Monthly Archives: April 2012

Lenny – FridayFind 5

Posted by

1

One thing (person?) we were all introduced to when I attended the Diabetes Advocates Forum at Medtronic last month was Lenny.

Lenny the Lion, that is.

We all know Lenny from his Carb-counting game app for iPhone, iPad and Android, but now he comes to life for children (of ALL ages) everywhere!

Medtronic worked with Build-A-Bear to make these special bears to help give courage to kids when learning how to use an insulin pump and insert sites. Every child, 12 and under, who go onto the pump for the first time receives their very own Lenny from their trainer. He has special little spots on him – tummy, thighs, upper arms, and butt, for learning specific places that they can insert pump sites into. He even has one on his paw for testing blood sugar! The spots are made of a denser foamy material that make it feel like a real insertion, not just hold on to the site once it’s in. The idea behind Lenny is to help kids learn to have courage, and to not let diabetes hold them back.

Lenny came with his own material too:

 

{How to register YOUR Lenny to receive a birth certificate so you your child can go play with him in Bearville!}

{Tips on Site Rotation and how often to change them}

{A few more quick tips}

{I put some of BabyK’s 3-6 month clothes on him. Poor thing was “nakey”. ;) }

And, from Medtronic themselves, here’s a fact sheet on Lenny:

{Click to see the full version - Used with permission}

One question that came up a lot on Facebook after a few of us posted the pictures was, “HEY! I want a Lenny! Where can I get one?” Well, my friends, he is available in the Medtronic Store, as well as a mini-version of himself that can hold an insulin pump inside (or Guardian CGM). I think this is great because there are those of us who are *slightly* over 12 (not pointing fingers at myself at ALL) who would want one but didn’t get one in pump training.

The only thing I wish he had (and actually it was mentioned to Medtronic during the forum) is his very own pump of somesort… and a CGM if the child is going to go on both. Some even mentioned Lenny having a sibling. I think Lenny needs to have a Lioness best friend – Lynn? Leona? Lenora? – who is diabetic too.. for the girls. Cause, come on… you know you would want to put a cute frilly outfit on her! (Possibly be a good way to show them how to “hide” their pumps? No?) This was actually brought up as a question in the forum – “would there be a girl version?”, and the answer was no. But I’m thinking that maybe, as with most companies, if the demand is high enough, they might consider it… so, would you like to have the choice of getting a Lenny or a Lenora? Let me know and I’ll pass it along!

Now, I’m off to shop for more clothes from Build-A-Bear for him, then snuggle and play with the app for a bit!

Suga-Rating for this FridayFind?

♥♥♥♥

4 out of 5

Disclaimer! I did receive Lenny at no charge to me from Minimed. They did not ask me to blog about him, nor feature him in a Friday Find post. The kit that was sent to me had everything as shown above, and did not include 6 infusion sets as mentioned in the online product feature (I’m assuming this is because I’m already a pumper and the 6 would be for the child to practice with during training).

9 Months

Posted by

1

Nine months have passed.

While I still see the baby that you were the day I had you, you’re slowly morphing into this toddler. A kid with his own little personality. One thing above all that I simply love and that melts my heart is how happy of a child you are. There’s hardly ever a time when you cry or get upset, unless of course it’s the normal stuff like hunger, diaper, or you have bumped your head on something while trying to be adventurous… oh, or if you have something you can’t and I have to take it from you. Things excite you so much. Your eyes open wide, you squeal in your own little weird way, and you clap your hands as if to say “YEEEEY, mom!”

And remember last month when you were starting to scoot backwards? Well, you still can’t quite go forwards, but I no longer have to put you into crawling position for you to get down and go where you want to go. You have mastered getting from sitting to crawling position, where then you look behind you and back up, where – when you get there – you spin yourself around on your belly to face whatever it is you were going to get. Oh, and I have also given up on expecting what position or area of your crib I’ll find you in in the mornings. I do belive you have covered every square inch of that thing either on your back, side, or belly, scooting and rolling about from one side to the other. Sometimes, even under your pillow.

And this month, I left you for the biggest, longest trip ever away from you… and away from everyone (except daddy… he went with me).  We’re talkin’ clear across the USA, but it was for a good cause, I promise. I hated so much to leave you, but I knew you were in excellent hands. Thank GOODNESS for FaceTime and video cameras. Even though we were thousands of miles apart, we were still able to talk and chat (babble?) so it helped a bit. Besides, I think your cousin kept you pretty well entertained, as I heard you had an itinerary of your whole stay well before we left you.

You are starting to be independent (geez, don’t know where you got THAT from! ;) ). You have learned what mommy’s iPhone camera is and what it does, and you either grab for it or you did like you did this morning and turn away from me. Now, gone are the days of posing you for cutesy pictures… I’ll be on my toes (or elbows), and exercising some mad “creative” picture skills I’m sure.

You’re also starting to notice the things that are attached to your mommy… like the box with the string (a.k.a – the pump). You see the string.. you want to eat the string… you pull the string, and momma says “no”. But you think that “no” word, or the other one – “stop”, are funny words, so you laugh and pull harder, causing mommy to squeal. You think it’s mommy being funny, so you laugh. It’s in that moment… that second… that I dislike diabetes all over again. Here, you think you’re playing with a simple toy, but you’re playing with something very serious, and I have to take it from you. You get upset, and I quickly distract you with another toy, but in my mind, I know that we’re soon going to be faced with the questions of “what’s that, mama?” or “I want to play with it, mama… why not?” and simple toy distraction won’t work, and the journey will begin of how to explain my attachments to you and why I need them. You will then enter into my world of diabetes as a T3, not just mommy’s baby. I know it’s going to happen soon.. I’ve just got to mentally get ready for it. I want to tell you and explain things just right so you understand. I don’t want it to scare you, which is what I’m more afraid of than anything.

 

You are my sunshine.

My 20-something ball of smiles and bolus-free sugar.

I love every bit of you and everything about you.

“I love you right up to the moon – and back.”

 

Three

Posted by

1

Today, my blog is 3 years old. In essense, time has flown, yet it has stood still.

Looking from my first post and throughout the posts over time, you can see one thing is evident as to what this blog was about. Not only diabetes… but pregnancy. The dream I had then of a baby boy or girl came true, and now that baby boy will be 9 months old this week. And while I am so, so, so very thankful to have him, I’m still searching for that “completeness” of family.

Erik and I have talked about it several times, and we do want one more child. And just as with my first post, I know it can happen, it will just be in God’s timing. Until then, I have to get myself straightened back up. I worked on my control and had it inline for 2 years before BabyK came into our lives, and I can do it again (I think). My last A1c was unacceptable in my eyes (well, and for good reason… 9.0 is just a weeee bit outta range), and I’ve got to get it back down. But just as any change in my life for me, it has to come in increments. So even though it still won’t be the golden 7 or below, I’ll be happy if I can get it down to 8.0-8.5 range this next time. Then maybe 7.5-8.0 the next. And hopefully, land somewhere in the 6.0-6.5 range like I did before pregnancy and be able to hold it there. It’s just a process of relearning myself and being comfortable again with seeing numbers like 82 mg/dl and not going into a panic attack and eventually “treating” it.

Who knows, maybe three years from now, I’ll be posting about the TWO munchkins I have, one almost 4 years old and the other 9 or 10 months old. And this time, I am dreaming of them, covered in dirt from making mud pies, holding up their little hands as if to say, “YEY, mom, look at us!”, with daddy, shaking his head behind us.

Thank you, to all of my readers. You are one of the biggest reasons I keep writing. (That, and if I didn’t, I fell sure I’d be insane by now! LOL) Now, let’s all go get cupcakes to celebrate!

Looko My Glooko! FridayFind 4

Posted by

2

Hi guys! It’s time for this week’s :

Today, I’m talking about the Glooko Logbook app and Metersync cable.

Some time a few weeks ago, Molly from Glooko sent me an email asking if I would spotlight their Logbook app and cable in an upcoming Friday Find post. Of course, I love any ideas to come my way of products to feature, and I already had my own cable and had the app anyway, so why not? So, for  a month, I put myself to the challenge of using the cable and logbook to track my bgs and foods to get a full opinion of the cable and app.

Since my own readings are quite embarrassing to show, I won’t show you all of them, but I’ll mix some in with some from their product press pages:

Upon opening the app, first off you will be asked to set up your app. No biggie. Just select what type of meter you use and off you go. Meters that are compatible are:

Meter Compatibility Chart

Next, you connect your meter to the Apple device – iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad – and select sync. It automatically syncs your readings and you’re done.

Or you can go into your history, and further log from there. You can select the apple to tag whether the meter reading was before or after a meal (and I think it was genius for them to use an apple to tag it since it’s an Apple App!).

(That’s their image….)

{This is mine. ;-) }

Logging from the app is pretty simple. You just have to keep in mind that you only MANUALLY log foods or notes (as in exercise, etc).  The built-in food database makes it easy to find and log your foods per meals, and it even auto-calculates the total amount of carbs in the meal for you. That is a big plus in my book. No more searching, writing the carbs for individual foods down, then entering it. One step is eliminated. Yey!

When it’s time to export for say, a doctor visit or just to look over and see how your numbers are doing, (and this is where it was quite confusing to me) you have two options. You can either “send” arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the logbook history and you can email a PDF or eFax a two-week or one month report to yourself or to your doctor or whoever you’d like to have it. OR, you can go to the settings tab and export it as a CSV file if you are someone who loves doing Excel sheets and the such. I’m not one of those people, so a simple PDF (as shown above) is great for me.

My only 2 complaints with the app are (1) that you cannot manually add bg readings into the app. I know this may not be a big deal to some, but for me, I still have the old first-gen OneTouch Mini that didn’t have a cable connector, so those readings taken from that meter cannot be included. Not to mention, it’s not a meter for everyone as people who may use the OmniPod won’t be able to use the app either (or not that I know of. If any of you have tried it, please let me know so I can correct this!) And (2), it doesn’t give much feedback other than the report. There are no graphs or charts for visual people (like me) to look over and see averages over time. In fact there are no averages calculated at all. And that’s not something I’m a big fan of.  My thinking is if I’m going to take the time to use something that digitally logs my information, it should have a way to show averages – like most BG meters now – 7, 14,30 day average with average tests per day, etc.

Overall, I liked the app and cable. I like the ease and simplicity of the app. I also like that I can sync more than one meter into the program because I currently use 2 meters. One in my purse for on-the-go or when I’m in the living room / kitchen area and one beside my bed for 1st morning and last  bedtime bg checks.  So with all that in mind, this is how I made the app fit me: I only logged my meals and insulin during the day. At 10pm each night, I had a reminder alert on my iPhone to “Upload to Glooko”, it would sync, and my readings would fall in line with the “notes” I had added during the day, so the only step I had to take was to mark in the app with the apples which readings were before or after meals, or not at all.

In short, if you are someone who has the devotion to logging electronically and that doesn’t want feedback, this app is perfect. It’s simple and to the point. No frills, no bells, no whistles. But if you are someone who wants all the snapshot graphs and charts to show how you’ve done over a period of time, this one wont’ give it to you…. currently. From what I’ve heard from a little bird, they are working on getting an app update through the FDA to integrate some graphical averages, a.k.a. bells and whistles, into the app.

Suga-rating for this FridayFind?

♥♥♥

3 out of 5

Better. FridayFind 3

Posted by

2

Upon entering the discussion room for the Diabetes Advocates Forum, I noticed right away that everyone was supplied with pens, paper, a schedule of how things were going to go, and this:

The Book of Better

By Chuck Eichten

I was so excited to see this sitting on the table… at each seat. I had been putting off buying my copy of the book just because, heck, I haven’t quite figured out how to balance being a mom, diabetic, and tech junkie yet, so how was I going to get back into reading books too? Well, it just so happened that I forgot and left my beloved “Think Like A Pancreas – New Edition” at home {Actually, in the truck. I left it sitting on the console. I had all intentions of bringing it and still forgot it. So close!}, and I had planned on trying to find something to read on the way home. So I was doubly thrilled with knowing we were being given a copy of Chuck’s book not only because I would finally have one of my own, but because it was PERFECT timing to be able to read it!

During the session breaks, I was able to thumb through the book. I knew right away that I was going to like this one too. See, even though I have 23 years of diabetes history under my belt, I have learned that you never can learn enough. And, it’s always good to have someone else’s point of view too. Reading through the book, Chuck has put diabetes into common ENGLISH terms. It’s not at all like having to sit down and read something from a medical book where you end up being slightly more puzzled at the end of the book than you were after the preface. Not to mention, I love his illustrations.

The whole point of the book is to say that no matter what you do, you can never be “perfect” with diabetes. To set your mind to think that you are going to strive for perfection almost instantly sets you up to fail. But, if you change your mindset to strive for better, you can achieve it. As a matter of fact, in the book, he refers to himself as “the idiot” because he wrote the book in hopes that if he tells us what “idiot” mistakes he made through the years of living with diabetes, that we won’t do the same thing. {Sidenote: this guy is NOT an idiot in the least. He’s just taken the “mistakes” he has made as a diabetic and turned them into a book and shown us in his book how to put a positive spin on the situation. He is an awesome guy in person, and I am SO glad to have met him.}

Seeing as it was given to me just as I’m trying to “restart” my way of thinking of diabetes management after my latest burnout, I think it was given to me at the perfect time. So, if you’re going through some sort of d-burnout, I would strongly encourage you to go get this book. {It’s on Amazon!} Chuck did a great job writing and illustrating it. I would offer you mine, but he signed it to me. {HOW COOL?!?}

 

Suga-rating for this FridayFind?

♥♥♥♥♥

5 out of 5

Recap 1 – CGM Technology – DAF

Posted by

4

This week has flown by for me in the sense of I’m trying to find where to fit in some rest-time to recover from Medtronic’s Diabetes Advocates Forum last week, but it seems to not be happening. I’m envious of other bloggers who have already been able to post updates and let you guys in on what happened. But I will do my best to share a few things and tell you as much as possible that I remember {trust me, it was a lot packed into that short little time!}.

Sidenote:  Let me just say that I am totally in awe of David for blogging DURING the forum. He did an excellent job, and if you would like to view the post, you can do so HERE. {But be sure to come back, k? ;) }

The first session in the meeting was led by Greg Meehan, General Manager of CGM Business. { Greg was also at my table at dinner the night before. This guy has a serious passion for the CGM side of Medtronic, plus, he’s super-cool because he grew up very close to where I live. Haha! Just kidding. } Greg spoke about the current CGM technology that we have today, and how the new sensor – the Enlite – will be a large improvement over what we have now.  Not only will there be better algorithms for more accurate tracking {yey!}, but the new sensor will also be a 6-day sensor – twice the time wear-ability over the current CGM sensor.

What is sad is that the system for the Enlite CGM sensor is available in other countries, but not here in the US. Good news is Medtronic is getting their ducks in a row to send everything over to the FDA for approval, so hopefully we will see it soon. Why does it take so long for them to send things in to the FDA? In a chat later in the day, it was explained that they have found that when dealing with the FDA, it is better for them to have as much paperwork and testing together as possible to send in to avoid any possible questioning by the FDA that may slow the process down. They have found that in doing this, the process is much faster and they have a better chance at approval. We may not like the snail-speed, but it’s better for us in the long run. {Remember: Good things come to those who wait.}

One thing they have gotten approval for is the mySentry device. For those of you who don’t know what this is, basically it is a relay  monitor for the insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor. It shows a status of the insulin pump and sensor, as well as a trend graph of the pump users CGM data. The great thing about this device is that parents can now sleep more soundly knowing that the mySentry will alarm and alert them of different statuses – whether the pump user is low, high, etc. And it’s not just for parents of children who wear the pump (though that was what they had in mind when it was being developed). For people like Sara who live alone and can’t always hear the alarms, or even me – though I’m married with a baby, I can sleep through alarms like a champ and so can Erik. The security of knowing there is a way to have a higher alarm to wake you up, not to mention being able to take a quick glance at the screen before bed for full info about your pump is very nice.

{One thing I’m really jealous of, though, is everything available in an instant on that screen – pump battery, reservoir, cgm battery, and days left on sensor – all right there, in bright colors. I want that on my pump screen too. /disgress}

They have had this for a while, but we actually got to see it demo’ed in person! Several people videoed it {which, I tried, but my iPhone ran out of memory… Too many pictures, I guess. ;-) }, one of which was Cherise, and you can find them here on YouTube: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.  Currently, the price of the mySentry is $3000. And yes, that is a HUGE amount, but they are currently working with insurers to try and get coverage for this product. As of the meeting date, they had just gotten approval from an insurance company in Florida to cover it. Their goal is to get it covered just as an insulin pump would be, but just like the insulin pump, it takes baby steps. Even to this day, some still have trouble to get CGMs covered by their insurance since it is still considered relatively new technology. So, in essence, the mySentry is a brand-new newborn and companies aren’t willing to cover it until they know what medical value it has for the patient.

{Aaandd, cue disclosure!}

When explaining how coverage for new products work, we were let in on a little secret. A lot of insurance companies not only go on what the company says in terms of how “helpful” the product may be, but it also goes on demand from the customer and the doctor. A lot of times, the doctors aren’t requesting the device or information about the device because they don’t know about it or don’t quite understand what it is. One of the big links in this process is the patient voice. Our voice plays a big roll in medical device approval. So, in hopes that our voice will be heard a little more, they offered to let us use the mySentry device, along with – if needed – a Revel insulin pump + CGM  system or Guardian CGM system (provided we take the necessary steps with getting doctor prescriptions, as that is something that is always needed) for a 3-month period. In return, they want our feedback on the device so that they can have a larger patient-voice to approach insurance companies with, so that hopefully we can get the ball rolling and get better insurance coverage for the device for those of you who need it. So, remember: bigger patient voice + better doctor knowledge + more customer experience stories = hopes for better, easier insurance coverage.

So, look for those posts coming soon. We haven’t gotten an estimated date on when that will happen, but I do know they are working on getting all the necessary paperwork together for us to start the trial.

The rest I’ll blog about over a couple of days next week since tomorrow I will be featuring a new FridayFind, also brought to you by the Diabetes Advocates Forum. :-)

Healing

Posted by

4

I can remember for years being prayed for at the altar of my church. There were hands outstretched towards and on me as dear saints prayed fervently for the healing of my body… that I would go home as a whole person – without diabetes. Now, before I go any further, let me say that I do believe in the healing power of the Lord. I have heard of and have seen people healed fully. While I have seen this and believe that it can happen, it is something that apparently is not in the cards for me right now. I believe that IF the Lord so chooses, He will in His time.

But healing can come in other forms as well.

One conversation that came up the night of the dinner was asked by Mr. Tom Karlya. Because of a relationship situation that happened with his daughter, she told him that she felt “broken”.

This hit home with me.

For years, I felt “broken”. And because I was never “healed”, I would continue to be broken. Who would ever want to live with someone as damaged as I was? Who needed constant 24/7 monitoring? Who at any given moment could pass out or be in an ER, or heaven forbid could die in their sleep, leaving them heartbroken and alone?

But then I learned something. Healing doesn’t always have to be physical. It can be an emotional healing as well. To quote a verse from the song sung by The Perry’s {I Rest My Case At The Cross – by Kyla Rowland}

“There’s a covenant sweet, it was written for me,
It’s a promise that I could be healed..
From All my sin and my shame,
Even heartache and pain,
It was signed and confirmed on a Hill.”

And from the Bible:

So while, yes, there is a physical side of healing, there is an emotional side that has to come too. Diabetes is a very emotionally draining disease. You are constantly bombarded with feeling like you have to be perfect and since diabetes there is no perfect in the diabetes world, you feel like you constantly fail. And because you have are on this roller-coaster of good day/ bad day along with the thinking that if you mess up, you are failing, but if you didn’t have a bum pancreas, you would never have been in this situation in the first place so therefore you feel broken {deeep breath}….

Some healing comes from accepting that your body is how God made it to be. He made you who you are for a reason. (Psalm 139:14) The emotional pain that comes with living with a chronic condition is hard, but we don’t have to bear it ourselves. We can let go and let Him restore our souls. Every time our hearts are in pain and feeling like we have once again been cut by the knife of a high A1c or unrelenting low or high blood sugar, we can tell Him we are in pain and need him to heal the hurt, and because He has promised us that He will, He does. Sometimes right then and there, sometimes over time.

I love the DOC. The emotional support that I find there is beyond what I ever imagined. But far beyond what can ever be found there, is the emotional healing that comes from Him.

So, in the words of one of my dearest and best friends – when it gets tough – Breath ~ Pray ~Relax.

In this, I have found my healing.