Bits and Pieces - Catching Up Before Looking Ahead

May is upon us, and the pace is picking up again.  In case you missed them, here are a few interesting bits and pieces of the big world of Diabetes which have crossed my computer screen in the past week or two:

This NPR podcast entitled, 'The Robot Vacuum Ate My Pancreas,' tells the story of Dana Lewis who invented her own artificial pancreas.  Not only is it fascinating to hear that (extremely intelligent, technologically trained) people are successfully doing this, but the piece does an excellent job of explaining her motivation.  A comparison of maintaining level blood sugars to trying to keep a car going exactly 70 miles an hour without cruise control was one clever example of how this piece describes the kinds of frustrations diabetes management brings.

The new Miss New Hampshire has Type 1 Diabetes and hopes use her platform to raise awareness throughout her state and during the Miss America Competition.  Awareness raising is always good in my book.

There was a huge stem cell therapy conference at the Vatican last week which received press in the mainstream media.  The attendees were addressed by both the Pope and Vice President Biden, along with many others. Diabetes and its community of advocates were well represented along with a multitude of other issues stem cell therapy may eventually provide help for.  The conference was designed to encourage collaboration between scientists using similar technology to treat different diseases.  You can sample the conference and its media coverage via the twitter feed.

Diabetes Blog Week is coming!  The week runs from May 16-20th with wildcard topics for those who want to keep going into the weekend.  I'm excited to respond to the prompts, and to read the thoughtful posts they're likely to evoke. 

National Nurse's Day is this Friday, May 6th.  Our school nurse will get a bottle of Bath and Body Works' Stress Relief Hand Sanitizer, and a card from us.  Don't forget the nurses who are important to you!

In my daughter's little world this month will bring big events like the annual standardized tests, at least 4 birthday celebrations, the 8th grade semi-formal dance and an all day music field trip which includes both performance competitions and time at an amusement park.  These should all prove to be incredibly exciting.  Will diabetes cooperate?  Stay tuned for details!

Bits and Pieces 4

It's been a busy week with a busy upcoming weekend.  My thoughts are scattered and it feels impossible to create an entire post about one topic.  So here are a few bits and pieces of what's on my mind:

 

My daughter had her standardized testing this week, which went better than it has other years, diabetes-wise.   She's tired of peanut butter whole wheat toast every morning, but there was no repeat of the infamous 3rd grade nurse's office workout.  I think we have a test-day breakfast winner.

 

A new favorite product is Gatorade's G2.  We bought it to aid in recovery from a stomach bug, but it's become a must for softball games too.  With something like seven carbs per 12 ounces, it's just the thing for both a sick, dehydrated kid and a budding athlete.

 

Check out the Diabetes Co-Stars Video from Sandofi. It provides 3 snippets of life with diabetes with a focus on who provides support.  As a bonus, after 10,000 views, Sandofi will donate $10,000 to the Diabetes Hands Foundation.

Last but certainly not least, 'who's your diabetes co-star' would be a great question for Diabetes Blog Week next year.  For now, there are great prompts for all seven days next week plus two wildcards to choose from.  I'll be participating and can't wait to read the thoughts of my fellow bloggers.  Stay tuned!





 



 



Bits and Pieces 3

 It's another in an occasional series of posts collating and commenting upon some interesting (at least to me) diabetes links:

Animas has submitted for FDA approval for their Animas Vibe for use in the U.S.   The news is summarized here on Diabetes Mine. This product sends data from the Dexcom G4 continuous glucose monitoring sensor directly to the insulin pump, eliminating the need to carry an additonal receiver.  Also notable in the article is that Dexcom has submitted for FDA approval for pediatric use of their G4 product, hopefully greatly reducing the red tape families must currently weed through in order to obtain it for their children under 18.

While our family loves to travel and see new things, the airport experience has often left much to be desired.  If you haven't done so, please take a moment to sign this petition to standardize TSA screenings for diabetic persons using wearable self-monitoring medical equipment.  A look back at a couple of our family's airport experiences can be found here.

It was fascinating to follow Anna Floreen's experiences wearing a Bionic Pancreas.  There are seven pieces up on Glu, the first of which is linked here.  I'm a realist.  I know that the research process moves slowly and that the FDA approval process for even the simplest of things is grueling. Yet reading about someone out in the world wearing equipment which eliminated her need to actively manage her diabetes gave me great hope. One of many take-aways for me was that while this technology will not constitute a cure for diabetes, it will be life changing.  Yes, there will still be physical baggage of sites and technology to carry around.  Yet the mental baggage will be so much reduced it made me wonder what fascinating things I would think about should technology take over so much of the diabetes drudgery.

Some of these developments seem, perhaps, more significant than others.  Yet the bionic pancreas won't be completely anxiety-free if we can't get it through airport security without a fight or a panic attack.

Bits and Pieces 2

A few things caught my eye this week:

Check out this video about a model explaining the Hemoglobin A1C test.  It's a 3-D educational tool which shows how glucose molecules stick to hemoglobin.  Being very much a visual learner, I'd love to see one of these on the endocrinologist's desk, so that he could use it to explain the somewhat mysterious number we discuss at each visit.  If you like it, vote and you may see it at your doctor's office soon!

It was great to see Charlie Kimball appear on the Today show talking about indy car racing but also about howType 1 Diabetes shouldn't stop anyone from pursuing their dreams. 

I have found kindred spirits in parents of children with food allergies. We've huddled together at many a birthday party or school event obsessively reading labels or unwrapping the substitute treats we've provided for the occasion. This New York Times Magazine Article describes the results of an ongoing study treating children with multiple food allergies.  One of the intriguing aspects of the article comes towards the end, and involves a ten year old girl who began the study with such severe allergies to so many familiar food items including dairy, wheat, peanuts, nuts and eggs that she had a full-time aide at school.  By the end of her time in the study she was able to eat almost everything she was once allergic to.  Yet she often chose not to.  Partly, there was still a lingering fear.  She also wonders if the people around her would think she had been dishonest about how severe her condition origionally was.  It brings up questions about how diabetes defines those who have it. How would a potential cure or less hands-on treatment affect how people with diabetes are viewed? How would it affect the way they view themselves?

It's always encouraging to be reminded there are people out there researching, advocating and serving as role models for kids (and maybe adults too) with diabetes.

Bits And Pieces

I've run across a few bits and pieces on the internet which will, perhaps, be of interest:

Lee Ann Thrill has started the VIAL Project, a website designed for people with type 1 diabetes and mild to severe food and body issues.  If disordered eating and/or body image issues are part of your or your loved one's experience with diabetes, please check this project out.

Tandem Diabetes and JDRF are working together on a new 'dual-chambered' insulin pump, explained nicely here on DiabetesMine.  As I understand it with my limited grasp of things technological, one chamber is for insulin, the other for another pancreas-related hormone such as symlin or glucagon.  I just picked up the glucagon refill and considered again how complicated the mixing of it is, and how terrifying the needle is.  Boy wouldn't a little resevoir of it right in the pump be awesome?  And of course, this is another step towards the closed loop artificial pancreas we're all waiting for.

Lastly, from the 'diabetes role models' department, this was a nice piece about Jay Cutler on Yahoo Sports.  He is the quarterback for the Chicago Bears and a sports hero to many, including Ruby, our stuffed bear with diabetes.

It's encouraging, I think, to learn what people are doing when it comes to diabetes. These three bits represent but a tiny sample of those out there doing their part to help.