Have any questions about Dexcom for Nick Jonas?

Short and simple post today...

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Tomorrow myself and a few other diabetes bloggers are getting to listen in on a conference call with Nick Jonas about his Dexcom use. I'm submitting my questions for Nick later in the day and thought I'd see if you have any that you'd like me to include.

Also, I'm doing my best to get the audio from the call so that you can hear it and I've inquired about putting the call live on Periscope (though that's not looking good)... Good stuff! Post your questions for Nick in the comment section below.

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The Sleepover...

When the mother of Arden's friend recently inquired about having Arden spend the night at their house, I responded...

"That would be great, but we'll need to talk first..."

I did my very best to convey that the overnight hours would be unpredictable. I couldn't be certain if this random night would be stable and easy or random and exhausting... The family was up for the challenge. When I dropped Arden off at their home, I went inside to go over a few things. Honestly, with the advent of Dexcom's cloud service there isn't much for the host family to do besides understand insulin, bolusing, high BGs, low BGs, what those CGM arrows mean, the importance of a juicebox and of course... a real-world understanding of what could happen in a low BG situation and how to handle it.

In other words we just had a horrible frightening conversation that I tried to make sound very matter-of-fact, because mostly it is. The parents were, to their great credit, still on board and so I left with the understanding that I would help Arden via text during the evening and they would need to be reachable over night if Arden needed insulin or carbs.

What followed can only be described as "not optimal"...

After riding an unwavering BG during the late evening I had Arden take in a small snack to be on the safe side, her BG was in the 105 range prior to the snack. Small snack, no insulin - I was hedging my bets.Everything was going great until about 1:30 in the morning when her BG began to slowly descend. So I texted Arden to see if she would respond and she did, "Temp basal, off for 30 minutes should stop the drop" I told her. Not long after a text arrived from the host mom who could see Arden's BG on her phone thanks to the Dexcom Share, "Arden's BG is falling" - I told her that we handled it and that I would let her know later if there was more to do.

What followed was one of those low BGs that wouldn't respond to carbs, you know, the ones that even I am a bit unnerved by because they are unpredictable, require way too much in the way of carbs and nine times out of ten incur a huge rebound high - and well, all of that happened over the next 3 hours. The host mom and I said goodnight around 4:30 am.

The next day was mercifully a Saturday and Kelly stayed with the kids as I face planted on the first piece of soft furniture that I could find. 

A few days later I called the mom to thank her for all that she did to facilitate the sleep over. When I tried to say thank you she stopped me to say that it was her pleasure. She spoke about wanting Arden to feel welcomed and for her not to equate her type 1 diabetes with the sleep over. It was a lovely call. She went on to say that she didn't understand how intricate diabetes management was prior to that night and how she gained a huge appreciation for the disease. Then she offered to have Arden spend the night again "any time".

It was a lovely call... and as it turned out, a great experience. I guess unpredictable isn't always a bad thing...U

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Dexcom Follow app available for Android

The Dexcom Follow app is now available to download from the Google Play Store...

Looks like this is a partial rollout... Dexcom's compatibility chart (below) indicates that the Dexcom Share app is still iOS only. I like Dexcom making the Follow app available before the entire suite of apps is ready, makes sense to get what they have into the world asap.

Android users: please let me know how the app is working for you...

From Dexcom.com

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Dexcom Share Service Interruption May 21

Dexcom has announced a planned service interruption for their Share system - May 21, 2015.

Share users take note...

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Sometimes Your Blog Makes Me Feel Like a Failure

A long time ago on a blog far far away lived the father of a little girl who has type 1 diabetes... 

Many years ago during a conversation with a fellow diabetes parent named Michelle I learned something about my blog that I was painfully unaware of... "Sometimes", Michelle told me, "Sometimes your blog makes me feel like a failure". This was of course, not my goal.

I was crushed because it wasn't Michelle who failed, it was me

Michelle and Mason

Michelle went on to share with me that while she enjoyed Arden's Day and found it to be refreshing and honest, it felt like my writing focused more on what went right with diabetes and in fact that the lack of relatable 'diabetes fail' conversations left her feeling as if everyone was 'succeeding' but her and that she was failing her son Mason.

I took her words to heart

I spent the next few days rereading my own blog and I could see what Michelle was talking about. I wasn't purposely just talking about the 'good stuff' but my attempt to be positive for the community was definitely coming off slanted in that direction. So I changed how I share online with Michelle's brave words as my guide. The adjustment was difficult in many ways but also incredibly rewarding. Anyway, that was a long time ago and today I pride myself on how honest and completely transparent this blog is - Not only is Arden's Day now a complete reflection of my life with type 1 diabetes but I've seen the power of sharing the good and the bad and how it has helped to buoy other families in their times of trouble. 

I owe all of that, to Michelle Golladay and she is this weeks guest on the Juicebox podcast.

As you listen to Michelle and I talk about parenting and diabetes she'll spend a few moments telling me about a Parent Advisor Program that she has helped to set up at the Akron Children's Hospital - bringing the DOC IRL! I've included links here and in the show notes of the podcast, local Ohio residents and those interested in learning more should check them out.

You can listen to our conversation right here with the embedded player, on iTunes, Stitcher or your favorite podcast application. 

About Akron Children's Parent Advisor Program

Michelle's Parent Mentor Page

Mentor Program Main Page

Contact Michelle 

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