Arden's Day is the Wego Health 2011 Health Activist Award winner!

So excited... I'll post more later when my heart stops beating so fast.

What a wonderful surprise it was to be chosen from among so many deserving and wonderfully written health blogs. A day after learning that I won WEGO Health's 2011 Health Activist Award in the 'Advocating for Another' category, well,  I'm still a bit in shock. 

WEGO Health houses an amazing collection of communities and blogs about a sweeping range of medical issues. It's members offer advice and support to countless people that need it. If you or someone that you know is living with a medical condition and looking for community, I strongly suggest that you click on this link and see if there is a group tailored to your specific need - I bet that there is.

I want to thank WEGO, the independent judges and the type I diabetes community for embracing what I'm trying to do with this website. It was a genuine honor to be named as the winner in such a broad and powerful community of people. I'm proud of this site and the words that you'll find on it. Moreover, I'm happy beyond words that it helps people. Thank you all very much!

Arden's Day is a Wego Health 2011 Health Activist Award finalist

WEGO Health just announced the finalists in their 2011 Health Activist Award and Arden's Day was among them!

There were nearly fifty web sites nominated in my category, Advocating For Another, among them some names that I read and respect and others that I'm looking forward to finding out more about. It was a very humbling group to be included in and I am proud, happy and touched to have been judged as worthy of being called a finalist.

The winners will be announced on January 31st and we are very excited to be in the running.

WEGO is an online community that was set up to 'empower health activists to help others', please check out what they've built if you have the need... it's an amazing site! http://www.wegohealth.com/

Brown University Study: Biochip measures glucose in saliva, not blood

Researchers at Brown University have developed technology that can measure glucose in human saliva.

Engineers at Brown University have designed a biological device that can measure glucose concentrations in human saliva. The technique could eliminate the need for diabetics to draw blood to check their glucose levels. The biochip uses plasmonic interferometers and could be used to measure a range of biological and environmental substances.

Read the entire article at this link, it's facinating!

Tripping the light fantastic Each plasmonic interferometer – thousands of them per square millimeter – consists of a slit flanked by two grooves etched in a silver metal film. The schematic shows glucose molecules “dancing” on the sensor surface illuminated by light with different colors. Changes in light intensity transmitted through the slit of each plasmonic interferometer yield information about the concentration of glucose molecules in solution.Credit: Domenico Pacifici 

I was interviewed by Calling All Types

The nice folks at Calling All Types (@CallingAllTypes on Twitter) asked me a few questions... I answered them in a informative and delightful manner. Please click over and take a look if you get a chance. 

http://callingalltypes.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-fathers-story.html

Overnight blood glucose checks

A few days ago I remarked to Arden's school nurse while Arden was checking her BG that, "I can do this in the dark". I had just finished changing a pod that experienced an error during the day and was hanging out for a moment to discuss how much insulin to bolus for the basal that was lost (while I was driving to the school). My comment sparked a brief conversation that ended as all conversations about overnight BG checks seem to, with someone asking if Arden wakes up when her finger is pricked.

Arden doesn't budge during those checks. Up until this morning I though it was because she was so accustomed to the feeling but it turns out that she may just be an amazingly sound sleeper.

I took this picture today as I was getting Arden up for school, as you can see there are no sheets on her bed. The sheets are on the floor, ready to go into the laundry. I took them off of her bed while she was sleeping... she never stirred. When I pulled the bottom sheet from under her, she literally came off of the mattress and turned 180º - bouncing when she landed.

It looks like I have a new answer the question, "does she wake up when you check her BG".