Toes in the Sand

Well, it is summertime!! Yay! Flip flops and crocs here we come!

Well, maybe.

For diabetics, foot health and proper footwear is SO important and can often be overlooked! We mostly think of foot infections and issues with older patients, but we should start early talking to our young diabetics about proper footcare and set an example early in life for them to follow as they get older.

The big picture behind foot issues and diabetes has to do with nerve damage done by constant, high blood sugars. So, patients may lose some sensation in their feet keeping them from knowing they might have a sore or cut. If they are unaware of a foot injury and it goes untreated and unnoticed, infection (keeping in mind high sugars make it hard to heal infections) could occur.

Hopefully, we are able to keep our kids' A1C levels low enough throughout the adolescence that they won't have any nerve damage. However, we should still discuss with them the importance of keeping their sugars in check and keeping their toes and feet clean, nails properly trimmed, and minimizing their risk of any infection by not going barefoot in unclean places. Additionally, children are always growing as are their feet, too! Donate or toss old shoes that have become too small and buy proper fitting shoes that don't cause blisters.

If you are an adult diabetic who reads the blog and struggle with poor circulation and foot health, feel free to call Sue at our Jodeco location at 770-507-1234. She can assist you with compression hosiery or diabetic socks.

Happy Summer!

Exciting News!

I realize all of my readers might not be dealing with juvenile diabetes, but as you all know it is most dear to my heart as my five-year old son suffers from juvenile type 1 diabetes. I wanted to start this blog as an outreach to other families affected by diabetes because if it weren't for a few special families there for me in the beginning I am not sure how I would have otherwise coped. Now, I am ready to give back. (Although, admittedly I still need lots of support myself! :) Don't we all?) So, tomorrow night I will be attending the JDRF Georgia Chapter's "Stories of Hope" fundraising Gala in Atlanta, and it will be my first volunteer position! I am very excited! In addition, the volunteer who is in charge of the support group and monthly meet-ups in our area needs someone to cover in her place this summer, and I was asked to take the job! Now, what does all this mean for you? Lots of things! First, I will be planning fun activities at least once a month for us to network and meet. Second, I will be on the frontlines with access to any new information the JDRF releases or fun activities that I can then pass on to you. And, third, it should better equip me overall. I hope I can learn tons of information, touch someone, and become an even better blogger for you all! I am getting warm fuzzies just thinking about being in the room tomorrow night when thousands of dollars will be raised for find a cure! I believe there is one! Won't you believe with me?

The Yellow Yuck

As many of you can tell just by walking out to your car, the pollen season is definitely here!! The car washes are fighting a losing battle, so just save your money and time! Finally, yesterday our area received some much needed rain! However, I just checked, and the forecast for our county looks pretty much dry for at least the next ten days, so we are definitely not through with it yet.

There are antihistamines over-the-counter approved for use in children, and if you would like a recommendation for your child visit your local Moye's Pharmacy where our pharmacists will be happy to help you! Additionally, there are antihistamines for children that are available in liquid form that contain less than five grams of total carbohydrates per dose!! Isn't that awesome!? In fact, most liquid OTC medications are safe to use in diabetics, but always check with your Moye's pharmacist first. (There are some exceptions..especially prescription formulations.) I personally have used liquid cetirizine for my son without it having any direct effect on his sugars.

A note to remember though...the allergies in general can cause some elevated blood sugars especially if it continues into an upper respiratory infection. Anytime the immune response is activated, it can affect the sugars. Hopefully though this pollen will make its grand exit really soon, and our children can get ready for a fun-filled summer!

That will call for another post though!! With summer comes swimming and lots of running around outside which also affects blood sugars! Stay tuned!

SPRING into action!

While today we got a bit closer to spring here in Georgia and set our clocks forward an hour, this is also a great reminder to do some housekeeping checks with your diabetes supplies. You have probably heard that when the time changes, it is a good reminder to check your smoke alarm batteries. Well, now you can use the time change to help you remember a few other important things that are often forgotten because we don't do them daily.

1. Check your expiration dates on your emergency supplies!! This includes your glucagon emergency kits, nausea medications (promethazine suppositories or ondansetron tablets), ketone strips, and any other medications you don't get refilled each month. If your supplies are expired, contact your Moye's Pharmacy to refill what you need.

2. This goes hand and hand with number one, but check your supply on-hand of these emergency medications as well. Do you have a glucagon kit at school or work AND at home? Better yet, do you have a glucagon kit at all? You'd be surprised how many people somehow never got one filled when they were first diagnosed and/or were not educated to keep one at home AND school/work. If you need education about how to use your glucagon kit, call your Moye's pharmacist and set up a time to go in and learn about how to use it. Don't wait until you need it for your child and realize you don't know how to use it! Equally important, if you are an adult diabetic, now is the time to make sure those family members, friends, and co-workers you are most often with also know how to use it and where you store it.

3. Do you have an extra glucometer on hand? If you don't that is fine, but then you need to make sure you have extra batteries for your current glucometer. If you are unsure which replacement battery type your machine takes your Moye's staff will be glad to help you.

Here's to a happy, healthy spring!!!

Important Safety Notices

Recently I became aware of some important safety recalls on Lifescan diabetes testing products that I wanted to let you know about. The information can be found at www.lifescan.com. If you use Surestep test strips or One Touch Ultra test strips be sure to visit this web address to find out more information. The recall regarding the Surestep test strips was especially alarming to me because apparently the affected strips will give a falsely low reading when the blood sugar is greater than 400 mg/dL. With flu season here, a 400 mg/dL reading isn't completely far-fetched, so make sure you check your lot numbers on your strips to see if they are being recalled. If you are unsure where to find your lot number or have trouble accessing the website, call your Moye's pharmacist and they will be happy to assist you!

"Is this protein or carves?"

Lately my son has been hearing my husband and I discuss the importance of eating healthy ourselves even though he nor I have diabetes. We are a part of the generation of plenty I guess you can say where times are much different than they were when our parents were our age regarding family meal times. With so many fast food options on every street corner and the economy's hard times meaning two parents typically are working full-time outside of the home, so many of us are just grabbing what we can to eat. Thankfully, it seems gym memberships are now trendy as well, so hopefully our generation can fight off what we are eating by exercising. However, it doesn't always work that way. The gym still takes time...and money...and the decision of what to do about childcare while we are trying to fit that in. I know as a mother there is SO much "mommy guilt" surrounding us. If you don't believe me start up a conversation at your next Bunco game about whether it is best to be a working mom or a stay-at-home mom. Or private versus public school. Those tough decisions pull at our heartstrings! Often we feel like it is a lose-lose situation. If we put ourselves first, we feel bad. If we let ourselves go and only focus on running our kids back and forth to their soccer games, then we also feel bad.

But, I have been contemplating how important it is for us to set an example for our children. An example of how to lead a healthy lifestyle all the while teaching them how to survive in the fast food crazed world. Unfortunately, it may have taken my son's diagnosis of new onset diabetes to wake me up to this calling as a mother. And, I am for sure not in shape nor do I eat as healthy as I should. However, our kids are sponges! They watch what we eat, and they are also noticing you on the treadmill while they are busy playing with their trains and cars even though you might not think they are paying any attention.

Would you take on the challenge with me? The challenge to show our children that we can help set a good precedent for them to follow regarding taking care of themselves. Sure, it is easy to remind them to brush their teeth, but it is a tad harder possibly to carry along unsweetened applesauce in the insulin bag when you know you are going to have to endure a fast food lunch during your errands. Skip the fries! Be realistic..let them have the chicken nuggets! Life is all about choices, and it is up to us to teach our children how to make healthy food choices.

And, as far as choices go...choose yourself, moms! I know it might be hard to put yourself first, but remember! While you might be the one and only expert at caring for your child's diabetes, if you throw yourself so far into that job and let your own health go then you won't be around to take care of your child after it is all said and done! What good will that do? Start with yourself first; your child will notice and follow.

Just like my son...he is now obsessed with what is a protein and what is a "carve?" Yes, adorable, huh? A "carve" is a carb...so cutely renamed by my five-year old.

They need to know the difference in the food groups as one day they will be counting their own carbohydrates. A common pitfall in diabetics is that they get into their teen years and only estimate their insulin requirements...and often A1C levels creep up. Start now by teaching your child what is a carbohydrate and even mention why we need to know how many we are eating. You'd be surprised how much interest your child will have in the topic and most of all they will be thrilled to have the one-on-one time just chatting with you!

Running Low???

Are you finding that you are always running short on your child's diabetes testing supplies? This might happen if you are having to check your child's blood sugar more often or give more injections than the pharmacy label states. This could easily happen if your child has been sick or has been having irregular blood sugars. If your prescription isn't up to date with the most recent instructions from your doctor, call your Moye's Pharmacy and have them contact your physician to get updated prescriptions. Often, we as parents call our child's diabetes doctors and they might give us verbal instructions over the phone to test more frequently without the pharmacy receiving a new prescription stating that. This should prevent you from having to pay out of pocket for extra supplies at the end of the month if you are running low before it is time to fill your refill. We, your Moye's pharmacists, are more than happy to work with you and contact your child's doctor to make sure you have enough to get you through the month. We also are able to let your doctor know if they need to contact your insurance company to ensure the supplies you need each month are covered. For example, some children test up to 10 times per day meaning they need 300 strips a month. Most insurances require what is called a "prior approval" for that many strips. While we cannot guarantee your plan will cover the 300 strips needed, we can do everything on our end to ensure all steps are taken to try to get them covered through your plan.

Feel free to go to www.moyespharmacy.com to get the phone number of the Moye's location nearest you. You can also click on "meet the pharmacists" at that location as well so you will know who to ask for!