Wordless Wednesday (Nutella versus Cheerios)

Breakfast smackdown!

Eat this, not that…?

Ping to Pod

When Luke was diagnosed at 14 months, we chose a pump within days while still in the hospital. I didn’t realize that this was unusual – many people still hear that they need to “master the basics” with shots before going on the pump. We were giving such tiny doses – even with compounded insulin – we could barely see them. Control was a joke, with BGs swinging easily from 40 to 400 (it was the first week after dx, but still…). We chose the pump with the smallest increments, the Animus. Two bonus features: we could bolus from the remote and it was waterproof.
And it has been a great little pump.
Well – not so little. Luke wore it in shirt pockets on his back, and he looked like a Jetsons kid sporting a jet pack. To hug Luke was to hug his pump. “Woah, did I just break something?” my brother-in-law startled after giving Luke a big hug.
Even stripped down to skivvies, our boy looked like a little Marlon Brando in his tight, stained wife-beaters that held the pump.
And there were the bubbles that had us priming every night.
And there were the basal changes that could only be made directly in the pump, often in the middle of the night, which meant rolling him on his side, fumbling under the PJs for the undershirt pocket, pulling out the pump to make edits, and wrestling the pump back into the pocket – without waking the boy.
And he needed his pump while swimming or we’d get highs afterward.
The last straw was that our insurance was soon to scale back, so just before Omnipod’s Cut the Cord program ended on Jan. 1, Luke became a Podder. Thanks to bloggers like Lorraine, Amy, Laura, Joanne, Hallie, Denise, and now Dawn and Stephanie (and older podders – Grace, Q, Stacey, I’m sure I’m missing some), I knew it could be done, limited real estate and all.
We’re just a couple days in, so who knows how this will go – I’ve heard the stories about squealing pods, inexplicable failures, skin rashes, no IOB for carb boluses, and am sure there will be some swearing down the line.
But this evening, whenever I hugged Luke, I felt – his back (the Pod is on his butt). And when he changed into pajamas, all I saw was – his slender back. I half expected to see moss. He walked around with his hand up his back for a while, rubbing absently. “Why the pod that’s all there is?” he asked. “That’s the pump?”
” Yep, bud, that’s all there is,” I said. “Want to keep it for a while?”
(Every time we had talked about the Omnipod with Luke, he had shaken his head and put insisted, “I want to wear the black pump all day and all night!” Don’t know where he gets that distrust of change.)
But he’s keeping an open mind, it seems. ” Yeah, it’s ok,” he said, and snuggled under the covers with a smile.
Fingers crossed…

Kate’s Flaming Gingerbread Cookies

A few years ago, my sister Kate decided to make a batch of gingerbread cookies before Christmas eve service. One of the first steps was boiling molasses and spices together. She turned her back for just a minute – and the molasses boiled over on the gas stove, caught fire, and turned into a massive fireball. While we were rooted in shock, Erik grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed down the kitchen – and Kate, who looked like a kabuki player when the air cleared. Years later, we’re still finding pockets of white powder and molasses drops welded to the underside of cupboards.

In honor of Kate, I tried the cookies this year – with a very, very large pot for the molasses and spices. It’s worth it – the cookies hit the happy median between chewy and tender, and the spices come through.

22 carbs/oz, makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Snowflakes
2/3 cup molasses (not robust)
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Bring molasses, brown sugar, and spices to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat. Stir in baking soda (mixture will foam up), then stir in butter 3 pieces at a time, letting each addition melt before adding next, until all butter is melted. Add egg and stir until combined, then stir in 3 3/4 cups flour and salt.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with as much of remaining 1/4 cup flour as needed to prevent sticking, until soft and easy to handle, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Halve dough, then wrap 1 half in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature.
Roll out remaining dough (1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies and transfer with spatula to 2 buttered large baking sheets, arranging them about 1 inch apart.
Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes total (watch carefully toward end of baking; cookies can burn easily). Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.
Go to town with icing, sprinkles, etc. (and bathe child).

And the FDA’s heart grew three sizes that day…!

And what happened then…?

Well…in Who-ville they say

That the FDA’s small heart grew three sizes that day!

And the minute his heart didn’t feel quite so tight,

He whizzed with his load in the bright morning light!

He brought the T:slim, iBGStar, iPro2, and the Veo!

And he… HE HIMSELF…!

Gave AP draft guidance the OK-o!

No one’s getting these in their stockings yet, but the ice may be melting as approvals for new products and trials trickle through.

Jeffrey Brewer (JDRF) just posted a thank you to everyone who helped bring about the FDA’s Artificial Pancreas guidance approval (which covers requirements for in-home AP trials), and it’s quite the list: endocrinologists, diabetes organizations (AACE, ADA, AADE, Endocrine Society), Children’s Congress participants, Congressional members (see? – they did accomplish something this year!), grass-roots advocates, petition signers, and the T1D community in general. Likely that includes YOU.

JDRF’s still waiting to see how guidance requirements will really play out when trials get underway, but they’re ”cautiously optimistic.” Joshua Levy and Amy Tendrich have great analyses.

As Suess would say – with everyone making a racket, the FDA heard loud and clear,

We are here! We are here! We are here! We are here!