Living with Diabetes

Author: kathleen

  • Inset Infusion/Insertion Set

    I bit the bullet and told Animas to fill this quarter’s supply with Inset Infusion sets rather than Comfort’s.

    I really dread site changes, because I have to deal with a needle. Funny, but lancelet’s don’t bother me. The actual act of the injection doesn’t bother me, but the blasted needles do. That’s one of the reasons I was happy to go to the pump.

    I have earned my needle phobia. I went through the windshield of a car — from a bicycle, and got to watch them stitch my face, not once, but twice. Once the night of the accident, and second when a plastic surgeon fixed the problems that the ER doc caused.

    This way, I don’t have to watch the needle.

  • Wonder how many are going to try for the gold?

    I think, in fact, I’m pretty sure a dentist gave me Vioxx for a few days after a root canal.

    This isn’t the first drug I’ve taken that’s been pulled. Fen-Fen — which I took for a week and hated the dry mouth … and I was on a gastric reflux medication that was pulled, I can’t remember the name, but man, did it work. I slept the best on that medication…

    Vioxx Pulled From Global Market

    Merck & Co., Inc., announced today a voluntary withdrawal of rofecoxib (Vioxx) from the U.S. and worldwide market due to safety concerns of an increased risk of cardiovascular events, according to an alert from MedWatch, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety information and adverse event reporting program.

  • As if we didn’t have enough problems….

    Chronic Insulin Use Increases Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Type 2 Diabetics

    Chronic insulin therapy significantly increases the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), according to the results of a retrospective cohort study published in the October issue of Gastroenterology.

  • Denied by Cigna? or Gentiva?

    Contact me at kweaver@kweaver.org if you’ve been denied by Cigna or Gentiva?

  • Dana Pumps have been recalled — Sept 22, 2004 report

    And for a scary reason.

    Enforcement Report for September 22, 2004

    PRODUCT
    DANA Diabecare II insulin pumps. Recall # Z-1451-04.
    CODE
    Serial numbers: AEE001FC – AEE039FC, AEE041FC, AEE043FC – AEE048FC, AEE083FC – AEE132FC.
    RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
    Dana Diabecare USA LLC, New Orleans, LA, by email, letters and telephone on May 26, 2004. Firm initiated recall is ongoing.
    REASON
    There is a switch malfunction that may cause the unit not to respond when command key is depressed.
    VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
    37 units.
    DISTRIBUTION
    AZ, WV, PA, FL, WI, MI, TN, and MD.

  • Good news on the weight loss front!

    I currently way the least I have weight in a very long time. I think even since I was diagnosed with diabetes.

    I’ve lost 35 pounds since February and around 10 pounds since school started. My goal is to lose about 1 pound a week, and I think I’m doing a tad faster than that, certainly I have since school started.

    I also got rid of a bunch of old, too big pieces of clothing this weekend.

  • Daytime Trial #2

    Ended up ending this trial after exercising and a bunch of skips. I think I dislodged the watch again.

    The good news:
    I have good data that tells good things.
    The burn isn’t as near as bad as before.
    The watch was not painful, but a bit uncomfortable. You have to wear it in a place that you don’t usually wear a watch.

    The bad news:
    I had to end early when I worked out. I think it will get better as I didn’t lose the watch after I ran up the stairs and got a perspiration warning.

    All in all, I think the watch is okay. I think it is a good choice for me, because basal tests are stressful for me. Keeping an eye on the clock and testing every hour isn’t good, and is too hard to do at school. Wearing the watch works.

    I don’t think the watch is worth $1000. $300 isn’t bad, but the reporting needs to be more flexible. I also think the new price point on the autosensors is much better. I am going to see about having Blue Cross Blue Shield cover the autosensors in the future.

  • Daytime Trial #2

    It is going extremely well. I have good numbers, and good trends.

    However, it’s been a cool day in the classroom and relatively calm.

    It went so well, I went ahead and ordered 2 boxes of autosensors since they are at the reduced rate.

    I think I’ll talk to my CDE about getting them setup with the insurance.

  • Daytime Trial #2

    I think I have the watch in a better location this trip. Also Monday’s burn is healing better and faster than the previous burns from the watch. I still have itching and visible marks.

    Good news, though, Diabetes Forecast came out with a review (clinical trial) that shows that the watch works well at “normal” blood sugars, tracking trends.

    Bad news, it doesn’t do as well as it could with low blood sugars.

  • Type 2 not Immune to DKA

    Another difference between the two types is gone.

    Type 2 Diabetics Not Immune to Diabetic Ketoacidosis

    A significant portion of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) cases occur in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to the results of a review of admissions published in the Sept. 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. There are subtle differences from DKA in patients with type I diabetes, but the treatment is the same.
    “An episode of DKA was once considered a hallmark feature that would differentiate individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus from those with type 2 diabetes mellitus,” write Christopher A. Newton, MD, and Philip Raskin, MD, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. “With the changes in the frequency of DKA and the increased incidence of DKA in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the question may be posed of whether there has been any change in the clinical or laboratory characteristics of the patients with DKA who present to the emergency department.”