House Arrest: A New Diabetes First

I placed my Dexcom CGMS sensor on the back of my arm yesterday.  I'm taking a "Total Tummy Break" all summer to try and give my battered and bruised stomach a much needed rest, after 20 years of abuse.   

The guy behind me in Walmart last night asked me, "Are you on house arrest or something?" 

 I looked back at him, obviously confused.  "Huh?"  

Him:  "That thing on your arm. Is that for the cops?" 

Me:  "If I were on house arrest, would I be shopping at Walmart?" 

Him:  "Oh."  

Normally, this is where I'd use this opportunity to educate people on diabetes technology.  

I was pretty sure this guy couldn't handle where I was about to go though.  

Friday Felicities

* Going to the Choi's River House with the Franz's all weekend!

* Walmart School Supplies for pennies

* Baby life jackets (it's so cute!)

* Coffee waking me up

* Zoe kisses

Breaking News! Yippee!!

My Dexcom just got approved from by my insurance....FINALLY! (Blue Cross Blue Shield Anthem of Ohio)    Yippee!    Still hopin and prayin for all you folks who are still fighting to get approved!!   

*We have family in town, basically, for the rest of July and will be in and out... not much time to blog!   

*Baby Seth is improving.  The doctors told Ellyn that they believe he is through the worst of it. Please keep praying against infection since he still has several lines in.  Thanks! 

More later....

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

Please pray for my friend Ellyn, her husband John, and their new son, Seth.  Seth was born pre mature and is having several serious health complications.   Please pray for healing and good communication with the doctors.   Thank you! 

Friday Felicities

* God's faithfulness... why do I still worry??

* My hardworking husband

* Two beautiful babies of my own

* Jedidiah William Jett

* Redbull Flugtag Tomorrow!!

* W@H friends, what a God send to my life.

Works For Me Wednesday

I went to a baby shower last Saturday night and I mentioned to the Mom how I was surprised at how many crib sheets she registered for.  This is when another Mom piped in and said how she layers her crib sheets so when her baby spits up she doesn't have to lift up the mattress and put another one on.  She lays the diaper changing pads in between them to keep each one clean and dry and says she can fit about 5 sheets on at a time!  THIS IS GENIUS PEOPLE! 

 I did it immediately and when my daughter decided to wake up and throw a fit last night at 2 am until she made herself get sick... it came in real handy.  ;-)      

 Now if there was a works for me Wednesday to get your ten month old to sleep through the night, I'd be all set.   *sigh* 

Friday Felicities

* 16 GB Iphone 3G.... it's so fun! 

* Chicken stirfry with FRESH BELL PEPPERS

* Frozen Margaritas 

* My husband mopping the floor

* Slobbery baby kisses

* Family in town

Crossing The Line?

Is this crossing the line in frugalness?  It's been a great week at the mailbox for free samples.  We got 2 free Pull ups and some shampoo, Multigrain Cheerios, flea medicine for Franklin, magazines, perfume.  Always a surprise coming now!   However.... last night I let Gabriel choose between the free pink Little Mermaid pull up or the blue Cars  pull up.  He chose the Little Mermaid.  Should I be worried?!?!?!    HAHA! 

CVS Trip 7/6/08

I got soooo much crap from CVS tonight!  Here's what I did.... 

1 Pampers Jumbo pack    $8.99

1 Pampers Pull Ups          $8.99

2 Pringles                           $2.00

2 Fabreeze                          $3.99 each 

1 Fabreeze air                    $2.50

1 Tide                                  $5.49

1 bottled water 24 pack   FREE (usually $4.99) 

2 CVS tampons                  $1.49 each

1 CVS Pantyliners              .99

Total Before Coupons = $45 

- $14 ECB's

- 2 / $1 off Pampers

- $3.99   BOGO Fabreeze 

- .35 Tide

- .50  Pringles 

All the rest on gift card   ( The ONE good thing about having Type 1 diabetes is I have a BAJILLION prescriptions for insulin, synthroid, test strips, etc. that I can always transfer or have called in to get a new $25 or $30 giftcard) 

Total Out Of Pocket-  NADA  

EARNED- $10 ECB's  for next time 

So I lost a few ECB's.... but I REALLY needed diapers and pull ups for both kids.  I haven't paid for diapers out of pocket since April when I started playing the CVS Game.   I keep wondering how long it will last, but somehow I keep using ECB's to get them.  Lovin it.  

Good News!

Doctor D called bright and early this morning to let me know that my A1c is was 6.8%. This number is very consistent with the 6.9% that my A1c Homecheck test result gave me. =)

My thyroid, kidney, and liver function was all perfectly normal as well.

This becomes more and more of a relief as the years go by. August 30th will be my 20 year anniversary of having Type 1.

In other news, there was a shooting in our neighborhood yesterday morning with lots of police and helicopters to boot!! It was quite scary, and a little exciting. Justin and I have decided to take a concealed weapons course and buy a gun. (That will be stored in a VERY childproof locked box and out of reach location) I felt pretty defenseless without a weapon and all kinds of craziness going on. We've lived here almost 4 years and have never seen ANY crime at all in our little ole neighborhood. The homeowner was the one that actually did the shooting though.... he shot the burglar (who was working on his third home!) in his foot! I love it! Take that you thief!

Franklin is going to his first vet appointment today. We need to get him on some heart worm preventatives and flea meds.

Log For Life

I was parusing diabetes blogs today and saw an exciting new website and software program that is going to launch soon called Log For Life. It was also the winner of the Diabetes Mine Design Contest this year. This looks AWESOME! It's a site where you can keep track of blood sugars, food log, exercise, A1c numbers, etc...... AND it will work with the iphone and I'm assuming you will be able to send your sugars via the Mobile Me stuff. It is so important to me to have tools that are not only USEFUL but also FUN and CONVENIENT to use. Most of the ones available now are not that great, so I'm interested to see how this one works!

Here's a video that was made that describes Log For Life...

CGMS: Denied

Gina at Diabetes TalkFest has declared July 1st as CGMS Denial Day. Diabetics all over the web are posting their struggles with private insurance coverage for their CGMS.

As posted a few days ago, my coverage has been pending, and pending, and pending, and pending.... (get the picture?)
So I have not ordered any new sensors since my initial order that included 5 sensors.

A CGMS system can show me 1 hour, 3 hour, and 9 hour blood sugar trends, showing me a new result every 5 minutes. It can also beep when I start to get too high or too low, alerting me to correct the problem right away.

My latest A1c (3-6 month average of blood sugar levels... normal is considered between 4-6%) was 6.9% this is fantastic as opposed to my adolescent A1c's of 10 and higher!! When I was pregnant and testing about 10 times a day I had it at a 5.1.... I am POSITIVE I can lower this number and have tighter control with the aid of a CGMS. Having tighter control will keep me from or delay the complications of retinopathy, limb amputations, poor circulations, high blood pressure, stroke, etc.

I am SURE the insurance companies will begin to approve CGMS technology at some point, just as they approved pumps. I am also quite confident that CGMS will be integrated into all insulin pumps within the next several years. But the sooner I get my sugars in the tightest control possible, the longer I can live a healthy productive life with my family.