All posts by JuicyMama

Switching Back to the Tslim From the OmniPod and Back Again

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After my daughter’s OmniPod insulin pump pod emitted a high pitched continuous alarm during a midterm, she decided to switch back to the Tslim insulin pump. The alarm interrupted everyone taking the exam, and she had to get up and leave the room while the pod still alarmed. She went to the nurse’s office and changed her pod (all by herself!) and had to make up the rest of her midterm exam on another day after school.

Having no tubing was a real perk to the Omnipod, but it is a relief to not have to carry the PDM device everywhere to administer the insulin (or to have to find it when you need to give insulin). It is also a relief to not have to worry about what you will be doing in three days’ time when it’s time to change the infusion set. (Will the time-to-change-the-pod reminder alarm go off during class? During band practice? During the night while sleeping?) Recently we went away for three days and she had to change the pod while traveling on day 2. It would have been nice to have had the option to wait until we got home. We definitely won’t miss the forced pod changes exactly every three days.

The other irksome thing about the OmniPod is that after you change the pod, two hours later the pod alarms to tell you to check your blood sugar. This alarm is incredible patronizing and can occur during the night or at any other inconvenient time. Since my daughter is using the Dexcom G5 CGMS, the alarm seems obsolete as well, since she can just look at the Dexcom anytime, and it will alarm for highs and lows. Of course, it’s just another way diabetes disrupts your life, and in this case it’s a manmade interference. Even with her pump settings on vibrate, the alarm is still disruptive. It makes you think there’s a problem, such as a low insulin cartridge or a low battery, filling you with dread for no good reason. Also the PDM as a glucometer worked more slowly than her previous meter (which was the Verio), so it was another way diabetes steals moments of your life.

The Tslim pump has simplified her day at school as well. On the OmniPod, she would have to remember to take her PDM device out of her book bag and put it in her lunch bag. And if she forgot it, she would have to go back to her locker to get it. Then she would have to take it out of her lunch bag to bolus the insulin to cover for her lunch. Now with the Tslim, she can use the quick bolus without taking the insulin pump out of her belt.

On the other hand, when I check her blood sugar during the night, now I need to find the pump under the covers to correct her blood sugar if it’s high, since the Tslim doesn’t have a remote device. I also risk waking her up while I do this which wasn’t an issue with the OmniPod. And if she needs a small correction bolus, I have to decide whether it’s worth the risk of waking her up during the night.

Now that it is summertime, my daughter has switched back to the OmniPod! Now she doesn’t have to be disconnected from her insulin pump for long periods of time during swim team practices and swim meets, since the Tslim is not waterproof. It is now nice to be able to adjust basal rates from the remote device and to do temp basal rates from the PDM which is also useful for swim practices and meets. At least during the summer, she doesn’t have to worry about the alarms going off during class or exams, and I anticipate she will switch back to the Tslim before school starts.

It just goes to show you that not only do different insulin pumps meet different people’s needs (my other daughter remains on the Animas pump, for example), but also that different pumps can meet one person’s needs at different times. It also reflects that there still isn’t one pump that addresses all the needs.

And having a backup pump in case of pump failure is also a bonus.

 

Disclosure: I have no financial interest in any diabetes company and have received no money or gifts to write this blog post. Please keep in mind that these are just my juicy experiences and opinions, which will vary from someone else’s.

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Error Messages When Testing Blood Sugar Levels

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Error messageNothing frustrates me more than getting an error message after applying blood to the test strip in the glucometer. These error messages seem way too frequent. Sometimes the blood stops half way. Sometimes there isn’t enough blood. Sometimes the meter has timed out, or the meter is still on the code screen. Sometimes my younger daughter doesn’t have the dexterity to line up the test strip to the blood drop on her finger. This was a particularly difficult issue when she was a toddler in the “I do it” stage. She would insist on doing it herself, but without the physical ability, a lot of test strips went to waste. The other day she got several error messages in a row and then refused to test again. I don’t blame her. I’ve gotten so many error messages over time, easily in the thousands when you think of all the blood sugar testing we’ve done over the years, and many times we’ve gotten several in a row. Grrr!

Once when we were at the endocrinologist’s office getting prescriptions at our visit, the nurse (or perhaps she was an aide) who had T1D herself asked why we tested so often after I said we tested blood sugar levels 8-10 times a day. I explained we test in the morning, before snack, before lunch, before the bus ride home from school, before sports, sometimes during sports, after sports, before dinner, before bed, if feeling low or high, and during the night. We don’t even test as much as is recommended such as at times after treating a low blood sugar: in that situation, we usually don’t test again 15 minutes later after it’s been treated (unless it’s a severe low blood sugar). Plus we need extra test strips for the nurse’s office, and for all those error messages, of course!

Disclosure: I have no financial interest in any diabetes company and have received no money or gifts to write this blog post. Please keep in mind that these are just my juicy experiences and opinions, and my experiences will vary from someone else’s.

 

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The OmniPod Insulin Pump: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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ladybugpodnfriendsA few months ago, my 8-year-old and 11-year-old daughters switched to the OmniPod from the Tslim and the Animas insulin pumps. After a summer of disconnecting from their insulin pumps for swim team, a pump with no tubing was a welcome relief. The major negative aspect of the OmniPod, however, is that it alarms when it’s time to change the pod after 3 days.

The Good: The good, of course, is that there is no tubing. No more priming the tubing, no more air bubbles in the tubing, and no more getting your tubing stuck on kitchen cabinet knobs. Of course, the great thing is that there is now no disconnecting for the shower or for swimming or for gymnastics, so the basal insulin is always being delivered. And with no disconnecting, there is no forgetting to re-connect after those activities. I know I’m not the only one who has bolused into a bookbag.

In addition to the major perk of not having tubing, the OmniPod also gives more choices as to where you can place the pod since you don’t have to worry about how you will feed the tubing through your clothing. This can give the areas most commonly used a much needed break. However, my daughters have mostly used the same areas for the pods, although even an occasional use of a new location is a plus.

Another nice thing about the OmniPod is that the process to change the infusion set is simpler. This means that my daughters can do it themselves more easily and at a younger age. It still hurts though.

Another perk to the OmniPod is that all basal rate changes and temporary basal rate changes are made with the PDM remote device, so there is no more fishing for the Tslim or Animas pumps to make those changes. We rarely used a temp basal with the Animas pump because you could not make that change on the remote device. Now it’s a convenient option again.

The Bad: The OmniPod will alarm when it’s time to change it in 3 days’ time. It doesn’t care if you’re in school, in bed, or at a Broadway show, or in the marching band. That alarm is going off and it will keep going off. Another negative aspect of the OmniPod is that you need to use the PDM remote device to bolus insulin. No more reaching down to the insulin pump to cover for food. Now you have to find the PDM and keep it near you in order to eat anything. After years of not having to do this, the PDM always seems to be upstairs when we’re downstairs. Also it doesn’t have the quick bolus feature like the Tslim does.

And The Ugly: Sometimes the pod will emit a high pitched continuous alarm. After ignoring the alarm to change the pod during a Broadway show and going past the set time to change the pod, the pod itself began a non-stop, ear-piercing alarm. Another time the pod spontaneously began the continuous alarm, so we changed the pod but forgot to realize that we were now off the evening schedule of pod changes. Three days later the pod alarmed in school, and I had to travel to the school with pods for the set change (we didn’t have enough pods to store extra ones at school). Another time a new pod alarmed continuously during the pod changing process (prior to application on the body). Apparently the old pod was too close to the new pod and the new pod alarmed. That meant the new pod could not be used and the insulin in it was wasted. Now we make sure to have 2 pods on hand during a set change in case one alarms and becomes unusable.

Also, many people don’t seem to know that you can send the used pods back to the company for recycling. OmniPod will mail you prepaid packaging to do this if you request it.

My younger daughter has since returned to the Animas, but it’s nice to know that we have a backup pump if needed. We participated in the OmniPod No Tubes Attached program, a program we learned about at the Children With Diabetes Friends For Life Conference in Orlando this past summer.

One more amazing thing about the OmniPod is that you can decorate the pods with colored markers before you use them. My daughters delight in turning their pods into ladybugs, sneakers, and bumblebees, which adds a little joy to an unpleasant process.

Please keep in mind that these opinions are my own.

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The Special Diabetes Program is Renewed for One Year

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Good news! The House and Senate approved a 1-year renewal of the Special Diabetes Program at the current level of 300 million dollars: 150 million dollars goes towards Type 1 diabetes medical research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and 150 million dollars goes towards Type 2 diabetes prevention and treatment programs for American Indian and Alaska Native populations. The Special Diabetes Program (SDP) was set to expire in September, 2014.

The SDP fully funded the study, PERL: Trial of Allopurinol To Preserve Kidney Function in People with Type 1 Diabetes. This study would not have happened otherwise, with no profit motivation to study an inexpensive drug like allopurinol, as explained at the SDP Progress Report presentation during JDRF government days.

Other SDP breakthroughs include identifying 50 genes associated with Type 1 diabetes (versus 3 known genes associated with Type 1 in 1998), identifying immune therapies that have halted Type 1 diabetes disease progression for over 1 year, artificial pancreas trials now taking place on an outpatient trial basis, and the finding that diabetic retinopathy can be reversed!

Another SDP funded study, the DCCT/EDIC is a 30-year study with 95% of the research subjects still participating. The study has shown that 6.5 years of blood sugar control can decrease kidney disease by 50%. This decrease in kidney disease translates into a projected savings of over 14 billion dollars in 10 years to Medicare from the reduction of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and a savings of over 126 billion dollars to Medicare in 25 years.

You can read more about the Special Diabetes Program in my previous post: JDRF Government Days.

Note the sequestration caused the Special Diabetes Program to be cut by 5.1%, which resulted in an almost 20 million loss to the program over 2013 and 2014.

This important renewal allows SDP-funded medical research to continue, and ideally a 5-year renewal will be obtained in the future, so that numerous clinical trials will have the chance to deliver on results that will lead to better treatments for Type 1, prevention of Type 1, and ultimately a cure for Type 1 diabetes.

Now you can quickly and easily email your thanks to your senators here and your congress members here.

 

JDRF Government Days

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On March 11th, 2014, 190 JDRF advocates from across the country traveled to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to meet with their legislators to request a 5-year renewal of the Special Diabetes Program (SDP).

The SDP funds medical research to find better treatments and ultimately a cure for Type 1 diabetes. The SDP is set to expire in September 2013, and if it is not renewed 150 million dollars per year towards research to end Type 1 will be lost.

The JDRF Government Days included an inspiring speech by Jeffrey Brewer, President and CEO of JDRF, called “JDRF: Turning Type One into Type None” in which he detailed plans for a pathway to the cure, including discovery research, clinical development, regulatory, reimbursement, and delivery to patients, collectively known as the pipeline.

JDRF has over $530 million currently invested in Type 1 research projects around the world (in 17 countries, and this includes more than 50 human clinical trials). The research focuses on six key areas: the artificial pancreas, treating and reducing complications, beta cell encapsulation, prevention, restoration of beta cell function, and smart insulin.

Richard Insel, MD, JDRF’s Chief Scientific Officer, Judith Fradkin, MD, Director, Division of Diabetes at the National Institutes of Health, and David Wheadon, MD, JDRF’s Executive Vice President of Research and Advocacy also spoke on the progress of the Special Diabetes Program’s research, citing a new treatment to restore vision loss from diabetic macular edema via VEGF inhibition.

While JDRF contributed 106 million dollars to research in 2013 (over 1.8 billion dollars since its founding in 1970), if the SDP is not renewed, JDRF cannot make up the gap. Studies like the TEDDY study (100% SDP supported), TrialNet (67% SDP supported), the Clinical Islet Transplantation Consortium (98% SDP supported), the Beta Cell Biology Consortium (75% SDP supported), the Diabetes Research in Children Network (67% SDP supported), the Diabetic Complications Consortium (59% SDP supported), and the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network (26% SDP supported) will lose their funding.

To support JDRF’s efforts to get the SPD renewed, click here to learn more and sign up to be an advocate.

To act now to email your members of congress to urge them to support a renewal of the SPD, click here.

To learn more about the Special Diabetes Program, click here.

To read about the SDP supported research studies and the burden of diabetes on society, read this JDRF brochure for more information.

Now that’s juicy!

 

 

 

New to the t:slim insulin pump

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My ten-year-old daughter has been on the t:slim pump for 5 months now. Though my six-year-old daughter has continued with her pump with a remote device that I use to bolus her insulin, for my older daughter this was a good time to switch to a pump where she could take more control of bolusing herself.

The t:slim pump is smaller than her previous pump so it fits more comfortably in the belt around her waist. It is so slick looking that while she was in the nurse’s office at school, an adult told her to put it away, thinking it was an itouch. (My daughter said she told her it was her insulin pump and the adult apologized profusely.)

The t:slim’s quick bolus feature is very helpful. You can set the quick bolus for a certain number of carbs or for a certain number of units of insulin. Hers is set for 15 carbs, and it is so easy to use this feature that this is the way she usually boluses. For example, if she is having a 15 carb snack, she presses the quick bolus button to activate it and then pushes it once more for the 15 carbs. The pump vibrates back and then she pushes the button again to deliver the insulin bolus. For a 45 carb meal, she does the same thing but pushes the button 3 times to reach 45 in 15 increments. It is simple to do and discreet.

Although she could swim with her previous pump attached, the t:slim needs to be disconnected. She tried swimming with it and an altitude alarm would suspend delivery. She now prefers to disconnect for gymnastics as well. When you have not disconnected for any activities including showering for the past 5 years, disconnecting becomes challenging because now you must remember to reconnect the pump. You might be surprised as to how many times I remembered by finding the pump in my purse or pocket. Once after gymnastics, we even bloused via the pump only to realize later that it wasn’t even connected. And while it is disconnected, there is always the risk of it being lost or stolen.

The t:slim doesn’t need batteries but requires a recharger. While initially this made me nervous on trips, fearing I might forget to pack the charger, I like not needing to buy batteries for the pump of course. One night I recharged it while she was asleep and the infusion set disconnected when she rolled over while the pump and recharger were attached to the wall. Because I don’t have a remote device to use to give a correction bolus of insulin during the night if needed, I have to fish the pump out from her belt under the bedcovers. She usually wakes up when I do this and is then robbed of a full night’s sleep.

The insulin cartridge holds 300 units, more than the previous pump, and if needed we can change the infusion set without changing the cartridge. The t:slim cartridge comes with an attached section of tubing that connects to the tubing of the infusion set outside of the pump. There have been a couple of times where the tubing became disconnected to the pump at the tubing connection site without our realizing it, causing high blood sugar levels.  It also means longer tubing which could then more easily get caught on something.

Compared to the previous pump, the t:slim makes a noise while delivering an insulin bolus, kind of like a cat purring. It also delivers a bolus slower than the previous pump, so if you want to bolus again for more food sometimes you have to wait until the previous bolus is completed, which was less of an issue with the previous pump.

Thankfully the screen on the pump works like a calculator, so it is so easy to use and easy to add up the carbs. It’s hugely refreshing from her previous pump which did not prepopulate the recommended insulin dose which required me to hit the up arrow over and over (or hold down the up arrow, always passing over the small amount needed for a child, and then having to push down the arrow down over and over to get to the right number) which was time consuming.

Pressing the 1, 2, 3 buttons to access the screen has been no problem either. It just becomes second nature and can be completed very quickly. And we have had no issues with buttons inadvertently getting pressed. For one thing, it’s a touch screen, so there are no buttons (other than the quick bolus button on the side). You can also press the T on the touch screen to go directly back to the home screen.

For the extended bolus, you must move through a few screens to implement it, and I would prefer it if the extended bolus screen would revert to the last used extended bolus, since I tend to use the same extended bolus parameters over and over. Currently the extended bolus screen always suggests 50% now, 50% later, over 2 hours.

Sometimes the screen does seem to time out very quickly, especially when we are changing the cartridge, even though we have the screen timeout set for 90 seconds. After changing the cartridge, you have to remember to resume the insulin. Because the reminder screen to resume insulin has a slight delay and because the previous pump did not require restarting the insulin, we have changed the cartridge and the infusion set and put the pump in the belt without resuming the insulin. Now we know to wait and make sure the insulin has restarted.

In summary, the t:slim pump is small, cool looking, and easy to use. The quick bolus has been the most useful feature for us. If the t:slim also had a remote device to use to bolus insulin, I would switch my 6-year-old daughter to the t:slim as well.

 

Disclosure: I have no financial interest in any pump company and have received no money or gifts to write this blog post. Please keep in mind that these are just my juicy experiences with the pump and my experiences will probably vary from someone else’s experiences.

 

Disney Coronado Resort

The 2013 Children With Diabetes Friends For Life Conference in Orlando, Florida

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Disney Coronado Resort

The combination of Florida sunshine and palm trees, Mickey Mouse ice cream bars and princesses, and so many smiles and hugs from friends for life makes diabetes feel a lot less bumpy and grumpy.

Because of attending the 2013 Children With Diabetes Friends For Life Conference in Orlando, Florida, plans are underway for us for a new type of insulin pump, a new glucometer to use, and a different infusion set to wear. None of these particular items have ever been suggested or mentioned by our healthcare team, but it takes a village and that village is FFL (pronounced ‘phifel’). We also learned about new products on the horizon to make our life with diabetes easier and to improve diabetes management in the future.

We saw stars we love like Crystal Bowersox, Kendall Simmons, and Jackson the Dog. My older daughter now knows what the ideal blood sugar range is for a dog with diabetes. And she learned that she should wear sunglasses to avoid cataracts. You learn all kinds of things at a CWD conference!

In my last post called the Diabetes Disconnect, I mentioned my wish for inclusion for my children, and seeing my daughter at CWD swim with her two new BFFLs, her not wanting to leave the pool, wishing only to stay by her friends’ side to play and be free, is my lasting memory from CWD. Many thanks to all the amazing people (and animals) who make FFL what it is!

Upcoming CWD conferences can be viewed here.

 

Disney Coronado Resort

 

 

 

 

 

The Diabetes Disconnect

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Recently I saw a friend whom I hadn’t seen for a long time. When I pulled out my daughters’ meters and lancets to check blood sugars, she said “I didn’t think you still had to do that.”

This is not the first time I’ve heard someone say this. People seem to interpret the advent of continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) as the end of fingersticks. Not only were we on a break from the CGMS, but the CGMSs can lead to more fingersticks due to the alarms for low or high numbers and the need to confirm the readings, as well as the need for calibration with fingersticks.

I think there is a big disconnect as to what people think it’s like to have Type 1 diabetes and what it actually is like. Some of that confusion is due to the muddling of throwing Type 2 diabetes into the same pot, like when I get asked if my children are overweight. And some is probably due to confusing headlines, as in Cure for Type 1 Discovered (…it’s in mice) or New Drug for Diabetes (…it’s for Type 2).

Also people are not aware of all the variables that come into play to control blood sugars. I think people think you take your medicine and you get a steady blood glucose of 120, when in fact you have to guess what the dose of your medicine is based on your guess of what the carbs in the food is based on what your guess of the portion of food eaten is, plus take into account your guess of the amount of fat and protein in the food, and whether you just exercised or if you’re about to exercise, or whether you’re going to sleep, or if you’re going to be somewhere difficult to treat a low (such as a child on a school bus); and don’t forget to pray that your pump infusion set is working and that your insulin didn’t fry in the heat. Now push go on your pump or stab your arm with a needle and, voilà, you’re done!

There is one place where there is no disconnect in the world of diabetes and that is at the Children With Diabetes Friends For Life conference in Orlando, which begins on Wednesday July 10th. There everyone gets it, and no one thinks you’re texting while someone is talking to you when you are actually giving your daughter life-saving medicine. And when people see you look up in a distracted manner instead of replying to their questions, they know you are just doing math in your head, plus the complex analysis of variables and prayer as listed above, and will just wait patiently. At Friends For Life, no one will think your daughter can’t go on a playdate because she has diabetes. Here the friends are real, and the conference is one big playdate that makes up for all the playdates and sleepovers that your daughter isn’t included in. There my daughters will wear their pumps and put on the CGMSs and wear them proudly and no one will point and say ‘what’s that?’.

And as if this week isn’t exciting enough, Monday July 8th to Wednesday July 10th is the JDRF Children’s Congress. 160 children from all over country will travel to Washington, DC, to meet with their representatives and explain what it really is like to have Type 1 diabetes. These young diabetes advocates will have one goal: to get the Special Diabetes Program renewed this year by congress so Type 1 medical research can continue. The Special Diabetes Program provides for 110 million dollars in funding and you can learn about it here or become an advocate yourself here. Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Found Your “IPOD”

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Those were happy words when the hotel called to let me know the Dexcom G4 receiver had been found. A call to the hotel the day before turned up nothing. When the hotel room was cleaned that night, the “ipod” was found and turned into the lost & found.  Since the “ipod” was labeled with my cellphone number, a woman at the lost & found called me the next day. So I am glad I label everything… oh the power of a label maker!

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Taking the Steps to a Cure for Type 1: The Special Diabetes Program

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The Capitol

The Special Diabetes Program (SDP) legislates 150 million dollars for Type 1 Diabetes research annually. The SPD was renewed in 2012 for one year (previously renewed for 3 years), so it will be up for renewal again this year. Multi-year funding is needed to plan for and continue large-scale trials.

Research studies that the SDP has supported include: Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, the TEDDY Study, Clinical Islet Transplantation Consortium, the Beta Cell Biology Consortium, the Diabetes Research in Children Network, the Diabetic Complications Consortium, and the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network.

To support the renewal of the SDP, you can become a JDRF advocate.

Becoming a JDRF advocate is simple and costs nothing. You can sign up online at JDRF Advocacy. Then you will receive emails with legislative updates and requests to email or call your representatives when needed.

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The Five Year Diaversary

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This week my 5-year-old daughter will be celebrating her 5th-year diaversary (the day will also mark 9 child-years of Type 1 diabetes in our family).

“Unlimited possibility” is her future, according to Sebastien Sasseville. In his presentation at the Children With Diabetes Focus on Technology conference in Crystal City, Virginia on February 3, 2013, he said people set the bar for themselves and “people need to challenge their perceptions” of what they are able to do.

Seb, who also has a younger brother with Type 1 diabetes, has climbed Mount Everest (carrying his insulin in a thermos), has raced through the Sahara Desert ‘for fun’ to complete the Sahara Race (155 miles in 7 days at 120 degrees) with his test strips and other supplies on his back, and has run 5 ironman triathlons.

I can only imagine how Seb celebrates his diaversary. I don’t think he celebrates with cake. I think he climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro backwards or something. I am open to creative ways to celebrate five years of hard work (nine child-years). Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Seb tweets at @sebinspires, and he is a machine for inspiration, too. Here are some of his mantras:

Persistence is required: it’s not the size of our actions but the frequency and quality of our actions.

Educate, prepare, set goals, experiment.

What is the lesson that diabetes is supposed to teach you?

Our individual weaknesses transform to collective strength.

 

 

Tweets from the Children With Diabetes Focus on Technology Conference

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A summary of my tweets from the Children With Diabetes Focus on Technology Conference in Crystal City, Virginia February 1-3, 2013 touches on the highlights from the conference. More tweets can be found on twitter under the hashtag: #cwdtech.

From Juicy Mama ‏@JuicyMama2go:

Learning lots at the children with diabetes focus on technology conference in DC

Jeff Hitchcock…Symlin and Victoza have been used in teens and can help with weight loss

Jeff Hitchcock: two take home messages for teens 1. test BS more often and 2. pre-bolus for meals

Listening to Dr. Moritsugu speak on the zen of health literacy

Dr. Moritsugu says being a parent is the most difficult job in the world

Can Type 1 diabetes be prevented? TrialNet: http://www.diabetestrialnet.org/

JDRF Research Summit March 9th, 2013: http://www.jdrfsummit.org/

This t:slim insulin pump is so small it actually looks cute

It’s weird to get excited over an infusion set but I can’t wait to try the Orbit…Rotating head, breathable & heat sensitive tape

Dr. Damiano: Pathways to the Artificial Pancreas… 2013 camp study planned

Dr. Damiano holding up the Artificial Pancreas Dexcom-iphone device.

Commercial launch of artificial pancreas goal is first half of 2017- Ed Damiano

Tandem working on dual chamber pump for insulin and glucagon – Damiano

Keeping kids with diabetes safe at school by Crystal Jackson:

“We want our kids to have equal opportunity at school, like their friends,” Crystal Jackson

Crystal Jackson: 504 plans apply to religious and private schools that receive federal funding too and many do

Safe at school: regardless of state and local laws, federal law requirements must be met

27 states have passed school diabetes care legislation – Crystal Jackson

Virginia law: school nurse to student ratio: 1 to 837 (ranks 24th) – C Jackson

Making sense of sensor data by Gary Scheiner

It’s not how low you go, it’s how long you stay low- Gary Scheiner

It’s where you’re headed, not just where you are- Gary Scheiner

Gary Scheiner: consolidate the snacks

Gary Scheiner: the best way to figure the duration of insulin is to give a correction dose & see when BS stops dropping

Store sensors in fridge and they can work past the expiration date – Gary Scheiner

Sensors are like fine wine. They get better with age. – Gary Scheiner

“Greatness always comes from adversity,” Sebastien Sasseville

“You have to challenge your perceptions,” @sebinspires

Sebastian has a brother with Type 1 too. He tries every day to win against his diabetes. @sebinspires

I could not think of another disease you must do together. It’s a team effort. @sebinspires

“When you build a team you are always stronger,” @sebinspires

When you climb Mt. Everest you go up and down to get to the top, you just don’t go up.” @sebinspires

 

JDRF Children’s Congress Application Deadline is Nov. 1st

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The next JDRF Children’s Congress will be held in Washington, D.C. on July 8th to July 10th, 2013. Children ages 4 to 17 are eligible to apply. It is a chance for children to advocate for a cure for Type 1 diabetes themselves. They will meet their members of congress and other children with diabetes from around the country, as well as some international delegates. The application is online and can be completed here. The JDRF provides for travel expenses. More information about the program is here. A link to my previous post on the 2011 JDRF Children’s Congress is here: Highlights From the JDRF Children’s Congress.

A New Lancet Device

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I got excited when I saw the new Accu-Check MultiClix Lancet Device at the vendor table at the Children With Diabetes Focus on Technology conference but not because it was a one-click gizmo. I got excited because it was black and our lancet devices are blue. I didn’t know they came in different colors! Or do the new devices only come in black?

Personally I would like one with polka dots and maybe one with stripes, no make that a paisley pattern. Yes, it matters. When you have two children with diabetes and they share a bedroom, it can be hard to keep two lancet devices separate, especially in the middle of the night when I’m half asleep. I always have to be careful about this and force my eyes to open fully during the night. Yes, each lancet device is labeled with their names and decorated with different stickers for instant recognition. But even so, the stickers can peel off, and they still do look similar. So a pink one and a polka-dotted one would be great.

I love how the lancets are concealed in a drum, so there are no sharps to worry about, but I would also like it if it weren’t shaped like a pen. I need it to be half the height to fit into a smaller bag of supplies (carrying all those supplies around is its own prickly problem) AND why is this device round? Do you realize I have one that lives under the stove and one that I finally fished out from under a bureau? Yes, put some breaks on these things so they don’t ROLL!

Also, did you know that our insurance doesn’t cover the lancet devices? The explanation I was given by the pharmacist was that it is an over-the-counter item. So let’s splice the $30 cost of these things ($60 for us because we need double of everything) because that price doesn’t even include the lancets. By the way, the new lancet devices use a different type of lancet drum, so don’t think you will upgrade and use your old lancets.

Of course the ideal lancet device would have no sharps and cause no pain or calluses. Perhaps it would be a skin reader, and the only side effect would be laughs for the ticklish.

Until then, give me my polka dots!

The Focus On Technology Children With Diabetes Conference

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The Focus On Technology Children With Diabetes Conference was held on February 25-26th, 2012, in West Conshohocken, PA and was the 53rd Children With Diabetes Conference.

The Saturday morning keynote address, CGMS and New Technology, was given by Dr. Henry Anhalt, Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director of the Artificial Pancreas Program for Animas.

Other lectures included Advanced Pumping Concepts by Rick Philbin, Managing Technology in School by Crystal Jackson, Making Sense of Sensor Data by Gary Scheiner, Managing Diabetes Stress and Burnout by Korey Hood, Infusion Sets and Sensors by Natalie Bellini and other topics.

The closing speech was by Tom Karlya, Vice President of the Diabetes Research Foundation, known as the Diabetes Dad, whose mantra is ‘Don’t do nothing!’.

The children had their own faculty that led them through arts and crafts, swimming in the hotel pool, scavenger hunts, exercise, carb counting in the real world and other discussions.

Exhibitors and sponsors included the JDRF, MyCareConnect, TrialNet, Animas, Sanofi-Avenits, Novo Nordisk, OneTouch and Accu-Chek.

Below are some tips and tricks of the trade from the conference:

Did you know that 2 inches of tubing holds about 1 unit of insulin? That you can put a 13 mm angled set in half way for kids and it will still work? That a 9 mm infusion set will stay in better than a 6 mm one? Or that after 48 hours with one infusion set your total daily insulin dose increases and blood glucose levels will increase? Or to aim for a blood sugar level of 150 before exercise? Or that chocolate milk can prevent lows after exercise?

Did you know that Mickey Mouse has a friend named Coco with Type 1 diabetes?

Or that the highest incidence of Type I diabetes is now among children age 5 or younger?

More information on Children With Diabetes can be obtained on their website.

The 54th Children With Diabetes conference will be the Friends for Life Conference in Orlando, Florida, July 3 – 8, 2012 at the Marriott World Center.

As the Diabetes Dad proclaimed at the conference…

“Someday we will go to the Children Without Diabetes conference!”

“It will be at Disney!” chimed in CWD Founder and President Jeff Hitchcock.