The Bad Diabetes Joke....

Hey there sweethearts! Long time, no see! 

I need to write tonight. 

I had a frustrating experience today. In the moment, I said nothing because I honestly thought it would do no good. But I really wish now that I had. Our clinic where I work was treated to a big array of yummy breakfast foods this morning. Part of that was a waffle bar. In line for waffles, some ladies, who I don't know, made a diabetes joke that was really distasteful. It made me wonder more than ever before, when did it become socially acceptable to make fun of someone's diabetes? I don't care if it's type 1 or type 2. People would never point and laugh at someone who has lost a leg, or someone who has a congenital heart defect. Why? Because those are very difficult medical problems that can be life threatening! What they said today was the equivalent of pointing and laughing at a type 2 diabetic and saying "Haha, your body doesn't use insulin like it should so you require medication to help your body use insulin properly. Haha! And odds are that you got it from eating this waffle. Haha....".  It's like pointing at a type 1 diabetic and saying "Haha, your pancreas doesn't produce insulin anymore so you have to take manufactured insulin in order to stay alive, whether you are eating or not. If you don't, you'll die. Haha.". I'm aware it was not meant maliciously, and they obviously didn't know what they were saying. But this is the literal interpretation of what they said. It isn't funny. I think of my type 2 friends and all that they struggle with to keep their blood sugar in range. It's so hard! Even with good diet and exercise, things are not always perfect. I think of myself and my fellow T1D friends, both old and young, a couple of which I know are battling 600+ blood sugars and ketones tonight. It just isn't funny. Please, all I ask is think before you make a diabetes joke. I'm usually a pretty good sport and I can just let it roll off, but I've heard and seen too much of this lately. So I'm starting with me. I'm spreading the awareness. Thanks for reading. 

Blogger Slacker...Ha!

Well hi there sweethearts!! I apologize for the lack of posts the last couple months! I've had good reason though. 

 Every Christmas, I try to make my daughter something homemade. I'm crafty and I love it. I made her a quilt this year. I spent evenings, weekends, lunch breaks, work 10 minute breaks, car rides, etc, working to finish her quilt. I was up till about 2:00 am Christmas morning, but I finished it except for some little flower embellishments I will be putting on later. I'm so glad I made it! I really enjoy making useful things with my hands, and knowing they will be used by someone I love! 

 While I've been gone, I got a new medical bracelet! Isn't it pretty? I really love it. I usually don't wear one because I thought the metal ones were all that was out there. I hate those. They catch on the little hairs on my arm. But I came across a different company called MyID. They sell bracelets that are made of that strong silicone type material. It doesn't bug me at all. I love too that they keep an online profile for you to store your disease and medicine info. Then on the bracelet is a QR code that can be scanned, and also an ID and website for them to log on if the EMT's don't have a scanner. These bracelets have changed so much over the years! I'm glad I ran into an advertisement for a sale. It opened my eyes to all that's out there now!  It is so important to wear one of these. If I'm ever found alone and unconscious, anyone can scan my bracelet or login with the info on my bracelet, and they will find exact instructions on what to do and who to contact. Much better than the metal bracelet I used to have that just had the general term of "diabetic" on the back with no further information. It's a blessing! 

Recently, I've been so touched by the amount of people around me who have taken time to ask questions or listen kindly as I educate them on T1D. I work with some incredible people in our church, and whenever someone new comes in, I try to just make them aware of my situation. I had a very awful T1D weekend last weekend that involved failed sets, high blood sugars, set changes, a lot of insulin, small ketones, and not even close to enough sleep as a result. I tried going to a church meeting, and in the end I ended up not being well enough to go for the actual services. It frustrated me. I don't like T1D getting a big head thinking it bested me. I'm so thankful to be surrounded by such understanding people who understood why I couldn't be there. I spent the whole day in bed sleeping and drinking powerade in between because I was pretty dehydrated. My dear husband then came home and helped our kiddo get dinner, bath, and bedtime done. I'm so thankful for him and his support! Being surrounded by good people just makes such a huge difference. It tells me that I'm not alone in all this! 

I hope you are all having a very Merry Christmas celebration and that your New Year's is the happiest ever! God bless us all and watch over us! 

I'll be back soon. Stay tuned sweethearts! 

#T1DLooksLikeMe

Hello my dear sweethearts! A big hearty welcome to Diabetes Awareness Month! 

 November is a super busy month for my family. Michael and I have our wedding anniversary (10 years this year, yeah baby!), we have our daughter's birthday, my mom's birthday, 2 of my sisters have birthdays, and also a niece. Yep, popular baby month for the family! February gets cold, and there's love in the air, so it makes sense! Ha! 

November is also Diabetes Awareness Month! We have a huge responsibility and a great opportunity to share with family and friends about the struggles and realities that T1D kicks at us each day. It is truly up to us! If you want to know about something, it is best to go to the source. That's where the most accurate information is! WE are the source! We live the daily reality. 

The JDRF came up with a campaign called Diabetes Looks Like Me. Every time you see one of these blue pictures in November, you are seeing a T1D. You are seeing a parent who checks blood sugars at 2 a.m.. You are seeing a family who bands together to support the one. It is real life! You see a childhood that T1D hasn't been allowed to steal. You see a T1D veteran that has spent years overcoming the challenges presented to them medically. 

During this month, please make yourself aware of the signs and symptoms of T1D. If you see someone experiencing any of the symptoms, get checked and mention T1D specifically. If you're wrong and it is something else, you get a huge blessing and relief. And if you're not wrong, you save a life if you find out in time. It is worth the check up!!

Let's bleed blue this November, eh sweethearts? Have a great day! 

RIP My Dear Purse......

My dear sweethearts, I am saddened to report the death of one of my most important possessions. 

My purse.

We mourn.

Ever since my diagnosis, I have carried around a purse, small backpack, or a bag of some kind. The pancreatic challenged must have their insulin and supplies available at ALL times. I don't go anywhere at all without my purse. Never. Never ever. It is just one of those constants in the T1D world. 

When I was younger, I could get away with carrying a smaller purse because I only had to carry syringes, my meter, strips, and insulin. My purses were fairly normal sized and didn't draw much attention. 

Now, my purses are really big. I have so much more to carry! I always keep with me: 

My meter

Test strips

Infusion Sets

Reservoirs

Insulin

Syringes

Skin prep wipes

Skin tac wipes

Adhesive remover

Batteries

Spare battery cap for my pump

IV style tape

Wet wipes

A sugar source

And finally, lancets.

Believe it or not, this isn't overdoing it either. We just have to be prepared for whatever might happen.  You just truly never know. Your set could catch on a doorknob and get yanked out. You could learn the hard way that your insulin went bad prematurely. Your pump battery could go out. So much can happen at any time.

This is the reason my purses are so huge. And this is only the T1D stuff I keep in there! When you become a wife and mom, your purse becomes the family's purse. So if you ever pick up my purse and wonder why it is so dang heavy, it's because I have the world in there! 

I had to go replace my purse last weekend. My old one's zipper finally gave out. I like my new one, but it is smaller than the old one. Life is funny sometimes. We get attached to the strangest things. But man, I loved that old purse. I shall miss it! 

RIP, my dear purse. I miss you and all your functionality! 

Good night sweethearts! 

Because I have been given much....

I'm a very blessed woman. I have a lot of love and goodness in my life. I have a beautiful family. We work hard together. We take care of one another. We have our ups and downs, but all in all, we are so blessed. 

I have been truly blessed by my T1D community this week as well. I recently learned that I am likely allergic to plastic cannula infusion sets. This is by far the majority of the infusion sets out there. It explains the struggles I've been having. The same struggles I had while previously pumping have come back in full force to haunt me. Struggles have included sudden highs when I change sets, difficulty healing from a set change, red skin around the insertion site, not being able to use the same spots again for very prolonged periods of time, my body completely rejecting sets, etc... While being sick this past month, I honestly almost gave up again. But then I put a sure t back in. My numbers have been better, near perfect, ever since I haven't put another plastic cannula in me. 

It was a big frustration as well due to the fact that my entire supply is plastic cannulas. So I've been working on replacing them all with sure t sets. I've tried to trade, but didn't have much luck. No luck at all really... Lots of people don't like the steel needle sets, so they didn't have anything to trade. Things were looking bleak. Then I had 2 ladies offer to send me a few sure t sets each to get me by till I can figure out what to do. Truly a blessing, and I'm so grateful to them! They wanted nothing in return even though I tried to offer. It gave me the faith to go out on a limb today and give my plastic sets to someone else who truly needs them and is suffering to afford supplies like so many T1D's do! It is so hard to just hand them over when you're in a tight spot as well, but every time I do, I'm blessed for it! About an hour after making arrangements for my plastic sets, someone posted in a T1D group about sharing her daughter's extensive supply of sure t sets. She's sharing with me and several other people. 

It has been so neat to see this happen time and time again. Whenever I've given from my T1D supplies, the blessings come back and then some. They are not left to go without and neither am I. I'm truly grateful to God for showing me this over and over again. I'm glad He lets me serve others! "Because I have been given much, I too must give." And it takes faith every time to do it, but that's ok. If you want to have faith, you need to do something that requires faith to accomplish it! 

I feel peace! 

Goodnight sweethearts! 

Oh. My. Heck.

I saw the following on Facebook the other day. It perfectly sums up my past few weeks, and explains why I haven't blogged in recent weeks.

I could close here, but I'll explain instead...ha! 

About a month ago, our daughter started coughing. It was mostly just a dry, slightly irritated cough, but it was persistent. We didn't take her in since it was the cough alone with no other symptoms. She decided to share this cough with Mama about 2 1/2 weeks ago. 

Super...Super Duper.... 

Every year, I get bronchitis at least once, and sometimes more. I. Hate. Bronchitis. I cough hard, I can't breathe, it is just hard to function. Having T1D makes you more susceptible to illness, and then once the germs get you, it takes a very long forever for them to get out. 

As if bronchitis isn't enough fun all on its own, it always packs the most awful high blood sugar kick in the gut. I was running in the upper 200's - 300's constantly. I decided to go in and be seen to get on an antibiotic. It definitely helped quickly, but it made my blood sugars even worse. It didn't matter how much insulin poured into me, I just ran high and felt a bit miserable. It was an antibiotic that I had never had problems with, and it had to choose this illness to bust my chops!

I had one night where I actually had to do a manual injection just to get my blood sugar down. I had changed my set twice, thinking that may be part of the issue, and it just wasn't doing any good.

It was the worst timing to be sick. I had so much going on that weekend, and I missed almost all of it. God did however bless me to be well enough to get to church for the Primary program. That was a merciful miracle.

The week after the program, my cough worsened some. It is making progress now, but I was having a hard time that week after the program. Breathing was not in the cards.

In true family style fashion, the cough and bronchitis spread to my husband. We've been coughing and medicating as a family. Awe...togetherness....

Now that I'm doing a bit better now, I thought I should just drop a line to explain that I didn't drop off the earth someplace.

Another couple weeks in the life of a sweetheart! Never a dull moment!

We Can't Do It Alone!

Hi there sweethearts! My goodness, it has been a busy couple of weeks! With my pump fun, the holiday, and some other "fun" we've had to deal with, it has been so busy and I haven't posted because of it! But I'm here and thought I would give a shout out and a big Hello! 

 Today, I wish to address the importance of a support system in the life of a T1D. As I've told you before, this disease is a constant. There are no breaks. There is no skipping medications. You just have to plow through everything because you literally have no other choice. Can you imagine going through something like that alone? Having nobody who understands, nobody to confide in, nobody who knows the inside view of what you do everyday. What a lonely and devastating scenario! There are far too many T1D's out there who try this route. They aren't typically successful. Many T1D's experience depression and anxiety as a result of having to try and deal all by themselves. I don't know what it is about this world sometimes, but we need to treat each other better. Nobody should have to feel that alone!

I'm grateful that throughout my life with T1D, I have had family and friends who stuck by me and loved me. They took me as the whole package, T1D and side effects included. I come from a big family full of fiercely loyal people. We love one another sometimes to the point of going overboard. But every time I have had a T1D issue or illness come up, they have my back. I am so grateful for them! Blood sugar fluctuations can make you do and say some crazy things. Some stories come to mind, but I'll save those for another day. Even in those crazy moments though, they have never blamed me or treated me badly. I have always had them in my corner! 

When I met my husband, he was incredibly supportive of my T1D. I had just barely started pumping for the first time, and when I showed it to him he was genuinely interested. It was one of the first qualities I loved about him. He wasn't grossed out. He didn't tell me to go do my T1D stuff in a different room. He didn't treat me like a human biohazard. He just loved me as a whole, and everything else was just pieces of the whole. He still, to this day, reminds me to buy glucose tablets, asks what my blood sugar is, tells me when it gets close to time to take my medication for my insulin resistance (yes, T1D's can be insulin resistant), and makes sure to high 5 me when my A1C has been great. I'm thankful God gave him to me! I couldn't have asked for more. So many out there don't have a supportive and understanding spouse. I promise you, it can make all the difference! 

Another incredible part of my support system is my beautiful daughter. She is beyond ok with the T1D thing! She ALWAYS wants to read my blood sugar number, asks me if it is high or low, and checks to see if I need to "eat some sugar", watches me take my insulin, helps me change my infusion sets, and more! While I was pregnant with her, I remember being worried about that. Most kids don't really do the whole needles thing. But she actually asks me sometimes if I can check her blood sugar. She always hopes she'll be low like Mama is sometimes. Lows =Candy. Smart girl! I have to turn her down most of the time, but I've said yes a few times too just to give her the experience. I'm so very proud of her. I was so exhausted this past week from some stressful car problems we were having. My blood sugars were a bit off which added to being worn out. She let me lay down and rest on the couch while she watched a movie. She's an amazing kiddo! 

If you are a T1D who feels alone and like you have nobody who understands, I encourage you to reach out. So many have no idea what you go through. So let them in on it in small and simple ways at first. Share what you can! Holding it in completely can hurt you in so many ways. If you don't have family or friends to turn to, seek out social media or blogs. There are so many out there like you! 

If you are part of the functioning pancreas crowd, and you know of a T1D friend or neighbor, ask them about it. Show interest, and show them you care about what they deal with. Showing even a small bit of support, it can make a life-changing difference. 

You don't have to do this alone. Frankly, we CAN'T do this alone. 

Night night sweethearts!