Good evening, people of the blogosphere!
Hey :) So, I've been thinking, what's one of the most annoying things about my insulin pump? It's not the site changes, it's not hiding my tubing (or, as we call it in my family, my wire) either.
It's hiding it.
I wear a skirt, every weekday. It's part of my uniform. And underneath, I wear a pair of shorts with pockets. I put my insulin pump in my pocket, but there's this awkward bulge on my hip where the skirt hits the pump, and it's just a mess.
So, my cousin is getting married, and she lovingly asked her favorite baby cousin to be a bridesmaid (Thanks Steph <3) Now, I tried on the dress. And when you wear a bridesmaid dress, you really can't wear jean shorts underneath, can you? No, didn't think so. So (and boys, prepare for things to get intense) I had to try to find different places to put it. And I tried everything short of duct taping the pump to my stomach. But, the idea I came up with was putting my beloved insulin pump in my cleavage. I seem to remember a conversation at the diabetes conference with Katelyn and Delaney. "Well, if you can hide it there, then by all means, do it!"
So it's totally hidden. But I've got to say, that's definitely not my favorite task of pump maintenance. What's your least favorite? Comment below!
Much love,
Alexa
Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Feeling Better
Okay, I'm in a much better mood than I was last night (thank you everyone who helped me out today!). This morning was a hard one. I woke up with pain absolutely radiating throughout my whole entire body. I had to lie in bed for five extra minutes in order to get things together.
My whole body hurts still, but it's gotten better. My blood sugars have been actually pretty great today, which is kinda surprising. I expected to have a bit of a high blood sugar day, but I was most certainly happy about good numbers.
The one funny thing that's come out of the whole "broken blood vessel/tapped nerve/infusion set calamity" situation. There's a bruise on my booty. And it's shaped like the Greek island of Crete. Which is really, really amusing. I love it, actually. I feel kinda like Kari, who has distinctly shaped bruises all the time.
So, this was kind of an additive to last night's post, seeing as I didn't post very much last night. I just also wanted to say thank you all very much. All of you, the readers who are so loyal, and the followers who take time to comment. I love you so much, and I know Hannah does too.
Much love,
Alexa
My whole body hurts still, but it's gotten better. My blood sugars have been actually pretty great today, which is kinda surprising. I expected to have a bit of a high blood sugar day, but I was most certainly happy about good numbers.
The one funny thing that's come out of the whole "broken blood vessel/tapped nerve/infusion set calamity" situation. There's a bruise on my booty. And it's shaped like the Greek island of Crete. Which is really, really amusing. I love it, actually. I feel kinda like Kari, who has distinctly shaped bruises all the time.
So, this was kind of an additive to last night's post, seeing as I didn't post very much last night. I just also wanted to say thank you all very much. All of you, the readers who are so loyal, and the followers who take time to comment. I love you so much, and I know Hannah does too.
Much love,
Alexa
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
"That's hellish" "That's diabetes"
Those three photos sum up my night. I was being a good little divabetic, and I changed my site after the allotted three days.
But nothing ever goes right. I bled through the catheter, through the actual site, and through the tube. And I think I hit a nerve or something, because I still have waves of pain radiating through my body.
That's diabetes though. It's painful, it's gut wrenching, and it's hard. But the thing is, I'd rather have some temporary pain that lasted a couple hours, than be in and out of the hospital with DKA.
I know this is a short post, but I think the pictures speak a lot louder than words ever could.
Much love,
Alexa
Saturday, April 16, 2011
The Good, the Bad, and the Diabetes
I would be lying if I said diabetes wasn't the most important thing in my life. It's not just a disease, it's a lifestyle for a select group of people. Diabetes has so many highs and lows (pun intended)that sometimes it can drive a person to feel the craziest things. Sometimes, you can't control those feelings and it gets you into sticky situations. Then those situations come back to bite you in the butt.
Those of you who know what I'm talking about, congratulations. My hat goes off to you for being super amazing and dealing with something a person shouldn't deal with. Not everybody has to count carbs, or change sites. Not everybody has to wake up at 3:00 in the morning to poke they're finger(that has no feeling left in it). Most people don't have to apologize for having a high bloodsugar and manipulating someone else's feelings (okay so not every diabetic has to do that but I can name a few).
It's those situations that make a diabetic different than a "normal person". But a normal person can't imagine what it's like to be diabetic. For all those people, consider yourself lucky. I'd give anything to be in your shoes. But that's never going to happen. So for now, I'll say farewell, and apologize if this post seems completely random. It makes sense if you're in my shoes.
Those of you who know what I'm talking about, congratulations. My hat goes off to you for being super amazing and dealing with something a person shouldn't deal with. Not everybody has to count carbs, or change sites. Not everybody has to wake up at 3:00 in the morning to poke they're finger(that has no feeling left in it). Most people don't have to apologize for having a high bloodsugar and manipulating someone else's feelings (okay so not every diabetic has to do that but I can name a few).
It's those situations that make a diabetic different than a "normal person". But a normal person can't imagine what it's like to be diabetic. For all those people, consider yourself lucky. I'd give anything to be in your shoes. But that's never going to happen. So for now, I'll say farewell, and apologize if this post seems completely random. It makes sense if you're in my shoes.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Just a thought...
Okay, so after I posted yesterday, I had this funny experience.
My house phone started ringing, my facebook chat notification went off six times, my cell phone vibrated, and my pump vibrated. We're drowned in a world of beeps, buzzes, clicks, and tones.
I mean right now, I'm sitting in the physics lab at my school. There's no one here, I just came down to the basement for some quiet, and Mr. Sidman's room was open. I've got Phoenix playing softly in the background, and the keys are clicking madly as I type. There's a soft lull of pipes coming through the ceiling, and every once in a while, the rubber of my shoe squeaks against the metal of the lab stool.
Sounds are precious, something that I have had trouble hearing in the last few years because of the diabetes. My sense of touch is completely gone in my finger tips, but more on that later. I've got to be careful about the world around me not getting too loud, because there's one sound that I always have to be able to hear (and I guess feel, if you want to really think about it)
My insulin pump. It's my best friend, my pancreas, and my life. I don't have the usual beeping noise that I had in elementary school, and the beginning of middle school. Mine vibrates, because I don't like when it interrupts classes and stuff like that.
I've got to make sure it's something that I can hear though. Because if I miss an alarm, that could be a problem. I've got the alarms set for a reason, and they're nice and helpful. Or, the one that I most commonly miss is the one that says you have a low battery. I'll miss it, and then like two days later, I'll be completely dead, and then we're in trouble.
So, the point? Listen to the fun stuff, close your eyes and observe with your ears. Listen to the heat from the pipes rushing through the building to your left, and the music trickling out of your computer from in front of you. But don't forget what's important. Make sure you hear the movement of your lifeline, or the shift of the cellphone in your pocket.
Who knows? It might be the phone call (or the low battery alarm) that could change your life.
Much love,
Alexa
My house phone started ringing, my facebook chat notification went off six times, my cell phone vibrated, and my pump vibrated. We're drowned in a world of beeps, buzzes, clicks, and tones.
I mean right now, I'm sitting in the physics lab at my school. There's no one here, I just came down to the basement for some quiet, and Mr. Sidman's room was open. I've got Phoenix playing softly in the background, and the keys are clicking madly as I type. There's a soft lull of pipes coming through the ceiling, and every once in a while, the rubber of my shoe squeaks against the metal of the lab stool.
Sounds are precious, something that I have had trouble hearing in the last few years because of the diabetes. My sense of touch is completely gone in my finger tips, but more on that later. I've got to be careful about the world around me not getting too loud, because there's one sound that I always have to be able to hear (and I guess feel, if you want to really think about it)
My insulin pump. It's my best friend, my pancreas, and my life. I don't have the usual beeping noise that I had in elementary school, and the beginning of middle school. Mine vibrates, because I don't like when it interrupts classes and stuff like that.
I've got to make sure it's something that I can hear though. Because if I miss an alarm, that could be a problem. I've got the alarms set for a reason, and they're nice and helpful. Or, the one that I most commonly miss is the one that says you have a low battery. I'll miss it, and then like two days later, I'll be completely dead, and then we're in trouble.
So, the point? Listen to the fun stuff, close your eyes and observe with your ears. Listen to the heat from the pipes rushing through the building to your left, and the music trickling out of your computer from in front of you. But don't forget what's important. Make sure you hear the movement of your lifeline, or the shift of the cellphone in your pocket.
Who knows? It might be the phone call (or the low battery alarm) that could change your life.
Much love,
Alexa
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Kiss Me, I'm Diabetic!
Okay, so I know you're supposed to say "kiss me, I'm Irish" but I'm not. I'm diabetic. And the point of this post is not because I want to be kissed (I mean, I do. But that's not what I'm posting about). No, the point of this post is about mood swings and blood sugars.
So class, raise your hands if you get emotional when you have a low or a high. When my blood sugar dips below 60, I want to start crying. There's no reason at all, I get that prickly feeling in my eyes, and that tight feeling in my throat. I don't usually start crying, but there are times when I'm like "I cannot get food in my body fast enough. I want to collapse right here, right now." And that's about when the tears start rolling.
Now class, does anyone laugh uncontrollably if there's a low blood sugar? Haha yeah. I do that. I seem to recall one math class last year when I was positively insane with laughter (Allie and Grace, you remember?) just because my blood sugar was like, 49 or something like that. Actually, looking back, that was pretty funny :)
Final question, my lovely readers. When you have a low, or a high, do you get super irritable? When I've got either a low or high, I'll get irritable. Really irritable. Like, I snap at my mom, or I'll lose my brain for a second there and say something super sarcastic that I'd never say if I was in my right mind.
But, back to the "Kiss me, I'm diabetic!"
I know myself. I know a lot of my diabetic friends would say the same thing. "I'm not usually like this. I'm usually really sweet." And it's true. Generally, diabetic people are sweet, sometimes we're even sweeter than the non-diabetic people out there. We're so sweet, we just can't control our insulin :P When your blood sugar is off, nothing is the same. Your body feels different, your brain feels different, it all feels strange. But you know, that's not the normal for any of us.
Besides, who wouldn't want to kiss someone this sweet?
Much love,
Alexa
So class, raise your hands if you get emotional when you have a low or a high. When my blood sugar dips below 60, I want to start crying. There's no reason at all, I get that prickly feeling in my eyes, and that tight feeling in my throat. I don't usually start crying, but there are times when I'm like "I cannot get food in my body fast enough. I want to collapse right here, right now." And that's about when the tears start rolling.
Now class, does anyone laugh uncontrollably if there's a low blood sugar? Haha yeah. I do that. I seem to recall one math class last year when I was positively insane with laughter (Allie and Grace, you remember?) just because my blood sugar was like, 49 or something like that. Actually, looking back, that was pretty funny :)
Final question, my lovely readers. When you have a low, or a high, do you get super irritable? When I've got either a low or high, I'll get irritable. Really irritable. Like, I snap at my mom, or I'll lose my brain for a second there and say something super sarcastic that I'd never say if I was in my right mind.
But, back to the "Kiss me, I'm diabetic!"
I know myself. I know a lot of my diabetic friends would say the same thing. "I'm not usually like this. I'm usually really sweet." And it's true. Generally, diabetic people are sweet, sometimes we're even sweeter than the non-diabetic people out there. We're so sweet, we just can't control our insulin :P When your blood sugar is off, nothing is the same. Your body feels different, your brain feels different, it all feels strange. But you know, that's not the normal for any of us.
Besides, who wouldn't want to kiss someone this sweet?
Much love,
Alexa
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Blood Sugars
Okay, so this is a pretty generic post when it comes to diabetes, but my blood sugars, instead of being all over the place, are pretty leveled out. (I'm throwing a little party over here, in my head, to celebrate the amazing occasion)
And you know the funny thing is? I haven't really done much. I mean, I check a little more often and I'm in a better mood than usual, but I'm still eating my favorite foods, and I'm still sitting on my behind posting for all of you guys. It's also spring break, so I'm not at school being a dignified, plaid-skirt wearing teenager and getting into all sorts of shenanigans with my girls (Garnet <3).
But I've got to say, I want these blood sugars to stay good. I mean, who doesn't want to feel this amazing all the time. I haven't had anything above 199, and nothing below 78. And that's been going on for three straight days. And these past three days I've enjoyed everything just a little bit more. It may also have something to do with the fact that I'm on vacation, in Eugene Oregon, and I'm having a great time (I'm with one of the members of my diabetes team, Ari, and we're having a blast).
My only problem with Eugene has to be the fact that NO ONE knows what celiac is. I mean, I tried to get some food at the hotel that I'm staying at, and there's NOTHING. The salads all have dressings with soy sauce (something that, surprisingly, is not made out of soy) and croutons, and there's nothing. Absolutely nothing. I mean, we had to order a salad that had the dressing on the side, no croutons, and bleu cheese (for those of you who don't know, I hate bleu cheese with a burning passion).
And back to the whole "no one has a clue" thing. You say; "I have celiac, so you have anything on the menu that's gluten free?"
They look at you like you have three heads.
I mean really? Is it that hard to just say "I'm sorry, I've never heard of celiac, or gluten. Would you explain this to me please?"
But, I am not letting this detract from my amazing weekend, and my amazing blood sugars! This'll get figured out and I'll be happy, and like I said before, it'll be all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows (that's how this refrain goes).
Much love,
Alexa
And you know the funny thing is? I haven't really done much. I mean, I check a little more often and I'm in a better mood than usual, but I'm still eating my favorite foods, and I'm still sitting on my behind posting for all of you guys. It's also spring break, so I'm not at school being a dignified, plaid-skirt wearing teenager and getting into all sorts of shenanigans with my girls (Garnet <3).
But I've got to say, I want these blood sugars to stay good. I mean, who doesn't want to feel this amazing all the time. I haven't had anything above 199, and nothing below 78. And that's been going on for three straight days. And these past three days I've enjoyed everything just a little bit more. It may also have something to do with the fact that I'm on vacation, in Eugene Oregon, and I'm having a great time (I'm with one of the members of my diabetes team, Ari, and we're having a blast).
My only problem with Eugene has to be the fact that NO ONE knows what celiac is. I mean, I tried to get some food at the hotel that I'm staying at, and there's NOTHING. The salads all have dressings with soy sauce (something that, surprisingly, is not made out of soy) and croutons, and there's nothing. Absolutely nothing. I mean, we had to order a salad that had the dressing on the side, no croutons, and bleu cheese (for those of you who don't know, I hate bleu cheese with a burning passion).
And back to the whole "no one has a clue" thing. You say; "I have celiac, so you have anything on the menu that's gluten free?"
They look at you like you have three heads.
I mean really? Is it that hard to just say "I'm sorry, I've never heard of celiac, or gluten. Would you explain this to me please?"
But, I am not letting this detract from my amazing weekend, and my amazing blood sugars! This'll get figured out and I'll be happy, and like I said before, it'll be all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows (that's how this refrain goes).
Much love,
Alexa
Thursday, April 7, 2011
And the Battles keep waging...
I am a terrible person.
I have abandoned you all, and I am super duper sorry for that. I wish I had like, three hours I could devote each day to blogging for you all. But alas, I don't. And I should've been blogging every single day this week, seeing as I'm on Spring Break. But of course, I'm 14 and can barely keep my pump on straight.
So, as some of you may (or may not) know, I am one of the 25% of diabetics that is fortunate enough to have both celiac disease and diabetes. For those of you who don't know, celiac is when your body is intolerant to gluten. It's a lot of work to manage both. But of course, I had my GI appointment on Tuesday. While my mother and my gastroenterologist discussed the interpreter services at the clinic (my mom works for a different branch of the same organization), I brought up two things that were really bothering me.
Milk. I can't drink a glass of milk anymore. It makes my stomach hurt, not as severely as it would if I was biting into a big slice of cake, but it's still uncomfortable. The odd thing is, I can eat ice cream. I can eat cheese, and yogurt. It's straight-from-a-cow milk, and sour cream that make my stomach whirl.
Iron. My doctor thinks that I may be iron deficient. I went in on Friday for blood work, and it was the fasting stuff where I couldn't eat for a whole bunch of time before. And when I was stuck with the needle and the blood started flowing, I started seeing stars. Pretty soon, I was retching, and thinking "If there's nothing there, why do I feel like I'm going to toss my cookies?"
My labs were processed today to check for the iron deficiency, and I got some advice on low-lactose foods. Everything is manageable, nothing life-changing. I'll probably be on an iron supplement, and I'll have to watch for milk at the breakfast table.
I know there's really nothing to be upset about, and that it's very much tolerable. But does anyone else out there realize how much I just want to *head-desk* right now?! (For those of you who don't know Rachael and her slang, *head-desk* is when you put your forehead to a desk or table of some sort) I mean, come on people! I've been diabetic since I was 14 months old, and have had celiac for not even a year. I'm just rather miffed that there are two other things to chalk up to the list.
Anyways, this isn't for me to complain. I'll keep you all posted :) And I'll post more often, again, I am so sorry about that.
Much MUCH love,
Alexa <3
I have abandoned you all, and I am super duper sorry for that. I wish I had like, three hours I could devote each day to blogging for you all. But alas, I don't. And I should've been blogging every single day this week, seeing as I'm on Spring Break. But of course, I'm 14 and can barely keep my pump on straight.
So, as some of you may (or may not) know, I am one of the 25% of diabetics that is fortunate enough to have both celiac disease and diabetes. For those of you who don't know, celiac is when your body is intolerant to gluten. It's a lot of work to manage both. But of course, I had my GI appointment on Tuesday. While my mother and my gastroenterologist discussed the interpreter services at the clinic (my mom works for a different branch of the same organization), I brought up two things that were really bothering me.
Milk. I can't drink a glass of milk anymore. It makes my stomach hurt, not as severely as it would if I was biting into a big slice of cake, but it's still uncomfortable. The odd thing is, I can eat ice cream. I can eat cheese, and yogurt. It's straight-from-a-cow milk, and sour cream that make my stomach whirl.
Iron. My doctor thinks that I may be iron deficient. I went in on Friday for blood work, and it was the fasting stuff where I couldn't eat for a whole bunch of time before. And when I was stuck with the needle and the blood started flowing, I started seeing stars. Pretty soon, I was retching, and thinking "If there's nothing there, why do I feel like I'm going to toss my cookies?"
My labs were processed today to check for the iron deficiency, and I got some advice on low-lactose foods. Everything is manageable, nothing life-changing. I'll probably be on an iron supplement, and I'll have to watch for milk at the breakfast table.
I know there's really nothing to be upset about, and that it's very much tolerable. But does anyone else out there realize how much I just want to *head-desk* right now?! (For those of you who don't know Rachael and her slang, *head-desk* is when you put your forehead to a desk or table of some sort) I mean, come on people! I've been diabetic since I was 14 months old, and have had celiac for not even a year. I'm just rather miffed that there are two other things to chalk up to the list.
Anyways, this isn't for me to complain. I'll keep you all posted :) And I'll post more often, again, I am so sorry about that.
Much MUCH love,
Alexa <3
Monday, March 28, 2011
Dehydration and High Blood Sugars
And just when I thought everything was going well...
My blood sugar is currently 317. I feel super sore, and on top of it, I'm dehydrated. Honestly, I can't find any other word to describe my physical state than "icky."
I feel icky. Really, really icky. I should be asleep right now, but that's not going to happen. I'd love to curl up in bed right now, and just sleep until I feel like waking up, not when I have to get up for school.
When I'm dehydrated, my knees start to lock up, and it hurts. If they're bent, then they lock up all bent, and oddly shaped. If they're straight out, then I walk around with hockey sticks for legs. It's just rather painful. When my bg is high, I feel like I'm going to vomit. Couple those two, and you're in for a rough night.
I have no reason to complain though. I've got an IV simulation drip of insulin going into my body, and I'm steadily drinking water. I'm laying in my bed, and I'm relaxing, just trying to ride this out. I'm honestly grateful that this is all I have to deal with. I know tomorrow morning, I'll have food on my table, and a great school to be at.
And Spring Break is on Friday...that's another reason to smile.
Although, this really blows. I'd like to be asleep, dreaming of sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows (lol Grace :P), but diabetes doesn't take a nine hour break. It's all the time, all day, all year.
Oh, and a Happy Birthday to one member of my team, Ari. Happy Birthday dude.
Much love,
Alexa
My blood sugar is currently 317. I feel super sore, and on top of it, I'm dehydrated. Honestly, I can't find any other word to describe my physical state than "icky."
I feel icky. Really, really icky. I should be asleep right now, but that's not going to happen. I'd love to curl up in bed right now, and just sleep until I feel like waking up, not when I have to get up for school.
When I'm dehydrated, my knees start to lock up, and it hurts. If they're bent, then they lock up all bent, and oddly shaped. If they're straight out, then I walk around with hockey sticks for legs. It's just rather painful. When my bg is high, I feel like I'm going to vomit. Couple those two, and you're in for a rough night.
I have no reason to complain though. I've got an IV simulation drip of insulin going into my body, and I'm steadily drinking water. I'm laying in my bed, and I'm relaxing, just trying to ride this out. I'm honestly grateful that this is all I have to deal with. I know tomorrow morning, I'll have food on my table, and a great school to be at.
And Spring Break is on Friday...that's another reason to smile.
Although, this really blows. I'd like to be asleep, dreaming of sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows (lol Grace :P), but diabetes doesn't take a nine hour break. It's all the time, all day, all year.
Oh, and a Happy Birthday to one member of my team, Ari. Happy Birthday dude.
Much love,
Alexa
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Butterflies
So we've talked a lot about stress in the last few weeks. There's a lot of stress in a fourteen-year-old girl's life. There's school, and social pressures. Then, there are all those media adds about what "pretty" is on a girl. When you add parents, friends, and guys into the mix, you might as well just have started the Manhattan Project all over again.
There's this great kind of stress though. They're called the butterflies. The butterflies let you know you've got human emotions, and you're also capable of handling good stress. You all know what I'm talking about, the fluttering in your stomach, the knocking knees, the accelerated heartbeat, and the occasional sweaty palms.
The butterflies, for some reason, make my blood sugar go back to perfect. If I have them for an extended period of time, my blood sugar stays nice and level for a good couple hours. It's really nice.
A lot of people who get the butterflies say that the adrenaline makes their blood sugar go super high. And sometimes, mine goes high too. When the adrenaline starts running for things like finals week, or sports games, then the bg's go way way up.
But that's just me. There might be some people who it just doesn't ever work in their favor. I feel like I'm one of the lucky ones.
Much love,
Alexa
Monday, March 21, 2011
A Divabetic's Team
We all know diabetes isn't a walk in the park. It's a lot of things to remember, it's a lot of nights to wake up and try not to fall down the stairs to get a juice. It's a lot of set changes, finger pokes, and things to worry about.
I'm very fortunate to have a team of amazing people helping me out with this. There are plenty of different roles to fill, and not every role in my team is necessary for, say, Hannah's team. My team is composed of many different ages, roles in my regular life, and levels of fun-ness.
Role #1-Blood Sugar Dictator: That's the good-old M-O-M. There has to be one person (or sometimes two) that makes sure you are always on the ball. And of course, if you fall off the ball, there's someone there to grab you by your ear, and plop you right back on. Thanks Mom :)
Role #2-The Chef: Dad makes sure everything is completely healthy, and complies to my strict diet, both diabetes and celiac have run rampant through our pantry. Dad cooks so well, and it's great to be able to eat something other than a slice of gluten free bread with a piece of cheese.
Role #3-The Listener: Hannah, of course, is the number one. Hannah and I have stayed up late, talking about a low blood sugar and exchanging tips. It's an amazing feeling that, at 10pm on a school night (sorry Mom, Dad, and whatever teacher may or may not read this) that someone who's got the same stuff going down as you do can come to you, and you alone.
Role #4-The Voice of Reason: Garnet and the amazing Ms. O'Brien. They're not necessarily the ones telling me not to do stupid stuff, but their voices are in my head telling me "You do not need to eat pasta for dinner. Have a salad." It's quite the system I've got going on here.
Role #5-The Supportive Teacher: The teacher that knows your blood sugar when he looks at you from down the hall. Mr. Sidman. My amazing physics teacher. He's just so on the ball, and can totally tell if I look a little off when I walk down the hallway. Thank you Mr. Sidman.
Role #6-The Man: Ari. What can I say about Ari. He's the one who agrees with everything I say about my diabetes. Just tonight, I told him about how I had to change my site twice because the first one bled a bunch, and he was like "Ouch. That sucks." And honestly, that's all I need. I just need someone to say "I know how much this sucks. I don't want to say I know how you feel, but I just want you to know I'm there." But of course, being "The Man," it gets said in fewer words. You just have to distinguish the meaning for yourself, ladies.
There are so many other people on my team, like Dr. Marshall (my endocrinologist and the driving force behind me wanting to take better care of myself) and the "Teacher Who Sees Past the Diabetes," the one and only Joe Romano, who unlike every other teacher, has never had a conversation about my diabetes with me. It's refreshing, actually. I love it. I love going into English class and knowing that I can leave my diabetes at the door.
These wonderful, amazing, kind, selfless people may not realize what they do has a huge impact on my (and your) life. They're special people. And every diabetic has them, or at least some variation of them. So, if you're diabetic, thank your team. Even if you kick, and scream, and fight them the entire way, they're still fighting on your side, regardless of what you do to them.
Hope you get some perspective.
Much love,
Alexa
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Life
Oh what a week!
Life is a rough trip. Let me tell you, anything that goes on in your life impacts your diabetes. Even just a small shift in your daily routine can totally throw things out the window. My one piece of advice to you all is very short, but very true.
Roll with the punches.
You have no idea what's coming next, and you've got to be ready to deal with it all.
Much love,
Alexa
Life is a rough trip. Let me tell you, anything that goes on in your life impacts your diabetes. Even just a small shift in your daily routine can totally throw things out the window. My one piece of advice to you all is very short, but very true.
Roll with the punches.
You have no idea what's coming next, and you've got to be ready to deal with it all.
Much love,
Alexa
Crazy life...and what that does to a divabetic
Hey everyone. Hannah here. Wow, it feels like forever since I have posted anything! I've been a sick little divabetic, but now I'm better. Which is good. Which brings me to the subject of my discussion: Stress and diabetes.
Stress obviously affects everyone. Whether you are 5 or 55. But, when your 15, the world is going to end. No matter what. (you know it's true. don't deny it.) When the world seems to be ending mentally, physically it is making life even more stressful. My blood sugars can go from 145 to 450 to 45 in a matter of hours, which just makes the whole "Oh my goodness I have midterms this week" situation go way down hill, or say your transfering schools.
Speaking from personal experiances, both of those seriously affect blood sugars. I found out I was transfering in the begining of summer, and everything was ok. But about 4 weeks before school started, I realized I had to start completely over with my life, had to make new friends, and start a new chapter in the big book of Hannah's life. So, after school started, my bloodsugars were super crazy. I was in the nurse's office a lot and just felt terrible. After I started making friends, everything went back to normal. Crazy right?
As stressful as stress can be, if we didn't deal with it, we wouldn't be human I guess.
Stress obviously affects everyone. Whether you are 5 or 55. But, when your 15, the world is going to end. No matter what. (you know it's true. don't deny it.) When the world seems to be ending mentally, physically it is making life even more stressful. My blood sugars can go from 145 to 450 to 45 in a matter of hours, which just makes the whole "Oh my goodness I have midterms this week" situation go way down hill, or say your transfering schools.
Speaking from personal experiances, both of those seriously affect blood sugars. I found out I was transfering in the begining of summer, and everything was ok. But about 4 weeks before school started, I realized I had to start completely over with my life, had to make new friends, and start a new chapter in the big book of Hannah's life. So, after school started, my bloodsugars were super crazy. I was in the nurse's office a lot and just felt terrible. After I started making friends, everything went back to normal. Crazy right?
As stressful as stress can be, if we didn't deal with it, we wouldn't be human I guess.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Guilty Pleasures and the Voice of Reason
And commence gasping at the title.
And now, you can get your mind out of the gutter :)
Guilty pleasures can span a wide range of topics. Ask my parents, and you'd think my guilty pleasure is texting. Trust me, if you saw my phone bill from a couple months ago, you'd agree with them. What can I say, Ari is a good listener (Katelyn, you made it on the list pretty often too!).
But of course, the number of text messages you can send in an hour doesn't affect your blood sugars. Unless of course you're texting so much that you don't realize you've gone low, and that could be a disaster. What I'm talking about is the guilty pleasure that kills you. The one food you eat that you can never get quite under control, but you love it. The worst thing for your diabetes, but the best thing for your soul.
When I was younger, it was pizza. I loved pizza with a passion. And that passion made my blood sugar high as much as 12 hours later. It was honest to goodness hell. My mother hated letting me eat it at birthday parties, and hated the inevitable gross feeling that came with me being in the 300's for 12 hours after taking that bite.
In the back of my seven year old brain, there was the voice of reason. Which as you can guess, sounded a helluva lot like my mother at that point in my life (now, it's more like a mix between my friend Garnet, and my history teacher Ms. O'Brien). The voice of reason is scary when it's saying "Hey. Hey Alexa. Yeah, I'm talking to you. You better put that pizza down. Put. It. Down." But as a seven year old, you never listen to the voice of reason.
Most seven year old girls don't have a voice of reason. But, when you've got diabetes, you have to learn how to think like an adult when you're a kid (I've often heard the expression "13 going on 30..." and an awkward giggle from the person). I think it's pretty impressive that I had a voice of reason. I probably wouldn't have been able to listen to it even if I wanted to.
But, back to the pizza. Well, the pizza story is kinda coming to an end. I remember one night, after a birthday party, that I'd had my Dad come in and check my blood sugar and it was something like 390. And it's all that fat and grease in a big, fat slice of pizza.
I still love pizza, and as I'm writing this, I'm thinking "Man, I could go for a HUGE pizza right about now." But something that I've seen lately seems like an appropriate mix of all of my more recent, teenage guilty pleasures.
http://www.benjerry.com/flavors/feature/late-night-snack/
This is the most amazing ice cream ever. Or, so I assume. I love chocolate, I love caramel, I love potato chips, and man do I love ice cream. This is all of them, in one delicious capsule of awesome. I am so ready to go and buy up an ocean of this stuff. And believe me, this is going to take a lot of novolog and a run around the block. A lot of running around the block.
So, guilty pleasures? Yeah, they're worth it.
Much love,
Alexa
And now, you can get your mind out of the gutter :)
Guilty pleasures can span a wide range of topics. Ask my parents, and you'd think my guilty pleasure is texting. Trust me, if you saw my phone bill from a couple months ago, you'd agree with them. What can I say, Ari is a good listener (Katelyn, you made it on the list pretty often too!).
But of course, the number of text messages you can send in an hour doesn't affect your blood sugars. Unless of course you're texting so much that you don't realize you've gone low, and that could be a disaster. What I'm talking about is the guilty pleasure that kills you. The one food you eat that you can never get quite under control, but you love it. The worst thing for your diabetes, but the best thing for your soul.
When I was younger, it was pizza. I loved pizza with a passion. And that passion made my blood sugar high as much as 12 hours later. It was honest to goodness hell. My mother hated letting me eat it at birthday parties, and hated the inevitable gross feeling that came with me being in the 300's for 12 hours after taking that bite.
In the back of my seven year old brain, there was the voice of reason. Which as you can guess, sounded a helluva lot like my mother at that point in my life (now, it's more like a mix between my friend Garnet, and my history teacher Ms. O'Brien). The voice of reason is scary when it's saying "Hey. Hey Alexa. Yeah, I'm talking to you. You better put that pizza down. Put. It. Down." But as a seven year old, you never listen to the voice of reason.
Most seven year old girls don't have a voice of reason. But, when you've got diabetes, you have to learn how to think like an adult when you're a kid (I've often heard the expression "13 going on 30..." and an awkward giggle from the person). I think it's pretty impressive that I had a voice of reason. I probably wouldn't have been able to listen to it even if I wanted to.
But, back to the pizza. Well, the pizza story is kinda coming to an end. I remember one night, after a birthday party, that I'd had my Dad come in and check my blood sugar and it was something like 390. And it's all that fat and grease in a big, fat slice of pizza.
I still love pizza, and as I'm writing this, I'm thinking "Man, I could go for a HUGE pizza right about now." But something that I've seen lately seems like an appropriate mix of all of my more recent, teenage guilty pleasures.
http://www.benjerry.com/flavors/feature/late-night-snack/
This is the most amazing ice cream ever. Or, so I assume. I love chocolate, I love caramel, I love potato chips, and man do I love ice cream. This is all of them, in one delicious capsule of awesome. I am so ready to go and buy up an ocean of this stuff. And believe me, this is going to take a lot of novolog and a run around the block. A lot of running around the block.
So, guilty pleasures? Yeah, they're worth it.
Much love,
Alexa
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Stress and Diabetes
Stress. We all get stressed out. It's inevitable. Actually, I find that I work better under pressure when it comes to school. But when you have diabetes, stress makes life a lot more complicated.
We all know where stress comes from, but there's the stress your body goes through when you're sick, or the stress that you go through when you're skiing down a mountain (also called adrenaline, which can affect your blood sugar as well). Anything like that, however long it lasts in your body, is going to screw up your diabetes management.
I just finally got over a cold that I'd been harboring for two weeks, since the 27th. It's not exactly easy when you're me and you can't talk, but then add the fact that everything you do, your diabetes is shooting you down every second of the way. Whenever I have even the slightest inkling of a cold, my blood sugars are absolutely through the roof. I'll be in the higher 300's most of the time, and then, right as the cold is calming down, I'll plummet. And plummet hard.
It's almost the same way when it's finals week at school. Finals week absolutely rips through my body leaving me tired, annoyed, and frankly, a tad bit depressed. But, the blood sugars that come along with finals week are about as unpredictable as the questions on the english test.
Bottom line? Life is stressful. And being diabetic means that you just have to learn how to cope with the stress and roll with the punches.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Self Defense
You know, there's something empowering about breaking a slab of wood that's an inch thick.
There's something empowering about doing it as a woman, knowing that you can protect yourself by kicking someone's jaw/ribs in or knocking a guy's family jewels up into his throat if he comes a little too close for comfort and won't leave you alone. But in all honesty, I wasn't beating a guy. I was beating diabetes.
That board was diabetes. And it's actually kind of funny, Stephanie Aduddell is an amazing Taekwondo instructor, an amazing woman, a black belt, and a type one diabetic. She's absolutely one of the most inspiring diabetics out there. She doesn't let diabetes stop her from kicking butt, being a mom, and supporting the young girls in the community. She taught my entire class how to get out of any bad situation, and we even got to throw around our headmaster.
Anyways, back to the board. I was standing there, Stephanie had the board braced in her hands, and I was staring at it. I remembered something she'd said before. "You need to focus all of your energy into beating this board. It's like a big test. It's like my diabetes. You need to focus, and you need to overcome the obstacle that's standing in your way." I looked dead into the center of that board, and I told myself that I was going to crack that sucker in half. I put my right foot back, angled my body, and took a shot.
I didn't crack it quite in half, but it's now sitting broken, on my desk.
And so the moral of the story kids? You can do anything you set your mind to. And now, I have a new mindset. If you wake up every morning, doubting that you can take care of your diabetes and do it well, then you're not going to even try. But, if you wake up, and look at it like busting a board in half, like focusing all positive energy and saying "I am going to try really hard to take good care of myself. I am going to check, I am going to carb count, and I am going to bolus. If I make a mistake, I can fix things. If I don't, then I did a great job today, and I'll try again tomorrow."
It put things in perspective for me. And besides, it's kinda nice to know you can walk around knowing that you can keep yourself safe.
Much Love,
Alexa
There's something empowering about doing it as a woman, knowing that you can protect yourself by kicking someone's jaw/ribs in or knocking a guy's family jewels up into his throat if he comes a little too close for comfort and won't leave you alone. But in all honesty, I wasn't beating a guy. I was beating diabetes.
That board was diabetes. And it's actually kind of funny, Stephanie Aduddell is an amazing Taekwondo instructor, an amazing woman, a black belt, and a type one diabetic. She's absolutely one of the most inspiring diabetics out there. She doesn't let diabetes stop her from kicking butt, being a mom, and supporting the young girls in the community. She taught my entire class how to get out of any bad situation, and we even got to throw around our headmaster.
Anyways, back to the board. I was standing there, Stephanie had the board braced in her hands, and I was staring at it. I remembered something she'd said before. "You need to focus all of your energy into beating this board. It's like a big test. It's like my diabetes. You need to focus, and you need to overcome the obstacle that's standing in your way." I looked dead into the center of that board, and I told myself that I was going to crack that sucker in half. I put my right foot back, angled my body, and took a shot.
I didn't crack it quite in half, but it's now sitting broken, on my desk.
And so the moral of the story kids? You can do anything you set your mind to. And now, I have a new mindset. If you wake up every morning, doubting that you can take care of your diabetes and do it well, then you're not going to even try. But, if you wake up, and look at it like busting a board in half, like focusing all positive energy and saying "I am going to try really hard to take good care of myself. I am going to check, I am going to carb count, and I am going to bolus. If I make a mistake, I can fix things. If I don't, then I did a great job today, and I'll try again tomorrow."
It put things in perspective for me. And besides, it's kinda nice to know you can walk around knowing that you can keep yourself safe.
Much Love,
Alexa
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Backpacking, Coffee, and Low Blood Sugar
Oh my goodness today. Today was insane. Absolutely insane. Fun, but 101% insane.
Today, half of our class went backpacking. We wore a framed backpack (the ones that have the clippy thingies that fasten over your chest and waist) and they were filled with our giant textbooks. Of course, because I'm a good divabetic, and I do what I'm supposed to do, I packed a full set of three sets, three reservoirs, extra kit, insulin in it's cold pack, and a bunch of juice and Soyjoy bars (because they're gluten free). But, there's always something that goes wrong when you're Alexa. My blood sugar stayed between 68 and 78 the entire SEVEN MILES of hiking. In the rain. We went seven miles in four hours. That's a mile and three quarters every hour. I know that's not impressive, but if you can do that when your blood sugar is running low, then you deserve a medal or something.
Then, I went for coffee with a great friend of mine, Aquene (Ah-cane-a). We hung out at Tully's, drank good coffee, saw cute boys, and went shopping at the little drugstore across the street. My blood sugars didn't get to a comfortable 121 until a while after coffee, and that's just what I wanted to say. You can do lots of activity one day, and do the same amount the next (yesterday, we went hiking as well, but on a different trail) and nothing is the same. Yesterday, I was in the upper 80's to lower 100's. But not today. It really depends on if your body is in the mood to cooperate, or in the mood to screw you over. But hey, it's all good. Gotta smile about it, right?
And Hannah, I'm glad we have diabetes. I wouldn't have met the most amazing girl in the world if it wasn't for diabetes. We've got something so great going here, and CWD is the reason we all keep going all year long, and keep managing. Some nerve damage and a couple of burnout days are worth the lifetime of experiences that I get from being diabetic.
Much Love,
Alexa
Today, half of our class went backpacking. We wore a framed backpack (the ones that have the clippy thingies that fasten over your chest and waist) and they were filled with our giant textbooks. Of course, because I'm a good divabetic, and I do what I'm supposed to do, I packed a full set of three sets, three reservoirs, extra kit, insulin in it's cold pack, and a bunch of juice and Soyjoy bars (because they're gluten free). But, there's always something that goes wrong when you're Alexa. My blood sugar stayed between 68 and 78 the entire SEVEN MILES of hiking. In the rain. We went seven miles in four hours. That's a mile and three quarters every hour. I know that's not impressive, but if you can do that when your blood sugar is running low, then you deserve a medal or something.
Then, I went for coffee with a great friend of mine, Aquene (Ah-cane-a). We hung out at Tully's, drank good coffee, saw cute boys, and went shopping at the little drugstore across the street. My blood sugars didn't get to a comfortable 121 until a while after coffee, and that's just what I wanted to say. You can do lots of activity one day, and do the same amount the next (yesterday, we went hiking as well, but on a different trail) and nothing is the same. Yesterday, I was in the upper 80's to lower 100's. But not today. It really depends on if your body is in the mood to cooperate, or in the mood to screw you over. But hey, it's all good. Gotta smile about it, right?
And Hannah, I'm glad we have diabetes. I wouldn't have met the most amazing girl in the world if it wasn't for diabetes. We've got something so great going here, and CWD is the reason we all keep going all year long, and keep managing. Some nerve damage and a couple of burnout days are worth the lifetime of experiences that I get from being diabetic.
Much Love,
Alexa
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
RE:Re: It's not that bad...
And then there's the whole "My grandmother has diabetes...." "What type?" "Uhhhh she takes a pill." "Type 2?" "Yeah, she can't eat sugar. Don't you hae that kind?" "No, I'm type 1, I'm insulin dependent." *blank stare* "My Pancreas doesn't work, so I do all the dirty work." "Ohh okay."
I can not tell you how many times I have that conversation. I think after 12 years, I feel like I'm on a never ending rollercoaster. I honestly love rollercoasters, so that may be a bad analogy, but it's true. You have the highs and lows, but you never know what's coming next. Okay, better analogy. "Life's a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get." I think that explains it better. Can you tell my bloodsugar is high? I can't make a decision.
And Alexa, I believe outside of music preference, there isn't much we disagree on.(: I think we agree on the fact that without diabetes, we wouldn't be friends. Honestly, there would be no Children with Diabetes conferences. Which would never make it possible for us, two girls, who happen to live on complete opposite sides of the country, to be best friends.
I can not tell you how many times I have that conversation. I think after 12 years, I feel like I'm on a never ending rollercoaster. I honestly love rollercoasters, so that may be a bad analogy, but it's true. You have the highs and lows, but you never know what's coming next. Okay, better analogy. "Life's a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get." I think that explains it better. Can you tell my bloodsugar is high? I can't make a decision.
And Alexa, I believe outside of music preference, there isn't much we disagree on.(: I think we agree on the fact that without diabetes, we wouldn't be friends. Honestly, there would be no Children with Diabetes conferences. Which would never make it possible for us, two girls, who happen to live on complete opposite sides of the country, to be best friends.
Monday, March 7, 2011
RE: It's Not That Bad
Hannah, your writing speaks to the masses. Another thing that we both agree on, not that we disagree on much. I think that this is something that can happen in a lot of different ways. There's the way Hannah gets diabetes "advice" where people try to say that you're brave in their own special way. By saying "Oh, if I had to do something like that for as long as you have, I'd die" or something along those lines. When in actuality, if we didn't do these things, we would die. Then, there's the other kind of advice that I get. The "My grandmother had (insert horrifying complication here) because she had type one diabetes." Like I really needed to know your grandmother had gangrene and lost six of her nine existing toes (because she lost another one due to complications ten years before).
Hannah is really right. Diabetes is an obstacle course. You get around one, but that sets up another right in your path. I'm thinking actually of the Fireswamp from The Princess Bride. When you get one problem under control, something else comes up. And just letting yourself get eaten by the Rodents of Unusual Size (or you know, getting hospitalized four or five times a year for DKA could fit here too) instead of fighting back is pointless.
There are so many great things that come from diabetes. I mean, without diabetes, I wouldn't know some great people like Hannah, and my loyal friend Colleen McInnis from diabetes camp (Hey Colleen, guess what? I love you :D). I wouldn't have had so many opportunities that I've had in my life. I feel like I'm a stronger person because of it. It's really worth all the fingersticks, infusion set changes, bruises, and damaged nerves. Because in the long run, great friends, and great things have come out of it. I'm stronger because of it, and that's not something I'd change for the world.
So guess what? It's not that bad.
Hannah is really right. Diabetes is an obstacle course. You get around one, but that sets up another right in your path. I'm thinking actually of the Fireswamp from The Princess Bride. When you get one problem under control, something else comes up. And just letting yourself get eaten by the Rodents of Unusual Size (or you know, getting hospitalized four or five times a year for DKA could fit here too) instead of fighting back is pointless.
There are so many great things that come from diabetes. I mean, without diabetes, I wouldn't know some great people like Hannah, and my loyal friend Colleen McInnis from diabetes camp (Hey Colleen, guess what? I love you :D). I wouldn't have had so many opportunities that I've had in my life. I feel like I'm a stronger person because of it. It's really worth all the fingersticks, infusion set changes, bruises, and damaged nerves. Because in the long run, great friends, and great things have come out of it. I'm stronger because of it, and that's not something I'd change for the world.
So guess what? It's not that bad.
It's not that bad
Heyyy everyone(: Hannah here. So, today, I think I wanted to talk about how I love my life, despite the stuff I deal with, A.K.A diabetes.
Everytime I talk to one of my non-diabetic friends about diabetes, I always here "that must be horrible" "I think I would die" or something along those lines. Yes world, diabetes is hard, but I'm not dead. And I don't complain about it on a 24 hour basis making my life seem horrible. I actually have a pretty amazing life. I have great friends, great parents, and I'm breathing! What else do you need?
Diabetes is like, a never ending obstacle course. And You just have to find your way around those obstacles. Obviously, a giant rock wall won't move itself, and eventually, you'll get bored sitting and staring at it. So, your options are, climb it, or climb it.
I choose to climb it. With a smile on my face, and my meter in hand. And, yes, it's annoying, but I don't think I could manage not being diabetic if it disappered. Make sense??
Everytime I talk to one of my non-diabetic friends about diabetes, I always here "that must be horrible" "I think I would die" or something along those lines. Yes world, diabetes is hard, but I'm not dead. And I don't complain about it on a 24 hour basis making my life seem horrible. I actually have a pretty amazing life. I have great friends, great parents, and I'm breathing! What else do you need?
Diabetes is like, a never ending obstacle course. And You just have to find your way around those obstacles. Obviously, a giant rock wall won't move itself, and eventually, you'll get bored sitting and staring at it. So, your options are, climb it, or climb it.
I choose to climb it. With a smile on my face, and my meter in hand. And, yes, it's annoying, but I don't think I could manage not being diabetic if it disappered. Make sense??
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Three Millimeters Makes All the Difference
Hooray! Yahoo! Whoop! *jumping in the air with the utmost glee*
I got 6 millimeter infusion sets.
For those of you who know what I'm talking about, you can skip to the next paragraph. For those of you who don't, the canula that's inside my body is now 6 millimeters instead of 9, something that I've been trying to fix for a while.
It's actually pretty sweet, and I'm feeling good. My blood sugars are already noticeably lower, and I think I'm even in a better mood. It's amazing what three millimeters of plastic can do to you. It's pretty great, actually :)
~Alexa
I got 6 millimeter infusion sets.
For those of you who know what I'm talking about, you can skip to the next paragraph. For those of you who don't, the canula that's inside my body is now 6 millimeters instead of 9, something that I've been trying to fix for a while.
It's actually pretty sweet, and I'm feeling good. My blood sugars are already noticeably lower, and I think I'm even in a better mood. It's amazing what three millimeters of plastic can do to you. It's pretty great, actually :)
~Alexa
Friday, March 4, 2011
"You can't eat that..."
Hey everyone(: Hannah here.
I thought I'd let you all know, my best friend (besides Alexa) is Chocolate. Not the "sugar free" stuff, straight up chocolate. And I really hate it just as I have that big bite of chocolate cakes inches away from my mouth, someone ALWAYS pops in with the "aren't you diabetic Hannah?" to which I reply: "Yes, yes I am diabetic, your next point?" then, they'll follow with the typical response of, "Well you do know that's chocolate right?" and by that point, my aggravated response is: "Oh really? Wow. Thanks so much. I never would have guessed." then I eat the cake. Then obviously, I correct their ignorance to type one diabetes, and explain that as long as I give insulin, I can eat whatever I want thanks to my wonderful pump. So, to the next person that reminds me that chocolate is chocolate...I know, I love it.
I thought I'd let you all know, my best friend (besides Alexa) is Chocolate. Not the "sugar free" stuff, straight up chocolate. And I really hate it just as I have that big bite of chocolate cakes inches away from my mouth, someone ALWAYS pops in with the "aren't you diabetic Hannah?" to which I reply: "Yes, yes I am diabetic, your next point?" then, they'll follow with the typical response of, "Well you do know that's chocolate right?" and by that point, my aggravated response is: "Oh really? Wow. Thanks so much. I never would have guessed." then I eat the cake. Then obviously, I correct their ignorance to type one diabetes, and explain that as long as I give insulin, I can eat whatever I want thanks to my wonderful pump. So, to the next person that reminds me that chocolate is chocolate...I know, I love it.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tests and Busy Lives
Hey everyone :)
Alexa here, and let me tell you how sorry Hannah and I are for not posting sooner. She's had a busy busy life, and I've had to study my behind off for the second set of finals this year, Geometry and English 1.
Well, high stress can equal blood sugar spikes and dives. I've had lows, highs and pretty much anything in between. It's kinda unpredictable lately, and I've also had a sinus infection, and laryngitis. That doesn't help in the mix. For anyone who knows me, I love to talk. And I talk, a lot. So having laryngitis makes things pretty frustrating, and makes life just hard to get through. And being sick like I am now takes a lot of energy out of you, something that isn't a good thing during finals week.
When you add stress into the mix, a number of things can happen. My blood sugars go up, and go down. Sometimes they just go up, or just go down. But usually it's a mix of both. And of course, that stresses me out even more, and makes my sugars go up and down even more. Vicious cycle, I know. But what are you going to do about it?
I've missed blogging about these things, and it's only been four or five days. Not too long, but enough to still think about it constantly. It's a nice place to vent :)
~Alexa
Alexa here, and let me tell you how sorry Hannah and I are for not posting sooner. She's had a busy busy life, and I've had to study my behind off for the second set of finals this year, Geometry and English 1.
Well, high stress can equal blood sugar spikes and dives. I've had lows, highs and pretty much anything in between. It's kinda unpredictable lately, and I've also had a sinus infection, and laryngitis. That doesn't help in the mix. For anyone who knows me, I love to talk. And I talk, a lot. So having laryngitis makes things pretty frustrating, and makes life just hard to get through. And being sick like I am now takes a lot of energy out of you, something that isn't a good thing during finals week.
When you add stress into the mix, a number of things can happen. My blood sugars go up, and go down. Sometimes they just go up, or just go down. But usually it's a mix of both. And of course, that stresses me out even more, and makes my sugars go up and down even more. Vicious cycle, I know. But what are you going to do about it?
I've missed blogging about these things, and it's only been four or five days. Not too long, but enough to still think about it constantly. It's a nice place to vent :)
~Alexa
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Two Posts and a Set Change
Hi again :)
I know I posted already today, but I just felt like I had to say how infuriated I am with set changes. I changed my infusion set today, after the maximum three days, like every good diabetic does. But of course, there is no prize for being diabetic. Just because you change your site on time, doesn't mean it hurts less. Even when you try and do all the right things, your site still comes out kinked after three days. I know all the diabetics know how frustrating this is, and it happens EVERY time I try to change my site.
But the worst part is, everything all falls apart after the first 24 hours. Something falls out, gets kinked, or breaks in half. A couple weeks ago, I woke up smelling like insulin. And of course, when you wake up smelling like something other than sweat and sleep, you've got a problem. And of course, that problem is a blood sugar of 466 and some keytones.
So, insulin pump companies, can you please make things a little more reliable before you ship them out? Because, you know, we rely on this stuff to KEEP US ALIVE and all. That's a little important, don't you think?
Any thoughts Hannah?
~Alexa
I know I posted already today, but I just felt like I had to say how infuriated I am with set changes. I changed my infusion set today, after the maximum three days, like every good diabetic does. But of course, there is no prize for being diabetic. Just because you change your site on time, doesn't mean it hurts less. Even when you try and do all the right things, your site still comes out kinked after three days. I know all the diabetics know how frustrating this is, and it happens EVERY time I try to change my site.
But the worst part is, everything all falls apart after the first 24 hours. Something falls out, gets kinked, or breaks in half. A couple weeks ago, I woke up smelling like insulin. And of course, when you wake up smelling like something other than sweat and sleep, you've got a problem. And of course, that problem is a blood sugar of 466 and some keytones.
So, insulin pump companies, can you please make things a little more reliable before you ship them out? Because, you know, we rely on this stuff to KEEP US ALIVE and all. That's a little important, don't you think?
Any thoughts Hannah?
~Alexa
Re: Welcome to Our Lives
Divabetic numero dos here(:
I I agree with everything love! Being diabetic is hard stuff, but when you have a wonderful best friend who is going through the same situation, it makes everything seem okay.
Thats one of the greatest things about Children with Diabetes, you can build relationships with people who know what it's like and who have walked in your shoes.
~Hannah
I I agree with everything love! Being diabetic is hard stuff, but when you have a wonderful best friend who is going through the same situation, it makes everything seem okay.
Thats one of the greatest things about Children with Diabetes, you can build relationships with people who know what it's like and who have walked in your shoes.
~Hannah
Welcome to Our Lives
Hello people of the blogosphere!
This is hello from one half of the Divabetic Squad :) This blog is super special! Myself (Alexa) and my very best friend Hannah are diabetic. We also live 2,788 miles away from each other and see each other about five days out of the year, at the Children with Diabetes conference in Orlando, Florida. We started this blog to inform you all about how it all goes down :) I've been diabetic since September 1997, and Hannah since February 1999.
We really are divabetics :) I know I try very hard to live my life as normal as possible, and we're here to tell you how we live life to the fullest and how we stay best friends through everything and anything :)
Any thoughts Hannah?
~Alexa
This is hello from one half of the Divabetic Squad :) This blog is super special! Myself (Alexa) and my very best friend Hannah are diabetic. We also live 2,788 miles away from each other and see each other about five days out of the year, at the Children with Diabetes conference in Orlando, Florida. We started this blog to inform you all about how it all goes down :) I've been diabetic since September 1997, and Hannah since February 1999.
We really are divabetics :) I know I try very hard to live my life as normal as possible, and we're here to tell you how we live life to the fullest and how we stay best friends through everything and anything :)
Any thoughts Hannah?
~Alexa
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