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Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad

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Sunday
Aug192007

Site Enhancements Announced

  1. Today I added photos and descriptions of the supplies we use to manage Arden’s diabetes.

  2. There is now a page to donate to October 22nds JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes in Arden’s name.

  3. There is a link to sign up to walk with us.  

  4. Links were added to the blog pages to help you find corresponding videos.

  5. The welcome message has been modified to be appropriate now that the “live” blogging day is complete.

  6. I bought the domain name www.ardensday.com and that link now redirects you to this site.  Please use it when you share the site with others.

  7. I expanded my distribution list to everyone in my address book. 

     

    **

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

    Hi, I just wanted to say I found your blog through StumbleUpon and I am so glad to see another family like ours.  My son, Lucas is four and was diagnosed just after he turned two (he will be five this November).  I was in school at the time but dropped out so I could care for him (I was very distracted worrying about him all the time).  Even at home with him I worry...

    Lucas will be starting pre-k soon and I'm very apprehensive...perhaps we can stay in touch somehow?  Anyway, I'll be back to follow Arden's story.  Many blessings to you and your family.

    Shanda
    Monday, August 20, 2007 - 04:30 PM
    Scott
    Thank you Shanda!

    I know how you feel.  Just knowing other people are dealing makes you feel much better.  We can keep in touch right here, hopefully you'll find something I post here helpful...   I invite anyone to post questions or comments for me on the site.
    Tuesday, August 21, 2007 - 01:40 PM

Friday
Aug172007

Low Blood Glucose Isn’t Pretty

Be prepared, the following is tough to watch... It broke my heart to turn on the video camera when I realized Arden’s BG was going low.  It was even harder to edit the video.  But I honestly think it’s worth sharing if it helps more people understand what living with diabetes is really like.  I meet too many people that ask me how old she’ll be when she grows out of it.  The sad truth is when other people see Arden she appears normal so people tend not to feel the seriousness of her situation.  Short of seeing her have a seizure the following video should keep anyone who sees it from being blasé about diabetes.

**

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

lalouque
Yowsa!   I gotta say, you might not have felt it, but you sure looked quite calm during the whole thing.  I thought giving an insulin shot to a cat was bad... you've got the patience of a saint.
Monday, August 20, 2007 - 03:00 PM
Anonymous
Just watched the Low Blood Sugar video... The "No Thank you!" broke my heart.
Friday, September 7, 2007 - 02:07 AM
Maria
I just watched this for the first time. The "no thank you" and "I'm feeling better" brought tears to my eyes.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 06:48 PM
Anonymous
i have juvenile diabetes just like Arden and I can only imagine what it's like to be only 3 with it. I completely understand what you both go through in this struggle, and hopefully other people will see more to diabetes by watching this video.
keep your head up. i know a cure will be in her lifetime.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 03:00 PM

Friday
Aug172007

Day Two: 8:34 am Arden wakes up & wants to swim

Well I sure won that bet.  You’ll remember that I was afraid to give Arden Levemir at 1 am because she was 183 and I assumed she go up a bit overnight but not too much.  Well I got that wrong.  Arden was 415 when she woke up.  I quickly gave her Levemir and enough Novolog to cover the high.  Since I wasn’t sure if, when or how much she would eat I decided to hope (how messed up is that? “I decided to hope”) she ate before the Nov peaked and then test her after the peak and re-evaluate.  

We’re going for a swim... Heat and activity what fun...  She was 314 two hours after the 8:34 am shots so I gave her another half of Novolog.  Let’s sidetrack to explain why.  After the two hour mark if she is still over 300 it tells me that what she ate fought off the peak.  She won’t be much lower an hour from now so I need to get some more insulin on board.  Factors I considered were 1. We were on our way to meet a friend for lunch at noon (in one hour) so she’d be eating again before the half unit peaks.  2. We were going swimming after lunch so I didn’t give her as much as I would have normally because I was shooting for her to be 250 at pool time to cover the heat and activity.

Pool time...  Arden was 259 at 1:28 pm.  That’s 2 hours and 30 minutes after the half and an hour after lunch... Pure diabetes managing nirvana!  259 before hot weather and swimming sets me up for a sweet 170 test after the swim.Perfect!

Or not... 2:32 pm swim is over and Arden is hungry... both sure signs I got her in the mid to low 100’s.  I test her to be certain (and to revel in my masterful call).  Lance, blood, strip, 1979 looking spinning graphic on the meter annnnnnddddddd 278.  2 moth********* 78?!?!?!   She went up.  Fluke I proclaim to all who will listen, “she’ll be 150 in and hour”.

50 Minutes later...  Vindication time.  Now she’s 301.  Another tried and true “diabetes fact” lets me down.  Heat and activity didn’t equal a low it sent her up.  Now I have a different problem.  Arden needs insulin now but she’s tired and she drops when she naps (but only in the mid afternoon mind you, naps at any other time are fairly stable).  A mid-afternoon nap coupled with Novolog plus a heat/activity still looming. I give her another half and try to find something to do where she won’t sleep.

6:00 pm...  101! Woooooooo I’m the back in the game!  101! Nothing can stop me now. It’s clear sailing to bed time nothing can go wrong....

Who brought the soft pretzels???  The thing we found to do to keep Arden awake was to visit family.  They had soft pretzels.  If you’re reading this and don’t know someone with diabetes you may not know that nothing launches a blood sugar and keeps it up like a soft pretzel. 

7:09 pm and 3 pretzel nuggets later... Arden’s BG is 345.  It’s insulin time.  At this time of day getting her insulin wrong is magnified.  For one if she goes low in two hours she’ll likely be asleep.  And there is no greater joy in life then waking up a 3 year old with low BG to tell her it’s time to eat.  The next reason to get this one right is that I’d like to sleep a little once in a while too and I can’t go to bed until I know she is okay.  Fingers crossed...

Home stretch...  Tested Arden after the peak and she is 164... Nice!  I let her drink a little juice before we leave for home because I need her to be over 200 so I can give her a half of Levemir to avoid another 415 again in the morning.  She ends up at 204, I give her the half and then post this update to the site.  It’s 12:33 am now.  Arden will be up in about 8 hours.

Friday
Aug172007

Day Two: 1:11 am

I just finished working on this site and I was going to give Arden a half of a unit of Levemir and go to bed but I just checked her and she is 183.  If I give her a half I’m afraid she go low overnight and giving her less then a half of the Lev seems to have no effect on her.  Decisions...

I’m not giving her any more insulin until morning... See you then..  I bet she is high when she wakes up... Over 280 I’ll wager.  Ahhhh... Good Night.

Thursday
Aug162007

Video from the start of Arden’s Day

Wake up check her BG, administer the Levemir , Eat breakfast and administer her Novolog then wait to see if I got it right...  This was just the first hour of our day...