Now THIS is a Giveaway!
Lilly Diabetes reached out to see if I'd be interested in giving away twelve L.L. Bean backpacks full of their diabetes themed books to my readers – I was all like, "ah, yea!".
There are a number of ways to enter using the widget below. Some options are "worth" more entries than others and some are even eligible to be completed daily (like tweets). The more entries you have when the winners are chosen, the better your odds of winning. Here's a look at what you are trying to win...
Disney Books: Tween novels - Superstar Dreams - ESPN: Covering the Bases - ESPN: Power Forward - ESPN: Up for the Challenge - ESPN: Running Interference - Hannah Montana: Uptight (Oliver’s All Right)
Coco Books: Coco’s First Sleepover - Coco Goes Back to School - Coco & Goofy’s Goofy day
Disney Cookbook - Disney Holiday magazine - Disney/Lilly Postcard
PLUS the L.L. Bean backpack
Get much more information about the books here...
Small print: I am sorry to all of my Canadian readers but for this one it's US residents only, 18 years or older. One prize per person. Twelve winners will be chosen by random (Rafflecopter app). In the past I have attended blogger events hosted by Lilly, my travel, lodging and meals were covered by the company. I have also been a spokesperson for Lilly in the past, when I gave interviews about my tips for sleepovers for children with diabetes. No purchase is necessary to enter. No personal information is being collected by Lilly or Arden's Day. Prizes have no cash value.
More info on my blogging morals are available at my disclaimer/disclosure.
Good luck!
2014 Year in Review
It's December 31st and I've been spending a lot of time recently thinking about how to make Arden's Day better for you. As we head into the eighth year of my little blog's life I'm looking at ways to make the blog more informative, social, easy to consume and worth coming back to. In the process I've been reading a lot of old post from 2014 and found a few that are worth revisiting before the ball drops. I hope you read to the end of this long post, I'd like to share something very personal to me before the calendar flips.
From January 2014
It baffles me, but one of the most popular things on the blog this year was a photo of me looking tired, How to Spot a D-Parent. It was even reposted on Diabetes Daily and become one of their most popular post of the year. Of all the things I wrote, shared and talked about this year, you liked seeing me looking ragged the best. Tells me we are all pretty damn tired.
From February 2014
Dexcom was approved for pediatric use, one of my non D storIes blew up on Huffington Post and Miss Manners was all the buzz but all you guys wanted to see was pictures of Kris Freeman's abs. Parents still read this post every day when they wonder if their child is too lean for pumps and a CGM. Kris's abs turned out to be quite the public service.
From March 2014
My blog titled, Pitstop Fail won Best of Betes Blogs for March - a huge thank you to the person who nominated it and voted!
From April 2014
A Forgotten Wallet Buys a BG of 25 and I got yelled at a little bit in the comments. BTW, Kris Freeman could have easily been mentioned here too, you guys sure love abs.
From May 2014
I changed my expectations for what 'in range' means and lowered Arden's a1c, Living Between the (Diabetes) Lines.
From June 2014
June brought the lowest A1c Arden has gotten to date, A1c Countdown: It's Endo Time.
From July 2014
This was the month of #ShowMeYourPump but Arden's Day readers were more interested (By just a few hits) in Arden's Sudden Needle Anxiety.
From August 2014
In August I tried with all my blogging might to get you to believe that Diabetes and Fear don't have to go together, Guts over Fear was written, the hashtag #DiabetesandFear was tweeted and my quest was underway.
From September 2014
I traveled to the Dominican Republic to deliver a speech to a group of D parents during the summer but wasn't able to share the video of my talk until September. My time in the D.R. led to a very popular post, my first invitation to give a keynote at a JDRF event (Info coming soon) and a whole lot of new understanding about the rest of the world.
From October 2014
Hello Dexcom SHARE you are the remote monitoring I've been waiting for.
From November 2014
Arden changed her first OmniPod without any help from me while she was at a sleepover, I'll Take Insulin Pump Change for the Win Alex.
From December 2014
I shared our experience with getting an insulin pump in the hopes that it would give you the freedom to speak your mind because, Don't Let Doctors Push a Pump on You, that's why.
I can't thank you enough for reading about Arden's day. I hope you have time to check out one more post from 2014, it's one I wrote today about what diabetes blogging means to me, you can find it here. Have a happy, healthy 2015... you are all in my thoughts. Best, Scott
Why Would Anyone Write a Blog
I wondered recently if you ever wonder why anyone would write a blog. I'm always interested in people's motivations and given that I am writing about parenting as it specifically relates to children's health – well, if I was you... I'd wonder about my motivations. That's a long rambling way of saying... I want to tell you why I do this.
A long time ago I was the parent of a child newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and I was frightened. I felt alone, unsure and most of my waking moments were spent wondering if the next decision I would make about insulin would kill my little girl. I was a bit of a wreck, if I'm being honest.
One day about a year into our new lives I found a free program living on my iMac that, among other things, said it could post my thoughts onto the Internet to something called a blog. I had never read a blog and thought this was revolutionary. And so I wrote something and with the push of a button, put it into the world for others to see. Not many saw actually, I got about 10 hits that month.
I received my first reader email from a lovely mother, she thanked me for sharing my life with her, told me that my sharing helped her family and offered me community in return. In the years that have passed since that email, I've received more correspondence than I can properly recall. Today I'd like to share one of them with you, redacted appropriately to protect the sender.
This email arrived in the Spring of 2014 after I mused that I wasn't sure that my blog was still relevant in the diabetes community. it said...
My 5 year old son NAME was diagnosed with type 1 two years ago. You have helped me more than anyone, emotionally and practically, to care for him. Because of you we got NAME Omnipod. Because of you we are trying to get him Dexcom G4. Because of you I am aggressive with high blood sugar. Because you are up at night I feel less alone in this. Because things go good for you I feel pleased for you and because they sometimes don't go well I feel bad. We live in COUNTRY and our lives are very different but what you write about day to day life with type 1 often reflects my own days and experiences and this has given me support, encouragement and optimism. What you have done for me is immeasurable. I know that your writing has directly improved the quality of NAME's life with type 1 diabetes. Please don't stop because we would miss you and Arden a lot.
There was a time that I wrote here as a diary that helped me move past Arden's diagnoses. The writing morphed into a way for me to cope with events that felt insurmountable. After that, I began to share how I was able to crest those hills. You've watched me triumph, fail, cry, fall down and get back up. I've tried my best to be transparent and only want for you to not feel alone. The blog is not planned, I don't write ahead. When I feel something deeply that I think you would like to know, I share. I have written things that have been seen by tens of thousands and other stuff that was seen by hundreds - it all feels the same to me. In the end, I write this blog because I just hope that someone who is frightened will find it and feel a little less alone. I hope that one day I am able to help the reader to realize that while diabetes my be hard, we get better at it much faster than they can imagine. So much better in fact, that it stops feeling so hard. I write the blog that I find myself wishing existed when Arden was diagnosed. It's not easy to live through something and then relive it when I tell you about my experience, the process becomes draining at times but once in a while I get an email from a stranger or see someone on Facebook mentioning that I said something that helped them and recharges me. Your being helped, helps me. I guess this post is my 'thank you' email to all of you.
I've learned over time that my readers are mostly the parents of newer diagnosed kids, and just as I begin to learning your names... you ride off into the Internet sunset. This is my happiest time. I love the idea that there will be a moment for each of you when you realize that you no longer need a blog. Sure it breaks my heart when the next crop of parents begin to show up, but I am buoyed by emails like the one I've shared today. That coupled with the knowledge that you will soon be rid of the fear that type 1 brings, makes me feel like a parent whose child has left the nest – proud, happy, accomplished. Sad to see them go but satiated that I've done my best to help them to live a confident and happy life. I hope that wasn't too convoluted... That's why I write this blog.
The ways that information is exchanged online morphs constantly and getting the word out about Arden's Day becomes more of a challenge as each day passes. In 2015 I'm going to do my best to change with the times and try to keep up with this digital thing.
As always, I hope that 2015 is the year that the world ceases to need a type 1 diabetes blog, but until that day comes – I share for every person that feels the way that I did all of those years ago, because Arden's diabetes never got easier but I got a whole lot better at it. I want, more than anything, for you to believe that statement will one day be true for you and your family, because it will.
Happy New Year!
My Best,
Scott
Encapsulation Gives Me Reason to Hope
When I hear the word ‘cure’ it sends my mind racing with visions of science fiction television. I imagine my daughter being scanned by Doctor McCoy, in an instant his tricorder beeps and Arden’s pancreas springs back into action. Everyone in the room takes a pause for dramatic effect and type 1 diabetes is no more.
It’s that level of high yet unreasonable expectation, mixed with a healthy amount of cynicism that keeps me from becoming too excited when news of “promising research” is announced. I read the articles - well, I thoroughly peruse them - but most research news leaves me feeling like real-world science hasn’t quite caught up to the desires of the scientific community. Curing a disease without significant effort, crazy drugs and more than a bit of luck seems unlikely to me right now. In other words, I’m a tough sell.
Until I heard about Beta Cell Encapsulation…
Encapsulation grabbed my attention in such a big way that I asked it’s benefactor, JDRF (formally known as Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) if there was someone that I could interview about the technology. They were kind enough to put me in touch with JDRF Director of Discovery Research, Albert Hwa, PhD.
My conversation with Albert did a few things. It reminded me that I am not a scientist, gave me great hope for type 1 diabetes treatments and made me want to tell you about what I learned without being too sciencey - because I don’t want you to just peruse this article.
What is Encapsulation: In layman's terms, the process of encapsulation has made it possible for foreign cells to be introduced into the body after being coated (encapsulated) with a substance that protects them from your immune system. Specifically for the ViaCyte product design, the cells are inserted into a device that is currently the size of a business card and surgically placed under the skin during an outpatient procedure. The device allows its cellular passengers to interact with the body, measure the level of glucose and produce insulin without being identified by the immune system as a foreign body - all without anti-rejection drugs. Through the nature of science, encapsulation keeps your immune system from attacking the new insulin producing cells without blocking other needed functions. That’s science!
Is this a cure: Encapsulation is not a cure but it is the first stopgap between a cure and the reality that people living with type 1 diabetes experience that makes me say, “Where do I get this for my daughter?” It’s not a cure because the root issue is not being addressed, as the pancreas remains devoid of insulin-producing cells, and the autoimmune responses against them persists. The goal of this research is to introduce donor beta cells that will eliminate the need for manmade insulin. That would mean no more shots, finger sticks, insulin pumps, glucose monitors and the wildly fluctuating blood glucose levels that cause serious long-term health issues.
How long will the device last: Researchers aren’t positive at this time how long the cells will produce insulin before they need to be replaced, but a minimum of two years seems to be the initial hope and goal. Having a small procedure every two years is a vast improvement over what my daughter and the millions of other people who have type I diabetes deal with every moment of their lives.
More details you want to know: There are currently two companies conducting trials on encapsulation, both are being partially supported by the JDRF. The trial that was being held as I spoke with Albert Hwa was happening in a human being. Human trials are very exciting because so many ideas never get past animal trials; Most of the research that people with type 1 diabetes hear about cures mice but never makes the leap to helping people. The encapsulation human trials are in their infancy; Albert told me that even if everything went exactly perfect with the trials, it would still be “ten years” before Encapsulation could become a reality.
I chose to learn more about encapsulation because I’ve watched my daughter live for nearly a decade with type1 diabetes and this is the first time that I’ve felt like I was looking at a potential answer that could make it to market. I’m not a health care professional, just a father hoping for his daughter’s life to get better. In my estimation, encapsulation feels possible. I can imagine driving my daughter to her doctor to have a form of this device implanted, not unlike a pacemaker. For a guy that doesn’t usually feel very hopeful about stuff like this - I feel hopeful.
You can read more about encapsulation on the JDRF website, they even have the sciencey stuff:
Best of Betes Blogs From 2014
Best of Betes is from Sara Nicastro and it is wonderful!
from Best of Betes Blog: Best 2014
"It’s that time of year again – we’re wrapping up the Best of the ‘Betes Blogs of 2014. I’ve visited the posts for all of this year’s hosts and compiled their lists of the best posts for this year. It was really interesting to look back at all the posts that have been written over this past year and see all the changes we have experienced.
[If I told you it actually took me HOURS to look up all the posts and write the code for all the links in all the categories, would that make you more likely to vote? Please vote!]
From now until 12:59:59 PM PST on December 31, 2014 visit the links below (all links open in a new window so you won’t lose your place!) to select your favorite posts from 2014. Then after the first of the year, we can see the Best of the ‘Betes Blogs of 2014 as we begin sharing about our meet-ups, d-mistakes, vlogs, advocacy, humor, and all the other best moments of the diabetes community in 2015."
If you want to read some of the best diabetes blog posts from 2014, this is the link for you. While you're there you can even vote for one in each category and help to decide the winners for 2014. No prizes go with the distinction... just a bit of bragging rights.
Psst... I won way back in March for a post by a Type Awesome (That's a D parent) for my blog titled 'Pitstop Fail' -- just saying ;)
But seriously, there is a ton of great writing and advocacy at this link, you'll be happy that you took the time to check them out here
