November 2014

Welcome Dragon Tamers! Thank you for subscribing to the monthly e-newsletter from WaltzingTheDragon.ca, THE trusted online resource for families living with type 1 diabetes in Canada. Our goal is to provide you with practical tips and highlight relevant information for your dragon-taming journey.

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JDRF - turn type one into type none

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM), an event celebrated across the world as a month to educate and raise awareness about type 1 diabetes (T1D). The theme for this year is "You don't know the half of it."  Type 1 diabetes has both a visible, public side and a second private, invisible side. Throughout the month, JDRF will be sharing inspiring videos of Canadians from across the country. Get involved by sharing your own stories. 

The Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) has produced a special feature in recognition of Diabetes Awareness Month. The feature is full of news and information about diabetes in Canada, including the challenge of securing medical support for children with diabetes at school, and positive experiences young people living with type 1 diabetes have had with the CDA’s D-camps
program. 

Connect over coffee

Would you like to meet up with other parents for support and information-sharing? Outreach and Family Support from various JDRF chapters in Alberta are offering an opportunity to Connect Over Coffee...
Red Deer: Parents of Children with T1D Support Group is planned for the 3rd Sunday of each month at 2:00 p.m at the Taylor Plaza Starbucks in Red Deer.
Edmonton: The monthly coffee support group will move around the city of Edmonton to accommodate as many families as we can. Next Meeting: NOVEMBER 29, 2014, 10:00 AM at the Riverbend Square Second Cup Coffee (478 Riverbend Square, Edmonton).

For contact information, check out Waltzing the Dragon's News and Events page.

 

 



Safety First!


Safe Swings

For many families, adjusting their child's insulin doses can seem overwhelming, without a clear path for how to get a handle on it. Waltzing the Dragon can help with stage-by-stage insulin adjustment guidelines for each insulin program, taking you systematically through pattern adjustment, then through checking and tweaking basal rates, insulin:carb ratios, and correction insulin.

Last month we introduced the most intensive injected insulin program, Multiple Daily Injections (MDI). This month we continue this series with answers to common insulin adjustment questions for those using MDI: How can I use patterns in my child's blood sugars to reduce the swings? Why does he go to bed with a good number but wake up high? How can we avoid lunchtime lows? I gave my child a correction dose of insulin but it didn't seem to help... now what?

If it's time for your family to take a step forward in taming blood glucose readings, why not start now? Why not start here?

 
                            
 

Safe Illness

Cold and flu season is officially here! Do you know how to manage their diabetes when your child is ill? Need ideas for foods and fluids during illness? Check out this valuable information provided by the nurses and dieticians at the Alberta Children's Hospital Diabetes Clinic.


Safe Sets

In past editions of Dragon News we have explored some basics of infusion sets and sites from our Pumping (Level Two) section. This month we continue this exploration of safe timing, safety loops, and "better safe than sorry". 



Join the Conversation

World Diabetes Day 2014 is just around the corner, but looking ahead, what do we need to accomplish as a community in the next 5 years? 10 years? Michelle shares a few of her hopes for the future of diabetes, in this months' blog post: Imagine World Diabetes Day 2024.

  

Questions? Comments?

Send us a note: admin@WaltzingTheDragon.ca.

Recipe of the Month

Quick Chicken Chili  

3 steps. 30 minutes. Warm your family in the cold days to
come.
(Makes 8 servings. Carb factor = 0.06 by weight. Naturally GF.)


1 kg (2.2 lbs) ground chicken (or extra lean ground beef) (0 carbs)
1 onion, finely diced (10 carbs)
3 tsp minced garlic (3 carbs)
2 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes (63 carbs)
1 (5.5-oz) can tomato paste (16 carbs)
1 cup water
1 (19-oz) can white kidney beans (54 carbs)
1 (19-oz) can black eyed peas (37 carbs) 
1 (10-oz) can mushrooms (9 carbs)
2 Tbsp chili powder (0 carbs)
1 Tbsp ground cumin (0 carbs)
2 Tbsp white sugar (30 carbs)
1 tsp salt or to taste (0 carbs)
1 tsp pepper (0 carbs)
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (optional - we left it out) 

1. In a large stock pot lightly brown ground chicken, and drain if needed.
2. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent.
3. Add rest of ingredients. Simmer for 30 minutes. Garnish with sour cream or Greek yogurt and/or grated cheese, as desired, and serve.

Make it mild or spicy. Swap the meat for zucchini and carrots to make it vegetarian (adjust carb count accordingly).


*Actual carb content will vary according to brands and amounts used - please adjust accordingly. Visit WaltzingTheDragon.ca for more information on how to calculate and use carb factors.

 

Finding Your D-Tribe 

Peer-to-peer support can be as much a positive influence on your health as meeting with your medical team, as other people with diabetes are the ones who know what it’s like to live with every day. In this month's feature article, Finding Your D-Tribe, blogger and author Kerri Sparling talks about how her health was impacted by strangers simply saying, “I understand.”


*Article Brought to you by Animas Canada

All the best to you and your family as you tame the diabetes dragon...
-Michelle & Danielle

Michelle MacPhee & Danielle Krause
Co-Creators, WaltzingTheDragon.ca



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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 6-year-old 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”, sharing 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.

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