Living with Diabetes

Author: kathleen

  • Back from the Endo

    FYI: I think every diabetic should see an endocronologist. Lots of reasons. First, they know the state of the art in diabetes care. Second, they deal with a lot of patients, you won’t be unique. But the last and most important reason is “free stuff”.

    I left my endo’s office with a new Freestyle meter. I don’t really need another one, I carry one and keep one on my desk. I’ll replace the oldest of the two with this new one, and then stash the new one somewhere, probably my classroom.

    I’ve paid for 1 meter, and got the money back from that one too.

    Anyway, numbers are good. A1C of 6.5 — my best was 6.2. Fasting blood sugar was 105, kidneys are good, cholesterol 121, triglycerides 78, HDL 45, LDL is 60.

    I’m going to start taking the Symlin a bit before meals and see if it helps my blood sugar. It is still higher than I like postprandial.

  • Much happier with my Treo

    Cingular posted an update on the Palm website for the Treo. I’ve got 6 meg of memory back, which I am slowly using it up.

    The best news is that I can hook up my notebook via bluetooth and get internet access. It’s faster than dialup, slower than broadband, and might get me through problems I’m anticipating for next year.

    I’m actually relying on the Treo much more than I did before.

    My next debate — is do I get a bluetooth headset. I’m thinking not. I don’t talk on the phone that much, and I’ll lose the headset in my hair. It’s bad enough to see someone walking around talking to themselves and seeing a cord, but it makes it really weird when you don’t see any visible means.

    I’m also thinking about a keyboard. I actually did buy one, but it was a universal one, and wasn’t fun to use with the Treo. The Treo 600 keyboard spoiled me, because it has keys for specific Treo functions.

  • New Photos!

    New photos from the Monroe trial are on my website.

    http://tinyurl.com/dpwee

    Aren’t you glad I didn’t load all 74?

  • I think my pump is broke (but I think I fixed it).

    Spent about 20 minutes in the pool this evening and ever since, the screen keeps blinking at me. I think the up button is somehow stuck.

    —

    This is why I keep this blog. As soon as I took a deep breath and typed the above, I remember the first thing Animas always had me do when my IR1000 acted up. They had me take the battery out so it would reboot.

    I’ve done that, and it seems better.

    I have enough to deal with.

  • Whines…

    I’ve been spending all of my writing energy on my final project. It’s on WiMAX and is currently pretty close to 10 pages. I would like to have a couple more paragraphs and take it to 11 pages.

    I also need to do a Presentation Summary of it once it is finished. That has to be no more than two pages.

    I am starting to feel closer to the end of the tunnel. We get our final exam questions on Monday from my other class.

    Had to get a blood draw this morning. My hand aches every since. The gal getting the blood couldn’t find my veins. She finally did the back of my hand. It feels like it should be black and blue.

    Also picked up another month’s supply of Symlin while as I at the same building. I’m not 100% happy with it right now, I had the initial 10 pound weight loss, but am now at a slow crawl when it comes to losing weight, and I swear, I am not eating much and doing lots of exercise.

    So I’m whining.

  • Amy’s gone a bit further on the Sharps issue

    Diabetes Mine: All About Sharps Disposal

    I’m glad the issue hasn’t “bitten” her as hard as it has me.

    It’s getting to be a daily issue for me again, since the Symlin is an injectable.

    I’m also worried about it for next school year. Last year, in another state, a teacher lost his job because a student stepped on a sharp that he had dropped on the floor.

    I’ve kept a sharps container in my room since I was diagnosed, keep a close eye on my stuff, and have warned students on the first day and a few times after, that my desk is off limits due to the medical equipment I have to keep.

    I’ve also told the Powers that Be, because of the medical equipment issue, I can’t float, though they keep assuring me that it isn’t proper to ask someone with as many years in the district and building to float. Floating means you go from room to room.

  • Amy’s gone a bit further on the Sharps issue

    Diabetes Mine: All About Sharps Disposal

    I’m glad the issue hasn’t “bitten” her as hard as it has me.

    It’s getting to be a daily issue for me again, since the Symlin is an injectable.

    I’m also worried about it for next school year. Last year, in another state, a teacher lost his job because a student stepped on a sharp that he had dropped on the floor.

    I’ve kept a sharps container in my room since I was diagnosed, keep a close eye on my stuff, and have warned students on the first day and a few times after, that my desk is off limits due to the medical equipment I have to keep.

    I’ve also told the Powers that Be, because of the medical equipment issue, I can’t float, though they keep assuring me that it isn’t proper to ask someone with as many years in the district and building to float. Floating means you go from room to room.

  • Tight Control

    Tight Control article

    Now that I have my summer back …

    I tried the MDI (Multiple Daily Injection) method of tight control and it almost made me nuts. I could not keep a constant schedule. Summer was the utter living end of that for me, especially the teacher workshop thing.

    Oh, and the school year where they changed our lunch periods every 4 weeks.

    I can’t imagine going back to shots and keeping this tight control. Today is a good example. Let’s say that I ended up burning more blood sugar than I had planned. Now, while I might be able to figure out I need 40% more insulin than usual on a workshop day, and I could probably do a rough estimate and give myself a bigger long acting insulin dose, there is no way to guarantee WHEN that insulin would get released. Also, there is no way to change my mind once I give it.

    With the pump, if I had checked at 10:00 and saw I was going towards low, I would have eaten a Snicker minature and then turned off the temporary basal. If I did it the shot way, I’d probably have to eat a large Snicker’s minature, causing some weight gain.

  • Tight Control

    Tight Control article

    Now that I have my summer back …

    I tried the MDI (Multiple Daily Injection) method of tight control and it almost made me nuts. I could not keep a constant schedule. Summer was the utter living end of that for me, especially the teacher workshop thing.

    Oh, and the school year where they changed our lunch periods every 4 weeks.

    I can’t imagine going back to shots and keeping this tight control. Today is a good example. Let’s say that I ended up burning more blood sugar than I had planned. Now, while I might be able to figure out I need 40% more insulin than usual on a workshop day, and I could probably do a rough estimate and give myself a bigger long acting insulin dose, there is no way to guarantee WHEN that insulin would get released. Also, there is no way to change my mind once I give it.

    With the pump, if I had checked at 10:00 and saw I was going towards low, I would have eaten a Snicker minature and then turned off the temporary basal. If I did it the shot way, I’d probably have to eat a large Snicker’s minature, causing some weight gain.

  • Workshop IS over!

    I survived. And I figured it out.

    A 40% basal rate change kept me pretty stable today. I was between 120 and 150 all day, which isn’t bad. Personally I like to be a bit lower, but I could function mentally.

    Now if I can only remember to actually SET the basal rate two hours before the workshop, and for the entire duration.

    I am now returning to my regular summer.