Where the Internet Meets my Driveway

I was writing at my desk when Cole came into the house from outside. It was an unusually balmy December day and he was taking advantage of the warm air.

"Dad, there is a lady in the driveway that wants to talk to you"

Cole didn't recognize the woman and either did I as I walked toward her. She extended her hand and within a few words I began to understand why she was here. She fumbled a bit with her words, seeming uncomfortable that she had just shown up at my house without notice.

"I have a friend... she told me about this guy on your street... he has a daughter with type I, are you him?"

Then she gestured to her car, "my daughter was just diagnosed and I live around the corner from here".

We talked for a half of an hour about varying diabetes questions, I tried my best to give her some information, the stuff that I wish I had knowledge of during our first month. We exchanged numbers and promised to let the girls meet soon. I was so proud of her for reaching out in the way that she did, I found myself wishing that I had that courage when Arden was first diagnosed.

I told her about all of you and asked her what she knew of social media. It was interesting to hear her first month concerns in person, I could imagine myself asking the same questions so many years ago. I expressed to her daughter that even though this "all sucks" now it will get much better far sooner then she can imagine.

This random moment helped to reinforce why I write about diabetes CareGiving. I could see myself in this mother's face. I knew everything that she was feeling, I understood all of her fears. We are the same person now, our only difference is that I have the comfort of time and experience and the perspective that comes with those gifts. I hope that something I said or the relaxed feeling about type I that I tried to convey, helped to relieve her fear and anxiety.

The DOC in real life was just as amazing as it is online!

HuffPost piece feat. DOC quotes

DOC member and Huffington Post contributer Riva GreenBerg recently asked two questions of some DOC members. The answers she received were featured in her latest piece.

"Tweets of Diabetes Experience"

Riva Greenberg

As Diabetes Month ends, here's the wisdom and insights from several of my fellow online diabetes bloggers and advocates.

While it's easy to see diabetes as a burden and at times feel angry, ashamed or frustrated, if we look at it through the spirit of thanks-giving, it's also possible to see something gained.

And, I find joy in sharing what I've learned with others.

So I asked the two questions below and these responses flew into my inbox. Also know, as diabetes moves out of the spotlight this month, we will all still be here alongside you on this journey -- and you can continue to ride along with anyone below by following their blog and/or Twitter account.

The rest of the piece, complete with all of those DOC quotes is on HuffPost at this link. You may recognize more then a few names. Great thanks to Riva for including me in the article!

What is Awareness?

I'm as hooked into the health and wellness world as I can be, and I had no idea that November was not just Diabetes, but also Lung Cancer, Epilepsy, Hospice Palliative Care, COPD, and Pancreatic Cancer awareness month. This information really made me think. I imagine that the people in those other communities are putting a lot of effort into raising awareness... how did I not know? More importantly, is it possible to get these messages to a broader audience, and if we succeed, does the message become watered down? 

What does creating awareness mean?

A few weeks ago I saw athletes wearing a lot of pink, that made me think of cancer. Is that what the campaign is intended to do? I did think about people that are affected by cancer, I didn't make a donation, I didn't read about cancer... I just thought about it. 

Today President Obama proclaimed November Diabetes Awareness Month. His remarks end by saying,

I call upon all Americans, school systems, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, health care providers, research institutions, and other interested groups to join in activities that raise diabetes awareness and help prevent, treat, and manage the disease.

Now I think it's truly wonderful that the President did this, but what does the act accomplish? Who does it reach? When it does reach someone, do they have a similar reaction to when I see football players wearing pink? Will someone think about diabetes for a moment. How long does awareness take to grow, and what does it look like when it has matured? I'd hate to think that ten years from now all of our efforts culminate with a guy catching a ball while wearing blue gloves.

I'm not sure that hearing a sports commentator say, "Jones just made that catch with blue gloves Jimmy... did you know November is Diabetes Awareness month...". I mean that'd be really cool, and would indicate progress, but what is the tangible outcome? Perhaps this is the best anyone could hope for, and the end of what is reasonable?

What do I mean?

There is so much valuable information in the world that I wish I had time to devour. So many people touched by so many challenges. I don't have the luxury of time that would allow me to be aware of them all. Even if I magically found extra time, I can't in all honesty say that I'd use it to read up on COPD for example. It's with that said that I'll admit to not knowing what 'creating awarness' means, even though I spend a good part of my life trying to do it. 

I want everyone to understand, but I don't think it is reasonable for them to. I want every teacher to know, every bus driver to be ready, every person I meet not to say something ridiculous about diabetes. I just don't know if it's possible, or legitimate, to expect. 

Diabetes Awareness Month always makes me wonder if my efforts are focused in the right direction. I'll be spending some time this month thinking about my advocacy and awareness building efforts. I hope to come up with answers to the questions I raised here. Please add your thoughts if you feel so moved. 

There are so many wonderful and loving people in our community, and they are each motivated by the purest of intentions. I wish that all of our efforts and energy could create progress that we could hold. I won't be satisfied until I hear the sentiments and understanding that emanate from within our circle, understood and reflected from outside of it.

Arden's Big Blue Test

The walk begins, CGM says 183

We decided to do the Big Blue Test during Arden's 7th Jdrf Walk. Arden woke up in the morning after being a little low overnight, she ate a banana as we were packing for the walk and then bolused appropriately. Normally I wouldn't treat a morning low with such a carbtastic food choice, but we were in a hurry and needed to get Arden's BG up so we could get out the door for the walk. With no pre-bolus to help battle the banana I expected a BG rise to happen in a short time, and as you can see on the DexCom graph (above), that's exactly what happened.

The next BG hurdle came as we waited for the rest of our walk team, and the soft pretzel table beckoned our son Cole. We Cole returned, I watched as Arden's eyes became fixed on the doughy confection. "Dad, can I get a pretzel?". Arden returned with a giant, carb infused, pretzel. I didn't even bother trying to pre-bolus because Arden couldn't decide how much she may eat. I told her to just go at it, and I'd figure it out when she was finished. At 10 AM, just as the walk was beginning, Arden announced that she had eaten as much as she could, which was well over half of the pretzel. I took my best guess at how many carbs she had, closed my eyes, and bolused away. Then we walked...

One hour and fifteen minutes later we stopped on the last leg of the walk to play by the water... Arden's CGM read 189 (image below). I know you are seeing a ton of people holding up their CGMs and meters before and after their Big Blue Test work outs. I know most show a decrease in their BG from just 15 minutes of activity, but this is even more amazing then that, and I'll show you why. I can almost guarantee that without the exercise that Arden did her BG would have been in the mid 300's, if we were lucky. Look again at the few hours prior to the end of the walk. A banana with no pre-bolus, a soft pretzel only 30-45 minutes later, again with no pre-bolus. These two food choices should not only have driven up Arden's BG, but decimated her BGs for the rest of the day. But look what happened...

 CGM says 189 after 75 minutes of walking, even with all of those carbs

The rest of the day and night followed suit.

Before lunch, 2 hours since walk start.

12.5 hours since walk began and after Chinese food at 7PM!

Check out the overnight graph that goes from Chinese food to waking. I made no overnight basal adjustments and gave no bolus.

Arden took The Big Blue Test to help The Diabetes Hands Foundation in their effort to send $100,000 in diabetes relief to places in need. In the process we learned that not only does moderate exercise help to control Arden's blood glucose, but it can provide a full day and night of BG stability. The experience also gave me a lot to think about regarding my own activity level.

I hope you take the Big Blue Test right now, you don't have to be a person living with diabetes to benifit from the activity or help the effort, just click the link. I'm very glad that I did!

JDRF T1D4ADAY

On Thursday, August 16, 2007 I posted for the first time on Arden's Day in a post titled, "Decided to Share". At the time I wasn't trying to 'launch a blog', I didn't really know what a blog was. Here's proof that I didn't know what I was doing, the image from the first post, the one shown above, it was named "1.jpg" - I was more then a novice. All I wanted was a way to explain what a day in Arden's life was like to the people in my immediate circle of family and friends. So I decided to post something each and every time that diabetes entered our day for one day. 

I was so moved by what I was about to do that I, uninvited, emailed (Geez, I'm embarrassed to say this)... emailed everyone in my address book at each diabetes moment. I think that I did that for the first few of the morning and then invited people to follow along for the remainder of the day at a link. I did send a note first, though that doesn't make it much better, announcing my plan. Looking back, people must have thought that I was nuts, and mabe I was. It was a few days before Arden's first diaversary and I was probably extra emotional because I had some lofty and unrealistic expectations about what I imagined the first anniversary would bring. I expected clarity to arrive on that day, strangely I thought the keys to diabetes knowledge were about to be dropped at my door. Anyway, I just put it out there in a big bad way and people responded, and many told me how impactful the experiance was. After that I just kept going...

The JDRF has just announced a program called 'T14ADAY', that invites people to sign up for text messages that will arrive over a twenty-four hour period with the intention of showing someone the extent to which type I is involved in our days. I really think that this is a great idea! Here's more info directly from the JDRF:

Throughout November, we're asking people to better appreciate what people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) experience every day, every hour by taking part in a unique mobile-based challenge: T1D for a Day.

When you sign up for the T1D for a Day text challenge, you agree to receive as many as 24 text messages over a 24-hour period that simulate the constant blood sugar testing, insulin injections, and dietary decisions that confront people with T1D.

While no virtual campaign can recreate the many needles required or the physical and financial tolls of this serious disease, T1D for a Day seeks to deepen understanding of the many heroic steps our friends and loved ones with T1D take each day.

Please sign up for the T1D for a Day challenge now!

There is more information at the this link including how to get started online or with your cell phone. I'm spotlighting this effort from the JDRF becasue I know first-hand how much of an impact what I did all those years ago had on the people in my family and our friends. This is a great oppurtunity for the people in your life, the ones that may be struggling to understand type I, to get a closer look at why you look so tired. 

You can find all of my DayOne posts from 2007 here or by clicking on the DayOne tag.