Happy Diaversary To Me!

It's been 3 years. I'm still cheating death. Good for me.

I went into the doctor because I felt like total crap, and could not get a teaspoon of saliva to save my life. The thirst was unbelievable, my vision was wonky, and the weight was melting off. I was pretty sure what I was going to hear, but still....*maybe* it was something else....something Google didn't know about.

(Googling frequent thirst doesn't come up with a whole lot of options besides flashing neon DIABETES signs.)

It was a doctor I hadn't been to before, I was still fairly new to this area and I didn't like the one visit to an internist I'd been to. So I literally picked the closest one with my insurance and made an appointment. I weighed in, gave a urine sample, and waited.

The nurse walks into the doctor's office, and I hear the words "spilling sugar and ketones". That didn't mean a whole lot to me then, but the doctor's reaction was not good. There was sighing and I swear I heard grimacing. One CAN hear a facial expression from the next room, if one is careful enough.

And so, after the initial world tilting words of "You're diabetic, by the way. Type 1. No question." Then he began the litany of "leading cause of blindness, highest rate of kidney failure, and I'm sure you can live a long and healthy life."

He actually was a nice doctor, he just didn't deliver news well. He retired shortly thereafter, and I am very happy with my new medical team.

So the next day I was hospitalized, and as the insulin drip started, and the lab tests came back, and I met the endocrinologist, I was just so happy that I would start feeling better, and the first night there, I didn't have to get up to pee 8 times. I didn't have to get up to pee at all. It was awesome.

I had no idea how different my life would be. But I do remember staring at the TV at an ad for new mint M&M's, and I wondered if I would ever eat one. Tears may have been involved.

So last week as I thought about this anniversary, I thought, "I'm going to go get those M&M's, and I'm going to bolus for them, and love every minute."

Turns out, they don't make them anymore, they weren't a hit. I guess my prediction of "never eating one" was accurate after all.

It's OK. They make other M&M's.

ONE thing...Hmmm.

Ok, blog carnivals. This month the question is: What is one thing you are looking forward to in 2012? (Diabetes related).

I'm pretty sure: "a cure, duh!" is not what they're going for. But it would be nice.

One thing I am looking forward to? Staying out of the hospital. I managed it this past year, I can do it again. :)

“This post is my January entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/january-dsma-blog-carnival/“.

Because Everybody Else Is Talking About These 2 Things

I'm a little late to the party, I guess. But everybody seems to be talking about 2 things: MTV's True Life: I have diabetes, and Paula Deen.

I watched the episode online. It was hard to watch. It was hard to see someone dealing with diabetes and pregnancy, someone who in all likelihood was misdiagnosed as a Type 2, and then got lectured because she couldn't keep the sugars down with diet and pills, and eventually got told she was a Type 1. All at 19. Holy cow. Did they not run a GAD test? Just because you're over 18 does not mean you can't be a Type 1.

It was hard to see someone trying to be a normal college student. It was hard to watch him look at a 277 and say "not bad", even though it was infinitely better than the 405 he had. It was hard because if there is one thing I am truly grateful for, it's that I did not have this in college. Even though I am not a drinker, I think managing this and college at the same time would have been a nightmare of epic proportions.

I bet they had to search far and wide for someone who has a hard time with the expense of this disease. I mean, everybody else can handle it so easily. And to see her working 24 hours a day and with an A1c running at 8.9%, I could just feel how exhausted she was.

It was a good episode. It showed things how they are,the friends being curious and helpful,the exhaustion and the frustration, the doctor's visits and comments, to the disease being forefront and trying to dictate everything.

And switching gears completely: Paula Deen. People are railing on her that her food caused her diabetes. 'She's a poster child for how "not to eat."'

Sometimes I think diabetes, especially Type 2, is a lot like hair. Let me explain. There is such a thing as frizzy hair. There's a large genetic component to said hair. There are products and lifestyle changes that can help prevent it, but for many people, eventually the hair will frizz out. Once the hair is frizzy, there are ways that can calm it down, essentially making it look fine, and 'reducing the symptoms' of frizzy hair, but deep down, the hair wants to spazz out. And for some people, those products never really work all that well, and who knows what will cause a flare? Humidity is just one thing that will wreak havoc, after all.

Judgie folks will see these people, and blame them completely for the frizz. After all, don't they know it's ALL THEIR FAULT? They've never heard of conditioner???? They shouldn't have used that round brush when they were kids. Poor losers, bringing it on themselves, tsk. tsk. Look at that frizz. Often, the judgies saying stuff like this have no idea what it's like to look in the mirror day after day trying to tame the frizz. They very likely did the same things to their hair that the frizzy people did. They're lucky, and they pride themselves on their good luck.

Paula, your hair got frizzy. I don't blame you for the frizz. I hope you find a way to calm it down, whether that be a new product, or washing less often, or massaging your scalp, or very likely a combination of all of it. You go, you deal with your hair your own way. Hair is different for everyone, and don't let anyone tell you differently.

I KNEW Mornings Were Evil

So if there's one thing I have learned in the first week with my precious, it's this....

Getting out of bed is bad for diabetes.

I was really excited to see what I did at night. Apparently, I hold steady. (yay!) But the second I wake up and get out of bed, the sugars start slowly climbing. The earlier I get up, the worse it is. And if I have to set the alarm for something especially early, forget it.

Stupid non-girly hormones, working to get me out of bed and spiking my sugars. At least I know my "fasting sugars" don't usually reflect where I've been all night.

Yesterday, I had lunch, and I swear to you, my sugars did not budge for about 4 hours from the minute I bolused. I started at 110 and didn't go above 116 (cured!). I took a nap - hey, don't judge, it was a rough emotional day. Getting up from that nap sent me climbing, and even through dinner and correction boluses, I never fully recovered from that climb.

Clearly the best option is to stay in bed all day.

I knew it.

First day with My Precious

Ah, my precious. I have been trained, I have been stabbed, and now I can tell you at any given time what's going on with my blood sugar. I can be cool and post pictures of my Dexcom. (But I won't, not just yet). (I can't find my camera, and I'm lazy).

I went low that afternoon. My Precious buzzed and booped. Ooh, the first buzz. What does it mean. Under 80! Meter says no. Under 55! DEXCOM NO-LIKEY UNDER 55! Meter said 68, so I treated. I kind of love peppermint bark, btw.

Then I had a lovely dinner and watched my sugars climb. It almost hit that high threshold, but not quite. I was fascinated, and I think I am easily amused. However, going to bed at 175, I decided to take a half unit of insulin. My correction value has been changing, and I decided that half would probably get me to around 140-120, which is all well and good. (Sometimes 1 unit drops me 80, sometimes 50. Consistency, thy name isn't diabetes.)

ALL NIGHT LONG. (Cue the Lionel Richie soundtrack).
Buzz. Buzz. BUZZ. LOW!!! UNDER 80!!! LOW!! UNDER 80!!! 3 times it did this, and I checked my meter. 97. 102. 96. Please be quiet, my precious. I'm fine. I'm sleeping.

LOW!!! UNDER 55!!!! At that point, I just grabbed a candy and popped it, figuring I probably was low, and maybe it would make precious be quiet. LOW! UNDER 80!

My husband "Did something beep? What's going on?"

Sorry, babe. Diabetes apparently is a loud disease.

And on it went, until I was coherent enough in the morning to change the low alert from 80 to 70.

I have been longing to know what my blood sugars do during the night. Spot checking isn't really helpful. Why would I go to bed at 90 and wake up at 140? When did that rise happen? Right in the morning, or have I been rollercoasting all night? Going to bed at 160? Waking at 160? Did I really do NOTHING at night? So I was longing for that lovely graph, that lovely telling of what my body was going through while I was unconscious. Apparently, I have to be conscious to see it. It stayed pretty consistent...ly low. And it did start to rise around 7:30 in the a.m. So that's good to know.

It seems to be more accurate if I'm above 100. Otherwise, my precious runs a little lower than the meter. It's in my abdomen right now. I will try my arm as the next site, see how that goes.

And despite the buzzing, I love it. I love it very much.

Insurance Makes Me Laugh (it's either that or cry)

It's time to renew my 3 month supply of Novolog. Every time this happens, my insurance wants to remind me that Humalog is cheaper. Did you hear me, patient x? CHEAPER!!

(Also, they keep sending me letters telling me to check my A1C. I think the fact that they've paid for most all of my A1C's should stop these letters. It doesn't.)

So, today I got a letter about the relative cheapness of Humalog. And a friendly little lecture about why most patients choose the lower cost option. Smart patients. Financially savvy patients. Patients who care about their health and their pocketbook.

Behold.

(Click to embiggen.)

I guess 0% of their patients are smart and savvy. I could be the first.