CWD News
Musings from a Diabetes Mom Slacker (Back-to-School edition)
There. I said it. I said it in the title of this article and I mean it. I am a diabetes mom slacker and I haven’t prepared the first thing in our diabetes tool kit. School starts in less than a week and I am totally at peace with my status in life right now. “Ten-years-ago Leigh” would never have had this level of “diabetes chill” and would have likely started the back-to-school panic the second that kids got out of school for summer vacation. In fact, that Leigh would be in a next-level panic right now because not only […]
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Dealing with Diabetes Tech Adhesives
Diabetes technologies hope to improve both diabetes management and the burden that goes along with it. Countless studies have shown that use of these technologies can do both things, but they are not without their challenges. The Panther Program from the Barbara Davis Center has a lot of great resources including their page about Skin Solutions. Here are some key recommendations about Skin and Diabetes Tech. Keeping Devices Attached Some people seem to have a lot of difficulty keeping devices attached – and summer, swimming, and anything that involves sweating can make it even more of a challenge. There are […]
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Highlights from ADCES23: Celebrating Diabetes Care and Education in Houston
Howdy friends! The Children with Diabetes team had the opportunity to attend the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES) Annual Conference in Houston, Texas last week and we can’t wait to share with you some of our highlights from the event. This year’s annual conference was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston and featured four days of continuing education, keynote speakers, hands-on workshops, and a giant exhibition hall. This year’s annual conference also helped to celebrate 50 years of advancing diabetes care and education with ADCES! So, grab your coffee, throw a load of […]
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Keeping up with Diabetes Appointments
Keeping up with Diabetes Appointments There are a lot of different appointments when it comes to diabetes. There are the obvious ones, but then there are some that tend to get put on the back burner. Here’s the rundown on what is recommended for PWD (people with diabetes). Prescribing Provider Ideally, PWD have access to an endocrinologist – a doctor who specializes in endocrine disorders. The endocrine system is made up of many glands in the body and all the hormones they regulate. Diabetes is considered an endocrine disorder since insulin is a hormone. Endocrinologists typically have the most experience […]
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ADA’s 83rd Scientific Sessions + Children with Diabetes = Where Diabetes Science and Hearts Collide
Two weeks ago several members of the Children with Diabetes team visited San Diego, California, to attend the 83rd annual American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions conference. As a first-timer, I wasn’t sure what to expect but knew that primary audience for the conference was healthcare providers and that the topics would be mostly about scientific advancements in diabetes and research. I had heard so much about the ADA conferences and was excited to attend the event to learn more on behalf of our CWD families and individuals living (and thriving) with type 1 diabetes. What I found was a mixture […]
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Why Everyone Wants a GLP1
Everyone is trying to get their hands on the fancy new weight loss drugs – which happen to be medications designed for people with diabetes. More specifically, they were originally designed for people with non-insulin dependent diabetes. However, there are some definite benefits for those of us who are insulin dependent as well. Here’s what you need to know about GLP-1 Agonists. G-L-What? GLP stands for Glucagon Like Peptide – meaning it’s a building block of protein similar to glucagon. Agonist is a medical word for helping something work as it should. So, basically, it’s a medication that helps a […]
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Caregiver Fatigue: When Diabetes feels like a Boa Constrictor
As the month of May comes to a close, I find myself reflective upon the fact that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Yet, in the diabetes world, we don’t talk much about mental health, do we? Most of our diabetes chit-chat is about pumps or syringes and different types of insulin. We babble on about watching blood glucose levels with meters or continuous glucose monitors. We gossip about juice boxes and glucose tabs and diabetes gadgets. We post and celebrate about FDA approvals for new diabetes technology. But, rarely do we post on social media about how diabetes can […]
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Why Attend Friends for Life
Friends for Life is an experience that can be difficult to describe; the closest that I can come up with is “diabetes camp on steroids,” but it doesn’t truly capture all the magic that happens every summer during Friends for Life Orlando. When Friends for Life started, the idea was for families to come together who really understand what life with diabetes is like. What it has become is something uniquely tailored for people with diabetes and their loved ones. Making Connections One of the main goals of CWD (Children with Diabetes) is to help people feel supported in their […]
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A Diabetes Mom with a Thousand Hugs
Diabetes moms—we are like regular moms, but we are different. Watching your child receive a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes elevates you to a whole new level of motherhood and I’m almost certain that this chapter…the one about diabetes…was left out of all of the manuals that I read when I was preparing to become a mother for the first time. Many of you may know that the day that my three-year-old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I discovered Children with Diabetes while browsing the internet looking for answers to help me sort out the grief, frustration, worry, […]
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Stress and Blood Sugars
The amount of stress that we have undergone as humans in the last few years has been ridiculous. This is certainly not how I imagined I would be spending my adult life. It feels like every chance we get to come up for a breath after drowning in major horrible world event after major horrible world event, another awful thing happens. Even reading the word stress makes my heart rate go up. Stress & BGs When you experience stress – even if it’s positive stress – it can raise your blood glucose levels. This is because our bodies react in […]
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