you can do this

So Kim at Texting My Pancreas was inspired by the It Gets Better project, and decided to start a similar movement in the Diabetes Online Community (DOC). Today my blog reader is filled with videos to watch, posted by people putting themselves out there in an effort to help someone on the other side of their computer screen.

I sat down to record my own a few days ago and it quickly shifted from me making a heartfelt and encouraging video to me pulling faces and using funny voices, which is how I cope with feeling nervous or anxious, apparently. So instead of a video, I'm putting it down in text. I hope it still fits the spirit of the project.

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Dear parent of a child recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes,

You know how when your baby was born they sent you home from the hospital after a couple of days, without so much as a pamphlet on how to raise your kid? Well, when my daughter was discharged from Children's Hospital after her diabetes diagnosis, my husband and I joked that at least this time around, we had been trained on how to care for her. We had just graduated from several days of diabetes boot camp and they even gave us a massive binder to take home with us that outlined everything we needed to remember.

Much like the first few weeks of dealing with a newborn, the first weeks and months after L's diagnosis passed by in a blur. We were in the trenches, just trying to get to the end of each day alive. But once we fell into a routine, the fog began to lift and I realized that it wasn't enough to just survive. I wanted my daughter to thrive.

So I decided to search the internet for other people in the same situation. Since I began keeping an online journal in 2002, I knew there had to be diabetes bloggers out there. Maybe even other parents of kids with diabetes. But what I found was more than I could have imagined. And I have received support I never even knew I needed, from every different type of person and background and situation you can think of, and even some you might not.

Moms, dads, single parents and grandparents of diabetics; teens and adults with diabetes; some families with only one diabetic in their entire history, and others with 2, 3, 4 or more diabetics in their immediate family; newly diagnosed and those who have been dealing with it for decades, and on and on.

We all have different voices. We all have different stories. But beneath the noise, below the din, it all comes down to this:

Of science and the human heart, there is no limit
There is no failure here, sweetheart
Just when you quit.

Whatever you're going through. Whatever you're feeling. You are not alone. Someone has been through it before, and they can help you find your way out. Here's a story:

This guy's walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out.

A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, 'Hey you. Can you help me out?' The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.

Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, 'Father, I'm down in this hole can you help me out?' The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on.

Then a friend walks by, 'Hey, Joe, it's me can you help me out?' And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, 'Are you stupid? Now we're both down here.' The friend says, 'Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out.'

Yeah, I just linked to a U2 video and quoted an old episode of "The West Wing". That's how I roll.

So, dear parent of a child recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes:

I don't know how you found me, but I'm glad you did. You can do this.

Shannon :)

P.S. Thank you, Kim.

lazy pancreas (the re-postening)

So our local JDRF walk is this weekend. We didn't make a video this year, so instead I'm just gonna re-post the one we made last year. It was inspired by the SNL Digital Short Lazy Sunday, and it includes other pop culture touchstones such as Laser Cats, Hans and Franz, Liz Lemon, Christiane Amanpour, Oprah's inability to distinguish between type 1 and type 2, and the inspired rhyming of the words 'site' and 'sight' (credit to the kid for that couplet). We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we did making it. :)



Here are the lyrics, in case you have trouble deciphering them.

Lazy Sunday, wake up in the late afternoon
My dad calls me up just to see how I'm doin'
Yo, let's rap about a funky fundraiser
And make a video like those cats shooting lasers
The cause is diabetes, with which she is afflicted
It's lame how the media chooses to depict it
There's more than one type of diabetes, Oprah
No more words really rhyme with Oprah, Oprah, Oprah

Type 1, Type 2, Type 3, half a dozen
How much should I bolus for a cupcake, cousin?
Gotta poke your finger just to get it to bleed
Too bad sometimes it's way more than you need
The EMLA cream looks like Toaster Strudel
I wanna eat it. True dat, double trudel!
It would be wack if my pump blew up
Hans and Franz want to pump you up!

Diabetes! What? Gonna find a cure!

Stop at the deli for some cheese and meats
Whipped cream and Jell-o are my carb-free treats
I can eat anything, but it should be nutritious
French Fries + Frosty = Crazy Delicious!
If my sugar's low, I gotta eat some vittles
Starburst, jelly beans, or some Skittles
I also like Twix and the Head of a Lemon
What if your head really was a lemon, lemon, lemon

If I keep it in control I can avoid a complication
One thing that works is this daily affirmation:
As long as I always change my site
I won't have to worry about losing my sight

On April 24th, we'll be walking for a cure
A rhyme for this line is Christiane Amanpour
If you dig this vid, we'd like your support
Type 1 diabetes, one day we'll thwart!

Diabetes! What? Gonna find a cure!

cgm calibration question

Hey guys, long time, no post. I've got a question for ya'll. I remember reading a blog entry several months ago wherein the author stated that when calibrating a CGM, you might be tempted to do it more frequently than indicated, but that actually is a not-so-great idea, due to some scientific stuff that escapes me at the moment. It was one of those things where it seems like more is better, like if you calibrate it more frequently, then you are improving the accuracy, but in fact the opposite was true. Does this ring a bell with any of ya'll? If so, can you drop me a link in the comments? Thanks.

I've been out of the blogging loop for a while, but thanks to the recent Diabetes Blog Week, I've been doing a bit more reading and commenting. Now I just need to get back to posting. We've got our local JDRF walk coming up next weekend, so look forward to a thrilling recap some time thereafter.