I've got a big birthday this month and decided to celebrate with a girls' weekend at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. We started planning our getaway months ago, but we didn't count on injuries. I've had back issues on and off for years – latest flare up was this past March. I tried to tough it out for a…
My son loves New Jersey. He's not a Springsteen fan – and we're from New York originally. But Benny's cousin Aaron lives in New Jersey. Aaron was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes two years ago, just before his 7th birthday. Benny loves talking to him – they both have blue Animas pumps! - and Aaron recently helped get him…
After the stress of the start of school, I needed a lift. Got a great one when I spoke to Benny's class about diabetes. He's in first grade so most of the children are six years old. They were excited to learn and a lot of fun. We started by reading Benny's favorite D-book, Jackie's Got Game. It's…
Today is Diabetes Art Day 2011. We looked on line at the submissions – Benny loved all the art work made using diabetes supplies. I thought we'd be crazy-gluing infusion sets until midnight, but then he saw the Legos. Ten minutes later (he insisted on being in the picture): The artist describes his work:…
Seriously, diabetes? You couldn't give me the first two days of school? Personal favor? My cell phone rang Friday at 1pm - Benny's inset came out. Ugh. Last year I think that happened just two or three times during the entire school year. Since the inset is how the pump connects to Benny's body, and the pump is what…
School starts today around here and I'm excited but nervous. Going back to school with diabetes means a lot more than shopping for new Trapper Keepers. We've had two meetings with Benny's teacher so far. She's never had a child with diabetes in her class or used an insulin pump, so there's quite a lot to talk about.…
While I write quite a bit about diabetes here and on Facebook and Twitter, I don't always turn to social media for support. Got a good reminder recently that someone who "gets" diabetes is a just a click away. Saturday was a record-breaking 101 degrees here. We went out to lunch and then I took Benny's pump off so the…
Our recent beach vacation will be fondly remembered for a nice diabetes breakthrough for Benny and a bone-headed move by me. We rent a place with a full kitchen and laundry and instead of schlepping full size containers of coffee and detergent we just pour a week's worth into zip-locs. Since I'm approaching old age, I also took a few days…
I recently wrote about the trouble we have getting Benny's inset to stay on during long periods in the water. Beach trips and waterparks are a huge headache because he hasn't liked the idea of putting anything over or under the inset to help it stay put. (An inset is how an insulin pump connects to the body.…
Interesting lesson in trade-offs last weekend at Carowinds. We always have fun there, but taking a child with type 1 diabetes to an amusement park – with a water park – means you have to plan a little bit more. It also means more supplies. In addition to the backup stuff I always bring, I threw extra insets,…