I'm probably not the right person to be writing this, it should be coming from some brainiac phd researcher who's done extensive studies on the role of a positive attitude in chronic disease. And I know I'm not that, half the time...
Regardless, here are my thoughts on the matter. I was reading an article in Time magazine where the author put forth the idea that perhaps its not the absence of disease that makes us healthy, its having the stamina/will to overcome the stuff our body throws at us. Very intriguing idea..and the author should know.(if anyone does) Recipient of a horrid disease at 15, a liver transplant at 22, a colon transplant at 25, and another liver transplant at 29, she hasn't been told she epitomizes the picture of health in quite a long time. But what is healthy? she runs several times a week, has a job, and doesn't let it get in the way of what she wants to do.(she merrily works in the other stuff). One tough cookie.
By that definition, maybe I've got it in me to live longer...it had a bizzaringly cheering-up effect upon me. The human body can withstand a great deal of wear,tear, and abuse before it finally flops out. You've got things you can control, and things you can't, and wellness isn't just about being blessed with perfect health-much of wellness is in the individual's hands. I went to the gym today..first time in a LONG time. Started out at 175. Ended at 138.(because I am sensitive, I usually remove my pump for exercise) As I went through the effects of exercise upon a very out-of-shape body, I was glad for one thing...that at least I knew what it was doing to my blood sugar, my heart rate, everything else. Versus the spandex-clad ultra athletes running next to me who probably don't even know where the energy "crash" comes from. I guess diabetes is good for something. Keeping the body in homeostasis is not an easy job, but its definatly worth it. As Johann Goethe said,"From disease I have learned much, that life could not have taught me any other way," and I would conclude that from disease, I've learned to cherish what wellness truly is.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Eye of the Storm
Snow is coming down. Real white stuff, flying thick and furious. Of course it came at the absolute best time...yesterday I drove down to my eye exam, not thinking that it would do anything today. (it NEVER does)
Like most eye exams,I was in there over three hours(par for the course), they refuse to put my married name on there(I've also been trying to fix that for 1+ years). I think I'll just give up at some point. Visual fields, resident with his medical student in tow. Nice enough, and had a last name that could actually be pronounced/remembered. Dilation. Comment about my lack of perfect control,which I tuned out. Back out to waiting room. Back in again. Bright lights, more drops.
"Hmmmmm-ummmm-hmmmmm-lookright-look left--look up===look down---hmmmm"
"They don't look too bad."
"WHAT?WHAT does that mean? No proliferative or nonproliferative damage????"
"No diabetes changes."
Sigh of relief. Another test, the Hess test. That measures the amount of double vision, and that has changed slightly since the last visit. Recheck in 6 months.
Came home today...in slushy junk/traffic jams(4 hours drive) and had to go straight to microbio lab(1 pm, was late to boot) because they DIDN'T CANCEL school. Stupid.(the entire world is shutting down and they don't). First major snow.
Like most eye exams,I was in there over three hours(par for the course), they refuse to put my married name on there(I've also been trying to fix that for 1+ years). I think I'll just give up at some point. Visual fields, resident with his medical student in tow. Nice enough, and had a last name that could actually be pronounced/remembered. Dilation. Comment about my lack of perfect control,which I tuned out. Back out to waiting room. Back in again. Bright lights, more drops.
"Hmmmmm-ummmm-hmmmmm-lookright-look left--look up===look down---hmmmm"
"They don't look too bad."
"WHAT?WHAT does that mean? No proliferative or nonproliferative damage????"
"No diabetes changes."
Sigh of relief. Another test, the Hess test. That measures the amount of double vision, and that has changed slightly since the last visit. Recheck in 6 months.
Came home today...in slushy junk/traffic jams(4 hours drive) and had to go straight to microbio lab(1 pm, was late to boot) because they DIDN'T CANCEL school. Stupid.(the entire world is shutting down and they don't). First major snow.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Four Freedoms: Freedom From Fear
"We have nothing to fear, but fear itself..." Franklin D. Roosevelt
Fear is a very powerful emotion-it certainly helps to have tools to be able to keep the biggie fear(hypoglycemia) at bay. As well as all the other fears diabetes conjures up. We are fortunate to have an emergency medical system in this country, as much as it is a paralyzing, numbing experience it has saved the lives of countless PWD's and is really better then the alternative.
(having said that, Roosevelt obviously didn't have diabetes although polio must suck pretty bad too)
Fear is a very powerful emotion-it certainly helps to have tools to be able to keep the biggie fear(hypoglycemia) at bay. As well as all the other fears diabetes conjures up. We are fortunate to have an emergency medical system in this country, as much as it is a paralyzing, numbing experience it has saved the lives of countless PWD's and is really better then the alternative.
(having said that, Roosevelt obviously didn't have diabetes although polio must suck pretty bad too)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Jolt
When they called the first time, it was beyond belief, drop-you-dead in your tracks unbelievable. And I didn't believe it, I used the word "impossible" twice in the resulting dialogue.
And then they called the second time, and the emotions of time #1 rose and plummeted to the deepest depths. I didn't say "that's impossible." I didn't say much of anything, because the rollarcoaster ride was just too much.
I am angry. Angry at diabetes. Angry that I can't just have a normal life and have kids, have a career, have a life.
I had a miscarriage last week. Not that I was aware of it, by the time I knew I was
I'd been whammied by abdominal pains/period(check, for 2.5 weeks late) and a few days later, well, I wasn't.(plummeted hcg levels) Yes, I use birth control. (for years, people) That apparently, doesn't always work(why NOW?) and add diabetes and what chance did anything have of making it. I know my diabetes isn't in good enough control for a baby. So why do these things happen? Seems like a pwd can't do anything without risk. I've got so many mixed up emotions, I don't know how you're supposed to deal with something like this. I didn't want to be pregnant but when I learned I was I would have continued it. It's something that never occured to me..that you could get pregnant on bc. Maybe my control caused it, maybe it was something else. Really, I'm not sure I could survive a D pregnancy but I'd do my best.(I do want to be a parent someday but I always thought it'd be by adoption)
All I know is, I need to do better on my D-control. That, or get my tubes tied.
(apologies for the graphicness of the post)
And then they called the second time, and the emotions of time #1 rose and plummeted to the deepest depths. I didn't say "that's impossible." I didn't say much of anything, because the rollarcoaster ride was just too much.
I am angry. Angry at diabetes. Angry that I can't just have a normal life and have kids, have a career, have a life.
I had a miscarriage last week. Not that I was aware of it, by the time I knew I was
I'd been whammied by abdominal pains/period(check, for 2.5 weeks late) and a few days later, well, I wasn't.(plummeted hcg levels) Yes, I use birth control. (for years, people) That apparently, doesn't always work(why NOW?) and add diabetes and what chance did anything have of making it. I know my diabetes isn't in good enough control for a baby. So why do these things happen? Seems like a pwd can't do anything without risk. I've got so many mixed up emotions, I don't know how you're supposed to deal with something like this. I didn't want to be pregnant but when I learned I was I would have continued it. It's something that never occured to me..that you could get pregnant on bc. Maybe my control caused it, maybe it was something else. Really, I'm not sure I could survive a D pregnancy but I'd do my best.(I do want to be a parent someday but I always thought it'd be by adoption)
All I know is, I need to do better on my D-control. That, or get my tubes tied.
(apologies for the graphicness of the post)
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Ten Things I didn't Learn in Class
Annual Physical- hahahahaha
No Simple Sugars- vital to the treatment of every low????
Max Heart Rate- the 3 AM hypo
Complex Carbohydrate- anything that requires a diabetes PHD to figure out the carb/bolus timing for
Muscular Endurance- carting 'round the diabetes suitcase all day
My Pyramid- chocolate, 10% of total caloric intake for the day
Stress Management- temper control with the diabetes police
Fiber- sugar free chocolate will do the same thing...
Blood Pressure- automatically elevated at endo's office(if you're going to have an MI it's a very good place to do it)
Reversibility- tendency of the less-then-hard-core-committed pwd's a1c to drift above 8. (or 9, 10, etc..)
Final Exam tonight!!!!!!!!!!(hurray!) For as informative as the class was, much of the information was decidedly not targeted to the PWD. Making me feel like I was just visiting from another planet, and do most Earthlings really just go to the doctor once a year(or whenever they're sick)? I was sufficiently brainwashed to want to step up the exercise stuff, although I think that if hardcore exercisers had to count carbs/track bgs/make basal adjustments/everything else they would cure them of their obsessement over calories, etc. Numbers drive me nuts.
No Simple Sugars- vital to the treatment of every low????
Max Heart Rate- the 3 AM hypo
Complex Carbohydrate- anything that requires a diabetes PHD to figure out the carb/bolus timing for
Muscular Endurance- carting 'round the diabetes suitcase all day
My Pyramid- chocolate, 10% of total caloric intake for the day
Stress Management- temper control with the diabetes police
Fiber- sugar free chocolate will do the same thing...
Blood Pressure- automatically elevated at endo's office(if you're going to have an MI it's a very good place to do it)
Reversibility- tendency of the less-then-hard-core-committed pwd's a1c to drift above 8. (or 9, 10, etc..)
Final Exam tonight!!!!!!!!!!(hurray!) For as informative as the class was, much of the information was decidedly not targeted to the PWD. Making me feel like I was just visiting from another planet, and do most Earthlings really just go to the doctor once a year(or whenever they're sick)? I was sufficiently brainwashed to want to step up the exercise stuff, although I think that if hardcore exercisers had to count carbs/track bgs/make basal adjustments/everything else they would cure them of their obsessement over calories, etc. Numbers drive me nuts.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
The Food Nazi Class
So I'm taking a 3 credit course, nicely jammed packed into 2 weeks. 2-3 quizzes, 2 tests, 1 paper, 5 homeworks, and 1-20 minute presentation is my lot-4 hours a night, five times a week. Insane.(but I digress)
The instructor(personal trainer) is a real food Nazi, if there ever were one.She let it be known(on the first night of class) that she so much as spotted a French Fry being consumed she'd tell us to dump the junk food in the trash can, it would not be permitted in her course. Five foot 5 inches of lean,mean muscle(not a scrap of fat on her body) and she wears really tight clothes so you can see all that muscle.
The cast of characters:
-muscle building guy(think Doug Burns, minus the hair)
-nose ring guy(in very back)
-half the class sits in the very back...
-political guy, who is extremely motivated and says he's running for President some day
-person in front of me-who is taking TWO two week classes, plus working(now I feel lazy)
-the rest of us, who just want to get on with our lives
It's a nutrition/fitness class, so I guess she kind of has a right to make the rules but if I'm ever low and drinking a juice/eating something and she berates me you can bet I will let her have it.
"Would you rather I passed out from low blood sugar? Excuse ME for having diabetes."
Something I would generally NEVER announce to the entire class,
but if she embarrassed me you can bet I'd embarrass her.
And there are no bathroom breaks/breaks during the whole class so you can bet the food choices will be viewed/analyzed by the entire class. It's rather annoying.
I've never given a 20 minute oral presentation on ANYTHING, and the last time I did give one was 7 years ago. That was around 5 minutes. And mine, is due next Tuesday.
Aughhhhhhhh.(and its not on diabetes...its on hemachromitosis. Diabetes is pretty boring, right now)
The instructor(personal trainer) is a real food Nazi, if there ever were one.She let it be known(on the first night of class) that she so much as spotted a French Fry being consumed she'd tell us to dump the junk food in the trash can, it would not be permitted in her course. Five foot 5 inches of lean,mean muscle(not a scrap of fat on her body) and she wears really tight clothes so you can see all that muscle.
The cast of characters:
-muscle building guy(think Doug Burns, minus the hair)
-nose ring guy(in very back)
-half the class sits in the very back...
-political guy, who is extremely motivated and says he's running for President some day
-person in front of me-who is taking TWO two week classes, plus working(now I feel lazy)
-the rest of us, who just want to get on with our lives
It's a nutrition/fitness class, so I guess she kind of has a right to make the rules but if I'm ever low and drinking a juice/eating something and she berates me you can bet I will let her have it.
"Would you rather I passed out from low blood sugar? Excuse ME for having diabetes."
Something I would generally NEVER announce to the entire class,
but if she embarrassed me you can bet I'd embarrass her.
And there are no bathroom breaks/breaks during the whole class so you can bet the food choices will be viewed/analyzed by the entire class. It's rather annoying.
I've never given a 20 minute oral presentation on ANYTHING, and the last time I did give one was 7 years ago. That was around 5 minutes. And mine, is due next Tuesday.
Aughhhhhhhh.(and its not on diabetes...its on hemachromitosis. Diabetes is pretty boring, right now)
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Back to the Past
Once upon a time, in the faraway country of Ignorance, there lived a mouse. A very cute mouse, who owned humongous ears and a cheesy little grin that would make even the biggest car lover grant a pardon to the little guy and find another meal for Fido.
But this isn't about a mouse.(although he will reappear)
No, this is about a teenage girl, a rich socialite snob who lived in a NYC penthouse with her workaholic CEO parents and a bratty little brother who most definatly should have been in a military boarding school somewhere. But I'm getting ahead of myself...this is her story, and she should be telling it.
-----
I chug down yet another cherry pepsi, attempting to put stop breaks on my unquenchable thirst.
"Give it a rest, wontcha? " my 10-year-old-brat of a brother says, unceremoniously dumping his backpack on the living room carpet. "The toilets are going to go on strike."
"Haha, very funny.Where's my mouse?"
"Still at school-we're gonna dissect him and you'll never see him again. Say, isn't that number six?" he asks incredulously, as I chuck the can toward the recycling bin and head toward the fridge for another one. "Leave me one, can't you?"
Brothers-such a HUGE pain. I'd argue, but I'm so tired I'd much rather sleep. I slam my bedroom door, set my ipod to shuffle "A Little Bit Longer," ad nauesum and drift off to sleep, intent on catching a few ZZ's before starting my homework.
There's a siren in my dreams, piercing and loud but I can't seem to wake up. Soooo
tired.
-------
"Wake up, Jenny, wake up," my mom is crying, and that's really not like her. So I oblige, to find tubes and wires crisscrossing my body like one of my brother's mutant science experiments.
"Oh hon- you have diabetes!"
"No, I do not," I croak from the depths of my drier-then-dirt voicebox. "What happened, why am I here?"
"You got diabetes, your blood sugar was 1400 and you've been in here for two days..."
To make a long story short, I'm kept in for another week and taught to be a good little diabetic. Except I'm not. The best pediatric endocrinology team in the country cannot make me that.
And a insulin pump? Well, of course I have one, my parents practically donated the medical center into existance and every administrator/doc in that place fell all over themselves to provide me with only the best. President-elect Obama doesn't get all the perks that we do.
But it doesn't change the fact that I dislike all the rules of diabetes, and no one at all understands what I have to do on a daily basis just to keep tickin'. Sometimes I get so tired of it, like the night I decided not to reconnect to my pump(post shower),I was still in honeymoon phase anyway so nothing would happen. Drift off to LaLa land again.
-----
"Wake up, Jennifer."
Whaaa? Not again. I silently groan, and open my eyes, expecting my doctor will be there to harp at me about my recent lack-of-stellar-control.
Instead, there's a young, cheery-faced nurse who hands me a piece of brick like bread. Or rather, half a piece.
"What is this?"I sputter, shocked.
"Supper. You're spilling quite a bit of sugar in your urine and Dr. Allen is reducing your calorie intake."
"Dr. Who? He's not MY doctor. Where's my doctor?"
"Quiet, hon, you're not feeling well. This new diet will help your diabetes get under control." she moves off, to hand someone their hunk o' hardtack.
I look at the other kids in the ward, most living skeletons who barely move, let alone speak. Like a cancer ward at Halloween. Freeeeaky.
"You know John died last night," my nearest roommate pipes up, out of the blue.
"Died? Why?"
"Diabetes, of course. Like we all might only no one talks about it. It's fatal."
"It's not fatal, there's in...."
Suddenly, a tall man enters the room and all the kids flock around him like he'll be handing out candy, momentarily. (but of course, he won't)
"I think," he says very slowly,"that I may have something for you."
Something? I watch as he and the nurse administer whopping horse-sized doses of a murky brown liquid that I normally wouldn't water my lawn with, let alone have injected, into my body. But there is something else being injected.
Hope. Eyes brighten, cheeks glow, and flesh soon reappears on once skinny bones. And I, like many others, cherish those painful injections because they represent life.
----
"Wake up, Jennifer."
I sigh, turn over, and mumble "in my thigh" bracing myself against the expectant paralyzing jolt of the humongous syringe. But it doesn't come.
I open my eyes.
"Hey Jen-are you ok? You went into DKA again," my doctor asks, concerned.
"Yeah. It won't happen again, because I had a weird dream and I think I know what it means now."
---
Once upon a time, there lived a rich, not-so-snobbish teenage girl who discovered a richness not bestowed by her parent's millions. The richness of being alive.
And her mouse? Well,it survived her brother's classmates, and she named the mouse Banting, deciding that someday, she'd become a diabetes researcher and find a cure for both humans AND mice. Because they are both, really, really cute.
(go watch the Tale of Despereaux)
But this isn't about a mouse.(although he will reappear)
No, this is about a teenage girl, a rich socialite snob who lived in a NYC penthouse with her workaholic CEO parents and a bratty little brother who most definatly should have been in a military boarding school somewhere. But I'm getting ahead of myself...this is her story, and she should be telling it.
-----
I chug down yet another cherry pepsi, attempting to put stop breaks on my unquenchable thirst.
"Give it a rest, wontcha? " my 10-year-old-brat of a brother says, unceremoniously dumping his backpack on the living room carpet. "The toilets are going to go on strike."
"Haha, very funny.Where's my mouse?"
"Still at school-we're gonna dissect him and you'll never see him again. Say, isn't that number six?" he asks incredulously, as I chuck the can toward the recycling bin and head toward the fridge for another one. "Leave me one, can't you?"
Brothers-such a HUGE pain. I'd argue, but I'm so tired I'd much rather sleep. I slam my bedroom door, set my ipod to shuffle "A Little Bit Longer," ad nauesum and drift off to sleep, intent on catching a few ZZ's before starting my homework.
There's a siren in my dreams, piercing and loud but I can't seem to wake up. Soooo
tired.
-------
"Wake up, Jenny, wake up," my mom is crying, and that's really not like her. So I oblige, to find tubes and wires crisscrossing my body like one of my brother's mutant science experiments.
"Oh hon- you have diabetes!"
"No, I do not," I croak from the depths of my drier-then-dirt voicebox. "What happened, why am I here?"
"You got diabetes, your blood sugar was 1400 and you've been in here for two days..."
To make a long story short, I'm kept in for another week and taught to be a good little diabetic. Except I'm not. The best pediatric endocrinology team in the country cannot make me that.
And a insulin pump? Well, of course I have one, my parents practically donated the medical center into existance and every administrator/doc in that place fell all over themselves to provide me with only the best. President-elect Obama doesn't get all the perks that we do.
But it doesn't change the fact that I dislike all the rules of diabetes, and no one at all understands what I have to do on a daily basis just to keep tickin'. Sometimes I get so tired of it, like the night I decided not to reconnect to my pump(post shower),I was still in honeymoon phase anyway so nothing would happen. Drift off to LaLa land again.
-----
"Wake up, Jennifer."
Whaaa? Not again. I silently groan, and open my eyes, expecting my doctor will be there to harp at me about my recent lack-of-stellar-control.
Instead, there's a young, cheery-faced nurse who hands me a piece of brick like bread. Or rather, half a piece.
"What is this?"I sputter, shocked.
"Supper. You're spilling quite a bit of sugar in your urine and Dr. Allen is reducing your calorie intake."
"Dr. Who? He's not MY doctor. Where's my doctor?"
"Quiet, hon, you're not feeling well. This new diet will help your diabetes get under control." she moves off, to hand someone their hunk o' hardtack.
I look at the other kids in the ward, most living skeletons who barely move, let alone speak. Like a cancer ward at Halloween. Freeeeaky.
"You know John died last night," my nearest roommate pipes up, out of the blue.
"Died? Why?"
"Diabetes, of course. Like we all might only no one talks about it. It's fatal."
"It's not fatal, there's in...."
Suddenly, a tall man enters the room and all the kids flock around him like he'll be handing out candy, momentarily. (but of course, he won't)
"I think," he says very slowly,"that I may have something for you."
Something? I watch as he and the nurse administer whopping horse-sized doses of a murky brown liquid that I normally wouldn't water my lawn with, let alone have injected, into my body. But there is something else being injected.
Hope. Eyes brighten, cheeks glow, and flesh soon reappears on once skinny bones. And I, like many others, cherish those painful injections because they represent life.
----
"Wake up, Jennifer."
I sigh, turn over, and mumble "in my thigh" bracing myself against the expectant paralyzing jolt of the humongous syringe. But it doesn't come.
I open my eyes.
"Hey Jen-are you ok? You went into DKA again," my doctor asks, concerned.
"Yeah. It won't happen again, because I had a weird dream and I think I know what it means now."
---
Once upon a time, there lived a rich, not-so-snobbish teenage girl who discovered a richness not bestowed by her parent's millions. The richness of being alive.
And her mouse? Well,it survived her brother's classmates, and she named the mouse Banting, deciding that someday, she'd become a diabetes researcher and find a cure for both humans AND mice. Because they are both, really, really cute.
(go watch the Tale of Despereaux)
Friday, January 02, 2009
Freaked
Tonight I changed my pump battery for the first time. After popping a fresh one in, it whirled back into action and showed 0U in the cartridge.
There are no words to describe the freaked-out feeling you get that 85 units of insulin are now coursing through your body so I won't. (death, very, very soon)Ripped out the cartridge immediately, and it was still full so no insulin OD but my pump trainer forgot to tell me about that little goodie. Called Animas, reprimed. Still checking just to make sure I didn't get any insulin.
Thanks, Animas. That took some 15 years off my life.
There are no words to describe the freaked-out feeling you get that 85 units of insulin are now coursing through your body so I won't. (death, very, very soon)Ripped out the cartridge immediately, and it was still full so no insulin OD but my pump trainer forgot to tell me about that little goodie. Called Animas, reprimed. Still checking just to make sure I didn't get any insulin.
Thanks, Animas. That took some 15 years off my life.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Regurgitated: A Year, Reviewed
January: 10 Reasons I just LOOVVEEE My Meter!
February: Green Glucose Tabs and Ham
March: Pumpers Anonymous (in which I get back ON the bandwagon and start going to pump meetings again)
April: Oysters on the Bay
May: The Last of a Trilogy: Hail to the Chief
June: The Case of the Serial Diet Coke Spiller
July: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
August: The Tale of a Morphine Shot on 08/08/08..epic for more then just the Olympics
September: A Divabetic in DC
October: The Sweetest, Coldest Place on Earth
November: YES, WE DID!!!!
December: Double Digit Diagnosis Day
Recap: my diabetes turns 10, we visit several historical places, first wedding anniversary, a bowel intesseseption/electrolyte problems, go to FFL conference and finally meet several very cool bloggers, pumpers anonymous, green glucose tabs + ham, visit Hershey Park, finish my cross stitch project and begin a new one, get a new Ping Pump, get a new Endo...(ad naueseum)
Happy New Year!!!!
February: Green Glucose Tabs and Ham
March: Pumpers Anonymous (in which I get back ON the bandwagon and start going to pump meetings again)
April: Oysters on the Bay
May: The Last of a Trilogy: Hail to the Chief
June: The Case of the Serial Diet Coke Spiller
July: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
August: The Tale of a Morphine Shot on 08/08/08..epic for more then just the Olympics
September: A Divabetic in DC
October: The Sweetest, Coldest Place on Earth
November: YES, WE DID!!!!
December: Double Digit Diagnosis Day
Recap: my diabetes turns 10, we visit several historical places, first wedding anniversary, a bowel intesseseption/electrolyte problems, go to FFL conference and finally meet several very cool bloggers, pumpers anonymous, green glucose tabs + ham, visit Hershey Park, finish my cross stitch project and begin a new one, get a new Ping Pump, get a new Endo...(ad naueseum)
Happy New Year!!!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Lockdown at L.A.X.
The security guard does not look happy.
"Why isn't your boarding pass stamped? Didn't they check your I.D., at the gate?"
"No. No one was there, not when we came through."
"No one was there AT ALL???"
"No."
He ushers me forward to a hold cell, compliments of my pump setting off the detectors + goes off to get my boarding pass stamped. Next door, my husband is also being detained for a non-stamped pass. Suddenly, "BRAVO, AIRPORT PERSONAL" crackles over the loud speakers and everyone freezes in place, like being suddenly dipped in liquid nitrogen. As I'm thinking the worst-a bomb has been found, it might go off and we'll all have to evacuate into the chilling Californian morning (with no coat and bare stocking feet) two minutes pass, and just as suddenly, the all clear is given. People unfreeze, and go about their business. It must have had something to do with the non-stamped passes.(which I don't think every airline does-this one is extra picky) I resume my stay in hold-cell jail but it's not my fault someone was off chatting instead of doing their jobs. A truly fine security system they've got there, protecting us all. You've got to wonder if the people who run the scanners ever "stop" doing that too and anyone could just sneak by. (and it just takes one, folks)
I'm wanded, patted, and everything else, and then released. Making it 2/2 times I've gone through security and set them off. (with the new pump) I'm thinking it'd be simpler to just stow it in the basket and let it go through. Doesn't damage the pump-right? Getting held up each and every time for a 5 minute patdown is not the highlight of my day. I think this pump has a particular sensitivity toward setting everything out there, off.
"That was embarrassing," my husband remarks. (he's not one to ever set off alarms.)
"Join the club," I say,"Various alarms going off IS my life." We both laugh.(perhaps inappropriate given the setting but it was a shared diabetes joke)
And the backup syringe, vials, and juice on my carryon goes completely un-noticed
and un-commented on. Ahhh, the ever-so-logical TSA.
"Why isn't your boarding pass stamped? Didn't they check your I.D., at the gate?"
"No. No one was there, not when we came through."
"No one was there AT ALL???"
"No."
He ushers me forward to a hold cell, compliments of my pump setting off the detectors + goes off to get my boarding pass stamped. Next door, my husband is also being detained for a non-stamped pass. Suddenly, "BRAVO, AIRPORT PERSONAL" crackles over the loud speakers and everyone freezes in place, like being suddenly dipped in liquid nitrogen. As I'm thinking the worst-a bomb has been found, it might go off and we'll all have to evacuate into the chilling Californian morning (with no coat and bare stocking feet) two minutes pass, and just as suddenly, the all clear is given. People unfreeze, and go about their business. It must have had something to do with the non-stamped passes.(which I don't think every airline does-this one is extra picky) I resume my stay in hold-cell jail but it's not my fault someone was off chatting instead of doing their jobs. A truly fine security system they've got there, protecting us all. You've got to wonder if the people who run the scanners ever "stop" doing that too and anyone could just sneak by. (and it just takes one, folks)
I'm wanded, patted, and everything else, and then released. Making it 2/2 times I've gone through security and set them off. (with the new pump) I'm thinking it'd be simpler to just stow it in the basket and let it go through. Doesn't damage the pump-right? Getting held up each and every time for a 5 minute patdown is not the highlight of my day. I think this pump has a particular sensitivity toward setting everything out there, off.
"That was embarrassing," my husband remarks. (he's not one to ever set off alarms.)
"Join the club," I say,"Various alarms going off IS my life." We both laugh.(perhaps inappropriate given the setting but it was a shared diabetes joke)
And the backup syringe, vials, and juice on my carryon goes completely un-noticed
and un-commented on. Ahhh, the ever-so-logical TSA.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The Highest Low
This morning, as I awoke, sopped in sweat, heart racing and jittering to the tune of a Merry Christmas Eve hypo, I thought I'd better check first. (something I rarely do)
303 mg/dl
I treated anyway, said strips were obviously wrong. 2 hours later, I awoke again, and checked:
225 mg/dl
At that point, I thought I'd better check on another meter, with differant strips. As luck would have it-I DIDN'T pack another meter.(why am I so stupid as to think nothing will ever go wrong? whatever you don't pack, that you will need)
different strips...
215 mg/dl
So off we went to CVS, where I bought a One Touch Mini.(but what else are you going to do-the meter has issues) There is nothing more psyche damaging then buying a meter when you've got 20+ of them at home. At least this CVS had a coupon scanner + a couple of aisles of alcoholic beverages(something that is a rare/zero sight on the East Coast)
argggggggh
(and yes, I forgot my ping meter.Where is my brain these days??? I think I left it 4,000 miles away. Called Lifescan, and they're FedExing another Ultra/strips but I wouldn't be able to get through this vacation without a reliable meter)
Have a very merry Christmas, everyone!!!
303 mg/dl
I treated anyway, said strips were obviously wrong. 2 hours later, I awoke again, and checked:
225 mg/dl
At that point, I thought I'd better check on another meter, with differant strips. As luck would have it-I DIDN'T pack another meter.(why am I so stupid as to think nothing will ever go wrong? whatever you don't pack, that you will need)
different strips...
215 mg/dl
So off we went to CVS, where I bought a One Touch Mini.(but what else are you going to do-the meter has issues) There is nothing more psyche damaging then buying a meter when you've got 20+ of them at home. At least this CVS had a coupon scanner + a couple of aisles of alcoholic beverages(something that is a rare/zero sight on the East Coast)
argggggggh
(and yes, I forgot my ping meter.Where is my brain these days??? I think I left it 4,000 miles away. Called Lifescan, and they're FedExing another Ultra/strips but I wouldn't be able to get through this vacation without a reliable meter)
Have a very merry Christmas, everyone!!!
Monday, December 22, 2008
99 Things
99 Things
(stolen from MajorBedhead!)
Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars. (long, long ago)
3. Played in a band – the clarinetist! Elementary, middle, and high school
4. Visited Hawaii (honeymoon, last year)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (unfortunately, yes. I’m the one who could have benefited from charity)
7. Been to Disneyland/world – Disneyworld-twice! (CWD conventions)
8. Climbed a mountain - yes, many, but the hardest one ever was one pre-diagnosis when I drank everyone else’s water I was so thirsty.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (in the shower) (yeah, of course)
11. Bungee jumped – nope but I want to!
12. Visited Paris (but I want to!)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. I incorporate my own ideas/with that of the experts to make my own unique oddities.
15. Adopted a child.(perhaps someday…)
16. Had food poisoning. (heck, yes, two years ago Red Lobster leftovers put me in the hospital for two days)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (actually-I'd rather take the elevator!)
18. Grown your own vegetables. (I was a farm girl…we grew everything! And canned everything)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train. (no desire to do so, sounds uncomfortable)
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. (how else do you get to an endo. appt?when technically, you’re not “ill”…)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone Skinny Dipping. (NOPE)
27. Run a Marathon- I’m doing good just to navigate three flights of stairs.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise – right up my alley! But not yet
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors – no
35. Seen an Amish community –no, but plenty of Old Order buggy-driving Mennonites.
36. Taught yourself a new language. Spanish
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. (not sure that’s possible!Even billionaires aren't happy, money does not satisfy)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance – Multiple times. And I’ve done the transporting.
47. Had your portrait painted. (I could have my dad do it, but I don't think posterity needs to be reminded that I ever existed)
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (doesn’t every kid?)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater. (they do still exist…must find one)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood (42x, before my body started falling apart)
65. Gone skydiving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check(s,s,s,s)(I am not proud of this)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (Eww)
72. Pieced a quilt (my grandmother made one with me + I treasure it)
73. Stood in Times Square (want to, so bad!!! maybe one New Year's Eve)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London
77. Broken a bone – kneecap, finger, toe
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car. (if we had tons of money and could afford it)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House (no, but I’ve been on Air Force One!)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fish, turkey, chickens)
88. Had chickenpox. (and Shingles)
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (I hear its nasty)
97. Been involved in a law suit (with my recent luck on Ebay, its probably a'comin)
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee
(stolen from MajorBedhead!)
Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars. (long, long ago)
3. Played in a band – the clarinetist! Elementary, middle, and high school
4. Visited Hawaii (honeymoon, last year)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (unfortunately, yes. I’m the one who could have benefited from charity)
7. Been to Disneyland/world – Disneyworld-twice! (CWD conventions)
8. Climbed a mountain - yes, many, but the hardest one ever was one pre-diagnosis when I drank everyone else’s water I was so thirsty.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (in the shower) (yeah, of course)
11. Bungee jumped – nope but I want to!
12. Visited Paris (but I want to!)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. I incorporate my own ideas/with that of the experts to make my own unique oddities.
15. Adopted a child.(perhaps someday…)
16. Had food poisoning. (heck, yes, two years ago Red Lobster leftovers put me in the hospital for two days)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (actually-I'd rather take the elevator!)
18. Grown your own vegetables. (I was a farm girl…we grew everything! And canned everything)
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train. (no desire to do so, sounds uncomfortable)
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. (how else do you get to an endo. appt?when technically, you’re not “ill”…)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone Skinny Dipping. (NOPE)
27. Run a Marathon- I’m doing good just to navigate three flights of stairs.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise – right up my alley! But not yet
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors – no
35. Seen an Amish community –no, but plenty of Old Order buggy-driving Mennonites.
36. Taught yourself a new language. Spanish
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. (not sure that’s possible!Even billionaires aren't happy, money does not satisfy)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance – Multiple times. And I’ve done the transporting.
47. Had your portrait painted. (I could have my dad do it, but I don't think posterity needs to be reminded that I ever existed)
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (doesn’t every kid?)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater. (they do still exist…must find one)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood (42x, before my body started falling apart)
65. Gone skydiving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check(s,s,s,s)(I am not proud of this)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (Eww)
72. Pieced a quilt (my grandmother made one with me + I treasure it)
73. Stood in Times Square (want to, so bad!!! maybe one New Year's Eve)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London
77. Broken a bone – kneecap, finger, toe
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car. (if we had tons of money and could afford it)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House (no, but I’ve been on Air Force One!)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (fish, turkey, chickens)
88. Had chickenpox. (and Shingles)
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (I hear its nasty)
97. Been involved in a law suit (with my recent luck on Ebay, its probably a'comin)
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Reruns
Last night, as I flipped the stations to ABC's "Private Practice",(read-extreme boredom, is a show with absolutely no plot and I never never watch it, all they do is sleep together + deliver babies vs Greys Anatomy which at least has interesting story lines and good actors interspersed with all the mushy stuff) as luck would have it, its a back episode. A kid-patient with an insulin pump and the doc calls the prescribing physician to run a "check" on the pump serial number(uh-shouldn't you be calling the pump company and would they even give you that info if you weren't the police?) and finds out the kid is reported missing, the father kidnapped him. So he and the kid go back to his office for a little heart-to-heart chat and the kid confesses they left because the mom's bf was abusing him. And then, the kid collapses on the office floor and has a seizure. The doc immeadiently jumps in to action, sticking a humongous needle into the kids KNECK(what an interesting place) and gives him something, presumably glucagon. Cut to gurney speeding towards the ER and the dad saying "But I checked his pump five hours ago!" (very, very, classic ABC) Later the doc tells the dad that his pump malfunctioned and over delivered insulin.(which no normal pump has done in like 15 years?) And it shows the kids infusion set, which looks like an Inset(pink, no less, not many boys would stand for that) and it actually does look like an infusion set-tubing and all. Someone tips off the cops about the dad, and the doc dumps a bag full of D supplies on the bed and tells them to get going and remember to take your insulin, check your bg, blahblahblah. They are out the door in like 9.99 seconds and the cops don't get them. No repercussions for the doc.
There were so many inconsistencies in that episode it was hard not to gag all the way through it. Dear ABC, do the world a favor and leave diabetics(especially pumpers!) out of your story lines.
And tomorrow, they are doing surgery for the port..my veins are officially toast + they're doing it tomorrow,right before the holiday week. It is under local anesthesia but not exactly any less stressful. (still get duped out)Port=semi-permanent infusion set. Till one doesn't need it anymore and they take it out. It could have waited a couple of weeks but paying for the entire thing(fresh, new deductibles) circa New Year
is every bit as scary AS the actual surgery. No thanks.
There were so many inconsistencies in that episode it was hard not to gag all the way through it. Dear ABC, do the world a favor and leave diabetics(especially pumpers!) out of your story lines.
And tomorrow, they are doing surgery for the port..my veins are officially toast + they're doing it tomorrow,right before the holiday week. It is under local anesthesia but not exactly any less stressful. (still get duped out)Port=semi-permanent infusion set. Till one doesn't need it anymore and they take it out. It could have waited a couple of weeks but paying for the entire thing(fresh, new deductibles) circa New Year
is every bit as scary AS the actual surgery. No thanks.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Of Cats, Trees, and Pancreases
I promise that the huge, ugly header will not be up there forever...just for the holiday season. Just wanted to show off the cats. (the humongous one is Jack, and his smaller (brother) is Cozmo. Not named for my pump, he was born in 2001.(before there was such a thing as Deltec Cozmo)
what if...you were 1/2 people (known of) born with no pancreas? Like this little boy? I really don't have much to complain about, half a pancreas is better then none.(at least you don't have to take digestive enzymes). I feel bad for all the parents of diabetic kids but because this is so exceedingly rare he may not live to grow up. (its not just diabetes) It takes a tough person to be strong for your sick kid.
what if...you were 1/2 people (known of) born with no pancreas? Like this little boy? I really don't have much to complain about, half a pancreas is better then none.(at least you don't have to take digestive enzymes). I feel bad for all the parents of diabetic kids but because this is so exceedingly rare he may not live to grow up. (its not just diabetes) It takes a tough person to be strong for your sick kid.
Monday, December 15, 2008
My Grown-Up Christmas List
#1 family together....
#2 beautiful bgs...
#3 that our soldiers would get the best Christmas possible:
#4 that my Chia Tree would start to grow,pretty please...
#5 Snow, Snow, Snow!
(here, not the place we're going to-I want it to be 60-70's there!)
#6 and an end to these:
and lastly, because I am only human, one of these!!
# 7
what's on yours?
#2 beautiful bgs...
#3 that our soldiers would get the best Christmas possible:
#4 that my Chia Tree would start to grow,pretty please...
#5 Snow, Snow, Snow!
(here, not the place we're going to-I want it to be 60-70's there!)
#6 and an end to these:
and lastly, because I am only human, one of these!!
# 7
what's on yours?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Friday Morning at the Educator
Went to D-education today(due to needing some majoro help) and the educator wanted to play around with my Ping, because they rarely see those. So I handed it over and she zapped it up to her glucose meter-pump-educator system.
Reviewed my written records, and then called downstairs to my endo, who was in-between patients and who I haven't seen since an early September hospital admission and who I won't see till Feb. because she is so backed up. That's ok by me, as I know that they'll always get back to me if I've got a problem. I guess that D-educators here, even if they are RN's, cannot make basal or bolus changes without the endo's blessing. (whereas, at my former endo's, they could make small ones) The endo came upstairs and made some very radical changes to my basal rates and in retrospect, I'm glad she was the one to do it. I wouldn't have dared, nor would I have wanted the educator to do it.(they were that severe)
So its back to wait and see. I've officially decided to christen my ping pump "The Green Hornet" because insulin goes in so insanely fast that its like being stung.
Got the official training Sunday(yeah, I could do it myself but had no desire to spend hours leafing through the manuals), and so far, I really do like it.
Reviewed my written records, and then called downstairs to my endo, who was in-between patients and who I haven't seen since an early September hospital admission and who I won't see till Feb. because she is so backed up. That's ok by me, as I know that they'll always get back to me if I've got a problem. I guess that D-educators here, even if they are RN's, cannot make basal or bolus changes without the endo's blessing. (whereas, at my former endo's, they could make small ones) The endo came upstairs and made some very radical changes to my basal rates and in retrospect, I'm glad she was the one to do it. I wouldn't have dared, nor would I have wanted the educator to do it.(they were that severe)
So its back to wait and see. I've officially decided to christen my ping pump "The Green Hornet" because insulin goes in so insanely fast that its like being stung.
Got the official training Sunday(yeah, I could do it myself but had no desire to spend hours leafing through the manuals), and so far, I really do like it.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Double Digit Diagnosis Day
Five plus Five equals...
A) a cure for diabetes, times 2
B) the cost of 8 test strips
C) the number of people diagnosed every 80 seconds
D) how many units you have left in your reservoir at 2 am
On this date in history:
A) Bill Clinton was being impeached
B) Nicole Johnson was reigning Miss America
C) Gas was under $1.00 a gallon
D) Al Gore had not yet invented the Internet so we were forced to spend our time in much more productive ways
But it was more then that, it was the day that turned everything upside down.
4:01 pm, the world stopped with the words, "You probably have diabetes, your blood sugar was off our meters and you need to go to the ER right now-ambulance or car?"
The NP directs this question to me, not my mother. Slightly odd to deliver the bombshell and then ask the teenager want they want to do about it.
Numb brain. Number body. Long drive to University ER. On the way, I drink over 100 carbs of milk and go to the restroom four more times. The triage nurse awaits, and asks me my blood sugar. I repeat what the paperwork says(1100), she checks, and says "Oh-you were telling the truth!" which slightly offends me. Taken back immediately and the intern and resident show up, again, immediately.
Tonight's Project: Show, Tell, and Run a billion tests on the kid to make sure its just a nice, simple case of DKA.
Tonight's Project Manager: the intern. Otherwise known as Dr. Bill. I have the dubious distinction of being their highest bg, ever, and that is deserving of a constant stream of individuals entering, asking,(not)asking, poking, prodding, and otherwise making sure there will be no sleep that evening. Along the way, I'm told what lies in store(shots), and oddly, it doesn't disturb me at all, I feel too crummy. However, the chosen words of comfort from Dr. Bill do.("We're not going to let you die!") Not the best thing to say to a freaked out teenager who was unaware that they could die from this. To his credit, he didn't let me die(checking on me every 5-10 minutes to make sure I wasn't in a coma) Along with being asked to breathe ketonic yuck breath occasionally, a very odd experience.
So to you, Dr. Bill Hurtig, now probably out there in rich-powerful Attending Land(or private practice) I wish to say Thanks. You handle DKA with the best of 'em.
The rest of the experience is fairly straightforward, crash eduction/envying my room mate's unlimited food choices/giving the first shot + no one passing out. Stuff everyone does.
Five plus Five equals yeah, now I really feel like it was a long time ago. Wondering what the next 10 will bring. More intriguing, very cool individuals into the OC for sure.. but I'm rather hoping for a cure.
(yeah, this'll do-hope the luck continues...)
A) a cure for diabetes, times 2
B) the cost of 8 test strips
C) the number of people diagnosed every 80 seconds
D) how many units you have left in your reservoir at 2 am
On this date in history:
A) Bill Clinton was being impeached
B) Nicole Johnson was reigning Miss America
C) Gas was under $1.00 a gallon
D) Al Gore had not yet invented the Internet so we were forced to spend our time in much more productive ways
But it was more then that, it was the day that turned everything upside down.
4:01 pm, the world stopped with the words, "You probably have diabetes, your blood sugar was off our meters and you need to go to the ER right now-ambulance or car?"
The NP directs this question to me, not my mother. Slightly odd to deliver the bombshell and then ask the teenager want they want to do about it.
Numb brain. Number body. Long drive to University ER. On the way, I drink over 100 carbs of milk and go to the restroom four more times. The triage nurse awaits, and asks me my blood sugar. I repeat what the paperwork says(1100), she checks, and says "Oh-you were telling the truth!" which slightly offends me. Taken back immediately and the intern and resident show up, again, immediately.
Tonight's Project: Show, Tell, and Run a billion tests on the kid to make sure its just a nice, simple case of DKA.
Tonight's Project Manager: the intern. Otherwise known as Dr. Bill. I have the dubious distinction of being their highest bg, ever, and that is deserving of a constant stream of individuals entering, asking,(not)asking, poking, prodding, and otherwise making sure there will be no sleep that evening. Along the way, I'm told what lies in store(shots), and oddly, it doesn't disturb me at all, I feel too crummy. However, the chosen words of comfort from Dr. Bill do.("We're not going to let you die!") Not the best thing to say to a freaked out teenager who was unaware that they could die from this. To his credit, he didn't let me die(checking on me every 5-10 minutes to make sure I wasn't in a coma) Along with being asked to breathe ketonic yuck breath occasionally, a very odd experience.
So to you, Dr. Bill Hurtig, now probably out there in rich-powerful Attending Land(or private practice) I wish to say Thanks. You handle DKA with the best of 'em.
The rest of the experience is fairly straightforward, crash eduction/envying my room mate's unlimited food choices/giving the first shot + no one passing out. Stuff everyone does.
Five plus Five equals yeah, now I really feel like it was a long time ago. Wondering what the next 10 will bring. More intriguing, very cool individuals into the OC for sure.. but I'm rather hoping for a cure.
(yeah, this'll do-hope the luck continues...)
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
A Penny Saved & A Dollar Earned
(Size 8 shoe for length comparison)
My receipt, post coupons and CVS extrabucks printed out.(I'm one of those crazy coupon people you would rather not get behind)
Initial cost: $188.50
Final Cost: $21.48
(received $21.49 back in more extrabucks so I saved a penny on what I spent)
The cashier then proceeded to pay me the highest form of flattery there is...
"I want to be just like you with the coupons and stuff when I grow up!"
Far from making me feel old, it made me feel on-top-of-the-world-awesome. I'll treasure that compliment for the rest of the month.
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