is falling" - I told her that we handled it and that I would let her know later if there was more to do.
What followed was one of those low BGs that wouldn't respond to carbs, you know, the ones that even I am a bit unnerved by because they are unpredictable, require way too much in the way of carbs and nine times out of ten incur a huge rebound high - and well, all of that happened over the next 3 hours. The host mom and I said goodnight around 4:30 am.
The next day was mercifully a Saturday and Kelly stayed with the kids as I face planted on the first piece of soft furniture that I could find.
A few days later I called the mom to thank her for all that she did to facilitate the sleep over. When I tried to say thank you she stopped me to say that it was her pleasure. She spoke about wanting Arden to feel welcomed and for her not to equate her type 1 diabetes with the sleep over. It was a lovely call. She went on to say that she didn't understand how intricate diabetes management was prior to that night and how she gained a huge appreciation for the disease. Then she offered to have Arden spend the night again "any time".
It was a lovely call... and as it turned out, a great experience. I guess unpredictable isn't always a bad thing...U
Dexcom Follow app available for Android
The Dexcom Follow app is now available to download from the Google Play Store...
Looks like this is a partial rollout... Dexcom's compatibility chart (below) indicates that the Dexcom Share app is still iOS only. I like Dexcom making the Follow app available before the entire suite of apps is ready, makes sense to get what they have into the world asap.
Android users: please let me know how the app is working for you...
From Dexcom.com
Dexcom Share Service Interruption May 21
Dexcom has announced a planned service interruption for their Share system - May 21, 2015.
Share users take note...
Dexcom and Apple Watch are here and they bring iPad support
The Apple Watch arrives today and Dexcom has updated their apps to do more than just work on the watch...
This blog post is rather preliminary but important never-the-less because in addition to updating the Dexcom Share and Dexcom Follow apps to work with the new Apple Watch... Dexcom has also added iPad support - however you may not be able to find the apps on the app store without knowing this simple trick.
When you navigate, on your iPad, to the app store and search for Dexcom you won't receive any results - see below.
But if you change the drop down menu on the top left from iPad Only to iPhone Only you will - see below. This is because while the Dexcom Share2 and Follow apps do now work on iPad, they aren't designed (I hope Dexcom does eventually) for iPad. Meaning you will have to use the X2 button on the lower left of your iPad to upscale/enlarge the app to fit your iPad screen. Not the biggest problem, Instagram and many other apps are the same. Basically you are installing the iPhone app onto your iPad, a possibility that was blocked until the update happened.
So even if you aren't one of the people who are sitting by the front door waiting for their shiny new Apple Watch (Mine arrives in a few weeks and I will do a full review of the Dexcom app) this app update still brings some much needed iPad usability joy to your diabetes day.
Inspired by Conversation
I enjoyed having Kristina and Greg on my podcast so much that I asked them if they'd be interested in contributing a blog post to Arden's Day. It suffices to say that the topic Greg chose to write about warmed my heart! After you read his piece you can listen to their episode with the link below on iTunes, Stitcher or via the player that I've placed at the end of the blog post. Enjoy! - Scott
Time to Get More Aggressive!
Last week, my wife, Kristina, and I had the great pleasure of being featured on the 9th episode of the Juicebox podcast. It was a lot of fun and we both loved listening to it!
For parents of a child with type one diabetes, it’s fairly common for one parent to assume the majority of the diabetes management responsibilities. In our case, we pretty much split the duties (although, in full transparency, my wife does way more than I do!). We thought this would make for an interesting and entertaining discussion. When Kristina pitched the idea of an interview to Scott Benner at the Juicebox Podcast, it went like this….
“We'd love to be a part of one of your upcoming podcasts! Not sure if you've had any D-mom/D-dads reach out as a team to chat with you but we thought it might be fun. We have VERY different styles of managing Isabella's diabetes but it works.”
But, I’ll be honest; the podcast was completely Kristina’s idea and I really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. My wife is extremely outgoing (understatement?) and jumps at the chance to speak in public forums. I, on the other hand, have always been a bit more reserved and would prefer to avoid being the center of attention, if possible.
So, for me, the thought of being interviewed is somewhat anxiety-inducing from the start and more so when my wife informs me that the interview very well may include some “newlywed style” questions to see how well we know each other. While I think know my wife very well (for years she has been preparing me for the off chance that we might someday appear on a famous live TV game show….I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard ”honey, remember this for when we’re on the game show!”), needless to say I started to get slightly nervous.
Kristina went first while I sat in the other room pretending as if I was completely calm, cool and collected and not at all anxious about the interview. All I could hear was Kristina’s muffled voice followed by her seemingly uncontrollable laughter, most likely telling one of her favorite “Greg stories.” Oh boy. Here we go…
It was finally my turn to join in on the fun. Scott immediately made me feel at ease; my nerves started to melt away and I actually started to enjoy myself. We spent quite a bit of time talking about the team-based approach that Kristina and I use for managing diabetes, which works very well for us.
While Kristina and I do act as a team, we have quite different approaches in the way we prefer to manage Isabella’s diabetes. Kristina tends to have a heavier hand with insulin (often generously “rounding up” carb counts), which helps to avoid highs. I, however, prefer to take a more conservative approach with insulin to avoid very low lows, especially overnight. The thought of what could happen to Isabella as a result of too much insulin absolutely terrifies me.
Scott seemed to be intrigued by the fact that we work as a team but with very different approaches. As a veteran type one diabetes parent, Scott shared some stories about his approach to managing diabetes. He talked about how technology, especially Arden’s Dexcom CGM, has enabled him to get comfortable with taking a very aggressive approach to insulin. This approach has led to very tight control (I still can’t believe Arden’s last A1C!).
This part of our talk really hit home.
While I’ve known that getting a bit more aggressive with insulin is likely to lead to better outcomes, I am completely terrified that I might kill my daughter with too much insulin. Our conversation helped me realize that I need to get over this fear. We have amazing technology at our disposal (including Isabella’s brand new Dexcom Share2, which is an amazing game-changer in my book!) that I can more fully leverage to help me get comfortable with becoming more aggressive with insulin, which will ultimately result in lower A1Cs, better overall control and a healthier little girl.
After finishing the interview, I believe one of the first things I said to Kristina was, “I’m gonna get more aggressive!”
It’s time to get over my fear. Thanks, Scott, for pushing me over the edge.
Greg Dooley
InspiredByIsabella.com