Diabetes Blog Week 2012! – One Thing to Improve

Yesterday we gave ourselves and our loved ones a big pat on the back for one thing we are great at. Today let’s look at the flip-side. We probably all have one thing we could try to do better. Why not make today the day we start working on it. No judgments, no scolding, just sharing one small thing we can improve so the DOC can cheer us on!

Yesterday the topic for the day during D-Blog Week 2012 was One Great Thing, meaning something that we do really well for our diabetes.  I talked about how I’ve gotten good at paying attention to what I eat since my diagnosis.  Granted, we all realize we have to pay attention to what we eat, so its really not that spectacular of a feat, but compared to the way I used to eat, even at the beginning of my diagnosis, its spectacular for me.  But today, for One Thing to Improve, I’m going to talk about the same thing… watching what I eat!

For all my talk of being so proud of having the ability to pay attention to what I eat, I still don’t make the choices that I know I should make.  Sure I look at the carbs and the calories of everything I eat, and I try to keep them down.  I use the MyFitnessPal app on my phone to keep track of my calories (and other stuff), and I use the OnTrack Diabetes app to record all my numbers.  I look at all these numbers all day long, but I don’t really look at them beyond just looking at them.  Sure, I eliminate foods or cut my portions sometimes to fit in with what I need to be doing, but the foods are still the wrong ones.  I still eat the same foods from my favorite restaurants, even though their healthier options are just as good.  I still loooove my desserts, even when I should be skipping them.  Sometimes I think I slip into the mindset that as long as I cover what I eat with insulin, its ok to do what I want.

I know that I need to change this habit.  I need to stop looking at food and really start LOOKING at food.  For my health, for my weight, as well as for my diabetes.

D-Blog Week 2012! One Great Thing

Today’s D-Blog Week topic is “One Great Thing”

Living with diabetes (or caring for someone who lives with it) sure does take a lot of work, and it’s easy to be hard on ourselves if we aren’t “perfect”.  But today it’s time to give ourselves some much deserved credit.  Tell us about just one diabetes thing you (or your loved one) does spectacularly!  Fasting blood sugar checks, oral meds sorted and ready, something always on hand to treat a low, or anything that you do for diabetes.  Nothing is too big or too small to celebrate doing well!

I have to say that nothing I do for my diabetes is “perfect”… I think this is a disease that unfortunately just can’t be classified like that.  No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, sometimes its just not going to work. Sometimes it does, though, so you have that to look forward to!

One thing that I feel has been helpful to me since my diagnosis though, is that being a diabetic makes me aware of what I’m putting in my mouth to eat!  I may not always eat what I should… I certainly don’t put down desserts like I should! … but I am hyper-aware of what I’m eating every day.  Every bite that I put into my mouth, be it good or bad, I have to account for.  I have to make a conscious decision as to whether or not that item will be good or bad for my blood sugar, and do I really feel like poking myself AGAIN just to be able to eat it??  Its much more difficult to hold yourself accountable for the foods you eat as a diabetic than if you are not.  Ahh to be able to just eat something without thinking about it first.. but we do what we have to.  And one a personal level, I kind of like having that little bit of structure to hold me up… usually!

D-Blog Week 2012! Find A Friend

I have a VERY bad tendency to do more blogging when I have a reason to… I guess that means I should be scouring the interwebs for memes and the like, but, alas, I do not.

But now I have a reason again!

This week kicks off the 3rd Annual Diabetes Blog week!  Started 2 years ago by Karen at Bitter Sweet Diabetes, this is a week when diabetes bloggers can post on a set of topics over the course of the week.  It brings the DOC a little bit closer… not that this group needs any help!

The topic for today is Find A Friend.  The idea is to write about a d-blog that you read that others might not know about, and share the love!  Or officially:

It seems the most popular thing about Diabetes Blog Week is that it helps us find blogs we weren’t reading yet and connect with some new blog friends.  With that in mind, let’s kick off Diabetes Blog Week by making some new connections.  Think about the d-blogs you read that you think we may not know about and introduce us to one that you love!!  Let’s all find a new friend today!    (Special thanks to Gina, everybody’s Diabetes BFF, for helping me title this post!)

Well, I feel like I went through and did all my searching a long time ago, so I’ll tell you instead of a couple of my favorites….

I’m sure most everyone has been to this one….Six Until Me was the first blog that I found after I was diagnosed.  At a time when I didn’t know really anything about what was going on, and didn’t really get enough information from my doctor’s, reading Kerri’s blog helped me figure out how to be a diabetic and be a normal person at the same time.  I found so much information in her pages, about so much, that it was just a wonderful discovery!  This blog is always on the top of my reading list!

One of my other favorites is Mike Lawson at What Some Would Call Lies.  His blog is so refreshingly… refreshing!  Its funny, sentimental, and best of all, honest,  This blog is one that I turn to when I need some real life amusement.

There are just so many people that I feel like I’ve come to know through their blogs.. I tend to be a lurker, but I love reading about so many people’s lives, and knowing that everyone is so much themselves, yet part of this great big whole community that I’m so happy to be a part of.

Looking forward to seeing everyone’s posts and finding some great new reads!

its good to be back!

When I first started really reading blogs and then started blogging myself, there were a few things that I always told myself that I don’t want to do. My personal “rules” for blogging. For example: There was this one blogger that I always enjoyed reading her blogs.. but every single blog was a massive complaint about something, and written in such a way that she came off as sounding like she thought she was superior to EVERYONE. I decided that if I ended up starting a blog (and I did, obviously), that I would try to avoid blogging only when I had a complaint or was bugged about something. Another example: I always felt like if I was going to blog, then I wanted to keep on top of it, and not keep people waiting who want to read random stuff I write. Now obviously, its NOT REQUIRED for people to update their blogs just to satisfy me :) OR for me to provide reading material to others, but I always said I would try to update more frequently, so people would have something to read if they wanted to. And that is why I’m writing today, with a little explanation, just in case anyone was sitting out there going “OMG where is my reading material!!??!!”

So last month I tried to do NaBloPoMo and started out strong, even doing the 30 Days of Diabetes Blogging thing too, and around mid-month I just epic failed. Basically, I got sick and also had way way way too much homework all of a sudden. I am a taking college courses (2 of them, at the time), and also working 40 hours, and that’s really not too bad, but right around the middle of the month I had a HUGE project due in one class and then my online class started doubling up chapters which meant twice the homework, twice the quizzes, and twice the discussion assignment (it was on online class, and medical terminology too, so it was a lot of memorizing and stuff too). So while I was sick I sat at home wrapped up in a blanket and did homework, instead of blogging.

After that it was the week of Thanksgiving and while I wasn’t sick, I still had the double chapters in my online class, so I was still crazy busy. And that’s how it continued. Until last night! Last night I took my last test and turned in my last project for one class, and then I went home and finished all my homework and studying for my online class, so now all I have to do is take the two quizzes for the chapters and then the last test (before Monday), and that’s it!

So I figure its time to get these topics floating around in my head out of there and onto my computer! And catch up on my blog READING too! I’ve been missing reading everyone else’s stuff, and I know I’m way behind.

For today, I’m going to leave it at that. One of my other rules, which I ALWAYS break, is to try and keep my posts short (ish), so that its not just a wall of text that people are going to get bored with. More tomorrow!

Giving Thanks

Well, I didn’t make it for NaBloPoMo….
I got sick during the same week that my hectic online class started doing two chapters per week, and everything just fell apart…but now I should be back!  I got a bit of a break in school and work due to the holiday, so I got to catch up on all my stuff….

Today I just wanted to say that I’m thankful that I am here, with a good job, and the ability to further my education. I am thankful that I have a wonderful family that I can talk to and be with.  And I am thankful that I have a wonderful man in my life who supports me in whatever I try to do.

And on a health related note, since its Diabetes Blessings Week, I’ll make note of a couple D-related things I’m thankful for too..

I think the biggest thing I’m thankful for in this regard is the fact that having diabetes has forced me to take a better look at my eating and exercising habits.  While I’m still not on the exercising bandwagon (and should be), I have learned a LOT about food and what it does to my body.  I’m not perfect (and even if I was I don’t think it would matter), but I know what works and doesn’t.

I’m also thankful that it ultimately introduced me to the joys of blogging.  I know that might sound silly, especially since I don’t blog anywhere near as much as some other people I know, but I really enjoy writing things down a few times a week.  Its helped me better evaluate what I’m feeling and thinking.

So there you go :)

Happy thanksgiving and turkey eating day everyone!!

blue

I have no idea what to write about today, but I forgot to post a picture of my blue fingernails from Friday for Diabetes Awareness Month leading into World Diabetes Day on Sunday.

And by the way, it is really difficult to try and take a picture of your own hand while not having too much or too little flash.  I don’t know if you can even tell, but the fingernails are kinda light blue and sparkly.  Had to get it semi-professional for work!

Sorry for such an incredibly boring post!  I’ll be back on track tomorrow! :)

Today is….

Today I did the Big Blue Test to show support for World Diabetes Day.  I tested at 2:00 and my BG was 121.  Then I made my boyfriend go walk in the cold with me.   It was incredibly cold, even once we started really walking, so a big thank you to Dustin for braving the cold with me! We did 3/4 mile in the 15 minutes that we walked, and when I tested again I was 98.  So that just goes to show the positve power of exercise!

After that I went shopping with my sister, so I got in some MORE exercise than normal today, which was good.  Amazingly I did not drop below 95 the whole time I was out, so that was good too.

Remember, though… exercise is good for every day, not just World Diabetes Day, and advocating for diabetes awareness should be every day too!

Endo Experience – Part 2

After my incredibly awesome (NOT!) experience with the diabetes education part of my meeting, she did finally show me a couple of pumps.  I got to play around with the Revel and the Ping and I still like both of them.  I honestly don’t think I have an opinion between the two.  The big plus for the Ping is the remote bolusing and the waterproof part.  I don’t do a LOT on the water, but it would be nice to know that I can.

After that she hooked me up to an iPro.  Its a continuous glucose monitor for professional use.  The professional use part means that I can’t see any of the numbers, which is a bummer, because I’m quite curious and won’t know the results until my next appointment in mid December.  But its interesting!  I didn’t realize that it needed a giant piece of adhesive plastic wrap covering the whole thing.  Although it makes sense, I just never really saw it before.  For a while on the first day I was afraid to move as much, thinking I would pull it out or pull the sticky thing off, but then I got used to it.  I’ll be going in tomorrow for them to take it off, but so far its still stuck on there real good and I haven’t even really noticed it there, even sleeping on it.

The other interesting thing is that my actual endo came in with the results of my labs and everything was good.  My A1c has dropped from 6.5% in August to 6% now (big yay!!), and everything else looks excellent, including my cholesterol.  BUT.. there is something funky going on why my thyroid.  She actually wasn’t really sure (or maybe she just didn’t explain it to me fully?), but they think that my thyroid is being sluggish based on some numbers that were a little off.  So they put me on a tiny little dose of Synthroid.  Unfortunately, she wants me to have the brand name, which means its way more expensive.  I’ll try it for now though. As for that, though, I’m putting together a bunch of questions because I don’t know a lot about the thyroid issue, so I want to find out more and then talk to her again.  Apparently 2 of the numbers were within normal range and then one number was off the charts high, so its kinda weird I guess.

Anyway, enough for tonight…  I’m heading to bed!  But I’ll be back tomorrow for the Big Blue Test!

My Endo Experience! – part 1

So as I mentioned yesterday, I went to the endocrinologist again. This visit was scheduled for diabetes education, iPro hookup, and pump demo. In addition, my endo had been trying to reach me this past week with my lab results, so she popped her head in and talked to me a bit too.

First, the diabetes education. I think the reason I got to have the “educational” part is because I mentioned that when I was first diagnosed back in 2005, and then again when I started insulin last September, nobody ever really TOLD me anything. I learned about carbs from a counting class my mom took me to with her. I learned about other stuff by hearing things in various communities and forums and then researching them. I have done a LOT of research about my condition over the past year, and I feel that I’m pretty well educated. And I think my endo did too. So I think she only scheduled it for me because the same lady did the pump demo, and she figured I’d get a little info out of it.

I got a Workbook! Now if I had gotten this Workbook back when I was first diagnosed, or even when I was scared into taking care of myself, it probably would have been very helpful. There is a lot of good information in here on understanding what diabetes is, what highs and lows can feel like and do to you, meal plans, physical activity, and so on. I am, however, VERY grateful that this woman was not the one teaching me the information!

The visit started out poorly because she first had to ask me what type of diabetes I had. Then she reached out and patted my shoulder and said “well honey, we need to make sure that you follow your diet and exercise plan! We don’t want your diabetes to graduate to type 1! Then you’d have to go on insulin!”

I blinked a few times at her. And then I said, “um.. I already take insulin.” At which point she proceeded to tell me that that was good, but I should really want to get off of it so I don’t become a type 1.

This is the diabetes EDUCATOR!!

So I told her that I didn’t have type 1, and that with type 1 you have antibodies that kill off your beta cells so they CAN’T make insulin, but that I’m definitely a type 2, so I make some insulin but its not doing its job. And then I said “right?” like, to make sure she didn’t think I was trying to tell her how to do her job.

From that point I just kind of sat there amused with the whole thing. At one point she told me that I should lower my cholesterol intake.

ME:  I’m still learning about diet, so how much a low cholesterol intake be?
HER:  well.. hmm.. oh.. well do you eat eggs?
ME:  yes
HER:  well thats it! eggs!
ME:  eggs? well, I knew that. I don’t eat an excessive amount of eggs though. How much is too much?
HER:  Well, you probably normally eat like one or two?
ME:  yeah probably
HER:  yeah, thats it.

again with the “sigh”!!

And then we finally moved on to pump stuff, which was also rather disappointing… and which I will talk about tomorrow, because its just been a long bugger of a day!

Goodnight!

diabetes education at its finest

I am totally exhausted tonight, so I’m just going to make a quick post. 

I’ll expound on this tomorrow, but…. today I went to my new endo’s office again to get hooked up to an iPro (a CGM but for doctors, so I can’t see whats going on), take a look at a couple of pumps to see if I’m interested if my insurance will cover it, and to meet with the diabetes educator.

Well….
The iPro is kinda cool… The pumps (MM Paradigm Revel and OneTouch Ping) were cool and I want to check into the insurance …
… and the diabetes educator told me that I better take care of my diet and exercise or else my type 2 diabetes will “graduate to type 1”

sigh
really????

more to come!