The Big Blue Test

Despite forgetting to send my daughter to school in her diabetes-awareness-blue yesterday, we did commemorate World Diabetes Day at home.  We participated in The Big Blue Test.  This program, sponsored by Roche, raises money for the Diabetes Hands Foundation.  It involves testing blood sugar before and after 14 minutes after exercise.

Asked her preference, my daughter wanted to dance around the living room as her form of exercise.  So we cranked up the music, and did the first blood sugar check.  It was 217, shortly after a peanut butter cracker snack.

After 14 minutes of practicing our best dance moves, she checked again.  "Well that didn't do much, mommy," she complained.  "I'm 210." 

We logged her results into the website anyway, and then watched a video about how the foundation has provided supplies and medical care in impoverished and tornado-devastated areas of Alabama.  Knowledge that we had helped in this way would have to be the reward. 

Really, that 210 was no big deal compared to what other people with diabetes live with every day. There were vials of insulin in our fridge, stacks of supplies in our closet, and an appointment with our endocrinologist on the calendar.

We ended our World Diabetes Day thankful that we had all of the basic supplies and knowledge needed to adequately care for diabetes, and motivated to help those who don't.