Focusing on eeking down that ever shifting number can be one of the most frustrating things a person living with diabetes has to do. But here is some good news: while there may not be a magic wand, there are some pretty simple, pretty cool fixes to help you on your way to lower your A1c.
It’s understandable, then, with the incredible attention the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is getting for those of us in the diabetes community to be in awe, to be inspired and okay, to be a little jealous. After all, ALS is getting a boost like we’ve never seen before. So you might be surprised by what I’m going to say here:
Don’t talk A1C’s with your kids. Ever. Listen, before diabetes, did you take the lab sheet from your child’s annual physical and show them things on it and celebrate numbers? Of course not. A young child does not even need to know what an A1C is, never mind the result of one. I wish I’d known this.
Pumping insulin can offer a person with diabetes more freedom, more precision, and less stress on a management basis. But they can be tricky, too: pumps need to be paid attention to quite closely. So what are the benefits of pumping, and what are the benefits of MDI? Both offer their own, and while many like to claim pumping is the only right choice, in reality, with the many types of insulin available today, the decision of pump versus MDI is mostly a personal one.
It was midway into a parents’ session on positive caregiving at the annual Children with Diabetes Friends for Life conference in Orlando, and a mother in the corner of the room was crying. Feeling alone and overwhelmed by the new task of raising a toddler with Type 1 Diabetes, her emotions overflowed.
We took a terrible thing in our lives – the diagnosis of our beloved daughter with an incurable disease that requires constant attention, scares the woopsies out of us and costs a fortune in both time and money – and we carved something fun out of it.
Mary Tyler Moore was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes some four decades ago, and through the years she’s been perhaps the world’s top diabetes spokesperson. But advocacy couldn’t protect her from Type 1 diabetes complications. The new Closer Weekly Magazine cover story on Mary Tyler Moore, tells the story of her battle with type 1 diabetes, and her current state of health.
It’s important for parents to make a list for themselves and the rest of their family and then stick to it during diabetes camp weeks. It’s just too easy for diabetes to remain front and center in our lives, even when our kids are away. A little work at tucking it away isn’t just not selfish, it might just be semi selfless, since it makes us both physically and emotionally stronger, and helps bolster the entire family.
Her adult endo introduced her to the “What About Bob” method (I call it that – not him!): baby steps. Clearly, she wasn’t heading off to college with an ideal daily plan. So, he suggested taking little steps she was willing to try. He opened her up to a world where “success” wasn’t seemingly unreachable; where she didn’t have a million chances a day to “fail.” From that came a new sense of being “good” about her diabetes.