Prom

Among the things I was (somewhat irrationally) worried about years ago was prom. It seemed impossible that the little person so completely dependent on me for all of her insulin-related needs could independently navigate a night of hot hors d'oeuvres, a buffet dinner and hours of dancing. And how would the prom dress fashion challenge work out with an insulin pump to incorporate into the equation?

Fast forward to May, and she had an amazing night.

The dress was gorgeous and nobody would have guessed there was so much hardware underneath it.

She counted the carbs for appetizers, a Shirley temple, dinner and chocolate lava cake.

She carried a roll of glucose tabs in her clutch purse, and simply went to the bar for a cranberry juice when the dancing led to a low. She was with friends who would help if she needed it.

Our awesome school nurse was a chaperone and was armed with a spare infusion set, a jar of glucose tabs and glucagon. Their only conversation of the night was about my daughter's dress.

Despite all the push to trade in the Animas Ping for a new pump this spring, we hung onto it long enough to use the remote bolus feature so that there were no awkward moments of reaching under the dress or disappearing to the ladies room every time food appeared.

Prom, and so many other things done with diabetes, required prior planning and thoughtful clothes-shopping. It was made less stressful because there were people around who were prepared to be supportive. And then? It was just as fun as it would've been with out diabetes.

Trick-or-Treat

It was 8:45 on Halloween. The doorbell hadn't rung for almost an hour. And then it did. We paused Survivor, and my daughter got up to greet the trick-or-treaters. She had enjoyed her door-answering responsibility all night, and I was glad to let her get up one more time.

Peeking through the living room window, she recognized a life-long friend at the door, dressed as Kim Kardashian.

She opened the door, and I could hear another voice, in addition to my daughter's and Kim's. There was a little chatting about the nice weather and what the girls had acquired in their travels. "There was a house handing out apples. Honeycrisp ones though, which are amazing, so I guess if I wash it I can eat it?"

My daughter then offered as much of our loot as the girls wanted to take. We didn't have as many kids as usual, and so generosity was in order.

"Are you sure? Thanks so much," Kim Kardashian exclaimed.

"Ugh, my mom won't let me eat most of it anyway," replied the other voice, which I was still trying to place.

"Take the airheads" was my daughter's quick response. "They're great for low blood sugars!"

Now, of course, I was able to narrow down which friend was accompanying Kim Kardashian on her rounds.

"Ha! Yes- I will! My mom buys terrible glucose tabs at Costco. I can't stand them."

Now Kim Kardashian's friend has a nice stash of airheads for her low blood sugar needs.

Who says Halloween and diabetes can't go well together?

Endo Eclipse Day

A note: School has begun. A semblance of 'routine' is beginning to appear. The opportunity to dust off a couple of posts I began over the summer and never published has arrived. So, yes, you'll see a couple of stories here which might make you think you've time travelled. But eventually we'll be all caught up!

We were not in the 'path of totality,' but a partial eclipse is unusual too, so we were excited to experience it.

But there was a glitch. The peak of the eclipse in our area was expected around 2:45 and we had an endo appointment at 3. In a city a 30-45 minute drive from home. That ruled out the local library's eclipse event, and a few other cool viewing options. Instead, equipped with our homemade cereal box eclipse viewer, we arrived at our doctor's office building about 2:15.

Out on a busy city sidewalk, we watched the shadows in our cereal box slowly change. The light grew dimmer and weirder. Some people near us had eclipse glasses, some had viewers clearly made at the last minute out of office supply boxes. Some were taking pictures with their cell phones while debating whether it was safe to do so. There were a few familiar faces from the diabetes center, including our endo who was entering the building as we arrived. People from throughout the neighborhood and from all walks of life had seemingly abandoned their work to converge on the streets. While it certainly wasn't the viewing opportunity we would have chosen, watching it in a large and diverse sea of people was fascinating, fun and memorable.

"Doing some eclipse viewing, were we?" asked the doctor when we settled into his office chairs.

"Yup- why not?" I replied.

"Why not, indeed," he said.

We could have bailed on the eclipse viewing because of diabetes. Just like we could have bailed on countless other opportunities over the past 14 years. But we chose to find a way to make it work.

Why not?

Party Trick

We've been busy taking pictures of 8th grade graduation events here, but those aren't the only interesting moments we've been able to capture.  I present to you The Amazing Finger:


Only one hole was pricked.
We've seen 2 for the price of 1 before, but never 3.




 

Limerick Day

There once was a girl with a meter.
They said diabetes would beat her.
She rose very tall
And said with some gall,
Fall?  I won't even teeter.


According to the New York Times, today is 'Limerick Day,' in honor of the birth date (in 1812)  of painter and poet Edward Lear who popularized limerick poems.  Hence a re-post of my limerick, which I posted here a couple of years ago during diabetes blog week.  Speaking of which...don't miss out on the fun of next week's D-Blog week.  The link will take you over to all the info to sign up.  See you there!

Serving Size

Thanks, Peeps, for making my daughter laugh
when she counted her Easter treat carbs.



 

Halloween is Fun

Anyone who tells you Halloween with diabetes is no big deal is stretching the truth.  Ditto for anyone who tells you Halloween with diabetes is the worst thing ever.  It's somewhere in between.  Here are some suggestions based on how we've tackled the Halloween challenge over the years:

Make the costume a big deal.  I made several costumes for my daughter over the years even though I do not sew and have never been the crafty type.  But she got to be exactly what she wanted to be despite there being no commercially sold options.  And she knew it was a very special and unique situation for mom to have a needle and thread in hand.

Decorate your house, get some cute Halloween books, and enjoy the silly-spooky parts of the season.

Boo!

Participate in Halloween events.  Carve a pumpkin.  Go in costume to the Halloween story time at the library, or the town Halloween parade.  Host a Halloween party. 

Go trick-or-treating.  And point out that the fun of trick-or-treating is not only in the candy, but in walking around the neighborhood after dark with family or friends.  It's showing off your costume, and seeing what the littler or bigger kids on your block are wearing too.

Have a candy plan.  It doesn't matter what it is, just have one so expectations are managed. Ours (yours will be different) is this: 

Eat a few pieces on Halloween night- she's always low from walking the neighborhood so the amount will vary, but she usually needs some starburst or skittles to keep her going and has a couple of chocolate things upon returning home.  Save one piece per how many years old you are to eat slowly over the coming week or two- this is a completely arbitrary rule I invented when she was about 7, but it has remained the law of the land.  Keep the snack stuff- pretzels, chips, etc.  Pre-braces, also keep the sugarless gum.  Give mom and dad a few of their favorites and give grandpa all of the york peppermint patties.  Turn in the rest to a local dentist who will pay $2 per pound and who will then ship it to the troops oversees.

Yes...the whole season is a one landmine after another of candy and cupcakes and donuts punch that looks like blood and more candy.  And when you live a life of 'everything in moderation,' it means you'll find yourself saying 'no' on a regular basis.  We've found, though, that saying 'yes' to all of the other fun stuff can soften the 'no' quite a bit.

Behind the Scenes of an Average Friday

On Friday, my daughter got up, had breakfast, got dressed, and went to school.  She had a test and a quiz there, ate lunch, and walked the track during gym.  After school she and a few friends stopped at a pizza place and went to the park for an hour before walking back to a friend's house. Once home, she practiced piano, watched t.v., ate dinner, and enjoyed dessert while watching baseball.  She was in bed before 10 and asleep soon there-after.

Sounds like an average 13 year old day, right?  Let's look a little closer:

On Friday, my daughter had her finger poked at 2 a.m. and was woken up to drink juice.  When she got up in the morning, she poked her finger again, chose among a limited selection of high fiber/high protein breakfast choices, and did some math problems.  She programmed her insulin pump and finished making breakfast.  She wanted to wear a skirt she likes, but decided that since a busy afternoon was planned, she'd be happier with her insulin pump tucked in the pocket of shorts so she wouldn't have to worry about it slipping off her waist band. 

She poked her finger after gym at school and was detoured to the nurse's office for juice before heading to take her quiz.  She finished the quiz while the rest of the class started the next lesson.  Before lunch she went back to the nurse to poke her finger again and program her pump using the note her mother put in her lunch saying how many grams of carbohydrate were in there.  A friend came with her to the nurse and they both arrived at lunch later than the other kids.

After school, she poked her finger again before walking to the pizza place. She really wanted to try the garlic knots.  This decision necessitated a phone call and several texts with her mother to discuss how many carbs would be in this snack.  After deciding they were close in size to half a mini bagel each, she programmed her insulin pump and ate.  She and her friends walked the block to the park and after walking around for a while, she poked her finger again.  She needed to eat some glucose tabs before walking to her friend's house.

When she got home, she poked her finger again, gave insulin for a high blood sugar, and drank a large glass of water to counteract the effects of the high.  Between piano practice and t.v. time, her mother used an enormous spring-loaded contraption to insert a sensor under her skin.  She hugged her stuffed rabbit.

She poked her finger again before sitting down for dinner.  After sitting down at the table, she had to get up again to get a measuring cup to make sure she ate the amount of rice she would take insulin for.  She then programmed her insulin pump to deliver a dose for the meal. 

During a commercial in the baseball game, she poked her finger and counted 10 mini nutter-butters into a small bowl. She debated whether she was still hungry and whether she wanted to add some apple slices to dessert and decided it was too much trouble to count and dose for them.  So she put on her pajamas and her insulin pump pack, since pajamas don't have pockets.

At around 11, her finger was poked one more time before her father went to bed, but she didn't wake up.  It had been a busy day...even busier than most people would imagine.

Making It Fun

Yesterday was endo day. We had a 4:30 appointment in the city.

Yesterday also happened to be an extra long weekend day off from the music program my daughter attends in the summer. She's usually there from 8-3.

So what could have been a rare lunch and afternoon at the pool with friends looked instead like it would be a boring morning of errands and chores, a boring peanut butter sandwich and maybe some screen time before a long car ride, a doctor's appointment and  another long ride home through rush hour traffic.

Not so fast.  Maybe we could make some lemonade out of those lemons.  A little creative thinking, mapquesting and internet searching led us to a truly fun day at the zoo. There was some challenging driving involved, and a little anxiety about the timing of the whole operation, but we went for it.

We got ourselves up and to the zoo when it opened and spent about five hours wandering around watching penguins, monkeys, bears, and especially this baby gorilla.  Who was adorable.  

We had an awesome time.  We arrived at our appointment plenty early.  The appointment went well too. But dinner conversation revolved around the zoo, with any diabetes-related news taking a definite back seat.

Living with diabetes comes with a long, annoying list of responsibilities. There are days when diabetes usurps possibilities which would be more fun.  Sometimes sitting out an activity with a low blood sugar, or missing an after school activity because of a doctor's appointment is just the way it is.  But sometimes, with some extra effort, it can be an excuse to do something great.  I highly recommend taking advantage of those opportunities.  Especially if there's a baby gorilla at your diabetes clinic's closest zoo.

Wordless Wednesday -Fashionable Frog Edition

Earrings By Inset 30.
All the coolest frogs are wearing them.

Seasonal Chaos

'Tis the season.  The busy one.  With the endless stream of places to be and people to see.  The one with the cookies and cider.  The one with distractions around every corner.

With the aforementioned cookies, cider and chaotic schedule, diabetes should really be getting more attention this time of year.  In a sense it does, with increased blood sugar checks and carb count research.

What we lose track of is the big picture stuff.  Does the basal rate or carb ratio need to be changed at dinner or has she been high after dinner every night because we spent the weekend eating leftover Thanksgiving pie for dessert?  How could we possibly do any kind of basal testing to see which we should change when there's leftover pie to eat for dessert?  If it seems something should be changed, can I manage to remember to do so when she and her pump are in the house with me or will I only think of it when she's at school or when we're together at a gathering at dinner time?  That's the current dilemma here.

Last week brought a night when it was tough to squeeze in just 10 minutes to do a site change.

Next week I need to remember to order the test strips.  It remains to be seen whether I can retain that in my memory bank (or even notice it among the items on the seasonally long to-do list) by then.

To a certain extent, I think letting the diabetes stuff sink a bit among the priorities is o.k. once in a while as long as it doesn't drop too far.  A little change of focus can do wonders for the mental health.

The trick in this season, which lasts over a month, is to bring it to the forefront again on a regular basis to address the troublesome spots.

So tonight, no pie.

Halloween: The After-Math

Time Suck

A sampling of annoying events from the past few summer days:

I received a lunchtime phone call from the beloved nurse-free music program.  "I'm 72.  How should I bolus?"  The question took several minutes to sort out.

While at the pool, she had to stop to disconnect or reconnect her pump while her friends were already running for the diving boards/ping-pong table/snack bar.  This scene repeats several times daily.

She had to leave her friends in the pool to treat a low blood sugar.

We delayed leaving for the pool to replace the tape on the Dexcom.

We delayed leaving for music to add tape to the Dexcom.

I spent half an hour online searching for tips to keep the Dexcom stuck when frequently submerged in a swimming pool, lake or ocean.  (Suggestions are still welcome...).

We expected to do a quick site change, only to find that the pump battery needed to be replaced and the supply of wipes needed to be replenished from the downstairs closet.

A desire for a summer peach turned into an ordeal involving the food scale and the calorie king app since it was the first peach of the season and we couldn't remember the carbs.

A group of friends descended on the kitchen for a snack break.  She was the last to eat, as usual, since she had to stop to check her blood sugar, read the nutrition label, and bolus for her food.

A cure and/or a bionic pancreas will some day dramatically improve my daughter's health.  That, in the big picture, is the reason we want these things.

The other benefits are indisputable though.  When the day comes, we'll go through every day without any of these kinds of stops and detours.  She'll stop being the one lagging behind at the pool.  She'll dive into her friend's pantry right along with everyone else.  Diabetes won't delay the fun.  We can't wait.

Geocaching

My husband and daughter have taken up a new hobby.  Geocaching is described in detail in this link, but essentially, it's a treasure hunt using GPS coordinates.  People hide 'caches' in public places.  Then they post GPS coordinates and additional clues on the website linked above.

So far our family has found about 40 caches in 4 different states.  I'm not so much a fan of the scrounging around in bushes and under park benches part of the whole thing, but it's been a great excuse for visiting nearby parks, hiking trails, historical sites, and even extra rest stops when we're on the road.

After having found a good amount of caches and getting the hang of the GPS app and how the website works, my husband decided it was time to create our own cache.  We needed a small, waterproof container in which to place a scroll for people to sign when they found the cache.  We had just the thing. A little camouflage duct tape to make it a little harder to find and it was ready to go:

People who hide caches often offer a prize or a special shout-out to the first person to find their cache.  My husband went a different direction.  Included in the clue is this line:

The first person to identify this container will earn a special place in our hearts.

An Ode to String Bags

We started with a diaper bag

So many years ago.

Then there was a mommy tote

With toys and snacks to go.

Of late it's been my giant purse

To carry all the freight.

But really couldn't other folks

Help carry all the weight?

With a glance upon the closet shelf

A solution was at hand.

Forty seven string bags

Of every color and brand.

To ballgames, hikes and theme parks,

To museums and parties we'll go.

Taking our turns to carry the stuff

For the perpetual diabetes show.

The Junior Mints

"So," she admitted, "we stopped at the store on the way home.  I had 50 cents, and I was tired of glucose tabs."

She'd been hovering between definitively low and low-ish all day.  A couple of juice boxes, a half-bolused lunch and half a roll of glucose tabs later she texted me before walking home.  "78!"

Knowing she had no snack with her, I suggested a couple more glucose tabs to keep her upright until she got home.  She had other ideas.

"They had those little boxes of Junior Mints for 25 cents.  There were 5 in a box.  It seemed perfect.  I hope you're not mad."

"It seems to have turned out well...your blood sugar is perfect now.  Did you enjoy them?"

"Yeah. But then I was looking at something and I spilled 3 of them.  I still had 25 cents so I went back in the store and got another box.  I ended up eating 7 of them altogether."






Seinfeld got it just right.  Junior mints are easy to spill, very refreshing, and might even contain curative properties.

Dexi

Dexi became a part of our family a little over a month ago.

She's our new dexcom continuous glucose monitoring system's receiver.

Upon her arrival, my daughter named her.  And over the past month the creative team here has personified her.

New questions and phrases have become part of our household lexicon:

Where's Dexi?

What does Dexi say?

Dexi's confused. Dexi's number and blood sugar number are very different.

Dexi's lost. The transmission signal has been lost between sensor and receiver.

Dexi is eating pie. The warm-up time for a newly inserted sensor shows a pie graph.

Dexi is thirsty.  When she needs to be calibrated a blood drop image shows on the screen.

Dexi is really thirsty.  Sometimes she needs two calibration numbers and shows two drops.

Dexi's yelling at you.  High or low alarm.

Keep an eye on Dexi while you're sledding.  Similarly, eating party food, staying up late.

Is Dexi in your purse? Similarly, on your pants, in the kitchen or did we leave Dexi in the car?

Dexi slept through the night.  I love it when she does this!

Friends and family are initially confused.  Some think we've gotten a cat, or brought another child to the party.  While some of them probably go on to conclude we've lost our marbles, most are amused.

What matters most is that it amuses us, and makes it much more fun to talk about and use this new medical device.