Living With Diabetes

When I got back from Pittsburgh, I hit the ground running and haven't had time to stop. I'm back in physical therapy with the knee. I think that is a good thing, and I think I should have planned this anyway.

My biggest goal for the next week (yes, I start back in one week), is to get organized. I see the endo and the cardiologist next Thursday, and am planning to see the primary care physician to make sense of everything the Tuesday after -- that wasn't my plan, he's out of town.

I want to get back into the weight loss mode, but I'm not sure how that is going to happen.

Posted by at 1:29 PM | Permalink

LifeAfterDx--The Guardian Chronicles: Ripped from the headlines

Really good description of the Glucowatch.

Posted by at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I made it through the workshop. Blood sugar has been good and sleep hasn't been bad.

I was desperate for a protein based breakfast so walked to the Subway and discovered it was closed.

However there was a restaurant. I managed to find a psuedo Egg Muffin it wasn't as good.

However I got a no delivery alarm after breakfast. I checked my set and I was actually disconnected and had been since I had disconnected to shower. The tube half of the set was just stuck in my underwear.

I have never done that before and was thrilled to death that the pump was that smart.

So I bolused again for my meal. A hour later my blood sugar was 140.

Posted by at 9:07 AM | Permalink

I grabbed a box from lunch for dinner. I decided the risk of food poisoning was better than the mess I would get from the Papa Johns pizza.

It was a good choice! So far no food poisoning.

Blood sugars have been good all weekend. I'm sure the walking helped.

Posted by at 6:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Organizers who schedule sessions from 8:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night.

Presenters who take exciting topics and make them boring.

Pizza

Posted by at 2:45 PM | Permalink

I have actuallt missed at least one bolus a day where I swear I entered the bolus in the pump.

However, I cannot prove to myself much less any one else that it is a pump problem.

It happened a few times with the old pump but it is happening dailty this morning.

I do think it might be caused by my own fatique.

Posted by at 11:16 AM | Permalink

Its because the hosts try to kill me.

Their favorite is by putting me in a room that has a bed on a desk. That is happened years ago here at Carnegie and at a workshop in Arkasas.

This year they fooled me into thinking we were going to eat. They scheduled dinner for 7:00 pm Pittsburg time whiich is 6:00 Dallas time.

They opened up beverages, cheese vegatables dip and crackers. I did the Symlin thing and the insulin thing and did 5.00 units my standard wild ass guess.

At around 8:00 I got nervous and the host said we'd eat in 2 minutes. 5 minutes later he started a game where everyone had to sort themselves and then do something else.

I did not wait for something else. I took him aside told him I was in trouble and he handed me off to the catering manager who fed me.

Lesson learned - shoot up and pump when the food you want is in your hand.

The something else involved people introducing other people. I ate sloly hitting the carbs first.

FYI: 2 hours later after walking to the dorm I was at 147. Not bad for a wild ass guess. They had really good choclate cake for dessert. I did stay away from rice.

Betch breakfast is 100% and it a good mile walk away. I think I will have ti my milk duds for breakfast tomorrow.

Posted by at 11:03 PM | Permalink

I'm at the gate waiting for my flight.

So far I've made lots of mistakes.

First I didn't bolus for breakfast. This was good as I was at 124 when we drove into the airport entrance. At last check I was at 170 and did a correction.

Keep your boarding pass in your hand. Don't put it in your bag and then put the bag in the xray machine. My second mistake.

The pump did not set off the metal detector. But they had to send my purse through xray twice because of the boarding pass then.

My bag with clothing and emergency battery also had to go through twice.

I do believe everything I packed and put in the car is with me.

Posted by at 8:37 AM | Permalink

Last night I went to a late dog class (9:00 pm). Checked my blood sugar before class. It was 110. YIKES! Not good. Got something to eat.

Blood sugar was at 187 two hours later, something I can comfortably go to sleep with without worrying about going low.

Woke up at 5:00 am in excutiating pain. GERD. Couldn't get back to sleep until 5:45, and needed to be rolling at 6:15 at the latest, since I did have at least my computer stuff done.

Have dragged ALL day, ever since. The good news, is that I needed to work on a group program and had no energy to fight with anyone.

I was tired on the way home, I wanted to pull over and take a nap, but didn't dare, since it was always 100 degrees outside.

Hopefully I can sleep on the plane.

Posted by at 6:07 PM | Permalink

The Diabetes OC is astir right now over the current Congressional votes on embryonic stem cell research.

I'm personally against the federal government supporting embryonic stem cell research.

I believe that other stem cell research shows much more promise and needs to be researched long before we go so far as embryonic stem cell research.

Already, embryonic stem cell research has crossed ethical boundaries -- results have been falsied, etc. and I think its just something to completely stay away from until all other research has been exhausted.

I also don't think you are going to get very far with transplants, or other replacements of the pancreas until you find out why the body is destroying beta cells in the first place.

Posted by at 8:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The biggest thing that worries me about this trip is the lack of transportation. I'm staying in the dorms at CMU, and so no quick dashes to Walmart.

The plan is to have husband take me to the airport, fly to Pittsburg, get on a bus to CMU, and get off at the end of the line where the dorm checkin is. The workshop is going to feed us all meals except Saturday dinner which we have to find off campus. I'm also assuming lunch on Monday will also not be provided.

My aunt is picking me up on Monday, and I am flying back on Tuesday.

I've packed at least one extra days of clothing, double the amount of sets I need, and double the amount of syringes -- learned that lesson at Shawnee. I've packed travel toiletries (in zip lock bags).

I've done something different with my medications. I usually use those SMTWTFS pill organizers, and found on my first trip with them that you have to tape them shut as they open in your luggage. This time, Walgreens had pill pouches that you use a sharpee to label. While you can't tell at a glance what you've taken, like you can with the organizers, at least I shouldn't have to worry about them all dumping.

I'm taking three bags (which I'm supposed to be allotted since I am carrying medical devices. I have a carryon bags with wheels that has my clothing, my sets, and my back up test strips. I've also got my shampoo and stuff like that along with an emergency supply of carbs, all in zip lock bags in case something melts or comes open. Nightgown and robe too.

My second bag will have my CPAP machine, emergency battery, and mask.

My third bag is a large Ameribag, and will carry my two small pouches I use for a purse, and all my normal supplies that I carry just in case. Emergency sets, emergency assortment of carbs, contact lens stuff, glasses (though I don't usually carry them, usually I just have spare contacts), pills, etc. I'm also taking an extra unopened box containing Insulin and one containing Symlin.

I refuse to check any of those bags. I could possibily survive without the first one, but don't want to, especially since I'll use it to carry the rest -- I can strap the other two bags to it and have.

And on the other hand, if I show up at the airport on Friday in Dallas and there are any weird things going on with flights, I'll smile sweetly and ask for a refund on my fare. That's what I did the last time I tried a trip like this.

Posted by at 6:30 AM | Permalink

When the DME brought me my CPAP last Friday, I made sure that he saw my emergency backup battery and cleared it with him for use. I did a test run last night, and was able to use BOTH the CPAP and the humidifer all night on battery backup.

While Pittsburg is in the same country, I will still bring the backup battery, in fact, I might very well use it on the plane -- I did call and clear it even though the person I talked with said -- it's not a night flight so you don't need it and I didn't contradict her.

Anyway, I'm thrilled it works well with the new machine. Primarily because it cost over $250.00 I haven't used it much -- in two power outages locally and when I tried to go to Monte Carlo. There were plenty of times I wanted it before I bought it, so it's been a good purchase. I try to remember to take it on trips, since once when I went to Austin they had a power failure and I ended up driving home instead of waiting for the power to come on -- I did wait an hour.

Posted by at 6:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I have to return the pump via DHL, and I always have them pick up the pump at the door, just in case...

I want a complete record from West Chester, PA, to my door and back to West Chester, PA, just in case. I don't want to have to pay for a pump!

And it's gone -- I was actually headed up the stairs to do something else when I spotted DHL colors in the drive -- walked it out to the guy and that's one issue I don't have to think about any more.

Posted by at 1:25 PM | Permalink

He was in the neighborhood and redelivered my pump! I am SO Happy. It pays to live on the corner of a busy street. I'm sure he did it because it wasn't out of his way.

I'm uploading the data unto the new pump as I type.

And conformation class went well. I checked my blood sugar before class -- it was 191, did NOT correct and after class was 107. That's something to remember!

Posted by at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This will probably work out better but darn my husband! I told him last night that I was expecting a package but had puppy class so he'd have to listen for it.

Well he apparently didn't hear the doorbell OR the dogs and did not get it.

I have told UPS to hold it and I'll pick it Monday.

Posted by at 12:02 PM | Permalink

I'm downloading all my data for the new pump. Sadly, I'm really good at this now. Unfortunately I'll lose some of today's data, but that can't be helped, and probably not an issue in the grand scheme of things.

I'm anxious -- puppy and I have a class in less than an hour and the pump will probably be delivered while we're out. UPS is "good" about delivering even if I'm not home, but I'm betting the regular guy isn't driving the truck today. If they don't deliver, hunting it down won't be bad, I've had to do that before and it's not like the pump is insulin or anything that needs to go to the refrig immediately. Even if I don't get it until Monday after summer school that isn't a bad thing.

I do suspet there is more going on though. I swear that I pup in insulin two different times, once on Friday and once on Thursday but it didn't get delivered to me. Would rather have too little insulin though, than too much.

I also need to remember to watch blood sugar during class. I was on the way to a crash at the end of class last week.

Posted by at 9:04 AM | Permalink

I'm going to actually try it out in a few minutes.

I am the proud owner (leasee) of a Respironics Remstar Auto M Series. The DME brought it by at 1:00 pm and showed me how to use it. It even works with my emergency backup battery which is a super good thing. It is definately half the size of the loaner machine.

I'm looking forward to lugging it around the airports next week.

Posted by at 2:20 PM | Permalink

Patterns: Sleep Proves More Elusive Than Many Believe - New York Times

Patterns: Sleep Proves More Elusive Than Many Believe

Posted by at 10:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

First, I'm getting my new small Responics "M" series machine on Friday. Just a week before I fly to Pittsburg. That will give me a night or two to get adjusted to it at home.

I've got only 7 more days of Summer school -- one day of that is finals -- so we're getting close and closer to the end.

Friday, day after summer school, I'm heading to Pittsburg. I have a no-stop flight from Dallas. I've got information today from Carnegie Melon and they suggest catching a bus that stops at a stop just in front of the building where I am supposed to get my room and key assignment. I'm hoping to put all clothing for the trip and all items for the trip in one bag AND pack the CPAP machine in that bag. That might be wishful thinking. I'll have another big bag that will have all my immediate emergency stuff with me. Of course it's a big bag!

The workshop is from Friday to Monday, ends aobut noon on Monday and my aunt is supposed to pick me up, and I'll spend a quick 24 hours with her. We'll probably spend most of the time talking dogs and dog agility since we have that in common.

Yes, I'm anxious!

My plan is to wear a lot of tshirt dresses since they travel well.

Posted by at 5:01 PM | Permalink

A1CNow � for Home HbA1c Monitoring - Medgadget - www.medgadget.com

I knew that Walmart was selling them cheap, and wondered what happened. Looks like they are being re released in a different form factor.

A1CNow �, device, designed for at-home monitoring of HbA1c--a glycosylated hemoglobin--was acquired by Bayer when it bought Metrika Inc., a company based in Sunnyvale, CA.

Posted by at 1:21 PM | Permalink

I need to start tracking this -- I'm not sure if it is a Sunday night thing, but suspect it is, but man, I had a hard time going to sleep last night and I kept waking up. I know I looked at the clock at about 2:15, and about 5:10.

I was hoping the Requip would help, and it might, but I think I really wanted the Sonata last night.

Posted by at 12:37 PM | Permalink

I forgot to mention -- my weight was 1 pound higher than it was last month, and I really expected to have about a 5 pound weight gain, so I feel really good about that.

I tried the Requip last night and today I have much less leg pain than i've had. I'm always suffering from some type of repetive type stress injury and it always seems worse in the morning so I have been wondering if restless leg was a contributer.

I am going to have to be careful dog training, this morning I did something very smart -- I needed to do an after breakfast correction but also knew I was going to be doing conformation with the pup for an hour long class, so I did only half the correction reasoning that I could fix it the rest of the way after the class.

That was a smart move because towards the end of class, I was down to under 115. I doubt I would have made it through the class if I had done the full suggestion correction.

And my blood sugar is stablizing, and I"m seeing a lot of good numbers again lately.

If I can just get one more hour of sleep a day, I think I'll be fine. It's mostly getting to bed early enough.

Posted by at 7:19 PM | Permalink

Once I got in, the visit went quick. The machine shows that I have been using it an average of 7 hours a day, the least 5 hours, the most 10 hours. It also shows that it is controlling my apnea at the level it is set. Now that I have data to the doctor I can switch machines to the real one -- this one is still a loaner, according to the DME, so I definately have to get a different machine.

And it is an auto CPAP. It has the wrong manual in the bag, so no wonder I was confused.

I've gotten a script for Sonata to try to get to sleep and I have a 2-week sample kit of Requip as I have been found with restless leg and I keep wondering if that is what keeps me from going to sleep well. I think I'll try the Requip first, then go for the Sonata.

It won't hurt to have the Sonata around for the first week of school (which is only about 4 weeks away!).

By the way, summer school is almost done. We're TAKS testing Exit level next week which shouldn't affect me since most of my students are listed at 9th or 10th graders (I don't think any are listed as any higher, and the grade level on my pink sheets is what the state thinks -- one of those things. A kid that has been going to school with 11th graders think they are an 11th grader even though they only have enough credits to be a 9th grader. Yes that happens).

The teachers are supposed to meet about finals on Tuesday. Don't know if that is before or after school yet.

It's going well though and I've enjoyed it. I don't think I'll ever teach summer school on a campus different than mine, but I am enjoying do it at my school. Especially since I"m back in my room the way it is supposed to be. I"m going to do some tweaking soon.

Posted by at 5:34 PM | Permalink

I just got to the sleep doctor, checked in and sat down when the nurse came out to the waiting room and announced the doctor was running behind.

Frankly, and I told her, I appreciate knowing these things. My gynocolist used to have a board and a clock to tell patients when he was expected to be done with a delivery.

Posted by at 2:24 PM | Permalink

Though I think I hit a low this afternoon. I started doing rational things somewhat irrationally. That is a good sign of low blood sugar and while I should have tested, I just treated the low and went on.

The good news is that my blood sugar this morning was 108, my postpanial have been good, and I'm back on track exercising.

The bad news is that I see my sleep doctor tomorrow. He still drives me nuts but I need to remember to talk to him about insurance.

Posted by at 4:50 PM | Permalink

Most of my postprandial blood sugars have been below 200 today, and a lot under 150. Looks like I am making progress.

However, my knee is killing me. It's okay sitting.

Oh, and the local storms seemed to have knocked out the DSL. Yeah, I have all kinds of ways of connecting. Right now I'm doing DUN over Bloothtooth with my Treo and MiniMac. It works pretty well.

Posted by at 8:58 PM | Permalink

Our neighborhood had it's yearly 4th of July parade. We have a park in front of our house, and since we've moved in, we've been and come to the parade each year. This year, since I had three dogs, and husband is working, I drove the truck over. Wise move, as I could leave the dogs in their cages and visit with the neighbors. Otherwise I would have been completely tied up, since i was when I had the dogs out.

Blood sugar was high again when I woke up -- I may need to have basal rate adjusted if that continues. I am wondering how much it is due to dealing with puppy. I woke up at my usual time, took her out and fed everyone and then went back to bed.

I crashed last night after my least mini-season on the treadmill. As of today, I'm up to 8 minutes per meal, but I'm having to break it up into 2 sets of 4. My knee will let me do 7, but not real often and not much more, so I'm stopping at 4. I've done two 8 minute session so far today but started to crash after the second. Had an 86. In other words, I'm doing a bit of rollar coastering, but I think it will get better once I get used to the new routine with the puppy.

Posted by at 12:15 PM | Permalink

Imperfect, Imprecise but Useful: Your Race - New York Times

It always seems like a no brainer to me, but maybe that's because we know there are genetic diseases that run in our family.

Posted by at 8:24 PM | Permalink

Diabetes Mine: Wherefore Art Thou, Galvus and Januvia?

If they can reduce A1C values without the side effects they have a winner. But I bet they have their own set of problems.

Posted by at 10:29 AM | Permalink

My blood sugar was at 125 this morning -- down from 135 last week, but still way to high. I like to be around 100.

Of course, getting up with the pup and messing around for a bit might be affecting my dawn syndrome -- which I definately have.

Was watching DLife -- I've gotten through about half the show -- and both sides of the debate agree that dawn syndrome exists.

By the way, I have Bernstein's books -- and his lifestyle is WAY to restrictive. I think the reason he has success is that patients already have complications AND know what he is about before they see him. You have to be extremely motivated to be able to follow his diet and plan.

Plus he doesn't think pumping is a good option.

I think that the average Type 2 has too many environmental factors working against them to ever be successful on as restrictive plan as Bernstein's. Think of Adkins, but also restrict fat and protein.

Posted by at 8:44 AM | Permalink

I'm still running high and I'm still using a higher bolus rate, but I am doing better. I got to take a fairly decent nap this afternoon -- which is a good thing since the new pup kept me up last night.

Everything is defintely better.

The good news is that I only have 3 days of summer school this week and that I'm ready for tomorrow. First period is going to be a bit dull, I need to have my students take a "mid term" and after go over the questions.

I really hope my server is back up tomorrow but I'm not going to hold my breath. I think a network engineer needs to come out and run a program. Wish they could have me do it.

Posted by at 5:41 PM | Permalink

One of the things I thought about getting as my summer school "toy" was the Dexcom. Here's what kept me from doing it. $35 a sensor.

Man, that 's a lot for something that is supposed to last for 3 days. Even lasting for 5 days, it is going to add up in a hurry.

I think it's wait until insurance covers it, or the sensor price goes down.

Besides, you don't get kisses from a continuous glucose monitoring system, nor do they win ribbons and get titles and stroke your ego.

Posted by at 10:52 AM | Permalink

A good sign that I am not doing well taking care of myself is that I am not blogging. I'm getting on the back side though.

I got exhausted. So exhausted that everything, especially my knee and right wrist were hurting. I'm now taking that as a sign. A sign that I need to get some sleep. Unfortunately I have trouble getting to sleep still, something I'm going to talk to my sleep doctor about. You've seen the sleeping pill commercials where they talk about not shutting down. That's my problem.

I fixed most of it yesterday, but then I got the pup, but I have figured out how to get her quiet, so I think I'll be okay, especially after Tuesday.

When I am exhausted, I ate. Can't do anything about that, except get some sleep. I also can't exercise because I am in such pain. In fact, I'm better off taking a nap then, rather than exercising so I can control the food later.

Of course, then my insulin usage goes up. It's a vicious cycle but I think I've broken it.

One of the things I'm doing is walking a set amount of time for each meal I eat. Not necessarily AFTER the meal. For example, today I'm doing 6 minutes about an hour after breakfast, I'm going to do my weights, and then I'm going to do another 6 minutes which will be for lunch.

I'll probably have to do ALL the time in the afternoon, later on in the week.

Posted by at 9:54 AM | Permalink

I have a new puppy -- Tesoro's Herald Square -- Call name Macie to go with Marcie and Maggie.

Pictures at http://www.kweaver.org/photo_archives/macie_first_day/

When Maggie finished her Open Agility JWW in the spring, I knew it was time to get a new dog. It will be at least two years before Macie is ready to compete. Marcie and Maggie will be 10 and 9 respectively, and I just don't want to be without a competition dog.

I will be trying out conformation with her.

Posted by at 8:57 PM | Permalink