Big Blue Test

Join the movement!

Exercise is good for you. You know that. But did you know that the average Big Blue Tester has seen their blood glucose level drop 20% after 14-20 minutes of exercise?

And if that isn’t enough reason to get active, every time you enter a Big Blue Test you help us get one step closer to our goal of 20,000 entries. If we hit our goal, the program sponsor will donate $100,000 to organizations that provide life-saving supplies and services to people with diabetes in need.

Do the test as often as you can between today and the end of November 14th. 

Big Blue Test

Unfathomable loss

I am sorry to say that fellow diabetes CareGiver blogger and DOC member, Meri Schuhmacher lost her husband Ryan on September 2nd to cancer. Meri and Ryan have four boys, three of whom have type I diabetes.

I never met Ryan, Meri or their children but the pain that they feel is as real to me as if they were part of my own family. I believe that connection is a direct result of the power that the diabetes online community creates in our lives.

Meri has a wonderful blog called 'Our Diabetic Life' and spoke today about the loss of her husband. I think that everyone would benefit from reading what she has shared. I urge you to reflect on the fact that her words of anguish have been permanently added to the collective that is our community. The gift of the DOC is not just the people in it or the connections that we make. It is also a repository for our struggles, pain and triumph that will assuage others tomorrow and beyond. 

Hug your loved ones a little tighter tonight and then support Meri and her family in any way that you can. There is no better way to give back to the DOC then to support one of it's own in their greatest time of need.

When you are finished reading her words please leave Meri a message of support. And if you are able, I hope that you will add a few dollars the the fund that friends of the family have created to help with the costs associated with this tragedy. http://www.giveforward.com/schuhmacherfamilymiracle2. May you all be well...

With a heavy heart,

Scott

Free books from Lilly Diabetes

In the summer of 2011 Lilly Diabetes and Disney partnered up to introduced a new character named Coco. Coco is a monkey (see below) and she has type I diabetes. Coco's backpack holds her D-Supplies, she wears an ID bracelet, hangs out, plays and checks her blood glucose while attending Goofy's birthday party. Arden really enjoyed seeing a character in a book that was so closely modelled after herself, sans the monkey thing of course.

Coco

This year Lilly introduced four new books that are written for the tween in your life. Allie is a soccer player, Justin the captain of his basketball team, Tim plays corner for his high school football team and Oliver is a friend of Hannah Montana. Each book is centered on a person with diabetes and the situations that type I brings to their lives. 

They also introduced a cookbook called 'Dishing It Up Disney Style'. The book calls itself a "cookbook for families with type I diabetes". The recipes are not ultra low carb and the ones that we've made so far have been very flavorful. The book considers itself diabetes friendly because each recipe comes complete with an accurate carb count to help make insulin calculations easier. The goal of the cookbook is to offer meals that your kids will actually like while keeping the carbs per serving at a manageable level. I find this idea attractive as many 'diabetes friendly' recipes can often taste like wet cardboard.

I was given each of these books at the recent Lilly Blogger Summit. The books are sadly not available online or even in bookstores. The only way to currently get them is by asking your endocrinologist. Your doc has access to these books through their Lilly rep, they are free to the doctor and free to you. I know this isn't the greatest delivery system, time will tell if they are able to find other avenues to get these books into your hands. For now you'll have to ask your doc if you're interested.

Titles:

Up for the Challenge
Power Forward
Running Interference
Uptight (Oliver's All Right)
Coco and Goofy's Goofy Day
Dishing it up Disney Style 

Disclosure: I attended an event hosted by Lilly Diabetes, who paid for my airfare, travel, hotel and meals while I was in Indianapolis.

"Diabetes", a poem by Arden

Arden's Poem, "Diabetes" I found this poem in Arden's writer's notebook at the end of the school year and I wanted to share it with all of you. I asked Arden and she gave me permission to post it. I believe that these are the first words on Arden's Day to come directly from Arden.

So without further ado and transcribed exactly as she wrote it... I present, "Diabetes" a poem by Arden, age seven.

Diabetes

Why did you pick me?

Why's diabetes diabetes?

How did diabetes get here?

Why is diabetes called diabetes?

Why is there type one diabetes

and type 2 diabetes.

How did diabetes get in life?

Why are you here?

I'm not scared of you evean

that something could

haping!

Update on Tuesday, July 3, 2012 at 11:23AM by Scott Benner

 

Arden's poem was choosen by @BestBetesBlogs as 'Best Diabetes Art' for June 2012. Thank you to the person or people that nominated Arden's poem. You guys rock!!!

Father's Day 2012 brings great news!

I have some great news and I couldn't think of a better day then Father's Day to share it.

A lot of wonderful things have happened in my life and I have my family to thank for most of them. I think of myself as having two families actually... the first is made up of my wife Kelly and our two children, the second is much larger and it includes all of you in the diabetes online community. 

Kelly, Cole and Arden have brought countless joys into my life and the time that I've spent with my children over the last twelve years as a stay-at-home dad has been, and continues to be, an irreplaceable gift. My family has taught me lessons that I never imagined existed. Our experiences, struggles and victories have left me with a million great stories and a unique perspective. What is traditionally considered to be a mother's role in our families is so much more then I expected when I quit my job in the spring of 2000 to stay at home with Cole. The immense effort, endless worry and constant feeling that I'm not doing my best is but a fraction of what it means to be the parent whose responsibilities range from grocery shopping to amateur child psychologist and everything in between.

As if from a dream the two things in my life that I feel most passionate about have converged and their combination has brought me a wonderful gift. Being a stay-at-home dad has lent me a sincere appreciation for a traditional mother's life while my five years as a diabetes blogger have taught me how to tell my story without (hopefully) boring the pants off of my readers. Writing for all of you is not unlike being a stay-at-home dad as I find both to not only be a privilege, but an honor that my life is greater for. When I started this blog I considered myself a storyteller that had a young child with diabetes and my only hope was that sharing my experiences might make yours just a little easier. The blog grew, my writing along with it and today Arden's Day is one of my greatest sources of pride.

It is with that pride held very close to my heart that I type these next words... My first book from Spry Publishing will be on shelves in June of 2013. The yet to be titled book about my life as a stay-at-home dad and a diabetes caregiver to my daughter Arden is my first written offering outside of the blogging world (unless you count 'Star Wanted to be a Star' and 'Grammy and the Green Ford', my two 'Young Author Award' winning efforts from grammar school). 

A brief announcement about my book as well as a number of others from some prominent DOC members can be found on Spry's website. I'd love to tell you what they said about my writing here but I'm actually a little embarrassed. I can share this however... I am working very hard to give you all a book that lives up to the high praise that you'll read if you follow that link.

Wishing you a very Happy Father's Day!

Best,

Scott