SHARE-ing our Dexcom Story

This week, Dexcom announced some very exciting news! 

The FDA has approved Dexcom's new Share Direct system!  This system allows the Dexcom receiver to "talk" directly to your smartphone --- without using the Share dock!  This is what Dexcom had to say about it in their press release:
"The Dexcom Share receiver uses a secure wireless connection via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) between a patient's receiver and an app on the patient's smartphone to transmit glucose information to apps on the mobile devices of up to five designated recipients, or "followers," without the need for a dedicated docking cradle. These followers can remotely monitor a patient's glucose information and receive alert notifications from almost anywhere, initially via their Apple® iPhone® or iPod® touch and in the future on Android devices, giving them peace of mind and reassurance when they are apart."

You can also read some great information about this new product on this post on Diabetes Mine. 

 So... You know we are pretty pumped about this!

I love that it's iphone compatible and that it doesn't require a dock or cords.  I'm all for anything that is going to give her more freedom and independence while still allowing us to keep her safe!  I also know that this will help her teachers, nurses, and other caregivers feel more confident in caring for her.

SHE is excited because she thinks this is a great reason why she needs a phone of her own!  Nope!  It's works with a ipod touch so she's set.  Much to her dismay.   
We love our Dexcom.  We can't imagine living without it.  In fact, if you want to SEE and HEAR Sweets and I talk about our experience with Dexcom and why it means so much to us, check out our video!  It's on her Dexcom Warrior page that you can see HERE.  We made this video with Dexcom over the summer and were really pleased with how it turned out!  You may want to grab a tissue before you hit play.  Don't say I didn't warn you...



Oh - and I apologize for the ugly cry face.  I honestly don't cry that much anymore.  Like hardly ever.  But for reason... I could not hold it together for this!

I think that just speaks to how our feelings about this product are not just a bunch of nice words.  It's so much deeper than that.  We are truly grateful to have "eyes on the inside" that enable us to manage her diabetes.  We want for her to have a long, healthy life free of complications.  And we know our Dexcom is an invaluable tool to make that a reality!

ps - Don't forget to enter my Lauren's Hope Giveaway!  Help me name a beautiful BLUE bracelet and it could be yours!  You have until Saturday... Click here!

What's In a Name? A Giveaway with Lauren's Hope

Waaaay back in October this little blog reached a pretty big milestone.

One.  Million.  Hits.

Are you kidding me?  I was floored... I really never expected anyone who wasn't related to me to ever read what I was writing.  But almost six years later, I'm totally honored and shocked that sharing our experiences with raising a child with Type One has brought some comfort to others going through the same things. 

I wanted to do something special to say THANKS FOR READING! 

Lauren's Hope was kind enough to come up with a very special contest just for my readers!

When that name is Lauren's Hope, it makes me think of beautiful, sturdy, fun jewelry!

As you know, we love Lauren's Hope!  Sweets wears her medical alert bracelet from Lauren's Hope every day.  More than that - she honestly never takes it off.  She sleeps in it, showers in it, cheers and tumbles and dances in it... It's taken a beating for sure and it's held strong! 

Picking out a bracelet was one of the first things we did together after she was diagnosed.  It was a chance to do something fun - SHOP - because of this disease.  At three years old, she didn't have control over anything, really.  But she could pick out a bracelet!  And that she did! 

Wearing a medical alert bracelet isn't really a luxury for us.  It's a necessity.  When she was younger, I felt safer having her wear it because I knew she probably was too young to share that important medical information if it was needed.  We also used it as way to make sure she always had our cell numbers on her just in case she got lost!  Now that she's older, it's important for other reasons.  I feel that it gives us some added security now that she's doing more things independently. 

And like I said, it's a great way to add some FUN and STYLE to an otherwise ugly and tedious disease. 

Lauren's Hope has designed a special bracelet... JUST FOR US! 

Isn't it pretty?  Beautiful blue beads for diabetes awareness!

Want to win it?!?

Here's what you need to do!

This beautiful bracelet needs a NAME!

So get your thinking caps on!  Think outside of the box!  Let your creativity flow!

Comment on this post with your ideas.  You can come up with as many as you'd like so you can have lots of chances to win! Also, share this contest on your social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. 

Sweets and I will pick our top five names.  We will then turn that list over to the folks at Lauren's Hope.  They get to have some input and make sure that there are no active or inactive bracelets with the same or similar names.  Then we will pick the winner!

You have until Saturday, January 31 at midnight EST to submit your ideas! 

We can't wait to see what you've got!  And thanks again for reading!

PS- If you want to check out all their fab designs, click that banner over to the right!

Quiet Tears and Making It Look Easy

We go along for awhile on cruise control.

This life is just our normal. 

All the testing and counting.  The sleepless nights.  The site changes.  The shots. 

It's just our life. 

It's our normal.  And we don't really talk about our normal.  We just do it.

And then I saw this pin on Pinterest.  And it made me think.

It's been almost six years.  No one really asks how she's doing very much anymore.  No one EVER asks me how I'm doing. 

Is it because after so many years, people think we've just got this?
Is it because people assume we're fine? 
Is it because she LOOKS fine.  Healthy.  Happy.  ?
Is it because I don't talk about it so much?
Is it because no one knows when I've been up five or six times a night and am working on about 2 hours of sleep?
Is it because people think she's ok now? 
Is it because people think she's "controlled"?
Is it because people think diabetes doesn't affect her anymore? That she's used to it? That the needles don't hurt any more?  That it's not dangerous?

Do we give the impression that this disease has become.... easy?

Because it's not.

It's still hard.

It can still kick my ass into next week hard.

There are times when it IS our normal and it's just what we do and it rolls off our backs.

It hasn't gotten easy.  We've just gotten better.

 One of my favorite quotes I found on Pinterest!

But we still don't sleep through the night.  We still test at least once.  We are rarely rested.  (I'm not saying you have to test at night.  I'm just saying we do.  And we will.  Because she NEVER has ever woken up from a low.  She can't tell she's low when she's awake.  She has been in the 20's low and you'd never know it based on her.  But to each their own.  That's how we roll and although we hate losing sleep we feel it's needed.)  I'm used to functioning now on very little sleep.  It's the trade off for keeping my child healthy and alive. 

We bust our rumps every day to keep her in range.  She is crazy active.  It's who she is.  She loves dancing and cheering and gymnastics.  And to do what she loves requires A LOT of work on our parts.  (In fact, as I type this while she's at dance, let me pause to check her Dex becasue she got a LOT of insulin earlier and who knows what's happening... Crap.  She's 66. Hold on....)

There are so many factors that affect her blood sugar. 

So.  Many.  Things. 

Controlled?  I don't know.  Managed.

She rarely complains about finger pricks and site changes.  But they bother her.  They still do.  You can see it in the slump of her shoulders when she realizes it's pod change night.  It might be a split second.  Because she know it has to be done.  But she doesn't LIKE it. 

She looks healthy.  She IS healthy.  And happy.  But do you see the red circles under her eyes?  Do you see the look... the not there look from lows?  Do you see the headaches from being too high?  Most don't see it.  She hides it well.

Most people don't see how she hates having to miss class because she has to test.  Or how she hates having to stop while dancing or cheering.  How she hates being singled out.  How she feels different from most of her friends.  She seems so well adjusted.  And she is.  But it still sucks. 

This is what we do.  We test 10 times a day.  Sometimes more.  Sometimes less.  We count every carb you can think of.  We keep insulin in our fridge and have a medicine cabinet that's taller than me.  The people at Walgreens know us by name.  And sent us a Christmas card.  We are used to blood.  Needles. Worry.  Frustration. 

We are used to the tweaking.  We are used to treating this disease largely on our own. 

We are used to making life and death decisions every day. 

We are used to the sleepless nights (Have I mentioned that already??)

We are used to the fear. 

It's just what we do.  It's our life.  It's our normal. 

But just because we may be more quiet than we used to be does not mean it's become easy. 

We've just been so busy LIVING this life... And not just living it - but LOVING it... That somehow we've made it look.... easy. 

 Another Pinterest Fave...

What choice did we have?  

If we spent all our time moaning and crying and complaining and throwing tantrums, we wouldn't be living. 

So we've gotten on with it.  At some point, we decided it was time to pull ourselves up by the bootsraps and get busy enjoying this life. 

 

I kinda like Pinterest.  I may have a problem.  You should check out my Diabetes board.  

That doesn't mean it's gotten easy.  It doesn't meant that this disease doesn't still take my breath away and that it doesn't still bring me to my knees.  It doesn't mean that at times the tears don't fall. 

They do.  It's just that they are now mostly quiet tears.  And they don't keep me from seeing the beauty around me. 

So maybe the fact that we make this look easy... 

And that we make it easy for people to forget that it's a difficult, challenging, serious disease...

Maybe that's actually a compliment. 

Because maybe it means that we're doing something right.

New Year - Same Old Diabetes

It's a NEW YEAR!!!

There has been so much going on around here lately... Some of it brand new and some just slightly new!

Here's all the newish stuff we've been up to and the reasons that I've been MIA...

I have a new class of Kindergarteners!  They are super sweet and I love them all.  They keep me VERY busy!  That's not new!

Sweets is still taking dance but she's at a new studio.  She's learning new hip hop poses like a "baby freeze" and dancing her heart out.  At this studio, parents are not allowed to sit in on the class.  So, Sweets is being responsible for her own diabetes management during class.  She keeps the Nightscout rig in her bag along with her kit and other Dexcom.  We stay in the waiting room so we are there if she needs us but she is enjoying some new freedom and responsibility.

I have been keeping busy with some newish JDRF stuff.  I spoke to one of our local Lions clubs about getting involved and fundraising for JDRF.  That is something that I've done before.  But the new part is that I also did an inservice at a local school district concerning handling type 1 in the classroom.  This was totally new for me and I was honored to be asked!  I had a great time and got to meet some wonderful new people!

What has REALLY been taking a lot of our time is CHEERLEADING!  Sweets is cheering again this year.  This year, however, she is cheering for basketball.  And I'm the coach!  Ummm... what was I thinking?!?  I know - I was thinking I was going to be there anyway to monitor BG and since no one else stepped up.... I've helped out and been an assistant coach before but being the only coach is new to me!  It's a lot of work!  We practice for 2 hours twice a week and then have games on the weekends.  Cheer makes Sweets drop like a rock.  It's all the bouncing and jumping she does.  She absolutely LOVES it and we are both having a great time!



We spent our Christmas holiday in Florida!  This is not new to me.  When I was about five years old, my family started spending our Christmas in Florida.  Christmas to me is white sand beaches!  We stopped doing this, however, when Sweets was born.  When she found this out she was NOT happy!  She loves Florida every bit as much as I do!  This year we had a full week between Christmas and going back to school so we took advantage and headed south!  It was great!

 We also made some videos for our local JDRF chapter to thank people who supported JDRF last year.  Sweets LOVED doing those videos!  We personalized them for each person... and then we had to make one to thank all the wonderful people who supported our efforts to raise money for JDRF!  You can check it out on The Princess and The Pump's Facebook page here!  The Facebook page and Instagram are a great way to keep up to date with us.  While I have trouble blogging regularly, I do post to FB and Instagram a lot!  Like all D parents, my phone is glued to my hands!

Diabetes has been there through it all.  It's been the reason for some of our new stuff.  It's complicated some of our new stuff.

And it's just been a normal part of our lives like it always has been.

I'm excited to see all the new stuff 2015 has in store... hopefully some wonderful diabetes advancements that change our lives for the better!

And....

We have some new and exciting stuff planned for all of YOU, too!  Stay tuned for an amazing giveaway with a very unique opportunity! You won't want to miss this!