NEWS FLASH!

Between September 15th and October 15th, we are working to Raise Funds to help Cure Diabetes and you can help!!!!

The four of us and our family have formed a “Virtual Walk Team” for the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. If you would like to make a difference in the life of millions of diabetics around the world, please join us and support of “Mollie and Jackie’s Diabetic Angels” as we Walk to Cure Diabetes this fall!!!!! If you would like to join “Mollie and Jackie’s Diabetic Angels” virtual Walk Team, we sure would LOVE your help!

IT’S EASY! Click on the banner (picture) to your left to make a donation and watch the thermometer climb! Together with all of our friends around the world, we can make a difference! We can CURE DIABETES! Please click here to help!

All monies raised by Mollie and Jackie’s Diabetic Angels Walk Team, are tax deductible, and go directly to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International to help diabetics all around the world!

Thank you!

Always Praying for a Cure,
Mollie, Jackie, and our entire family

Twelve thousand seven hundred forty shots of insulin over seven years. One thousand two hundred forty-eight insulin pump insertion sites, inserted over eight years. Fifty four thousand seven hundred fifty finger pokes over Fifteen years…this is what it took to keep me alive, since my diagnosis with Juvenile Diabetes, on September 8, 1993.

One day I was a little girl with no worries, the next day I was showing signs that something was seriously wrong, and I was being rushed to the hospital where I stayed for 10 days; scared and not knowing what would happen to me. As troublesome and frightening as diabetes is, being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 4 has definately made me a stronger and more responsible person. Diabetes is what I have, not who I am, but it has still taught me many lessons and has helped both Jackie and I develop character and discipline. Diabetes is a huge part of our lives and the lives of those who love us, and I am blessed to have gone this many years without complications.  But since being diagnosed with diabetes, Jackie, our family and friends, along with myself have dedicated most of our spare time to doing everything we can to find the cure. 

Thousands of people around the world spend endless hours, days, weeks, and even their lifetime seeking a cure for this devestating disease and for this we are very grateful. Although diabetes is a difficult and demanding disease, it has also opened many doors and helped us make friends all around the world. I can’t wait for the day when I don’t have to test, take a shot, worry when the insulin in my pump is getting too low, or set an alarm clock for the middle of the night - just to make sure I’ll wake up with a good number the next morning and although it may not be a big deal to some, I would love to just once leave my house and get in the car and drive away…without having to test my blood sugar before I get behind the wheel.

Yes, I, like all diabetics, dream of the day the cure is found; what an amazing day that will be!  But in so many ways I am so healthy that I refuse to sit around and let others do the work of advocating and raising funds on my behalf. I AM BLESSED! I have the support of my family and friends, all of the diabetics I have met along the way, and of course Jackie and I have our music…YES!

Speaking of Jackie, I want you and the world to know that without you always by my side, being my guardian angel, and protecting me along the way, I can’t imagine how empty and frightening my life would be without you. Thank you to everyone, I cherish this opportunity to celebrate my 15th anniversary as a diabetic with all of you, my family, friends, researchers and volunteers who work so hard to help so many, because together, we will find a cure!!  

So today, I am celebrating my 15th Diabetic Anniversary. 

Pictures of this inspiring day to follow!! It’s early right now, we’re on the West Coast, so soon I’ll be going to lunch and pictures of my celebration will follow shortly!!!!

Jackie, Mom, Me, and Aunt Mama all ate lunch at one of our favorite restaurants!

And then Mollie and Mollie and Jackie and Jackie all headed over to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf…I ordered a Regular Ultimate Chocolate Mocha Ice Blended, it was amazing!! My blood sugar was even 69 when I tested to bolus for all of this sugar!! :] Today was awesome! 

“Ahem! It’s almost time to change me! I’m running out of my insulin!”

I took the hint, deactivated the pod, and was politely asked if I would like to activate a new one. Thank you very much, I would love to! I put the insulin in the new Sir Pod, waited for it for “Prime,” and got everything ready before I stuck it on me, and then I thought of good places to put it. Especially since we were going out that night, I was wearing a dress. This might not be so unusual, but for me wearing dresses with insulin pumps now, is so cool! :] I don’t have to worry about anything anymore. 

Big News here: I can wear it on my stomach now! 

Sir Pod was put on my stomach, which for the second time in all of my insulin pump wearing years - it’s conformable there!!! This is also another “sooo cool” moment!!  As of right now, it’s still comfortable, sticking on my stomach with no problem, and I can’t even feel the insulin delivering. 

I love my Omnipod. :]
(and I love how the screen light always comes on, no matter what! Testing my blood sugar in the dark is amazing now.)  

Always Praying for Cure,
Mollie

P.S. Oooh!!! My 15th Diabetic Anniversary is on Monday!! 

How should I celebrate? :]

:] 

I think it’s simple and easier to read, and it’s easier for the two of us to make changes on the site quickly…and we barely had to look at the “code” for this theme! That’s always nice, since code is definitely not one of our fortes. haha  

Have a great night!      We’d love to hear your thoughts on the re-design!!!! 

Yesterday, Jackie and I went to the UNLV Orientation and helped sing the UNLV FIght Song to 3,000 Freshmen! It was so much fun and we met some really cool people!   We got up pretty early to get ready and have breakfast and be there in time. However, it was pretty interesting when I tested my blood sugar after breakfast…

You see, I almost never eat Wheat Chex! [This is a rare occurrence.] It’s always been a cereal that I have trouble bolusing for. I know there are 38 carbs in 3/4 of a cup, I can bolus for that. I even had 1/2 cup of blueberries and milk in my cereal. Milk in cereal is a given, but the blueberries were so good! Any way, other than my love for fruit, I carb-counted my breakfast and added an extra 2 units.

Every time I eat Wheat Chex, I don’t know why, but my blood sugars are higher. At least almost every time…because when I tested my blood sugar 2 hours and 10 minutes later, I was 91!! There was a smile on my face but I was so surprised; I actually bolused correctly for this amazingly good breakfast!! :] Since we were no where near singing the UNLV fight song with everyone yet, I turned my basal down in my pump, and drank a couple ounces of juice because I didn’t want my blood sugar to be low while we were showing the freshmen our school spirit!  But, my number was 169 afterward and then 94 before lunch! :-) 

We are on page 10, 95 and the back inside cover of Justine Magazine’s August/September 2008 issue!!!

It’s a light blue cover with a very pretty girl with blonde hair wearing blue and it’s all about Back-To-School!   Then there is a section called Just’ Give that we are in. You get a copy of Justine Magazine at your local book stores and some grocery and drug stores! 

This is very exciting and we hope the article inspires others to support a cause or project in which they believe!!! Let us know what you think? by posting a comment here!   Hope “ya’ll”  been having a great summer! :-) 

Always Praying for a Cure,
Mollie and Jackie

I have been on shots, pumps, continuous glucose monitors, and even most recently…the Omnipod. Not to mention countless brands of blood glucose meters. (My favorite is the Freestyle Flash, because of the flash light on the strip - best feature ever!)  

I will admit, after all these years, I still have my “ancient relic” of a tester around from when I was 4 years old and first diagnosed. The One Touch with the huge flat Duracell batteries; phone batteries remind me of them, actually. Remember the “45 second count down” testers?  That’s the one I’m talking about! haha.

Of course, I want a cure for this disease so that none of us would have to use any of these needles, pokers, inserters, strips, monitors, and tapes and alcohol pads. I’d love to not have to carry so many supplies, to even go the grocery store. You never know though, its a good thing big purses are in style.   But I have to say, I am so grateful to have the chance to use the wonderful technology we have today. And am so glad we have what we have to control our diabetes. 
I was inspired to write about the supplies I have used because after receiving an email from a very close friend, who introduced me to a newly diagnosed diabetic, named Anna, let me just say, like Anna, I would have loved to have had someone to talk to. So it’s my pleasure to help her now and I will be answering her questions, but its my hope that many of you will want to do the same.

Here’s some of Anna’s questions in her own words…Please leave comments!  

“Mollie! It is so great to hear from you! I just found out that I was a type 1 diabetic last thursday so I’ve been through quite a week. I was reading your blog and you diabetic angels website and it really made me feel better. it is so great to hear from someone my own age about this! so do you like the pump? i have to do injections for a month before my doctor will let me go on the pump. do you like the one you have? is it comfortable? sorry…..i guess i’m being a bit overbearing with the questions! i am so glad i’ve met you!”

“so i have a very tough choice between continuous glucose monitoring or omnipod with no wires what are the pros/cons of each? have you tried the other one? i am kind of leaning toward the omnipod because i think the belt clip thing would be a pain. sorry I am bombarding you with all these questions.”

 

First, everybody has been where you are.  All of us at one time or another were also newly diagnosed. We know what you’re going through and we’re happy to help. Ask all the questions, we’re here! :] 

1. Do you like the pump?
I love the insulin pump. It gave me back so much more freedom. Compared to shots, being on a pump is wonderful!  I’ve been using the pump for more than 8 1/2 years now. I was on the Medtronic 507c, 508, and 722, and tried the Deltec Cozmo for a few years too. I loved the “Bolus Wizard” in the Medtronic pumps though, when I was first learning about it, that was a major feature I loved because I could put my blood sguar number in and with the settings I had, it would calculate how much insulin to correct, and also factor how many units I needed based on my insulin-carbs ratio. 

2. Do you like the one you have?  
I LOVE the Omnipod, it’s given me much better control, and its pretty exciting to see the graphs and the records in it. It’s user friendly.  :) 

3. Is it comfortable?
Yes! I barely feel it, and I almost never feel the insulin going in with the Omnipod. Unlike pumps with tubing, where I could snag the tubing and pull out the insertion site, the adhesive in the pods are so strong! I can put the pods anywhere and barely feel it.

4. Continuous Glucose Monitoring? Omnipod?
For me, the CGM isn’t practical. I know it works for a lot of people, but for me, it didn’t work as well and I found it to be slightly cumbersome. However, you should know that I’m looking forward to Medtronic’s future devices. They are a wonderful company and I know they are doing many things that will help make our lives better.

5. Pros and Cons of the Omnipod and Minimed?
Once I place the pod on my body, its like I can’t even feel anything is there. I can get it wet, exercise without having anything clipped onto me at all times, and I can pretty much place it anywhere. I like wearing it on my upper arms, stomach, and left or right above my waist,  The Omnipod lasts for three days, the wireless handheld PDM or the “Personal Diabetes Manager” is the controller as well as the glucose tester, plus a carb counter too - so I don’t have to carry that, plus my tester, it’s all in one!  There’s no tubing, it makes cool beeping sounds like its talking to me. When the Omnipod’s reservoir (where all the insulin is kept in the pod) is out, it beeps like a *change me!* *change me!* beeping high pitch noise. I just place the pod on me like a band-aid. No inserter. (yay!)  Don’t get me wrong, The Minimed makes a great product, its comes in different colors, like blue, green, clear (I have that one!), black, and purple.
At that time, Minimed was the best option for me. We liked it because of the bolus wizard, and calculators it has built in, plus it was smaller than most other pumps. It’s just that, for me, at this very busy active time in my life, a wireless pump is more conducive to my needs. In all fairness, those people who prefer the smaller insertion set and a lighter product prefer the Medtronic or other pumps with tubing. It’s just that I don’t mind the weight of the Omnipod, even thought it’s a little more cumbersome. In the end, had the Omnipod been available to me almost 9 years ago, it would have made some aspects of my life much easier. 

6. Have you tried the other one?
Yes, see question 1.

7. The belt clip?
The other pumps belt clips were always an interesting story. They unclip all the time, and when that happens, I always felt it. The tubing pulls on my skin and it can be painful. With the Omnipod, I haven’t had this problem…there’s no tubing. It’s just too cool. 

Well, for now, these are my thoughts on your questions. Like you, I look forward to reading what other diabetics have to say.
Bring on the Comments! 

And kudos to Samantha, who just won the World Championship at the Ford AQHYA World Championship Show!   Click here to go to the following link to read the article and view the interview and her fabulous horsemanship! 

Sammy, You Rock!  We love you and Congratulations!!!

P.S. We love you Toni Lynn & Jim, and Aunt Linda & Uncle Richie!

    NEWS FLASH!!

Jackie and I are so excited to announce that we have been named as two of the spokespeople for Heart of Gold!

For those of you who are not familiar with Heart of Gold, we would like for you to read about Heart of Gold in their own words, as to who they are and about their goal to help young women!

“Heart of Gold is the first web community dedicated to helping young women embrace and celebrate the unique gifts they bring to the world. No ordinary “teen girls” site, heartofgoldgirls.com is more like a virtual roadmap for living, with engaging, dynamic content devoted to showing girls how to discover their individual passions while developing their interests, opinions, and personal style.

Sprinkled generously with timeless pearls of wisdom and stocked with useful, beautiful, and unusual products, Heart of Gold will also show girls how to have fun while “doing good” because 10% of Heart of Gold’s net profits will be donated to charity.  

“Tuning into that “still, small voice within” 
Heart of Gold is founded on the belief that finding your unique voice — the inner, authentic voice with which each and every one of us is born — is the key to realizing your dreams. To that end, heartofgoldgirls.com offers young women a “toolbox of how-tos” for living an authentic, empowered life of purpose, responsibility and service to others. 

It’s no wonder then that Heart of Gold’s signature product is the Follow your Heart to the Life of your Dreams™ necklace — a heart-shaped compass intended to help its wearer remain focused on goals and dreams no matter what roadblocks may show up along the way.” 

Honesty in all you say
Excellence in all you do
Acceptance of what life brings you because attitude is everything!
Respect for yourself and others
Tenacity to stick to your goals

Ownership of your life, your actions & your destiny
Faith in yourself & your talents

Gratitude for what you have now
Optimism about what’s to come
Love for yourself and others
Dedication to stay the course until you are living the life of your dreams!

After reading what we’ve posted above, we’re sure everyone can understand why we are truly excited to be a part of such a wonderful organization, especially since Heart of Gold’s message is so inspirational!! Also, like most of you, we love the, “Follow your Heart to the Life of your Dreams” necklace. We wear this inspiring jewelry daily as a contact reminder that when you follow your heart and believe in yourself, dreams really do come true! 

Learn more at heartofgoldgirls.com
Follow our blog at Heart Beats
Source: media and press information

Jackie and I are announcing that the Diabetic Angels, an outreach/fundraising group are going global!

We want to tell everyone that after the formation of the Diabetic Angels 10 years ago, we are today, proudly introducing the Diabetic Angels website, Official Facebook group, and Official Myspace…we are now online! You can read more about the Diabetic Angels on our website, but this is an exciting time for us and for all of the DA’s around the world, who were with us in the beginning! For those of you who are not familiar with the Diabetic Angels, when we began we could only fax and email each other; we didn’t have a way to support one another online. But, with the creation of the website, facebook, and myspace friends, we are well on our way to being able to reach out and help diabetics around the world!  

Please visit   and we ask those of you who can, to add our banner or link to your website/blog, so we can continue to touch the lives of diabetics everywhere. 

To see the banners and links for your page, click here!
If you need other size banners, please leave a comment, to which we will respond.  

Well…the Diabetic Angels are growing! 

That’s a good thing!

And as they grow, we are certainly going to need help, and while we were in New York, we were lucky enough to have been introduced to a lovely young lady, named Diane. Like me, Diane is a Juvenile Diabetic who is also concerned about helping other families with Diabetes.

In the future, it is our hope that Diane will join Jackie and I by becoming the newest member of the Diabetic Angels team! 
 

Stay tuned for more news! 
:] 

We finally wrote about the Caring Awards!

Better late than never. :]

Hope you Enjoy! 

CLICK HERE!

As you may have noticed…Jackie and I had to change the “home” (Jackie likes “dwelling place”) of our blog twice since March of this year…let’s just say this one is here to stay for a while! :] Over the past month, this blog has been under quite a bit of maintenance and re-posting of entries! They’re all back though! :]

How do you like the new redesign? I think it’s pretty exciting…but I ‘d love to hear your feedback! Any problems reading it, commenting it, or navigating through it? If so, please let me know and I would gladly make these changes to make this blog the best it can be!

And, don’t worry, Jackie and I will start posting more and more entries as soon as have a couple of minutes to catch up on everything that has been going on since..well, summer started! When we blog about the Caring Awards, our trip to New York in March, ( i know, that was a long time ago! ) and our most recent trip to New York and Toronto Canada, we will let you know when those are posted! Keep checking back :]  Anyway, I hope you’re having a wonderful Monday night! :] Feel Freeee to comment. :) 

Later that day, we arrived in Poughkeepsie, New York…

Here’s Mom, Colee, Skylar, John, Dad, Mollie, and Jackie 
celebrating Father’s Day!

But we’re all tired and we’re on our way to get a good night’s sleep!

The next day, we went to lunch in Rhinebeck, NY, and did some shopping!
 

Here’s Mom and Colee sharing a moment with the baby! :] 

Here we are babysitting our niece while everyone else was getting ready for a barbeque.
 

All together, we had three wonderful days with our sister Colee and her husband John, and it gave us a chance to get to know the newest member of the clan, Skylar Rose! 

We miss you already! 

<3

Here’s the third generation, what a great way to celebrate Father’s Day!

Unfortunately, Cate left early, so we didn’t have a chance to get a good picture, we’ll get some more the next time we’re in New York! :) 

But, we did get a picture with our niece, Mira while her brother, Liev was busy playing in the water fountain!
 

It was great to see our borther Sean, Cate, Liev, and Mira!

The kids are growing so fast! But it was way too short of a visit, hopefully we’ll have more time with them on our next trip…

sounds like a good reason to go back! :]

Ever since then, I’ve been wearing it and smiling every time I test because the delivery is the same and I have been in much better control.
This is pretty exciting, knowing that there is no tubing, no door handles or something for the tubing to get caught on, a pump no longer clipped to my pocket bulging out from under my shirt - just a little “pod” anywhere I feel like putting it. “Pod,” sounds British doesn’t it? Every time I look at it, I have the urge to call it “Sir Pod.” As a matter, I think I will call him Sir Pod from now on. Any way, “Sir pod” my new best friend constantly delivers its basal rate and insulin dose wirelessly through the Omnipod Personal Diabetes Manager a.k.a. PDM. It makes these high pitched clicking noises when its delivering, and I barely know it’s there. The Omnipod is amazing.

Let me explain what it was like to insert the omnipod…and just so you know, it normally takes about 2 or 3 minutes for me to change it from start to finish, but I wanted to be detailed in the pictures…here goes!!

Once the Omnipod “Personal Diabetes Manager” (PDM) was setup, this is what I started with…The PDM, a sealed “Omnipod” package, a bottle of Insulin, and an alchohal pad…thats it. No inserters! :]

The PDM screen showed me that there was “No active pod” and politely asked if I would like to start a new one…I excitedly pressed the “Yes” button!

Now…after telling the PDM “Yes,” I would love to activate a new Sir pod…
I swiped the top of my insulin bottle with an alcohol pad and twisted the needle cap into the syringe.

After figuring out the average of how many units of insulin I would need for the next 72 hours, I drew air into the bottle equal to the amount of insulin I would be drawing.

Then, I drew insulin from the insulin vial and filled the syringe with the amount of insulin I needed and I checked for air bubbles. :]

Then, I inserted the needle straight down to what is called the “fill port” (the hole just beneath the needle) of the Omnipod.

I emptied the syringe into the Fill Port and heard Sir Pod beep twice, informing me that it was ready to go onto the next step and that everything was working the way it is supposed to! :) 

After I filled Sir Pod, I pressed “next” and waited for the Omnipod to finish priming.

It’s cool that the Omnipod makes these little clicking noises…I found that helpful and fascinating.

Jackie helped me prepare the site on my arm by using the alchohol pad and we let the site air dry…naturally. :]

Here, I am removing the needle cap, which peels back exactly like the top on a can of soda…Jackie loves this part! :-D      

 

To apply the Omnipod, Jackie just placed the pod on my skin (I’m trying my arm today, this is a first!). 

And then Jackie ran her fingers around the tape to secure it and make sure there were no creases in the tape. Jackie is very good at this.

At this point, Sir Pod is on my skin and waiting for me to follow the instructions on the screen to begin the insertion. This is when I press “Start!” (I have to admit, I was nervous!)

YES! As you can see on the PDM, I did everything correctly and Sir Pod is “Active!” and delivering its basal!!!
I am on THE pod!

This is the crew that trained Jackie and me how to use the Omnipod. (Jackie always learns everything I learn) They were extremely helpful and knowledgeable, and pleasant! 

from old blog:

Lea,  June 4, 2008
Congratulations! Wear Sir Pod in good health

I’ve always wondered how that all worked (especially insertion). Your pictures and tutorial were great, and will no doubt help people if they’re in the process of deciding which pump to use. 

k2, June 4, 2008
Sir Pod and you seem to have really hit it off! I’m curious, how do you like dealing with the remote?
k2 

Seonaid, June 4, 2008
Thanks for this! I always thought the fact omnipod was wireless was soo cool.. now I want to try it, I’m tired of getting stuck on door handles

Gina, June 6, 2008
Thats cool, it looks so big though. 

Julie, June 7, 2008
Thank you for all the great pictures!! 

I ordered the demo pack to see how I like it. I agree with Gina.. it does look kinda bulky on the arm. I’m not sure I’ll like it.

We’ll see though. Please keep us updated on how you like it!!

<3 Julie 

So on Thursday, May 29, 2008…. Our really really good friend Robert graduated from high school…and we were able to go and see him after the ceremony, and it was nice to meet his family and friends, and Jackie and I wanted to post on here to tell you… Congratulations!!!!! :)

Since late Saturday afternoon, our best friend Jaye who lives in Georgia, came to Las Vegas to visit for a couple days!

We haven’t seen her for a year, so let me say, we all had an awful lot to catch up on. It was so nice to talk and hang out, and we even hung out with some good friends we all haven’t seen for ages, and watched movies!!!!

I miss you Jaye, and Jackie and I can’t wait for you to come back!