Not normal

Let's not kid ourselves, life with Type 1 diabetes is NOT normal. There is no denying it. 

Pricking your finger 6 times a day is NOT normal

Giving yourself multiple shots a day is NOT normal 

Wearing your pancreas on the outside is NOT normal 

Measuring everything you ingest is NOT normal 

Counting carbs is NOT normal 

Peeing on a stick is NOT normal 

Drinking juice boxes in order to stay alive is NOT normal 

Living this ABNORMAL life comes with challenges but also many victories. 

Everyday is a TREASURE 

Beating high blood sugars is INCREDIBLE 

Teaching others about the disease is a GIFT 

Waterpark Magic and The Power of Friendship

    There are many ways to lower high blood sugar in a T1D. The most common is giving yourself insulin to put yourself back in range. But sometimes you will get a stubborn high that even a boatload of insulin cannot seem to cure. Over the years I have realized that running around a waterpark for a few hours is bound to drop one's BG back into range. Sometimes it drops a little too much, a little too fast.

They have my back all the time :) 

    Recently, my dear friend and I went on a indoor water park adventure. The days prior to that outing I had been having uncharacteristically high BGs even though my carb intake had been low and I was very active. Before entering the park my BG was at about 180 which is ideal before such activity and I had a small uncovered snack. This park had some amazingly cool, fast, and somewhat scary water slides which require walking up steep staircases multiple times carrying inner tubes to slide down on. I felt myself starting to drop at a constant rate but decided to keep going, because once I stopped I knew I would probably not feel well anymore. At one point I finally said to my friend, "look at my hands", which were shaking like a leaf. So she suggested I check right then and there. And I was 50. All I had was a PB&J bar worth 25 carbs. I was not planning on eating all of it because I thought I would just end up high again, but my friend suggested I eat it all so I would not have to stop again. That ended up being the best decision, because after an additional hour of water park fun and the extra carbs, I left the water park with a BG of 65. A little low but nothing a Starbucks treat cannot fix :)
    I am so fortunate to have multiple friends who are eager to learn about how I live and what it takes to live a "normal" life. The friends who notice when I am driving slower than a snail on the road and say "let me drive" because they know I am most likely battling a high BG. The ones who can identify when I am low and are always there when I need to vent. I am so LUCKY to have support like that.

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.