CyberMonday:Unleashed

I love deals like this.

Staples

Item 616854
Sharpie® Accent® Grip Highlighters, Assorted, 8/Pack
business-day delivery: Tue 12/01 Qty: 1
at $9.29 8/Pack

Price:
$9.29

Item 37585
Sharpie® Calligraphic Metallic Marker, Gold, Each Expected business-day delivery: Tue 12/01 Qty: 1
at $3.99 Each

Price:
$3.99

Item 37586
Sharpie® Calligraphic Metallic Marker, Silver, Each Expected business-day delivery: Tue 12/01 Qty: 2
at $3.99 Each


Price:
$7.98

Item 592682
Sharpie® Mini Fine Point Permanent Markers, Assorted, 4/Pack Expected business-day delivery: Tue 12/01 Qty: 1
at $4.99 4/Pack


Price:
$4.99

Subtotal: $25.38
Coupons: $0.00
Tax: $1.52
Delivery: $9.95
Total: $34.72
(less 9.95 as I'm a first time Staples online purchaser,shipping is free)
(less $25.00 for the buy $25+ of any Sharpies product(through today only),get
$25 off-you have to place the order then call customer service for the refund)

Total cost: $0.38 for a bunch of Sharpies! (which I really don't need, but hey, I'm sure someone will be thrilled to get them in their Christmas stocking)The Gold & Silver Metallic ones sound pretty cool.

Cops:Edition 301

Despite there being no spot on the front of my car for a 2nd lisence plate,I have been ticketed for not having one.(and no screw holes either) 2 years I've lived in Maryland, they
don't have (as) stupid vehicle laws in Virginia.Ignorance of the law is no excuse though...I've got to get a welder to PUT something on.Ugh.I dislike cops who follow you for 1/2 mile just fishing for reasons to throw the book at you.I don't even think I have the second plate anymore.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Notes From a Spinning Planet:Tweetup

Yesterday was pretty neat,in the evening I got to meet fellow OC'r Cherise & her daughter N.(dinner at a Mexican Restaurunt) My mother-in-law was a bit paranoid,about meeting people on the Internet & told me I was making a big mistake.Normally,I'd say such fears are justifiable but with all of the D-Peeps I've met it just isn't like that.They are who they say they are.I had a good time,talking D & iPhones and everything else.In retrospect,I just should have NOT told her where I was going,I am not some 15 yo kid.My husband is fine with whatever D events I want to go to.I had a salad,bolused for that salad,yet still crescendoed to 217.I think avacados must have more carbs then I thought..and I'm glad Cherise wanted to meet me too,it was great.

Anyway,had a good time in Cali,celebrated my husbands birthday yesterday & got to meet another PWD as well.I hope I can meet the rest of those cool Cali PWD,one of these days.(as well as alot of other D-bloggers all over the country)

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Tweet TurkeyDay

Thanksgiving, blood sugar wise, was not too bad. There was the rapid spike,followed by the drop.(all to be expected)


And then we went and watched "New Moon". Adrenaline kind of delayed the drop(yes, I had to bolus for the movie,and then I had to cut back on my basals most of the night to keep from tanking). If you've ever read the book Sweet Blood,(written by a type 1) it's pretty hard not to think of diabetic vampires while watching such a movie. (yes, I lick the blood off my finger after testing..though NOT in public,and my fingers are always clean first) But it was good to spend time with my Marine brother, who lives on the opposite side of the country.(while not the movie I would have chosen,sometimes you just gotta go with the flow)

Back on the wagon again today.(but will post about today, tomorrow...)

Recap: Virtual Endo Consult

Originally posted December 2007...here it is again, for your viewing pleasure. Especially relevant after a humongous T-Day meal.

Press "1" if you're experiencing a health question or concern.

Press "2" if you'd like to speak with a nurse(sometime in the next month.)

Press "3" if you'd like to schedule an appointment.


1. Hello, this is your virtual endo speaking, how can I help you today?

-My blood sugars are whacky.(A)

-I have another D concern.(B)

-I'd like to know the results of my latest & greatest
a1c test(C)

-I'm bored, and I just wanted to know if you would
tell me again if avoidance of that box of KK donuts
will absolutely add another 5 minutes to my life or
if I just go ahead and live it up.(D)

-How much is this consult going to cost me??(E)

2. You have reached the message box of EMT-B Heidi.Please leave your name,email,and credit card number + we'll get back to you asap.Thank you.Sorry if you expected to reach a real doctor,that ain't happening. But if it makes you feel better,someday I will be a nurse,if you plan on sticking around that long.

A. Press (!) if you're over 600 mg/dl
Press :-((((( if you're under 40 mg/dl
Press :) if you're perfect
B. Choose your concern:
A1. Complications
B1.Insurance Woes
C1.My Neighbors Cat
D1.Everything else.

C. ER, yes. Ok, now enter your Medic Alert number...

D.Dude, KK is ALWAYS worth it.That's not the ADA line,but its what you wanted to hear,right? So go ahead and bolus well,don't let D dictate your life.Just remember,all things in moderation.

E. It all depends.So far,$10 per word,or a measily $2000+. Keep reading.

(!) So you're high.Wayyy too high,as you well know.How long have you been this way?
!1 under 2 hours
!2 2:4 hours
!3 4 + hours

!1Check ketones..troubleshoot pump.Take injection immeadiently.Recheck ketones+ bg, in a couple hours.
Drink tons of fluids.

What are you now?
J1moderate ketones,250 mg/dl
J2trace ketones, 200 mg/dl
J3moderate ketones,300 mg/dl

J1 You're not out of the woods yet.Keep drinking fluids,sugared as well as plain,to replenish calories.Take additional boluses,as needed.

J2 You're fine. I don't care if your stomach is throbbing fit to beat the band,ketones are nasty little buggers + thats to be expected.You're out immenant danger. Plus,you probably just have a little stomach virus.(its always a stomach virus!)Nothing for us to waste our valuable time over.

J3 Take more insulin.NOW. Go back to !1


!2 Repeat J1,call if bg not coming down.
!3 Go to the ER(if ketones not coming down).That's assuming you're still conscious.

A1-B1. Worried about complications,yes,we feel your pain.America is eating itself to death,T2 and T1 is on the rise,and many people can't even afford basic meds.
Keep your chin up,and do the best you can, that's all we can say.

C1 So,your neighbors cat does its business all over your front bushes?It very likely may have diabetes.See if you can get a dipstick reading off it..and if its positive,you have your answer right there.

2C- 00000000000001
Your latest a1c was 7.6 Keep it up,you'll get there.

D1 I wasn't aware there were any,thought I'd covered it pretty well. Press "3" to schedule an appointment,we should obviously talk about this.

#3 Ok, you wish to make an appointment. How soon?
N.Today
O.Sometime in the next week
W.SOmetime in the next month

N.You're in luck!we have an appointment for you in 10 minutes.Would you like to accept this appointment?
Y or N
Yes-I can make it
No-That isn't enough time to get out of the house,much less to your office.

O. Sorry,nothing available.Switching to W...

W. Thank you, your appointment is scheduled for Dec.24 at 4:45 PM.Have a nice day,and we look forward to serving you!

A:-(((( Eat, eat,and eat.Call us back when you're able to hold a rational conversation(assuming hypos don't resolve) You should really reduce your basals by 0.2 h/hr and your bolus ratios to 1/20. And no, you're not having a second honeymoon.Nor are you turning into another Halle Berry.You're a type 1,and there's obviously a reason for this.

A:) Perfect, huh?Enjoy it while it lasts,because it won't. Please press "2" if you wish to share with the medical community your secrets for a persistantly euroglycemic state.We're all dying to know.

See,there's nothing to be an endo..very predictable.I know what they're going to say before they say it.I know what they should say&don't and vice versa.Even when you're down(bg wise)you're not really "down."(ketones)But its ceased to be a concern,since your bg is now fine..

Wipe(d) Out

Have a wonderful & safe Thanksgiving,everyone! Travel day today,which is why I'm utterly & completely too exausted to say anything else..witness the lamest post ever.I will do better the rest of the month, I promese. I just can barely remember my name at the moment,after a 3am wakeup,a cross country fligt(involving many delays)a carb overload(hello,300 mg/dl) & the traffic jam from heck at the final destination.(however,I love the 70 temps & totally would just like to stay here for the winter.It is bliss.) But I'm committed to NaPoBloMo,so here it is.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Of TimTams and Pink Gloves

Australia's favorite cookie has now hit the States, en masse:(thank you,Pepperidge Farm)


Having never been to Australia, I've never tried them before but now I get to.( have known about them for years..via an Aussie Diabetes website. They look pretty good.(and if they aren't...I hope my husband will like them. It helps, being married to a non-D, he can eat the rest of the culinary temptations that really wreck havoc on my blood glucose and I need to exercise restraint with)

And if you haven't yet seen this video, you need to-it's awesome.

Rethinking the System

Last night I was getting caught up on my blog-reading, and came across this article. Read it, it will make you mad.(or it should)

Screaming Headline: Is Uncontrolled Diabetes a Reason for Divorce?

There are many,many blogs(some even in the OC, you know what I'm talking about) out there complaining about their spouses, significant others not taking care of their diabetes. About how they can't take it anymore,and are just so fed up they could leave tomorrow, etc. I'm not here to minimalize the fact that their spouses(as well as the blog writers) are acting like irresponsible jerks. That they should be more considerate.(we all can)

But it is not a diabetes issue. And pinning all this on the diabetes, because you can't believe that the person you married would EVER act like that,if they didn't have diabetes,is just plain stupid. People are complex creatures, & what governs their actions is not just one factor..it's many. If you're yelling at your spouse/mistreating the kids/etc. you have issues that go way,way,way beyond your chronic disease. And if you're not "taking care of it", the following speech will not improve your compliance. (quote)
"Diabetes is not a disease or blood sugar. It is a disease of blood vessels. If you can imagine everywhere blood vessels go (which is everywhere), diabetes will destroy that part of your body. It will lead to a horribly disabled and miserable existence. I described all aspects that she had to look forward to from uncontrolled diabetes

* Memory loss
* Stroke
* Blindness
* Heart attacks
* Arrhythmias
* Heart failure
* Gastroparesis
* Ischemic bowl
* Painful neuropathy
* Diabetic myopathy
* Claudication
* Amputations
* Frequent infections
* Life threatening illness with septic shock

The list can go on and on and on. I told her that 1halfof my hospitalized patients are likely there as a direct result of uncontrolled diabetes in one way or another. I told her about the life changing disability she was in for. I told her she presented with a high risk of death due to an acute illness within the next two years. Her admission now should be a wake up call for change." (unquote)

Telling people horror stories makes the exact opposite happen...it closes off their willingness to listen. I have been told horror stories,and I'm one of the ones who actually attempts management of this disease. I just wonder why, after 80+ years of T1 diabetes history and the hundreds of thousands of diabetics who have been preached at by their physicians(more so in the later part of this century) why the physicians haven't gotten a clue yet that said scare tactics don't work, 99.9% of the time. Despite that,it's a scene that repeats itself hourly, daily,all across America.(and the world)

I will tell you what a goes through the mind of someone with diabetes, when they hear something like that.

1."It won't happen to me." (It likely will-but they know that anyway,and you telling it to them won't do any good. They're in protection-denial mode)
2. "Might as well go out with a bang."(eat, drink, for tomorrow I might die)
3. "You have no clue what diabetics go through everyday. You don't HAVE diabetes,or you wouldn't be lecturing me like this. You don't know what its like to
swing madly, no matter what you do."
4. "Is it lunchtime yet?"

For a type 2 diabetic,it's likely to be so much harder to come to terms with diabetes. You feel fine(most of the time), and you'd rather not think of yourself as sick/needy in any way. I don't know what the solution is,but a positive outlook/support system is the first step. High blood sugars breed depression, both mentally and physically(they may say they aren't depressed but it's impossible not to be)

One thing I do know..for the millions of "non-compliant" PWD out there, there has to be a better way of reaching them then scaring them into an early grave.My heart bleeds for my 'betic brothers and sisters. I don't think anyone is unreachable, and I don't think anyone deserves the complications of diabetes.(compliant, or not)

Progress

On the cross-stitch front.



-- Posted from my iPhone

The Top Ten Other Jobs of Your Endocrinogist

1. Relative Geneticist- "Once upon a time,the top Two Beta Cells got together & threw a big bash, for all the other Beta Cells in PancreasLand. Unfortuantly,they got so sugared out that evening that they all died the next day & that's how you got diabetes."
2. "HEYYY NEIGHBOR!"
A friend of mine was singerally dismayed to find out she'd gone & moved next to an endocrinologist.Quite the friendly type,from her description. Well he came over,saw her pump,and offered to be HER endo. She politely declined,on the grounds that it would just be too weird...every time she threw a party he might think it was his responsibilty to provide the glucagon,question her bgs,etc.
Not deterred,he still offered his future services.
3. Statician-"Based on the range of your latest quantitative bg range-there's a 99.9% chance that your a1c will reach the mean average of a type-1-in-complete-denial squared.(divided by the number of times that you tested this year)
4. Mission Control-"Housten,we have a problem..Our pump cartidge just ran dry & I'm 77 miles from the nearest pharmacy with a bg of 488.Abort???"
5. Lawyer-Going to bat with the insurance companies.Not for the faint of heart.A good Endo stops at nothing,to get the best care for his patients.
6. Blood Brother-Your Endo also has diabetes,your bgs are simultaniously low..and they "get
it."
7. Tattoo Artist- As you watch your Endo frantically scribble notes at a mile a minute,(on the back of his arm) , it occurs to you that probably 20% of said records and 80% of it is guessing,that's why they call it "practicing" medicine.
8. Archiologist:
-Unearthing 2 month old bgs from the meter innards..
-Deciphering hieroglyphic scribbles(it's the night before the endo exam and you're frantically jotting down notes that no one can read the next day)
-Telling diabetic mummys-to-be that they're scaring you.
9. Mob Boss:
"Yo, bub.Time to cough up da dough,da moolah. You got me? This diabetes practice ain't cheap, I gotta keep up my standards of living. This is my team. Meet Joe Surgeon. Joe takes out the kidneys of anyone who crosses me.Don't mess with Joe. And this is Frieda Food Nazi-our resident dietician.She reports directly to me.Ciao-you'll meet the rest of the team next week."
10. Knight in Shining Armor-
You thought those days were a good 1,000 years in the past-until your new patient did a Carpe Carpum(Seize the Carpet) on their first appointment with you. As soon as they regain consciousness, your first question to them is not "Are you having any chest pain?" rather.. "What's your blood sugar?" Instant popularity points.(an Endo always thinks low bg first) The above account is,unfortuently,completely true.I was never so mortified at an appt. in my entire D-life.


-- Posted from my iPhone

Naughty or Nice

For today's post, I refer you over to this medical blog for a really funny(and true) guide to the personality of your physician. I'm not quite sure where Endocrinologists fit in on that chart(Sane:hardworking: nice/or mean, there should also be a dumb/smart option) but it's fun imagining where they'd be.


Go check it out.

Hero

(Not that a device can
be one..but if it could,it would be)

Awakening to the blackness
in that state of semi-awareness
still figuring out what my body expects of me
until my cgm vibrates & alarms,
LOW.

Automaticlly,I grab for my meter with one hand
with the other,glucose tabs on the standby
and confirm it to be true,63mg/dl,double arrows down.

Not a whisper of a symptom has presented itself.
Until that minute,when it buzzed off
forcing me to read & process,
spelling it out for me
that yes,I was low.

I treat, and go up.
Because of my cgm,
I will live to fight another day.

Tonight,the hundreds of times it has gone off on irrelevent tangents does not matter.
It has done it's job..& it is a lifesaver.


-- Posted from my iPhone

Lessons of the Lima Bean

"Hey."

"Hi,are you coming tomorrow night too?"

"Oh heck yes,it's like diabetes week-wouldn't miss it for the world!'

Fellow CWD'r and I exchange greetings,shooting the breeze before the pump meeting.The Speaker is running late anyway,so no one is doing anything anyway.

7:20 pm.I am by no means early,but I'm not late either..people come trinkling in behind me.The last person sits down beside me,& it immeadiently becomes apparent that they have ingested a foodstuff known for it's anti-attraction properties. We chat,and that suspician becomes confirmed.

Garlic-she's digging it.2 cloves every day,for immune boosting properties.Now she's a very nice
person, but even the nicest of people can be repelling if they are radiating it from every pore.There is such a thing as tablets,which would have the same healthy effects.

159 mg/dl,trending down.By now,it's becoming apparent that the speaker isn't coming,so it's just a regular pump meeting discussing H1N1,hospitals,sick day tips,etc.We get the handout (but not the speaker).

8:30 pm-69 mg/dl,Dexcom goes off.I go off to drain a juicebox, get back,meeting has ended.

Apparently Lima beans(which I had for supper) cancel out all the other ingested carbs(45 grams rice & chicken,2 units insulin) Dropped 80 points, to boot.Or the garlic immersion had weird bg lowering properties.

-- Posted from my iPhone

An Evening with a Type 1 Endo

Recap from the D-meeting last night...

-Learned that the Navigator has the largest insertion needle, at 21 gauge. However, the thing that actually stays in the skin and "senses" is only 5mm. I have never tried a Navigator(I probably would if the situation ever presented itself) so I really can't comment, but the Medtronic needle is 22 gauge and the Dexcom's is 26. The bigger the gauge, the smaller the needle.(and the Medtronic one hurts like the dickens) At this point, I'm very much partial to the Dexcom, for that & other reasons.

- I knew this before, but it was reinforced strongly last night(into my thick skull): DO NOT TREAT BLOOD SUGARS OFF YOUR CGM. Especially lows, since the lag time is even greater then.(blood goes to the vital organs,not so much to the skin) Highs, it isn't so bad to treat off your cgm(which I'll do, if I've been really stable blood sugar wise, it is generally very close on the meter) Meters aren't that accurate, cgm's aren't accurate, and it's really all just a crap shoot anyway. However, if you are swinging like heck it's always best to go off the meter results, the cgm doesn't have a chance of being anywhere in the real blood glucose ballpark.

-Dexcom has plans to make the receiver to send signals to an alarm clock, which will ring, should the user fail to respond to any alarms.(at night) I would not be wild about that option, until the thing gets a whole lot more accurate. Generally the vibration wakes me from the dead anyway.(I put it under my pillow)

-Tylenol can effect sensor readings for up to 3 hours after taking it; it's helpful to know precisely how long it will be screwed up. It's best to turn off the sensor,and restart later.

- As people lower their a1cs, the greater the percentage shift of in-range blood sugars go...for someone with high a1cs, most of their in-ranges come from fasting prandial glucoses & horrid post prandial glucoses; as they lowered it, most of their in-ranges came from ppg. Having a wonderful,rock-solid fasting blood glucose(great basals overnight) is not enough to get me a good a1c-I gotta get those post-meal numbers down.

4 Steps to Successful CGM Usage:

A for Alarms should mean something. Double-check with the meter, to make the best decision.

B for Break it In. Most sensors aren't worth a flip in the first 12+ hours, so it's a good idea to put it in prior to switching over from the old sensor.

C for Calibration is key. With the Dexcom, it will take whatever you tell it and spit out an average of that, and your last blood sugar (can take several calibrations to get back on track) With all the cgms, a calibrated CGM is a much happier CGM.

D for Direction. Where were you, and where are you going?(blood sugar-wise) I'm glad the Dexcom has arrows now..on the older model, it didn't. That information is extremely vital, and helps me from overtreating/undertreating.

But for all that, it's still just a device, one that is a long way from perfect. CGM's are still in their infancy, it will take time to get right.(much to my disappointment, the endo didn't put up any of his own CGM downloads-probably they're just so perfect we'd all be bored to tears looking at them)


I was very much the baby there last night...in D-years. At one end of the scale, was a 62 year veteran, at the other end of the scale, was me.(11 years) In between, there was a 56,52,44,46,27,28,19,17,16,14(along with significant others) The endo had had it for 42 years. Being in that room with 200+ years of type 1 diabetes was just incredible.

Notes from a Spinning Planet: D-Week

This week, I plan to attend four diabetes events..one every evening. Rarely do they all line up in such a nice little schedule(something is always conflicting with something else)

As well as school(I won't be getting a refund, so I'm just going to make the best of it and try to pull off the best grade possible) Just three weeks remaining, in the semester.(and two tests,yippee)

As well as a million & one other things(getting picture take for Christmas cards, etc.) Next week we'll be be flying out to California,& if I thought it was hard posting every day while at home, it will be more so on the road. But I have my iphone(well,when I get a new SIM card for it), and my MIL has a computer so I just have to make time for it.

Tonight's event will be hosted by one of my very favorite (local) speakers..check out this. Full review, tomorrow.(it won't be on the same subject, so I expect to actually learn something)

And I've already told my husband to expect to be a diabetic widower this week..which is similar in concept to a football widow.(only in reverse) I most definatly have a problem with being unable to say no to going to hear kick-butt D speakers. I need this.

Techno X

Today,(or rather, yesterday) my long-suffering iphone went completely beserk and semi-died. No internet capabilities for 23 hours. It has done that before, but only for about 4-8 hours at a time.

So I called AT&T, getting the wrong dept. in who knows what section & didn't get anywhere there,after a very lengthy delay,and several dozen pointless questions, the person couldn't even find the right extension to transfer me to, and suggested I look off my bill. Very (un)helpful, AT&T. (I'd have thrown something at the wall,but the already defunct iphone was the only thing available & I didn't want to throw that)

Checked it again..and voila, it was working! Wow, maybe it was just a weird glitch.

For about ten minutes, which was enough time to look up the (wireless)phone number AT&T (on the internet) for the point of letting them know it was having issues. I then tried to check my email, & got error messages.(it had died, again)


AT&T went through a long testing phase, checking various things out & declared it wasn't a problem on their end.(no out-ages in my area having been recorded)


So I called them again, for the 3rd time. The next step, is to go to a AT&T corporate store and get another SIM card. If that doesn't fix it, it's an Apple problem.

I miss my Twittering..I am so addicted, and it's a very painful thing when you have to go cold turkey.

A Tribute in Blue: Mural, Unleashed

World Diabetes Day-about the blue!!, originally uploaded by type1emt.

(Click, to see the entire thing...)

Beta Phases

Since April, Ebay has been testing the beta phase of their Ebay Bucks program. Basically, in each 90 day period, you earn 2% back on most of your purchases.(excluding Ebay Motors & real estate) And I was fortunate enough to be chosen..granted, 2% is not a huge deal of money but when you are such a hard-core Ebayer as I am every bit helps. ($200 max back per transaction, $500 max per quarter. Though you'd have to spend $25,000 to earn that much back, & not many people are THAT much of spendaholics.

The first quarter, due to several large purchases(airline tickets,etc.) I got about $23 back. The credit works as a add-on to your paypal payment, when you buy something on Ebay. Happily, I spent that..and then I had a problem with an Ebay Seller, who ripped me off big time.(on Disney tickets) Eventually, Paypal refunded my money but then Ebay didn't like the fact that I'd earned bucks off a transaction that got cancelled & they put me in the negative, buck wise.

Quarter #2's purchases went toward erasing that negative debt. UGH.

It's now quarter #3,and I'm back in the red. I still wish Ebay didn't punish you for being ripped off by a seller..something which happens more often then not. Ebay could really make me more of a loyal customer if it would A. up the percentage back rate and B.slash their horrendous selling fees. But its better then nothing, and I'll take it. There's really no alternative to Ebay, and for all the inconveniences, the amount you can save makes it worthwhile.(cost, and time wise)

Youtube: Mary Wells, 1982

Because I love this song-LOVE IT. Mary Wells rocks it.

Strike Three

Well I flunked a critical test.There is now no earthly way that I could get a B,and the C won't get me into nursing school.And there's only 1 month left,in the course.I am going to go cry into a pillow now,I am an abysmil failure at everything I do.


-- Posted from my iPhone