Lilly/Disney Books & Backpack Giveaway Winners Announcement
I'm knocking down two birds with one microphone this morning.
It was time for another microphone test for my upcoming podcast and also time to announce the winners of the Lilly Diabetes and Disney books giveaway. I took the opportunity and choose the winners during the mic test. All you have to do is click play on the audio player below to find out if you won - good luck!
Winners will be receiving an email from me very soon. I want to say congratulations to those who were picked at random and thank those who participated and weren't chosen. Thank you!
The Marathon Runner Who Jumps Over All Hurdles
We all get knocked down from time to time -- that's just life. Robin Arzon has perhaps experienced this more times than could be considered her fair share. The story of her life reads like the written account of a heavyweight boxing match that won't end -- because nothing keeps Robin down for very long.
The daughter of immigrant parents, Robin originally planned to follow in her father's footsteps and become an attorney. She chose to get her undergraduate degree at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Robin didn't take the course load that one may expect of a prelaw student, opting instead to take her father's advice, "You will learn how to be a lawyer in law school, take the classes you want to take."
About a year before she would graduate from Gallatin, Robin met a couple of friends at Bar Veloce in New York's East Village. A casual, fun night out with friends soon turned into a life-altering experience that would propel Robin to a new direction, years later. That night a ranting man armed with three hand guns, a sword, kerosene, a lighter and the desire to "choose when he dies" was out on the street exacting his plan to die in a fire while killing as many people as he could. The gunman approached and shot a man on the street. The wounded man took refuge in the closest place he could find, Bar Veloce, and the gunman followed him into the business. Upon entering the bar the gunman forced all of the patrons, Robin included, into the back where he huddled them together and soaked them in kerosene.
Early on in the confrontation the man spoke of wanting to talk to the police, and Robin served as his line to the police while being held as a human shield. Afraid but not wanting to give up, Robin spent that time trying to talk to the man in the hopes of ending the nightmare. When the police arrived Robin was being held by the madman by her hair, still soaked in kerosene, with a gun and a lighter being held to her head. Two patrons tried to jump the man as he held Robin; one was shot but the commotion of the struggle was enough to allow the police to storm the room and subdue that man.
This harrowing experience took a toll on Robin, but she got back up, graduated, went to law school at Villanova and practiced for seven years at a prestigious firm before making her next decision that flew in the face of conventional wisdom.
It was during law school that Robin found, very much by mistake, her passion for running and fell in love with it. She describes that in the years after much of her time in the law office was spent "counting down the minutes" until she could go for a run. This is all from someone who was made fun of on the playground for how she ran and who was forging notes as a teenager to get out of gym class. Robin then made a choice that not many could, she quit her safe life, one that she worked very hard for, to follow what her heart was saying.
Initially Robin worked at being a freelance sports journalist and had "no idea what I was doing." Robin started a blog, interviewed Olympic athletes with her cracked iPhone and surrounded herself with like-minded people -- kindred spirits who love to sweat.
Robin realized that if you put the work in, you can become whatever you want to be. Robin created a new life as an "Ambassador of Sweat" -- becoming a running coach, cycling instructor and ultramarathoner.
A believer in her mother's words that she is from "resilient stock," Robin says, "Resilience and willpower can seem finite but they can be recharged." Those theories would be tested last year when Robin was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 32.
Robin thought she was jet lagged after returning from India with her mother and sister. Her mother, who is a physician, was worried that her symptoms could mean something more and she sent Robin to have blood work. Two days later she had an endocrinologist and was taking insulin to manage her blood glucose. Robin's first thought wasn't why me or what next. Robin isn't the type of person to worry about obstacles, all she wanted to know from her doctor is what tools she would need to be healthy with Type 1 diabetes while being able to continue her life as an athlete. Her doctor put her on an OmniPod insulin pump just days after her diagnosis because of its tubeless design and a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor so she could watch her glucose values in real time.
My story on Robin also ran on Huffington Post Healthy Living and has been picked up by Yahoo and AOL. Thank you for all of the great support!
Robin made good use of both tools recently when she finished the New York City Marathon, her fourth marathon with Type 1 diabetes. The NYC Marathon was the first marathon she ever ran, four years ago, and now she says Type 1 diabetes has made her stronger because it has made her more determined to accomplish her goals.
"I really believe we need to trust our struggles," says Robin. "It can be hard to find reason and rationality in a disease like diabetes when you think your body should be doing what it's meant to do but it doesn't. Trust your struggle. There's always light through the cracks. Find inspiration online, from friends and family, from the community, and it will reinforce your power."
Same Diabetes Data Two very Different Headlines
This really pissed me off!
In the past week I've seen two headlines shared on social media about type 1 diabetes. The first one that I came across from Sciencetimes.com reported, "Type 1 Diabetes Shortens the Lifespans of Sufferers". Needless to say I didn't jump to read this one - just too depressing.
A few days later I saw this article from Harvard.edu, "People with type 1 diabetes are living longer". This off course seemed strange because only a few days before, the first headline was saying the exact opposite. This stark contrast caused me to sit down to read both articles.
What I learned was actually uplifting but I remained irritated by the lazy 'journalism' of Science Times. Wait for it... both article were written based on the same research. They were both reporting that people living with type 1 are living significantly longer than in previous history. One just choose to use a click bait style headline, while the other chose to be straight forward.
I wanted to bring this to your attention in case you saw the Science Times piece and were bummed out by it. I also wanted to point out how misleading headlines can be and remind you that most websites are more interested in getting you to click than they are in actually informing you of something important.
The Science Times piece, which if you can get past the shitty headline is informative is here - http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/2481/20150109/type-1-diabetes-shortens-the-lifespans-of-sufferers.htm
I however prefer the Harvard piece that can be found here - http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/people-type-1-diabetes-living-longer-201501087611
Be careful what you believe, share and take to heart... Type 1 diabetes and the ways that people are living with it is actually constantly improving and significantly more positive than even a very history. There are plenty of reason to be positive!
Link to research that both articles refer to: JAMA Abstract
Now before you go, I was hoping you could help me out.
I am in the process of adding a podcast to the blog. Entries will be conversational, additional content for a blog posts (like today), interviews, news, and revisits of older post. I'm far enough along with getting things up and running that it was time to do a test show. It's not perfect yet but I'm ready to let you hear it to get feedback on the idea, find out how it sounds and the rest. It's not available yet anywhere but in this post... but in the future I'll be posting across all podcast platforms. For now, I could really use your feedback on any aspect that you have an opinion on - thinking of calling it The Juicebox Podcast... Thank you in advance for your opinions!
Dexcom G5 Early Mockup on iWatch and iPhone
Dexcom just sent me this "G5 early mockup" from the Consumer Electronics Show... thought you might like to see it.
Dexcom app shown on an iPhone and the yet to be released iWatch.
So excited for the G5 to arrive!
Dexcom G5 Early Mockup from CES 2015
A1c: Working 9 to 5
I remember the first time that I was able to make Arden's A1c decrease on purpose.
I don't remember what her level was or where it moved to but I remember making an adjustment to her regiment that worked as I anticipated and the moment that her Nurse Practitioner walked up to me to share the good news.
The decrease was minimal and Arden's A1c was still much higher (in the 9s) than where we hoped for it to be, but still I broke down and cried in the waiting area when the NP told me the news. I must have been quite the site because after a moment I felt the NP put her arms around me and she hugged me tightly without saying a word.
That moment in our lives occurred many years ago. On that day I believed that I was crying because Arden's A1c was lower, but today I think that the relief I was feeling stemmed from success – effort was finally turning into results. Moving that number however how slightly, was the result of hard work, hours of contemplation and months of trial and error. The tears that I shed had accumulated from all of the moments that I wanted to cry but didn't and it felt right to release them in celebration, I could sense that the tide was turning.
In the years that followed more adjustments were made. We added the OmniPod insulin pump, a decision that led to a large decrease in A1c. We also changed how we thought about many foods but the final piece of the puzzle was adding a Dexcom CGM which gave me the confidence to use insulin more boldly. We now had the tools that I felt I needed and the path to travel was clearly in front. We just needed to learn how to walk. Each step was a learning process that led to incremental improvements for Arden but we were finally moving forward with purpose and that seemed like a huge leap.
I love to tell these stories because even though it doesn't feel like it today, you won't be reading this blog for much longer, at least not for the same reasons as when you began. Arden's Day readers are mostly made up of the parents of newly or newer diagnosed children and folks who are still finding their way with type 1 diabetes. One day, much sooner than you think, you will have the accumulated knowledge, courage, and hope that you will need to make Arden's stories your own. Then you can get back to using the Internet for good stuff like reposting photoshopped pictures of Kim Kardashian's shiny ass, taunting your friends on Facebook when their sports teams lose and 'liking' pictures on Instagram.
Here in present time... it was Endo day. I tried to give Arden my obligatory speech about A1c levels and ready her for an unexpected increase that will likely happen at some point. I want to prepare her because we have been on some kind of a crazy run over the past two years and my hope is to limit her disappointment, should things go the other way. Arden stopped me before I could finish and said, "I know, I know, you tell me every time - I won't be disappointed if it goes up". Seems that my sly parenting skills aren't so sly anymore...
When we arrived the nurse recorded Arden's weight, height and BP and then we made our way to the little room where the blood stuff happens. The A1c machine began it's test as we were being ushered into an exam room. Not long after we sat down, the NP brought Arden's A1c results to us. When she spoke the number out loud there were no tears of joy, no relief, no sense that we had been working hard for what was achieved and deserved this. Arden's A1c had reached a new level, one that I certainly didn't expect we would arrive at for maybe another year. Hearing the number only caused me to feel calm. "I knew this was going to happen if we just kept at it", I thought to myself.
I put my hand on Arden's back and congratulated her and then texted my wife Kelly with only this image, her response was...
"Shut up!!"
This post is for everyone who is at the point where 5.9 feels unobtainable. I am here to promise you that it is within your reach. Each of you can do this with time and patience. It hasn't been easy. We've added technology, switched insulin, adjusted diets, sacrificed sleep and persevered countless setbacks, some of which I thought could break my spirit. Yet here we are at 5.9.
I don't know how long we can hang on to this number. Maybe this is our new normal, maybe it's a fleeting moment and puberty will come and knock us into oblivion, who knows. None of that matters because I know and believe that we can find our way back here again; this time with purpose.