a visit to my Endo

I saw my diabetes specialist today.  It was probably one of the easiest appointments I've ever had.  I had to take my almost 4 year old with me but he fell asleep about 2 minutes out and slept in my arms the whole time.  I didn't get weighed in or my blood pressure checked because I was holding my sleeping "baby".  My bp has been excellent recently and it's usually only slightly high when I'm pregnant.  Yea for not having bp problems!  My weight has also decreased and I was only slightly sad I didn't get to weigh in to prove it. 

ANYWAY, last time I went in, the doc had me do a full lipid pannel and 24 hour urine collection- on the fun things you get to do when you're diabetic!  Today we went over those results and all of my tests were really good.  My A1C today was a 7.0.  I was hoping for a 6.8 but I'm still happy with 7.0.  All of my lipids were normal and I'm so happy that I don't have high cholesterol either.  The LAST thing I want is another medication to take!  The only test that was a little off, but still in normal range, was my Vitamin D.  Usually Vitamin D isn't tested in patients and mine had never been tested before.  So, he went ahead and had it run with the rest of my blood work.  It was within the normal range but a little on the low side.  I have NO idea what that means or anything but Dr. Day didn't seem too concerned about it. 

I pretty much told doc that I have stopped taking Symilin.  He wasn't too surprized, or concerned so I guess that's okay too.  He increased my basal, like always.  I'll make the changes, be low for 3 days striaght and lower them back again.  It's a common cycle.  But I'm not too worried about it. 

He asked me if I was planning another pregnancy.  When you're diabetic, you HAVE to plan, plan, plan for pregnancy, and you cannot just "accidentally" get pregnant either.  In the past, I've begged my insurance company to cover birth control in the past and didn't hesitate to have Dr. Day write me a letter of neccesity.  Usually, and currently, however, it has been covered.  But I digress, I told him I have started thinking about maybe having another one.  I aksed him what he thought, if I were healthy enough.  He said I was healthy enough, and young enough, but that I did need to get my A1C down to a 6.5 or less. 

I've GOT to make this decision in a year or less.  Why?  Well, because little brother is almost 4 and I'm opposed to having a kid farther than 5 years difference from him.  Since he was born, I've struggled with this decision.  I always thought I'd have more than 2 kids.  But somehow, it seems like enough for me.  I had a really, really hard time recovering from my second c-section.  Pregnancy is mega, super hard when you're diabetc.  Do you hear me rambling?  That's me trying to make a decision.  Husband told me JUST TODAY that I'm terrible at making decisions.  I am.  (but so is he).  ANYWAY, I'd love to have a baby girl.  or boy, maybe.  But I just don't know if I'm up for it. 
It means testing my sugar every 2 hours for about a year.  That's 4,382 tests.  It means wearing a CGM.  It means GAINING WEIGHT.  Lots of weight.  And I'm already 25 pounds over weight.  It means DELIVERING a baby.  It means having ANOTHER c-section.  And then RECOVERING from that surgery.  It means sleepless nights.  But, it also means another wonderful, beautiful, special human being in my family.  I just don't know!  I wish God would come down and just TELL me.  "Jen, you need to have another baby."  Or, "Jen, it's  okay, you're family is complete."  I just have not received an answer on that prayer.  And I've prayed about it for four years. 

Anyway, I really feel like 2012 is OUR YEAR.  It's our year for change.  Could be another baby, could not.  We'll just have to wait and see.  :) 

Diabetes Doesn't Care

Diabetes doesn't care if it's 2 hours after you went to bed. Diabetes doesn't care if you just fell into a deep sleep. Diabetes doesn't care if you've counted all your carbs, bolused correctly, had a bedtime snack, did your exercise, and otherwise followed through with all of your normal "diabetic" routines. Diabetes doesn't care if you're sick, or tired, or if you have a big day the next morning. Diabetes doesn't care if you have carefully calculated your basal rates.

When Diabetes wants to strike you with a "low" or a "high" then Diabetes is going to strike. Diabetes is 24/7 - 365. It doesn't break for holidays, sick days, birthdays, or Sundays. It doesn't EVER go away!

Monday night I went to bed at a decent hour. Back to a regular routine in the morning. My blood sugar at 10pm was 130. Just about what it had been all day long. Nice and steady.

I worked out at about 10am that morning, so it had been a good 12 hours since then. I ate my regular 6:00 dinner.

I had NO REASON to believe that my blood sugar would plummet. However, just about an hour into my deep sleep, I woke with the distinct feeling that I was low. When I was first diagnosed with Diabetes, I thought for sure that I'd never wake up with a low blood sugar. Little did I know, I just wasn't experiencing them. Once I did though, I knew they'd always wake me up. I don't know how my body does that. But I'm really glad it does. Sleeping through a low could be very dangerous. I wake up and think, "aw crap, I'm low". I reach over to the bedside table and flip on my light, test my sugar: 53. So I stumble down the stairs to the kitchen on my terribly aching feet and get the rest of the juice out of the fridge. There's only a half cup left and I water it down for the kids so I know it isn't going to be enough. I grab a slice of bread, pour some honey on it and climb back up the stairs to bed.

Then this post starts running through my head until I can finally fall back to sleep. My sugar at 7:30am the next morning: 130. Just what I thought it would be... without the escapades in the middle of the night.

New Year: New Goals

So, I've been thinking about what I'd like to work on this year. 2011 I did a great job of improving my diet and increasing my exercise. I'm a regular at our local recreation center. I swim, spin, and when my feet don't hurt take Zumba or run on the treadmill. I've even been to a couple of yoga classes.

One year ago this week, I started on Weight Watchers. I've done a really good job at tracking what I eat, focusing on the power foods, and sticking to that program pretty well. It hasn't really worked great for weight loss for me. But, I haven't GAINED any weight, not even over the holidays. They recently made a few changes to the program and since then my weight-loss has really improved.

Anyway, my last A1c was 7.0. My blood sugars since then have been great! I go see my Endochronologist in about 3 weeks and I think my A1c may have come down a couple of points.

So... as far as goals for this coming year.... I think what I'd like to do is decrease my soda intake. I don't drink regular soda... only if it's the ONLY option for a low blood sugar, that's super rare. Like maybe 3 in a whole year. BUT, I'm a HUGE Diet soda drinker. I LOVE my Diet Coke. Too much! Way too much. I think what I'd like to do is just slowly decrease my intake of diet soda to where I'm drinking one or less per day. I didn't buy a 12 pack of cans this week at the store. So, Sunday I had 1 and today I've had 1. So far... so good I guess.

The other thing I want to do is the "take a picture every day" challenge. I think I'll do the 365project.org. My URL there is http://365project.org/sugarfreesweety/365 I'd like to let Diabetes be the main focus for this project but it will probably end up being pics mostly of my kids... like everything else I do. Kind of a fun way to document the year. Hope I'm not taking on too much with this tho.

So, yeah, those are my goals for this year. I think they're ones that I can definitely work on; and I get pretty determined when it comes to setting goals so I hope I do as well this year as I did last. Now, if I could just get my damn foot healed, then maybe I can start running again.

10 Facts about Diabetes

Having to test my blood sugar 4-10 times a day is a real pain.

Having to change my site every three days is annoying.

When the batteries in my pump die, replacing them can be inconvenient.

Dealing with the symptoms of low blood sugars is frustrating.

Hyperglycemia side-effects are nauseating and can be life threatening.

However, the thing that bothers me most about having diabetes is others' ignorance about it. AND, the stupid things they say to us.

I've had people ask me questions about my pump, my blood sugars, my insulin, and even my diet. Most of the time people are just trying to find out more, they're curious, and I REALLY don't mind telling them more about it. But when people throw out their opinion when they're uneducated on the topic, that's when I get mad. Maybe mad isn't the right word. Just frustrated or annoyed.

Probably the worst question I've received is one that I hear quite frequently, "Can you eat that?" or, "Are you allowed to have that?" or, "Should you eat this?"

I've also heard, "You're a diabetic, does that mean you can't have any sugar?"

"I could NEVER give myself a shot"

"Do you always wear your pump?"

"Did you bring your food supply?" (this person was referring to my pump)

"Do you need your medicine?" (when I'm low)

"Do you need something to eat?" (when I'm high)

"Don't you think you'll be able to get rid of your diabetes since you're exercising more?"

"You're not too fat for a diabetic"

"You have diabetes? But you're not overweight."

There are some SIMPLE things that I wish ALL people knew about diabetes. I'll be the first to admit that I knew very little about diabetes before I was diagnosed. I also know that for the most part, people are just curious and that their comments aren't meant to be malicious in any way. However, it's pretty much NEVER socially acceptable to talk about another persons weight. Or diet. And if you don't know the way something works, don't be afraid to ASK a question so that you CAN understand.

1. Your pancreas is the organ in your body that makes insulin which controls the blood sugar levels in your body. A normal pancreas delivers insulin when you need it, and does not when you do not need it.

2. Diabetes means you have too much sugar in your blood- Hyperglycemia.

3. Usually a diabetic's blood sugars are too high. To bring them down, they must take their medication; either insulin or pills.

4. Sometimes a diabetic's blood sugars are too low. To bring them up, they must take in glucose by way of eating or drinking something with sugar in it.

5. Neither low blood sugars or high blood sugars are good. Lows can make a person pass out if extreme. Highs are more dangerous in the long run and cause complications like heart disease.

6. There are 2 different kinds of diabetes.

-Type 1: USED to be referred to as juvenile or childhood diabetes. This type of diabetes means that the person's pancreas no longer works and that to STAY ALIVE they must inject insulin; either through a syringe or a pump.

- Type 2: USED to be called Adult Onset diabetes. This type of diabetes means that the insulin your body makes is no longer effective, or as effective as it should be. This type is usually treated with oral medication but some patients also inject insulin.

7. Adults can be diagnosed as Type 1.

8. Children can be diagnosed as Type 2.

9. Currently, there is no cure for diabetes.

10. You could give yourself shots if you had to do so to survive.

I know this post sounds negative, and I'm sorry for that. I'm really not angry or anything, my purpose is really to get more information out about diabetes.

one crazy morning

Ever have the kind of morning where you feel like you're moving in slow motion or making backward progress? This was me on Sunday.

First of all, I woke up a little later than I should have. We have Church services which start at 9:00 am. (I do love the early schedule though, and am NOT looking forward to changing this coming January) which means I need to be in the shower by like 7:15 am or none of us is going to get there in time. Well, it was about 7:30 before I even turned on the water.

Then I realized that I'd have to change my site. Yea, love a shower with no site! But that also means I'll need a little longer than necessary in the bathroom. After I'd finally gotten myself ready for the day, the kids still were not dressed and I hadn't eaten anything yet.

Then I was having all sorts of wardrobe problems. I decided to put on a skirt though, that I haven't worn in about 3 years. When I weighed in at Weight Watchers the day before I found out I was about 10 pounds down over the previous year's weight! Go me. So, I fit into that skirt that I hadn't worn. Yea!

We were not late to Church but I had to keep leaving the meeting room. Little Brother had to go to the bathroom, while I was taking him, my pump started beeping "No Delivery". What? I almost never get this with a new site. So I readjusted my complicated wardrobe, underwear, pantyhose, and tubing, still "No Delivery".

"I have to go home and change my site," I whisper to my Husband. He nods. "May I please have the keys?". He hands them to me.

I run home and although my site seemed to be fine, I went ahead and changed it. It gushed blood all over! Awesome. I test, 303. Pump wizard says I need 7.5 (it calculates my active insulin left over from the breakfast bolus) but I knew this would be too much so I took 5.7.

Get back into the meeting and sit down. Little Brother insists he needs a drink. I'd already been up and down so many times that I told him to go get a drink and come right back. One minute, two minutes, three minutes... I wait until the musical number is over... I walk down the hall and hear him calling for me.

He's in the bathroom- stall door open- and needs my assistance. I help him and decide that I'm done even though there's about 10 minutes or more of the meeting left.

Our church block is about 3 hours long so when I get home I'm almost ready for lunch. So, I test- 103!

Every once in a while I'm all sorts of DIABETES AWESOME like that! yea!

Guest on Blogging Diabetes

Recently I connected with Tony Rose of blogging diabetes about coming on his show and talking about Symilin. We had a great conversation about diabetes, diagnosis, symptoms, pumping, control, and using Symilin.

Here's a link to his blog: http://bloggingdiabetes.com/

you can follow him on Twitter: www.twitter.com/blogdiabetes

and subscribe to his podcast in iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/blogging-diabetes-podcasts/id445836936

Thanks Tony, for having me on, it was nice to talk with you.

A Whole New Blog

I've been blogging since early 2006. At first I was over on some weird myspace-like site but then I quickly switched to blogger. I've been here since October, 2006. I love blogger and have enjoyed keeping our family journal of pictures and activities there.

From time to time I'll blog about Diabetes. Recently, I've been introduced to the Diabetes Online Community (DOC) and although I follow many diabetics on twitter, I am only occasionally able to meet up for the weekly DSMA twitter chat.

I've noticed that many tweeters are also Diabetes Bloggers. I thought I'd give it a shot and maybe focus more of my thoughts about diabetes on this site.

If you'll bare with me, I'd like to transfer my OLD diabetes posts over to this blog.

And, away we go!

Be sure to add me to your RSS!