Six things I want you to know

Current Blood sugar: 104, can you see the smile on my face through your computer screen.  This is a number I like to see!

Today's prompt: The 30 days of diabetes blog prompt is about diabetes in the news.  

Today is Diabetes Blog Day.  I would say that when the majority of the diabetes online community blogs about diabetes all in one day...that is quite newsworthy.  You should take a minute to head on over to Diabetes Talk Fest and see the massive number of links to other diabetes bloggers who have chosen to blog today about 6 things they want everyone to know about diabetes!  

Six things I want you to know about diabetes...

1.  Type I is not just a kid's disease.  I was diagnosed with "juvenile" diabetes (Type 1) at age 26.  People older and younger than me have been diagnosed with Type 1 as well.  Anyone at any age can be diagnosed with Type I or Type II.

2.  You do not get Type I from eating too much sugar, being overweight, or any other combination of these things.  It is not my fault I have diabetes, I could not have prevented it...no one can.  Type I is an autoimmune disease.  In other words, my immune system attacked my insulin producing cells in my pancreas.  Since my pancreas can no longer produce insulin, I have to mimic as close as possible what my pancreas would do with insulin via an insulin pump.

3.  Insulin is NOT A CURE.  Sure, injecting insulin allows me to live, but it is not a cure.  I still have diabetes.  Insulin is a treatment, not a cure.  Using insulin via injection or insulin pump does not mean I have really bad diabetes and it doesn't mean I have bad control.  Insulin is what I use to stay alive.  Simple as that.

4.  If you have questions about diabetes please ask.  I would rather you ask me a question than for you to have misinformation about the disease.  There are so many misconceptions about this disease.  Nothing hurts my feelings more than for people to rely on misconceptions and falsehoods instead of asking someone who knows firsthand about the disease.  Please ask me if you are not sure!

5.  I can eat sugar and carbs and whatever I want.  Please treat me as a normal person making normal choices about my food and let me do the rest.  I choose to eat low carb and avoid most sugary foods, but this does not mean I cannot eat those things.  I have the ability to eat anything a non-diabetic can, I just may have different consequences if I don't take enough insulin or manage my blood sugar well.  And, just because I ate pasta or a brownie yesterday doesn't mean I wont or can't eat it today.  When I turn down food, sometimes it is because of my diabetes, but sometimes it is because I don't want what is offered.  Food is completely variable on my mood and what my blood sugar is doing.  I can never predict what I will be able to eat and I sure don't expect others to. 

6.  Dealing with diabetes is harder than you can ever imagine.  Managing this disease takes time and strength.  Some days I don't have the time or strength.  Diabetes doesn't go away, I can't push it aside and forget about it.  It is emotionally draining.  It is always there in my thoughts, no matter what I am doing.  I think about it when I exercise, eat, sleep, and even when I am relaxing.  Sometimes it keeps me from doing things I love.  It creates anxiety when I plan trips, outings, meals, and holidays.  When I am invited to a party or a get-together, concert, show, game, etc....my first thought is what is there going to be for me to eat, should I bring my own food, what is my blood sugar doing?  What if there is not anything I can eat....what if my blood sugar drops low, what if it goes high?  Multitasking is now my forte.  Every minute of every day it is in my thoughts.  It has to be, I wish I could take it all away but I can't, so I live with it and that makes me happy...living.

Mouthwatering Monday

Current Blood sugar: 43....well this is exactly current, but I thought I would share.  This was what I woke up to at 3am this morning.  43!!!  That is low and scary....good thing I woke up.  I guess I usually do and this is not the first 40 something I have seen in the middle of the night.  It doesn't happen often but it is scary every time!

Today's Prompt: “Mouthwatering Monday” – What’s your favorite entree? How does it affect your blood glucose?

Now this is my kind of prompt!  I love cooking and baking.  I especially love experimenting with recipes to make them diabetes friendly.  My absolute favorite entree?  It is awfully hard to choose since it all depends on what kind of mood I am in that day.  However, there is one entree that makes me happy every time it graces my lips....homemade chicken with mushroom Marsala sauce and garden fresh green beans sauteed with garlic and balsamic, a side salad and some homemade bread...yum!

 

Homemade pesto bread

 

 In case you didn't know, I am big on homemade stuff.  I make all of our bread, all of our meals at home are made from scratch with very few bottled or boxed ingredients and I even make homemade crackers when I have time!  Now this may sound like me bragging about all the wonderful things I make (are you jealous yet?) but I don't mean to sound that way.  I just love making things for myself and hubby.  I love fresh food from our garden.  I find that homemade food, when I know all of the ingredients, makes managing my blood sugar so much easier.

To answer the prompt question, the favorite meal I listed above has a very predictable affect on my blood sugar.  (Another reason why I love that dish!)  Since green beans are a low carbohydrate food and the Marsala sauce I make only has a few carbs too, this meal is overall low carb.  The homemade whole grain bread is only 15-20 grams of carbs per slice.  So adding it all up this is a hearty meal for usually less than 40 grams of carbs.  The lower carb a meal is, the more predicable my numbers will be afterward...and I love the moments of predictability, so few and far between.

My other favorite meal is homemade pizza...you can read about it and see my recipes in my previous post Welcome Back Pizza

Fall Back

Current Blood sugar: 139...this is the exact number I woke up with this morning.  Not the best fasting number...but I corrected, ate breakfast and rode my bike trainer for 30 minutes and this is the end result.  I wish it were a little lower since this number after exercise usually means it will creep up over the next few hours.

Today's Prompt: Daylight Savings – Daylight Savings ended today, so you got an extra hour of sleep! Some people will need to adjust their insulin pump clocks, others may simply change the clocks on their wall. Does an hour change affect your diabetes management?

This morning I woke up and the clock read 8am...perfect time for me to wake up on a Sunday morning...except this morning it was actually 7am.  I have to admit it was nice to have an extra hour in the morning to get stuff done.  Now I sit typing this at 11:44 and I have already eaten breakfast, exercised, gone to the drugstore, made sugar-free brownies, showered and gotten dressed for a chili cook-off hubby and I are heading to this afternoon.  Whew, early morning starts make the day so much longer!

As far as daylight savings time and my diabetes management....I would have to say it has very little impact.  I woke up this morning and changed the time on my pump.  That was the extent of what I had to do.  I have seen no adverse affects from not adjusting any other aspects of my management.  Thank goodness for one thing I don't have to think about.

Managing diabetes is so time consuming.  Everything I do revolves around managing my diabetes.  Day light savings time is a great example.  Who would ever think that for some folks with diabetes a simple time change could have such an impact on a chronic illness?  A percentage of every hour of every day requires some sort of thought process on my part, when it comes to managing my disease.  Albeit these times don't always interfere with other aspects of my life.  Setting back the clock may give us an extra hour of sleep, for me its just another hour in another day of managing diabetes.

The Doctor is In!

Current Blood sugar: 135...whoohoo!  My numbers have been perfect today....76 fasting when I woke up this morning, no highs over night, and 135 after eating breakfast...today is going to be a good day!  Isn't it interesting how something as simple as a number can change the outlook on the whole day?

Today's Prompt: Check Up Check List – Very few people enjoy doctor appointments, but if you have diabetes, you’ve probably had your share of these! Share your doctor appointment stories – funny, frustrating, embarrassing or inspiring – or what appointments you need to catch up on.

Ahhh...doctors.  My life had a normal number of doctors before my diagnosis.  You know, the usual annual check-ups and occasional sick visits but nothing out of the ordinary.  Now I feel like I am constantly in the doctor's office.  I see my endocrinologist every 3 months and a diabetes educator/nutritionist every 6 months.  I see my eye doctor once a year to check my vision but also to check for diabetic retinopathy (no symptoms so far!).

I see my primary care doctor once a year for blood work and general check-ups.  Then add on the "woman" doctor, and dentist, who also has to check for diabetes related mouth issues.  Of course, then there is my therapist who helps me deal with the emotional stress of this disease.  On top of that I see a physical therapist for back issues cause I am just so dang tall!

I feel like I spend half my year sitting in waiting rooms.  But hey, I am proactive about my health and I feel like in order to stay as healthy as I can be, these folks are important to have around.

I am really good about not missing appointments.  I very rarely skip yearly visits because I feel they are just so important.  I want to know what is going on with my body.  My endocrinologist (my diabetes doctor), is amazing.  I actually love going to see her....minus the blood draws, finger pricks, and waiting room time.  She is very supportive and often times lets me take the reins when it comes to my diabetes management.  She listens to what I say and what I need and she helps me build plans that help me stay healthy.

The thing I find most surprising when I visit my endo is that she is so excited that I have such good control of my diabetes.

My A1C generally sticks around a 6.2.  

An A1C is my average blood sugar over a period of three months, 

given a rating between 5-14.  

For a diabetic, healthy ratings fall between 6-7.  

So in other words I am a well controlled diabetic.  

I am always dumbfounded by the response I get from my endo.  She tells me how much she loves to see me because she knows she wont have to lecture me or worry about my care.  Apparently many of her patients do not have good control of their diabetes.

I always find it very hard to believe that someone with diabetes, who has the tools to manage the disease, can let their care slip to the point that they put themselves in danger.  A lot of times I feel like this has to do with lack of education about the disease and the stigma and misconceptions often associated with diabetes.  I guess that is the whole point of Diabetes Awareness Month...be aware folks!  I wont stay on my soapbox anymore, I will save that for another post.

It is always inspiring for me to go to my endo's office.  I often worry what my numbers will look like and that maybe I am not doing as good as I think I am.  I second guess my ability to manage this disease properly and I always feel like I am not working hard enough.  When I see my endo and she does everything short of jumping up and down and throwing confetti when she sees me...well that just downright makes me feel good.

Photo from Diametrix

In the family

Today's Prompt: “Friends & Family Friday” – Research shows that diabetes has a genetic component: Who in your family or circle of friends has diabetes?

Current Bloodsugar: 74...perfect before dinner number!  Some folks would consider this to be low, but this a perfect number for me since I am getting ready to sit down and eat.  This number is like winning the lottery!

My diagnosis was a complete shock to me and all of my family.  Of course any diagnosis of a chronic disease can be a shock, but mine was so out of left field no one knew what to think or feel.  I was healthy, active and had no signs of diabetes.  Type I is often a surprise since it can have such a quick onset.  My blood sugar was perfect in Jan and then sometime between March and June that year my immune system turned on my pancreas and attacked my insulin producing cells.  My time had come in the game of genetic roulette. 

Not only was I one of those few cases of Type I with an adult onset (generally Type I has a childhood onset) but no one else in my entire family has diabetes.  No aunts or uncles, cousins, parents, siblings.  No one has Type 1.  There are some "word-of mouth" reports that some great-great-uncles had complications that indicated they may have been Type I...loss of eyesight, limbs, etc.  My grandfather had a bout of high blood sugars later in life following kidney failure.  I guess he was considered Type II but following a short period of diet and exercise control he never had elevated blood sugars again. 

All in all, reports of diabetes are extremely rare in my family.  However, there are enough to warrant the genetic component of my disease.  My hubby's grandfather has non-obesity related Type II.  Obviously this has no impact on my onset, but he too is a rare case in their family.

I am a lone leaf on my family tree.  A rare case if genetics gone awry.  I have to admit that sometimes it's a little lonely out here on my branch.  I have a wonderful family and great friends who offer all the support I need.  But the reality of this disease is that unless you have diabetes and deal with it every day, you can never truly understand what it takes to manage it.  I would never wish this on any of my family or friends or even my worst enemy, but some days I long for the camaraderie of having a family member or friend who knows exactly what I am dealing with. 

Celebrity Status

Today's Prompt: Diabetes Celebrities – From rock stars like Bret Michaels to professional athletes like Jay Cutler, people with diabetes are showing how diabetes has not stopped them. Who’s your favorite diabetes celebrity?

Current Blood Sugar: Right now it is too soon to check since I just ate dinner, but at 4:00pm it was 236 and dropped to 74 by 5:30.  I had been having site trouble the last two days so my numbers were pretty high.  I changed the site about 4:30 and corrected, exercised a little and had a drastic drop.

So today's prompt is about celebrities.  There are several celebrities with Diabetes...did you know that Mary Tyler Moore is diabetic?  Bret Michaels?  Tony Bennett?  Nick Jonas?

I have always considered the definition of a celebrity as someone who is famous for something they have done.  They are well known and (mostly) well respected by society.  But when it comes to the diabetes community, I define celebrity quite differently.  I define a diabetes celebrity as someone who is dedicated to the cause.  He/she is proactive and supportive of others with diabetes and families of those with diabetes.  A diabetes celebrity is dedicated to their health and to helping others follow healthy diabetes lifestyles.  He/she understands, shares and accepts.  Diabetes celebrities are famous for their strength to live every day meeting the challenges diabetes brings.

So, who is my favorite diabetes celebrity?  My favorite diabetes celebrity is every person with diabetes, every parent, spouse, sibling and child...every family member, co-worker, and friend.  Every person who musters the strength to live every day with diabetes (or loves someone who does) is a celebrity in my eyes.

Wordless Wednesday

Prompt: “Wordless Wednesday” – Share a picture or video on your blog!  What are the most important things for your diabetes management?
Current Blood Sugar: 201....this makes me feel....ughhh....that's the best word for it...now I will spend the rest of the afternoon correcting with insulin to get it back into range....ughhh....


Well it's hard to be totally wordless since a few of you may not know what these pictures are of...so I will put some captions :-)  The prompt says name 3 things, but I showed pictures of a few more. 

Testing my bloodsugar 8-10 times a day

 Warhol version of my pump sites :-)

Exercise

 

My pump and me chilling on the couch watching tv....we are best friends :-)

Random supplies I carry on a daily basis

My hubby...not to mention all of my animals, family and friends who offer love and support too!