Dex the Halls

Our school system’s PTA groups hold a Festival of Trees as an annual fundraiser. Local businesses and organizations pay a small fee to enter a tree. Students, teachers, and school groups can decorate a tree for free. People pay a $5 for a ticket to come view the trees and vote for their favorite. If they bring canned goods for our local food pantry or hygiene items for our Veterans Association, they receive a ticket for each item, which they can then use to vote for their favorite tree. We have some precious and creatively decorated trees on display! Preschool and kindergarten classes decorated with handmade ornaments, the high school science classes decorated with handmade clay models of body parts, several neighborhoods decorated trees, and organizations around town celebrated with ornaments representing their areas.

For people unfamiliar with the day-to-day life of type 1 diabetes, the ornaments on this tree may seem scary, sad, or distasteful. For those living with type 1 diabetes, this tree is a celebration of life!

Our Diabe-tree is a tree of life, decorated with used T1D supplies courtesy of Grasshopper and local T1D families. Without the insulin that came in these now empty vials, they would not be here to celebrate Christmas. With these supplies, people with type 1 diabetes manage a tricky chronic life threatening condition that requires training, patience, persistence, constant vigilance, and support.

I called our diabetes supplier and our pharmacy to get the cash price for each item on the tree and under the tree. The cash price is what a person pays if they aren’t using health insurance for the purchase. The cost Insurance plans can vary widely, so it seemed best to get the cash price as a baseline.

Under the tree:

• $162 for 1 box of 10 MiniMed Mio Infusion Sets for Medtronic Insulin Pump
• $28.80 for 1 box of 10 MiniMed Insulin Pump Reservoirs
• $52 for 1 box of 100 BD UltraFine Needles
• $553.18 for 1 box of 2 Baqsimi glucagon nasal powder for severe low blood sugar
• $149.95 for 1 box of 10 AutoSoft XC Infusion Sets for TSlim Insulin Pump
• $28.80 for 1 box of 10 TSlim Insulin Pump Cartridge
• $405 for 1 box of 10 OmniPod Insulin Pumps
• $500 for 1 box of 3 Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitor Sensors
• $600 for 2 vials of Novolog Insulin at $300 each
• $15 for 1 box of 102 AccuCheck FastClix Lancets
• $275.22 for 1 box of 5 Aspart FlexPen Insulin
• $321.46 for 1 box of 5 Basaglar QuickPen Insulin
• $311.18 for 2 boxes of Contour Next Blood Sugar Test Strips, 100 strips at $115.59
• $43.59 for 1 box of AccuCheck Guide Blood Sugar Test Strips, 100 strips
• $17.78 for 2 boxes of OneTouch Delica Plus Lancets at $8.89 each
• $276.59 for 1 Glucagon Kit, rescue injection for severe low blood sugar
  • Total: $3,740.55

On the tree:

• $7,500 for 25 Novolog Insulin Vials at $300 each
• $1,333.33 for 8 Dexcom Inserters at $166.66 each
• $254.83 for 17 AutoSoft XC Inserters at $14.99 each
• $23.04 for 8 TSlim Cartridges at $2.88 each
• $231.16 for 4 cans of ContourNext Blood Sugar Test Strips, 50 strips at $57.79 each
• $526.50 for 13 OmniPod Insulin Pumps at $40.50 each
• $300 for 1 Dexcom Transmitter
• $3.62 for 2 Glucose Tab Tubes at $1.81 each
• $354.33 for 3 Fiasp Pen Vials at $118.11 each
  • Total: $10,526.81

The total for this whole display, both on the tree and under the tree is $14,267.36

There were beautifully decorations this year at the Festival of Trees. I have no doubt that ours was both the most expensively decorated tree if you consider the cash price for these items, and also the least expensive because all of the items had already outlived their usefulness.

While I am passionate about bringing awareness to the difficulty and expense of living with a condition no one asked for or deserved, I am also extremely grateful for these lifesaving medications and devices. Without them, I would not be celebrating with my son!

Camp Seale Harris Summer Family Camp 2022

Camp Seale Harris Summer Family Camp 2022

Mud Volleyball

By Erin Turnham

This was in August, 2018 and it was a BLAST! $834 was raised for T1D Mod Squad.

You know when you get that urge to drive 4 hours to go play volleyball in a mud pit with people you’ve never met? Yeah. I’m there.

Positive Change Talk at Auburn University

“Why did you forget your diabetes supplies??”

“You should check your blood sugar more often.”

“It is SO important for you to take your insulin on time because if you don’t you could go into a coma!”

by Erin

I spent my Saturday morning as a participant in a research study conducted by Dr. Jan Kavookjian at the Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University. The purpose of the study, per Dr. Kavookjian’s materials, is to “gather parent perceptions about what it is like to communicate with a child or teen who has type 1 or 2 diabetes.”

As parents and caregivers we want to FIX IT. Both the big things we know we can’t fix (our kids are stuck with T1D until there is a cure) and the smaller things (my kid won’t bring along the needed supplies).

Sugar Rush Survivors Playlist

What music moves you? What songs resonate with you?

When you are having a difficult day… or week… or year… with type 1 diabetes, or just with life, what do you listen to that helps you get through?

Leading up to the spring of 2017 I was having a rough time. I felt like a failure, like everything I was doing as a T1D mom and in life was not good enough. It turns out that depression tells a person those kinds of lies.

A Tale of Tuesday

by Erin

Now that Grasshopper is playing baseball we have some evenings when we have to grab dinner and head to the field early and stay late. Here’s our Tuesday evening in photos, from dinner in the car on the way to the ball field for pictures, to batting practice, the game, with Dexcom G6 graph screenshots throughout. Thanks to Sugar Surfing and Arden’s Day/Juicebox Podcast, we had a smooth night of blood sugars! We bumped it up with carbs when needed, reduced his pump a bit, and he had a ton of fun out there. The icing on the cupcake is that his team won, 14-3!

Sunshine and Shadows

I like to share the positives. The triumphs. The laughs. I like the sunshine and light.

Those things are easy to tell. Easy to share and pass along.

This day earlier in January was a triumph of fun even though we had to treat several lows.

It is important, however, to also share our struggles. That is when I hear from others, “I am so glad to know I am not alone.”

T1D Car Wash

Friday is car wash day. I vacuumed up at least 20 test strips and ALL the raisins. Dealing with a chronic condition like T1D means the highs and lows happen anywhere, anytime. It doesn’t stop for car washes. Thanks to the noise of the water and then the vacuum I couldn’t hear the Dexcom low alert and for some reason it didn’t show up on my watch. Grasshopper said he felt low. Yep. 55 on the meter, 50 on Dexcom.

Pike Road Lions Strides Walk 2018

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Awareness is important. After bringing awareness, I’m interested in ACTION!

Podcast Interview

by Erin

Back in the fall of 2017, I saw a familiar name on one of the T1D Facebook pages I follow. Scott Benner, T1D dad, blogger at Arden’s Day and podcaster at Juice Box Podcast, asked what other parents might want to hear on upcoming podcasts. I posted asking for more discussion about parenting a young child with diabetes, and offered to talk with him about it.