LIFE

     Sometimes I let Diabetes be in my thoughts every moment of every day and am always on edge with numbers, carb counts, and activity level. But then there are the times when real life comes along and steals away attention from D. When other things seem more important and D goes on the back burner for a bit. And I am ok with that. It does not mean I do not care about my health and neglect it, but I just go on auto pilot.
     This summer has been full of unexpected twist and turns. Times when I needed my friends and they needed me. Moments when I was content with a BG of 211 because I was an emotional mess when my puppy past away. Days when I was ok with only consuming 50 carbs the entire 24 hours because I was busy helping a friend move. Occurrences when I did not change my lancet for over a week because I could not find a new one. Situations when my emotions and friends were more important than D. This cannot last forever while continuing to be healthy, so D must take center stage once again. Things are never going to be perfect, and D has taught me that. Life is a roller coaster ride as it is, and D just makes it even more interesting.

Beach Adventure

     Managing diabetes is always crazy. The moment you think you have things under control, a new variable comes into the mix and throws everything off again. And that's just life. My numbers were quite steady all spring, but as always, when the heat of summer begins to return, I get a string of low BGs. I switch to different basal rates for the summer to accommodate this change.
   
     The summer adds another layer of D things to worry about, some that I am still learning. I kicked off the summer season by going to visit one of my dearest friends and fellow T1D, E, at her university which happens to be located right near one of the amazing Great Lakes. Whenever I am with this girl, I can totally be my crazy self. She knows me inside out and there is no way to hide anything from the boss. We can talk about anything and everything, D is quite a popular topic because we can bounce ideas and stories off of each other. She sometimes gives me the reality check that I need. I explained to her that sometimes I will here the low BG alarm on my Dexcom and just ignore it in order continue sleeping instead of getting up and correcting with juice. She reminded me of a recent story on twitter about a young teen dying in her sleep due to a low LG. She told me that I am lucky to have the CGM technology, and it would be better to just drink the juice and go a bit high instead of ignoring the low. I know that in my heart but sometimes these tasks seem like such a burden and it helps having a friend dealing with them right along with you. even though it totally SUCKS.

OUCH 

     I have only taken a handful of trips to the beach in my career with D so far so I am still learning little tips here and there. First, in the past at the beach my meter has not always worked because it became to hot, so we kept them in the cooler in order to prevent them from happening. E also reminded me to keep my pump under a towel or blanket while laying out in the sun to help protect the precious insulin. This is something I have always known, but with my constantly on the go personality, some of these "common sense" D tasks slip my mind ;). A universal beach rule that all people should follow is wearing sunscreen and reapplying every 80 minutes. Somehow, although we did apply sunscreen after arriving at our location, E and I got completely ruined by the sun and ended up with some of the most epic sunburns known to man. We looked pretty funny with our strange burn patterns, especially my insertion set tan line, hee hee!

    I say this all the time but I am so incredibly blessed to have people in my life who just "get me". Not everyone has such wonderful friends, and it is even more rare to have a best friend who shares the same life altering disease with you. It makes this crazy life not seem so scary and unmanageable <3
   

PSA: Dog Collars

      Life is fragile and every moment should be cherished, that is something I learned early on by living with Type 1 Diabetes. Never taken things for granted and live each moment to create lifelong memories. This message can be used in all walk of life including the loss of beloved pets. 8 days after my family brought home our precious 2 month old Boston Terrier puppy, Daisy Mae, she died in a freak accident. 

     Daisy Mae died in her crate after being strangled when her collar and dog leash tag got stuck in the railings of her crate. She was jumping around in there as we left for the morning like she always did and we assume it happened shortly thereafter. It is reported that up to 26,000 collar strangulation accidents occur each year, usually occurring when two dogs “play bite” each other in the neck area and teeth get caught on the collar. Other strangulation hazards can occur when collars get caught in: fences, slats on decks, crates and kennels, heating/ cooling vents, shrubs, and branches. We were never made aware of this risk, so we always just purchased traditional collars for our dogs. I was so amazed that our experienced vet was not aware of the prevalence of this issue. It is a hidden risk for dog owners and I think it is important that awareness is brought to this issue. I highly recommend looking into a break-away collar for your pets. They allow for peace of mind and will release your dog if a dangerous amount of pressure is placed on it. 

    It is so amazing how a five pound fur ball who I only knew for a week has had such an impact on my life. Daisy Mae, thank you for being the calming influence I needed in my life along with cuteness that cannot be topped. Even though you were itty-bitty and your time with us was  so short, you were already such an important part of my family. Always in my heart baby girl, now go enjoy doggie heaven. 

Daisy Mae: March 24, 2014- May 31, 2014 

    Please share this post with your friends and family, dogs are special creatures and together we can keep them safe. 

Daisy Mae

Yesterday, I picked up my new 2 month old Boston Terrier puppy, Daisy Mae, and brought her home. Ever since Diabetes has not been the first thing on my mind. This is good.

LIVE THE MOMENTS!

Twenty Nine

       Today started off better than most. I woke up with a lovely BG of 98. I had cereal with milk for breakfast, and made sure not to bolus in full for it because I was headed to the rink for a morning skate. I was so excited to have the ice to myself and be able to play any music I desired as loud as I wanted.

The best form of therapy 

      The first 20 minutes of the session was grand. I got to mess around with some new music selections, played with some footwork, worked on spins, and did my general warm up. Then it was time to jump. I did a waltz jump, a very simple element in figure skating and I fell. I thought that was very strange, but I went for it again and my legs practically gave out on me. I sat there on the ice for a moment and literally could not feel my legs and my entire body was shaky. I knew I was in trouble. I slowly got up, grabbed my meter off the boards and checked to find my record low BG of twenty nine!

29 is such a scary number, its right on the brink of disaster. It is so scary how fast things can turn. It's days like this when I really hate diabetes. The way it makes me feel and how it can so easily change my plans for the day. I was really motivated to skate today but diabetes had other plans for me. Diabetes stopped me in my tracks and left me feeling weak and tired. The low came up quite quickly thanks to some sour gummy worms and a few glucose tablets, but I did not feel like skating anymore. It made my day 10 times more difficult but I will not say it ruined it.  I will never let diabetes be victorious. 

T1D Humor

       Last night, an interesting hashtag began overflowing my twitter feed.
#DiabetesTaughtMe... This statement was open for any interpretation, but at that moment I needed some humor in my life. So I came up with this witty statement:

You can never have too much juice box humor 

       It is so wonderful that there are others out there that "get" these jokes and that sometimes it is ok to make fun if it. We are all in this lifelong battle together and it is so nice to have an outlet to express feelings about it to others who are also living the D-life. Here are some other tweets that I enjoyed: 

#DiabetesTaughtMe ain't no such thing as a normal feeling. 

#DiabetesTaughtMe that someone is always going to ask me "does that hurt" when giving myself a shot. 

#DiabetesTaughtMe that there will never again be such a thing as a good nights sleep.

Yes, T1D's Can Have Sweets Too

          In just 4 months, my favorite event of the year will be upon us: the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes (now known as the JDRF One Walk). I attended my first walk just 8 months after my diagnosis, and it was a major eye opener. For the first time I was able to meet many people with T1D and share experiences with them. The event was a happy occasion, but also a solemn reminder of how many people suffer from this disease and how desperately in need of a cure. I am preparing for my 4th walk coming up in september, with the goal of raising $1,000. I truly believe a cure is in the not so distant future and if we work together we will be one step closer to finding it.
       For the second year in a row, I held a bake sale during my city's garage sale weekend to raise funds for JDRF and my walk team, "Morgan's Miracle Makers". This year I was blessed to have my skating family donate homemade baked goods for me to sell. Just that little gesture brings tears to my eyes, I am incredibly blessed to have people in my life that care so deeply about me and are willing to join in my journey of finding a cure.

The Goodies 

      Sitting outside with a poster with the words Type 1 Diabetes on it beside a table full of sweets is bound to get people's attention. Many come up and ask if the treats are all sugar free. This gives me an excellent platform to explain that as a T1D I can eat as much sugar as any other person should. Sweets should come in moderation for everyone. I like to think that along with purchasing a treat, my costumers walk away with a better understanding of T1D. This year, I had one customer that really impacted me. She was a young mother who came up with her infant son. At first she just observed and then quietly stated, "I have type 1 too". Before I knew it, she whipped out her medtronic pumps and we were talking about CGM's. I complimented her on how cute and well mannered her son was. She told me that she had him after having the disease for 16 years and that their were no major complications during the pregnancy besides an increased occurrence of low BGs and her son is healthy. This is something I needed to hear. I try not to think too far into the future but I am happy to know that all things are possible. The bake sale not only helped raise funds for JDRF, but it also allowed me to meet new diabuddies that each have important lessons to share.

If you would like to support my walk team, Morgan's Miracle Makers, please visit my JDRF page by clicking here. Thank You! Together we can find a cure...