Apparently, sniffing insulin can help memory loss in Alzheimer's patients. I find this very interesting! Here is a link to the article:


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66F01X20100716?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FhealthNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Health+News%29

As an official user of the pump, I have to say that I really love it. I don’t know why I was so over it a few years ago. I kind of wish I gave it more of a chance. Better late than never I guess. It really is awesome to be able to sit in a restaurant and not have to whip out needles in front of everyone. It’s great to be able to press a few buttons and start eating. I can’t wait to learn how to use the continuous glucose monitor---then I’ll really be set.

My sugar levels were great the first two days, but the last 2 days it’s been on I feel like I can’t calculate my carbs right. I keep underestimating the amount I actually need and I always end up too high. It’s making me a little frustrated actually. Hopefully that changes soon. I feel like a failure when my levels are high. The funny thing is, it doesn’t bother me when they’re too low. It just sucks, but I don’t feel bad about myself. It’s when they hit the 200s I feel like I just failed a big final. I’m sure my doctor may just have to make some adjustments with my basal rate or something. That, or I really just can’t calculate my food anymore. Either way.

Also---I was nervous to go kickboxing--I was scared my sweat would make the adhesive fall off and the stupid thing would fall out of me in the middle of doing push ups haha. Turns out it stays put no matter how long you are sweating or in water. Yay!

I can't believe Fourth of July Weekend is already over. This summer is flying by way too quickly. We went to a friends house on the 4th and watched illegal fireworks in his backyard. They were amazing. I thought they were going to be those lame small ones, but they were huge and completely lit the sky. I was positive the police were going to show up haha. Thankfully they didn't. I had to check my blood sugar at one point and another friend noticed. He let me know that a bunch of his relatives also have diabetes and his uncle lost his legs. I love when people tell me things like that. How am I supposed to respond? "yes, thank you, I love to hear about all the people in your life that have lost limbs and who have died...from the same disease I have!" I know I take care of myself and keep everything under control. It's still scary to hear horror stories like that. I know he meant no harm, and it doesn't anger me at all. I just think it's funny.

I have an appointment tomorrow morning to meet with my doctor so we can put insulin in my pump now instead of saline. Tomorrow I'll be an official user of the pump! Sweet.

Bikini or Tankini?

First of all--the new blog templates are really cool. I love this new design--it's so fun!

So I haven't given up on the pump yet. Even though it's still saline, I'm still wearing it and acting like it's insulin. Hopefully next week I'll be able to officially use it with insulin. I've adjusted to it pretty well. I'm still getting used to sleeping with it though. I'm not quite sure what to do with it. The other morning I woke up tangled up in the tubing. It's weird because I feel like I can't keep it clipped on my side because I'm going to crush it. I usually just place it next to me and hope it's in the same spot when I wake up. I guess I still have to get used to it. Either way, I'm really glad I decided to do this. I'm interested to see what my A1C will be like once I've been using the pump for a while. We'll see!

Next weekend I may be going to the beach with some friends. I'm contemplating whether I should continue to wear my bikini as usual while wearing the pump, or if I should get a tankini to try to cover it up a little bit. I don't necessarliy want to freak people out with this, but I also don't want to be forced to cover up if I don't want to. Decisions, decisions...

On a lighter note, I'm very excited because my husband finally let me open our gifts from our wedding (new towels, pots, pans, etc.) It's only been around nine months! We were planning on not opening anything until we moved into a house, but since that's been falling through we decided to just re-organize the apartment so we can use our new things. Thank God because now I actually want to cook--now that I have some sweet pots and pans to use haha.

Back on the Pump--Day 1

I’m back on the pump and it’s not as bad as I remembered it to be! This is my first full day on it, and I have to say, it’s not bothering me at all. I was down at the beach for a few days this week and on our way back home, my husband and I stopped at my doctor’s office to get my pump training started. The whole time I was on vacation I was thinking about my appointment and how much easier life is going to be with my new pump. It’s weird how different I felt about it four years ago. I was disgusted with the sight of it and it actually depressed me. Now I’m completely ok with it. I am a little nervous about taking it out for the first time. I hope history doesn’t repeat itself and I don’t end up with a giant bruise. I’m also a little nervous about inserting a new one—that should be interesting. Right now I’m practicing with saline, but hopefully next week I’ll be ready for insulin. I wish I would have started the pump before going down to the beach. It would have made it so much easier. It’s such a pain to bring the insulin pens in hot weather—I always have to remember the ice pack in my bag and it just takes up extra space, it drives me crazy! I’m looking forward to not having to worry about that!

Back on the Pump!

I never thought I would say this, but I'm actually going to try going on the pump again. I tried it for a day about four years ago and I hated it. I had an appointment with my endo the other day and I was finally talked into giving it another try. This time I'm not as against it. I think I'm ready to give up the daily shots and finger pricks (I'm going to try the continuous glucose monitor as well). It sounds like a lot of things stuck to my body 24/7, but I'm hoping I'll get used to it this time. I was told that if I want to try to get pregnant in another year or two, I should really go on the pump. So I shall!

I'm not going to lie, I'm really nervous about it. I've been trying to figure out how I can make it work in my daily life. For instance, I started cardio kickboxing a few weeks ago (which I would recommend to anyone---it's a tough workout, but awesome). Is the pump going to get in the way of doing crunches? Is it going to fall out from all the sweat? It would have been helpful this morning though. Before class started, my sugar was down to 31! I was having a weird morning with my levels, but was hoping it would be normal by the time I got there. Of course it wasn't and I had already gone through three juice boxes by that point. Luckily this sweet girl in class offered me some cookies she had in her car, which did the trick. If I had the continuous glucose monitor I would have known my sugar levels before hand and could have corrected it early on. I'm looking forward to having that.

The other thing I'm worried about is where am I going to put the pump when I'm wearing a dress? I'm in a friend's wedding in October and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the pump while wearing the bridesmaid dress. I guess I'll worry about that when the time comes. For now, I'm just looking forward to getting this thing started...again. This time I'll give it more than a day to get used to it.

Life After a Cure--Diabetes Blog Week Day 7

Life after a cure would be pretty amazing. Here some of the things (in no particular order)that immediately come to mind that I would no longer have to worry about. I used to take these things for granted before I was diabetic!

Having to carry a big purse. Sometimes I want to carry a small purse, but can't because then where would I put my insulin pens, glucose meter, juice box, granola bar, ice pack to keep insulin cool in the summer, etc.

Accidentally staining my shirt with blood. Sometimes after pricking my finger, I don't realize it's still bleeding and I'll get it on my clothes! Or I'll give myself a shot in my tummy and not realize I bled a little---on my shirt!I hate that...

Having to always see the doctor. I feel like I always have an appointment. It would be nice to not have to worry about my health all the time.

Diabetes is expensive! It's like having an extra bill every month. I feel like I'm paying to have a chronic disease. It would be great to not have to budget for it anymore.

All the health risks that I would no longer have to worry about is by far the thing that I would be most happy about. I hate that I'm considered "high risk" when it comes to everything. I would love to be considered
"normal risk" again.

And lastly, I would never have to worry about what I would do if I were ever on a plane that crashed onto an island. I would be the first to go because my insulin supply would run out in a matter of days. If there were a cure, it would be one less thing to worry about. I really have thought about this.