 |
 March, 2015 |
| Taming the Type One Diabetes Dragon Together |
Welcome, Dragon Tamers...
Thanks for joining our online community by subscribing to this e-newsletter from WaltzingTheDragon.ca, THE trusted online resource for families living with type 1 diabetes in Canada, a place to share technical info and practical tips on living well with diabetes.
Let's Dance! |
|
 |
|
| Feature Recipe |
|
Cheesy Mushroom Caps
A quick and easy snack, hors d'oeuvre, or side dish for grilled steak! Choose your quantity: make a few, or a few dozen.
Large Mushrooms ("Stuffer" mushrooms work well)
Cream Cheese
Bacon Bits, or Crumbled Fried Bacon
Marble Cheese, sliced
Wash and remove the stems from the mushrooms, leaving the mushroom cap intact.
Pat the inside dry with a paper towel.
Fill the inside of the cap with cream cheese, level with the edge of the mushroom cap. Sprinkle bacon bits (or crumbled fried bacon) over the cream cheese.
Top with a slice of brick cheese. (We like marble cheese best, but any melt-able cheese will work - try cheddar, mozzarella or monterey jack.)
Place caps, cheese side up, on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 350°C until cheese is melted. Best served warm.
Approx. 1 carb each
Check out Waltzing the Dragon for other Low Carb Snack
Ideas
|
| Comments? Ideas? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Maybe it's just because our family is in the middle of a major renovation, but it seems to me that diabetes care is a lot like building a house...
...Start with a Solid Foundation
We continue our series on adjusting insulin using an insulin pump with an exploration of how to assess and adjust basal rates. Basal insulin is the background insulin which, if set properly, keeps blood glucose steady in the absence of food and exercise. But how do you know if your child's pump basal rates are set properly? How do you do a "basal test"? How can you control for the effects of food, exercise, and bolus insulin? And how can you use the results of a basal test to adjust the current rates? Find out in Waltzing the Dragon's Level 3 Blood Glucose Management section: Assessing and Adjusting Basal Insulin (for pumps).
|
|
...Measure the Beams
How do you measure the effectiveness of your family's current diabetes care habits? The A1c test is a measure of average blood glucose over the past few months... but how does it do that? How does the resulting number correspond to an average blood glucose number? What are the limitations of the A1c test? Does this measure matter in the end?
...Fill It with Love and Joy
If you're feeling like diabetes has stolen the joy from your family's life, maybe it's time to "let it in and let go". Joe Solowiejczyk (Diabetes Nurse Educator, Family Therapist, and PWD for 50+ years) talks about the feeling of powerlessness that many experience after a type 1 diabetes diagnosis, and offers suggestions for healing.
|
|
|
| D-Community |
|
CDA and School
Are you worried about your child's safety and health at school? The Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) needs your brief personal story about taking the diabetes dragon to school in Alberta. Lend your voice for an advocacy movement aimed at developing appropriate guidelines and standards for students
with diabetes. Share your family's story!
Kids'n'Us Conference
Sat., April 25 in Edmonton, Alberta. Speakers include Gary Scheiner (CDE, T1D, and author, Think Like a Pancreas) and Joe Solowiejczyk (Diabetes Nurse Educator, family therapist, and T1D). These are some of the best of the best! Meet you there...
Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes-JDRF
Events are happening across Canada, starting in May to support JDRF. Register now for an event in your area: to meet other families living with diabetes, to unite with others with a similar passion, and to raise critical funds for research focused on curing, treating and better preventing T1D. Over 45,000 Canadians walk, share stories, and connect at approximately 70 sites across Canada and become one community with participants in six other countries!
Parent Support Meetings
Check out parent support coffee meetings across Alberta. Send us your coffee meeting details from across Canada, and we'll add them to our Events page!
Have a community event anywhere in Canada that you would like us to share with our readership? Contact us.
|
|
Real Life with the D-Dragon
|
|
One of the hardest things about diabetes is the unpredictability of outcome... sometimes we put in 150% and have all the bases covered, but still get an unacceptable level of BG swings in return. If you're feeling like there's a missing piece in your child's diabetes care, you may identify with this month's blog post from Danielle: Metformin - An Option for the Teenage Years |
|
|
|
Living with Diabetes: A Day in the Life of a Pumper
|
|
For insulin pump user Sandy Struss, making the switch from multiple daily injections to a pump was a little scary at first, and a whole new way of thinking about managing insulin. "But within a few weeks, I got the hang of it and totally "got" what all the hype was about with pumping. The freedom and flexibility of pumping lets me live life the way I want and on my schedule. Here's an idea of what I might do on a typical weekday to *keep my blood sugars in line..."
*Article Brought to you by Animas Canada |
|
|
|
Lenny the Lion Explains Diabetes
|
|
|
Lenny the Lion is a great ambassador for children's diabetes education. Lenny is a lion who finds it really easy to talk about diabetes. He can describe what it is, why people have it, how children may feel about being diagnosed and what they might feel about living with the condition. Click *here to introduce your child to Lenny, and to find out about Lenny's fun, interactive games for kids.
*Article brought to you by Medtronic Canada |
|
|
|
All the best to you and your family as you tame the Diabetes Dragon!
From us, Michelle & Danielle
(Michelle MacPhee and Danielle Krause, Co-creators, WaltzingTheDragon.ca)
Introduce someone to Dragon News... share this newsletter!
If you are not already a part of our email list and
you want to receive “Dragon News” again next month: Subscribe to the Waltzing the Dragon mailing list.
More information on living well with diabetes | www.WaltzingTheDragon.ca
What is Waltzing the Dragon?
WaltzingTheDragon.ca is a Canadian website for families dealing with type 1 diabetes, created by two parents of children with diabetes: Danielle, a former Registered Nurse, is a mother of three teens (one of her sons has had type 1 diabetes since 2001); Michelle holds a Masters degree in Psychology and is mom to two young children, including a school-aged son (who has had type 1 diabetes since 2008).
The articles on Waltzing the Dragon have been reviewed for content accuracy by the clinical staff at the Diabetes Clinic at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, ensuring the material is grounded in science and best practices. Then, as parents, we provide the practical, experiential layer, sharing “tips from the trenches” and what has worked well in our families. At WaltzingTheDragon.ca, we strive to make the dance a little easier by sharing with you the science of effective diabetes care, as well as the art that makes one truly successful. We hope that, as a result, all of us can focus less on the dragon and more on life.
|
|
|