Author: kathleen

Off to go to sleep for a few hours but wanted to let everyone know that my blood sugar has been staying between 120 and 180 so it's just about perfect.

The part I really dislike about not having the pump is the math.  It's funny, because when I checked groceries, I couldn't help it but add the numbers up in my head.  But this is, if you don't do it right you could die, or at the very least feel miserable for hours.  So I second guess everyone. 

Plus I'm out of practice.

Okay, I have a confession to make, and I don't know if other diabetes alert dogs work this way or not.  It's not so much that Dulce has a physical alert — I have tried to teach one but she doesn't work that way.  It's more that, she gets very hyper when my blood sugar is high, and very calm when it's right.  She does get very scared when it gets low.  So using her is more like having a very accurate continuous blood sugar monitor that doesn't have to be calibrated or have numbers. 

A couple of people at Planet Fitness have noticed, and they have been able to predict when I am going to leave.  It's actually MUCH better than alerts, but it takes a very talented dog listenering for it to work.

Seriously.

I starting taking a new swimming class and without thinking jumped right in. And man do things scream when they are dead.

They are shipping a new one but in the meantime:

My doctor is not on call and Monday is three days away. Of course, he wouldn't put with a doctor that didn't know their stuff and she based the calculations on his.

She did suggest Lantis but thinking #WWSHD have decide to dose every four hours instead of dealing with a new insulin and the cost.

She felt since I am a T2 the danger of diabetic coma is low and was even more assured with that decision when I reminded her I have a diabetes alert dog.

If you don't hear from me, you will know it didn't work.

I am already using my tech tools. The instructions are in OneNote and I am using that sheet as a worksheet to remind myself what to do.
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As a result of focusing on the husband's health, my own has been deteriorating.  Most of it has been eating.

I took a few steps to make that better.  I have been using my emwave2 device and when I don't have it on it, and I'm quiet, I focus on that type of breathing.  That helps the eating problem and the stress problem a lot.

I took control of my schedule — though I might be changing it.  I tutored another WyzAnt Tutor on Friday and it was good.  I am meeting with a family tomorrow night about a long term tutoring assignment.  I have mixed emotions about it.

So the weight is going down.

Other good things — I got a receipt for the Texas Teacher Retirement System showing that I have my 24 hours.  Not sure what the next steps are — it may be done.  Just waiting for their computer to spit out forms.

Johns Hopkins is going well, I have about 15 students who are progressing nicely.  I seem to be adding students at an equal rate to losing them.  I know that enrollment will drop in the fall.

All in all its good.

Many of you might remember that one of the things that lead up to my having a complete meltdown both physically and mentally was Express Scripts.

No, seriously they were a major contributor. 

The insurance plan I was on, had things set up so that we HAD to use Express Scripts for anything long term.  Or at least that was the way everything came across.

Well, Pill Pack to the rescue.  Not only do they package everything in a convenient box and everything every two weeks, but they do all the pharmacy benefit fighting for you.

For example, when I needed Celebrex and the insurance company was insisting on killing my doctor with paperwork — called a prior authorization — Pill Pack stepped in and handles it.  They have even hunt down manufacturer programs that reduce the cost.

Now I still get my insulin from the local pharmacy, just for the convenience factor all around but when I do have them ship insulin they do it in a cooler with gel packs the right temperature.  Express Scripts put the vials in a package, surrounded it with frozen gel packs and hoped for the best.

And best yet, the Pill Packs have always arrived in time.  There were a few times I wasn't sure that they would get to me in time, but yes, every two weeks I have pills to start when I need them.

They do have a couple of options for traveling and vacations. They can either ship early or they can ship to your vacation site. I haven't tried that yet, but I have full confidence.

Here' their website:  http://www.pillpack.com

For most of my adult life, other people have controlled my time.

That's okay when you have an office to go to, and you are getting paid for a set amount of time and work.  It hasn't worked for me for the past few months.

My weight is going up and my A1C sucks.  So I'm taking control.  First, I've set office hours for CTY, and I'm also setting two days off — Tuesday and Wednesday.  Now that doesn't mean I won't respond to students those days, and in fact will still do email etc.  Those are the days I am going to do doctor's appointments, etc. and I'm not going to tutor those days. 

It also means that I'm going to go to the gym / pool in the early afternoon.  That means I don't need as many calories in the morning and can use my lunch calories for the workout.

Doctor's appointments, hair appointments, etc are going to happen those days.  Those are going to be days I focus on me. 

I have already tried a few days like this and it is working out well.

I had tried wrapping my head around her working while I was swimming, and with the opening the new pool in Farmers Branch, I finally did.

They have an indoor lap pool and therapy pool.  It's wonderful.  She sits in a cage outside the pool.  The first few days she had trouble scenting me — I could tell because she would whine and even howl.  I would stop by her cage and talk to her.  It only took a few days to figure it out. 

I've even been able to do water aerobics — really fun, but way to structured for me — especially timing right now in my life.

My routine right now, is to do some Johns Hopkins work, do some housework, then go to Planet Fitness for strength and cardio, then the pool.  The pool is just a couple of blocks from Planet Fitness.

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Dulce is working again

My husband has started his 3rd week back to work after major surgery and physical rehab.

I'm trying to stop focusing on him, and start taking care of myself.  I've upped my game at the gym and have added the pool.  I saw my endo last week, had a horrible A1C, and he did some major pump tweaks that help.

I still need to be focusing on checking my blood sugar throughout the day.  I tend to stop in the evenings.

I'm going to take a small trip this weekend.  I have the first two stops already planned.  I have a lot of travel in my head, just need to take the time, and do it.

Today, I'm going to try water aerobics — and finally seeing my primary care physician.

I started using Dulce again a few weeks ago and she has upped her game.

Yesterday we were at the endo's and she alerted on another patients high blood sugar.  Today she alerted on another person's low blood sugar.

Really interesting and I am not sure how I feel about it.  I kind of liked it when she only alerted on me.

I am using my diabetes alert dog again.

I stopped because public reactions to her were affecting my sleep. Encounters with people who didn't get it were disturbing me. Besides, I could afford CGMS.

Things have changed. Current insurance doesn't cover them and they cost almost $300 out of pocket.

Dulce is hanging out at the house and available.

The gym people love her and miss her. New tea place that just opened adore her. No problems at any place. We were even at a Starbucks in line in front of two constables and neither cared.

In fact, one asked to visit with her.

She has awesome public skills still. Right now she is chilling on a blanket in front of an exercise bike.

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