Sunday 05/20 Let’s end our week on a high note and blog about our “Diabetes Hero”.
It can be anyone you’d like to recognize or admire, someone you know
personally or not, someone with diabetes or maybe a Type 3.
It might be a fabulous endo or CDE. It could be a d-celebrity or
role-model. It could be another DOC member. It’s up to you – who is
your Diabetes Hero??
I posted last year about my admiration for parents of diabetic children, and my mum (and parents like her) will always be one of my diabetic heroes.
Today, however, I want to talk about another of my diabetic heroes - my lovely husband Stuart. I think it's easy to forget that diabetes affects more than just the people with it - it affects those around them as well. In my case, as well as living with me and my diabetes, Stuart has done it while dealing with a fairly severe needle phobia. When we first started dating, I was still on MDI, and we quickly figured out a system where I could warn him that I was about to do my injection (usually by unsubtly saying "hide!"), and he could look away.
He was there while I went through the process of getting started on my pump. He supported me every step of the way, even though the very idea of it freaked the hell out of him, because he knew that it was the best thing for me, and by extension, for us.
I've said before about how I am quite territorial about my diabetes management, and he lets me get on with my diabetes management on my own, and he doesn't tell me how to do things or judge what I'm doing. He would never dream of telling me that I shouldn't have a piece of cake because of my diabetes. He's listened to me rant and moan when I'm having a rough day diabetes
wise, or when I've done something stupid like pull out a site.
And he has quite literally picked me up when I've fallen down. I've only ever had two seizures in 23 years of being diabetic, and they happened about six months apart, both after Stuart and I were living together. The first happened in a supermarket, and Stuart came to pick me up in A&E, and sat until the wee hours when I was discharged. The second happened at home, when I went down in the kitchen (pulling a table down with me...) with Stuart in the next room. He called an ambulance, and stayed with me the entire time. While there is nothing quite as horrible as waking up and realising that you've had a seizure, waking up with him next to me very calmly explaining what had happened and that things were going to be ok? That takes a lot of the scariness out of that scenario. He waited in A&E with me again, and both times he took the next day off work to look after me.
He has taken me, diabetes and all, to be his wife, and there was even a line in both of our vows about how he picks me up when I fall down. He is, and always will be, my big gorram hero. <3
Monday, 21 May 2012
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Diabetes Blog Week 2012: Saturday Snapshots
Saturday 05/19 Back for the third year, let’s show everyone what life with diabetes looks like! With a nod to the Diabetes 365 project,
let’s grab our cameras again and share some more d-related pictures.
Post as many or as few as you’d like. Feel free to blog your thoughts
on or explanations of your pictures, or leave out the written words and
let the pictures speak for themselves.
I spent quite a while considering what to do for this post, since I didn't really feel I had a huge amount of photos to add this year. I thought about using one of the wildcards, but then I decided to do something different.
Five weeks ago, I got married. I'd decided beforehand that I was going to do my best to make diabetes as small a part of my day as possible, and I pretty much succeeded. My bridesmaid's had hypo treatment in their bags, my chief bridesmaid had my meter and related stuff, and I managed to keep my levels fairly stable throughout the day.
I use an insulin pump to manage my diabetes, and about a month before the wedding I got in touch with Animas and asked if they could send me a couple of sets with longer tubing, just so I had options on the day. They sent me eight, four of each of the sets I use. I was very impressed! worked with my dress maker to sort out where I was going to store the pump during the day, and he made me a pocket so that I could hide the pump, but still get access to it when I needed it.
So, to make this picture diabetes related: can you spot my pump? ;)
I said that I managed to keep my levels mostly stable throughout the day, and that's true. I only had two stumbling blocks during the day; the 27.5 I hit before dinner (damn adrenaline - who'd have thought walking down the aisle would be so scary!), which came down nicely with a correction, and I dropped low in the evening during the dancing, at which point I used the very handy pick and mix we had set up for our guests to treat the hypo... ;)
I spent quite a while considering what to do for this post, since I didn't really feel I had a huge amount of photos to add this year. I thought about using one of the wildcards, but then I decided to do something different.
Five weeks ago, I got married. I'd decided beforehand that I was going to do my best to make diabetes as small a part of my day as possible, and I pretty much succeeded. My bridesmaid's had hypo treatment in their bags, my chief bridesmaid had my meter and related stuff, and I managed to keep my levels fairly stable throughout the day.
I use an insulin pump to manage my diabetes, and about a month before the wedding I got in touch with Animas and asked if they could send me a couple of sets with longer tubing, just so I had options on the day. They sent me eight, four of each of the sets I use. I was very impressed! worked with my dress maker to sort out where I was going to store the pump during the day, and he made me a pocket so that I could hide the pump, but still get access to it when I needed it.
So, to make this picture diabetes related: can you spot my pump? ;)
I said that I managed to keep my levels mostly stable throughout the day, and that's true. I only had two stumbling blocks during the day; the 27.5 I hit before dinner (damn adrenaline - who'd have thought walking down the aisle would be so scary!), which came down nicely with a correction, and I dropped low in the evening during the dancing, at which point I used the very handy pick and mix we had set up for our guests to treat the hypo... ;)
Friday, 18 May 2012
Diabetes Blog Week 2012: What they should know
Friday 05/18 Today let’s borrow a topic from a #dsma chat held last September.
The tweet asked “What is one thing you would tell someone that doesn’t
have diabetes about living with diabetes?”. Let’s do a little
advocating and post what we wish people knew about diabetes. Have more
than one thing you wish people knew? Go ahead and tell us everything.
If I was to list everything that I wish other people knew about diabetes, I'd be here all night (and possibly the rest of the weekend too...) So I'm going to focus on one thing. One thing that I want people who don't have diabetes to understand about living with diabetes.
It's not easy.
That's it. One thing. Living with diabetes and trying to manage it on a daily basis is not easy. It's such a simple thing, but one that I think a lot of people just don't get. I think we are very good in the DOC (and by extension diabetics everywhere) at making it look easy. We just get on with it, because what else are we going to do? Additionally, a lot of the things that we do are invisible - people notice the finger pricking and the injections if they pay attention, and maybe treating a hypo, but the calculations that go through your head when you sit down to eat, or when you try to decide what to do about a walk into town, or how much you need to eat to treat that low, if your set needs changing, or if you need to order supplies, or why the hell are you high/low and a million other little things that we do on a daily basis just to try to keep ourselves ticking over?
Those things aren't really noticeable. I will never forget one of my co-workers saying to me one day that being diabetic was easy, because it just involved testing your blood sugar and taking a couple of injections every day. That was seriously all that he thought it was about. (I may have ranted at him for about ten minutes about how wrong he was. He doesn't believe that anymore... ;) ) But it stuck with me how unaware people are of what we do as diabetics, and thinking about it, if you're not diabetic or looking after someone who is, then you don't really have any reason to know.
I'm not complaining, because I don't really want pity or sympathy - this is part of my life and complaining about it isn't really going to help (though I reserve my right to rant at the diabetes fairy from time to time!), but I really wish sometimes that people would realise that just because I'm not complaining, and I seem to be doing ok with managing my diabetes and you don't see me doing something as obvious as falling over, it doesn't for one moment mean that it's easy.
If I was to list everything that I wish other people knew about diabetes, I'd be here all night (and possibly the rest of the weekend too...) So I'm going to focus on one thing. One thing that I want people who don't have diabetes to understand about living with diabetes.
It's not easy.
That's it. One thing. Living with diabetes and trying to manage it on a daily basis is not easy. It's such a simple thing, but one that I think a lot of people just don't get. I think we are very good in the DOC (and by extension diabetics everywhere) at making it look easy. We just get on with it, because what else are we going to do? Additionally, a lot of the things that we do are invisible - people notice the finger pricking and the injections if they pay attention, and maybe treating a hypo, but the calculations that go through your head when you sit down to eat, or when you try to decide what to do about a walk into town, or how much you need to eat to treat that low, if your set needs changing, or if you need to order supplies, or why the hell are you high/low and a million other little things that we do on a daily basis just to try to keep ourselves ticking over?
Those things aren't really noticeable. I will never forget one of my co-workers saying to me one day that being diabetic was easy, because it just involved testing your blood sugar and taking a couple of injections every day. That was seriously all that he thought it was about. (I may have ranted at him for about ten minutes about how wrong he was. He doesn't believe that anymore... ;) ) But it stuck with me how unaware people are of what we do as diabetics, and thinking about it, if you're not diabetic or looking after someone who is, then you don't really have any reason to know.
I'm not complaining, because I don't really want pity or sympathy - this is part of my life and complaining about it isn't really going to help (though I reserve my right to rant at the diabetes fairy from time to time!), but I really wish sometimes that people would realise that just because I'm not complaining, and I seem to be doing ok with managing my diabetes and you don't see me doing something as obvious as falling over, it doesn't for one moment mean that it's easy.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Diabetes Blog Week 2012: Fantasy Diabetes Device
Thursday 05/17 Today let’s tackle an idea inspired by Bennet of Your Diabetes May Vary.
Tell us what your Fantasy Diabetes Device would be? Think of your
dream blood glucose checker, delivery system for insulin or other meds,
magic carb counter, etc etc etc. The sky is the limit – what would you
love to see?
So there are many cool things going on in the world of diabetes right now - the artificial pancreas, the search for faster insulins, more accurate CGMs etc
So I'm not going to talk about them, but if I could wave a magic wand and have any diabetes device I wanted? I would have a magic carb counter. Something that I could point at a meal, a piece of cake, a bowl of fruit, anything that I a about to eat and press a button and "bing!" it would tell me exactly how many carbs are in it. That would be awesome. It would take so much of the guesswork out of managing my diabetes, especially when eating out, or away from home. Hell, even at home when i just want to have a handful or grapes or some ice cream or something without actually weighing it or measuring it.
Not to mention those times where you're out and you order food and when it arrives it's one of those things that are really difficult to count (and don't get me started on sauces or soups - it's so hard to guess what people have put in them!) Or like when I used to go to formal halls when I was doing my PhD (basically fancy three course meals held at different colleges) and I'd be served something and have no idea what it even *was* never mind how to count it...
It's not a huge thing, and I doubt we'll ever get anything that will be that amazing, but it's one thing that I dream of. I'd love to be able to just eat food and take one of the variables out of it. That would be awesome. :)
So there are many cool things going on in the world of diabetes right now - the artificial pancreas, the search for faster insulins, more accurate CGMs etc
So I'm not going to talk about them, but if I could wave a magic wand and have any diabetes device I wanted? I would have a magic carb counter. Something that I could point at a meal, a piece of cake, a bowl of fruit, anything that I a about to eat and press a button and "bing!" it would tell me exactly how many carbs are in it. That would be awesome. It would take so much of the guesswork out of managing my diabetes, especially when eating out, or away from home. Hell, even at home when i just want to have a handful or grapes or some ice cream or something without actually weighing it or measuring it.
Not to mention those times where you're out and you order food and when it arrives it's one of those things that are really difficult to count (and don't get me started on sauces or soups - it's so hard to guess what people have put in them!) Or like when I used to go to formal halls when I was doing my PhD (basically fancy three course meals held at different colleges) and I'd be served something and have no idea what it even *was* never mind how to count it...
It's not a huge thing, and I doubt we'll ever get anything that will be that amazing, but it's one thing that I dream of. I'd love to be able to just eat food and take one of the variables out of it. That would be awesome. :)
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Diabetes Blog Week 2012: One thing to improve
Wednesday 05/16 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!
So I could probably write a list as long as my arm about things I could do better - I'm not perfect, and while I muddle along fairly happily with my diabetes management, there are lots of things that I could do just that little bit better.
If I were to pick just one thing though, I think it would be basal tests. I hate basal testing, as I'm sure everyone does, but it's not so much all basal testing as those in the afternoon/evening - the ones that cover lunch and dinner times. I'm pretty good with the overnight ones, and the morning ones I'm generally fine with - it's just a case of waking up and not eating breakfast. But there's something about the other ares of the day that I just find...difficult.
I'm not sure what it is - I think part of it is that it's generally when I'm up and about, and I'm hungry. Lunch ones are harder because I'm at work, and I generally need something to keep me going, not from an 'I need carbs' perspective, but purely from needing fuel to get me through the working day. Added to that, there's the whole thing about people asking why you're not eating lunch, and then the well-meaning sympathy that you get because you have to fast for a few hours. The evening ones tend to be a bit the same - I'm aways hungry in the evenings, and it's hard to make dinner for Stu and then not have anything myself.
I do keep and eye on things in other way - I can usually tell if things are needing tweaking by looking at my levels around meal times, and I have a few ways of figuring out if I need to alter my basal or my bolus (and I love temp basals), but I know that I could always do better by doing a couple more actual fasting tests!
So I could probably write a list as long as my arm about things I could do better - I'm not perfect, and while I muddle along fairly happily with my diabetes management, there are lots of things that I could do just that little bit better.
If I were to pick just one thing though, I think it would be basal tests. I hate basal testing, as I'm sure everyone does, but it's not so much all basal testing as those in the afternoon/evening - the ones that cover lunch and dinner times. I'm pretty good with the overnight ones, and the morning ones I'm generally fine with - it's just a case of waking up and not eating breakfast. But there's something about the other ares of the day that I just find...difficult.
I'm not sure what it is - I think part of it is that it's generally when I'm up and about, and I'm hungry. Lunch ones are harder because I'm at work, and I generally need something to keep me going, not from an 'I need carbs' perspective, but purely from needing fuel to get me through the working day. Added to that, there's the whole thing about people asking why you're not eating lunch, and then the well-meaning sympathy that you get because you have to fast for a few hours. The evening ones tend to be a bit the same - I'm aways hungry in the evenings, and it's hard to make dinner for Stu and then not have anything myself.
I do keep and eye on things in other way - I can usually tell if things are needing tweaking by looking at my levels around meal times, and I have a few ways of figuring out if I need to alter my basal or my bolus (and I love temp basals), but I know that I could always do better by doing a couple more actual fasting tests!
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Diabetes Blog Week 2012: One Great Thing
Tuesday 5/17 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!
Alright, one thing I do well. Hmmm...
One thing I am good at is keeping my pencil case organised and fully stocked:
This is my little diabetes on-the-go stash. I posted about it in my picture post from last years blog week (though I've got a new pencil case since then!), and it's probably one of the most sensible things I do with regards to my diabetes. In this little case, I have my meter, strips, finger pricker, ketone meter and strips, hypo treatment, a spare pen, insulin, a battery, a spare infusion set and a syringe. It's quite amazing how much you can fit in one little case, and I love that pretty much everything I need to keep me going for a little while diabetes-wise is in there. I started using it for work, and then realised that I can just stick it in a bag whenever I head out somewhere. As I've found that this really helps with being spontaneous while being diabetic (no need to try and find everything if someone suggests heading out for a while), I've really made an effort to make sure that it's always keep up to date, and that I refill it whenever anything runs out. It's just a little thing, but it's one thing I do well, and something that I find makes living with diabetes just that little bit easier. :)
Alright, one thing I do well. Hmmm...
One thing I am good at is keeping my pencil case organised and fully stocked:
This is my little diabetes on-the-go stash. I posted about it in my picture post from last years blog week (though I've got a new pencil case since then!), and it's probably one of the most sensible things I do with regards to my diabetes. In this little case, I have my meter, strips, finger pricker, ketone meter and strips, hypo treatment, a spare pen, insulin, a battery, a spare infusion set and a syringe. It's quite amazing how much you can fit in one little case, and I love that pretty much everything I need to keep me going for a little while diabetes-wise is in there. I started using it for work, and then realised that I can just stick it in a bag whenever I head out somewhere. As I've found that this really helps with being spontaneous while being diabetic (no need to try and find everything if someone suggests heading out for a while), I've really made an effort to make sure that it's always keep up to date, and that I refill it whenever anything runs out. It's just a little thing, but it's one thing I do well, and something that I find makes living with diabetes just that little bit easier. :)
Monday, 14 May 2012
Diabetes Blog Week 2012: Finding a Friend
Monday 4/14 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!
There are several blogs I follow regularly, and you can see them on my reading list at the side here ->
I'm looking forward to seeing what other people post today and hope to pick up a few more blogs to add. It was difficult to pick a couple of blogs to highlight from my own list, but here goes!
Shootuporputup This was one of the first diabetes blogs I came across when I first started poking around the DOC. I immediately loved the attitude that Tim and Alison showed towards diabetes, and the blog is informative and funny and, when I first started reading it, one of the rarer UK-based blogs. I love the slightly irreverent view of diabetes while still acknowledging it as a serious thing. I'm very much a believer in using humour and fun to help you through things, and this site is a great example of that. One day I will make it to a shootup meetup - despite coming from Glasgow and visiting fairly often, I have yet to time it so that I'm up when there's a meetup in Edinburgh!
Everydayupsanddowns I came across Mike's blog after reading some of his posts on the diabetessupport boards. I found his blog to be just as thoughtful and interesting as his forum posts, and I continue to enjoy his posts. He posts wonderfully though out posts about his diabetes experiences, and I've particularly enjoyed reading his transition from MDI to pump. As someone who had no doubts of reservations about pumping, it has been really enlightening to read what it's like from the point of view of someone who was came at it in a more cautious way.
Sixuntilme I'm sure pretty much everyone already reads Kerri's blog, but it's one that has always struck a chord with me. I love the way Kerri blogs about life with diabetes, and again, it was one of the first I came across and had the whole 'omg it's not just me!!' revelation. One of the things that had particular struck me about this blog is that Kerri's a little bit ahead of me in dealing with the big things in life, like marriage and kids, and it's been especially inspiring to read about these things from someone who's actually going through it. I actually took printouts from the post about pumps and wedding dresses to my wedding dress person to show him what I wanted him to do with my pump, and it worked fantastically, and so when I think about what's going to happen in the future when we start thinking about kids, it's blogs like this that actually make me believe I can do it. :)
There are several blogs I follow regularly, and you can see them on my reading list at the side here ->
I'm looking forward to seeing what other people post today and hope to pick up a few more blogs to add. It was difficult to pick a couple of blogs to highlight from my own list, but here goes!
Shootuporputup This was one of the first diabetes blogs I came across when I first started poking around the DOC. I immediately loved the attitude that Tim and Alison showed towards diabetes, and the blog is informative and funny and, when I first started reading it, one of the rarer UK-based blogs. I love the slightly irreverent view of diabetes while still acknowledging it as a serious thing. I'm very much a believer in using humour and fun to help you through things, and this site is a great example of that. One day I will make it to a shootup meetup - despite coming from Glasgow and visiting fairly often, I have yet to time it so that I'm up when there's a meetup in Edinburgh!
Everydayupsanddowns I came across Mike's blog after reading some of his posts on the diabetessupport boards. I found his blog to be just as thoughtful and interesting as his forum posts, and I continue to enjoy his posts. He posts wonderfully though out posts about his diabetes experiences, and I've particularly enjoyed reading his transition from MDI to pump. As someone who had no doubts of reservations about pumping, it has been really enlightening to read what it's like from the point of view of someone who was came at it in a more cautious way.
Sixuntilme I'm sure pretty much everyone already reads Kerri's blog, but it's one that has always struck a chord with me. I love the way Kerri blogs about life with diabetes, and again, it was one of the first I came across and had the whole 'omg it's not just me!!' revelation. One of the things that had particular struck me about this blog is that Kerri's a little bit ahead of me in dealing with the big things in life, like marriage and kids, and it's been especially inspiring to read about these things from someone who's actually going through it. I actually took printouts from the post about pumps and wedding dresses to my wedding dress person to show him what I wanted him to do with my pump, and it worked fantastically, and so when I think about what's going to happen in the future when we start thinking about kids, it's blogs like this that actually make me believe I can do it. :)
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