Living with Diabetes

Blog

  • Yesterday was interesting

    I’ve been losing weight, eating less carbs, and as a result I need less insulin.

    In fact, my basal insulin was down to 4.5 units a day and I was only bolusing for food more than 10 carbs and the random correction.

    I wasn’t losing weight this week so I turned off almost all the basal insulin — I’m doing .05 units a day so I can keep the Omnipod running.

    That seemed to help, until Friday happened.

    Friday I was working in my new office (new to me), and got cold.  Also probably should have drank a shake.  Even though I got a sweatshirt, I was approaching 90 with a down arrow after 11:30.

    I’ve gone low before when I got cold, didn’t know that could happen when I didn’t have insulin on board.  I literally didn’t have any insulin in my body.

    Anyway, I drank a Profile shake and walked around for a bit, which is counter intuitive but it solves the being cold problem.  That seemed to fix it but I still want an answer from my endo.

    I’m not sure she understands the question, so I keep pushing.

  • Pfizer – 6 month followup

    Want to know the biggest side effect from the vaccine?

    You have to talk about it — did I mention I was in the Covid study?

    Anyway, I went in for my 6 month follow up — had to sign new forms, give two large vials of blood, and get an appointment for the one year follow up.

    It's crazy because the first blood draw was horrible and the two after have been easy.

  • Saw my Sleep Doctor

    I saw Dr. Luterman today, I see him yearly.  He’s been out of the office for 11 1/2 months.  He told me that coronavirus wasn’t going to be a big deal last year, that we get one of these every election cycle.

    He was happy with my numbers but agreed I should sleep more hours with the machine.  He isn’t doing fittings, and isn’t up today on masks, so we’ll need to leave it to Hope Home Medical, scheduled for next week.

    I think I need a mask that spreads the weight/force of the equipment further across my face.

  • Official! Over 20 pounds lost!

    I have been on Profile by Sanford since December 10 and have lost 20 pounds.  It hasn’t been hard to follow but I do a few more protein and fat, I think, because I don’t measure them.  If my weight loss slows I will. 

    I do move better once I get moving. 

  • Cornea Dystrophy and lack of sleep

    I’m thinking they are related.  Especially for me.

    Doing a search on the internet on both conditions doesn’t get any hits.

    This week, I didn’t sleep much — we had rolling blackouts, was worried about the house and everything else with the deep cold (for Dallas).

    By the fourth day, I had familiar eye pain.  I’ll say that the sleep has been getting better, with each night more hours of sleep and less wakening.

    The eye pain is getting better — pm eye ointment helps a lot if only to get rid of the crust I have in the morning. 

    Can’t wait until we’re all over this.

  • Fun Week

    It’s been a fun week.

    Somehow I lost 4 pounds. I hope I don’t find them again. I may be in trouble with my doctor.

    I’m back a Baylor Dental College as a patient. Last year I had started out as a patient with the hygiene clinic and I’m supposed to go in every 4 months. I think I was the only patient that wasn’t addressed by mom or dad there.

    My eyes are hurting. I really think that the cornea dystophy is a symptom of sleep. The storm and rolling blackout really affected my sleep. I saw a therapist yesterday and we focused on that and came up with a plan that worked. I slept but woke up every couple of hours.

  • Weight Milestone

    I currently see my lowest weight on my scale since 2017.  It may be lower, as it is very close to my lowest weight since Lap Band.  I got on the scale three times to see if it was really true.

    Profile by Sanford is a pretty easy plan for me.  First, it’s low carb.  I’ve always been able to do low carb.  Second, most of the meals are pretty easy to make.

    I’ve been doing their meal replacement shakes for breakfast which is a great substitute for my old breakfast: McDonald’s Mocha.

    I use their Mocha shake and add coffee and whipped cream to it.  Taste and texture is very similar and it’s been so long since I’ve done that.

    Lunch has been their Pizza crust with veggies and cheese.  If I get hungry I add a salad.

    Afternoon has been their protein bar and their fiber replacement, usually jello which I made when the pizza is in the oven.

    For dinner I make us something from emeals.  One night was taco soup which Rich really like.  Most of the time he likes the meals, and I tell him he is free to eat more carbs.

    One day a week I do lunch out — usually Nicoise salad with salmon and no potatoes.

    One day a week we do take out — Chili’s and I do their steak and asparagus.

    When I travel, I take my food with me, and stick to salads and Chili’s steak.

    Here’s some fun stats.

    I’ve gone from 80 units of insulin a day to 8.  

    I’ve been consistently losing 1-2 pounds a week.  

     

  • I was wrong on double masking

    I honestly thought wearing a cloth mask over the GIR mask would be a bad idea.  I thought it would make fogging worse.

    However, I needed to go to the TAMU Dental College today, and I have gotten a lot of push back on the GIR mask, with screening thinking it was a fake mask.

    Wearing the fabric mask over the GIR mask didn’t cause fogging and not one person questioned my mask.

    Sad, since the GIR is more effective than a fabric mask.

  • Double Masking?

    This concept drives me nuts, but I wear a much different mask from most.

    Mine is a silicon mask from http://gir.co

    It clings to the skin, giving a tight seal.  If I get any fogging, I just press the mask and it stays.  It doesn’t slip.  Even running my dogs at a dog show.

    They also sell a liner made out of material similar to that used to make N95.  The nice part of the liner is that it can go in any mask.  I have gone to a few places that didn’t like the silicon (my cornea doctor) so I wore a fabric mask with the liner in it.

    I do keep a fabric mask in the car, so I guess I’ll go through the motions.

    I’ve been vaccinated without knowing and have managed to NOT get infected.  I’ve only know for about a month and I haven’t changed the way I do things indoors.  I’m a bit more relaxed outside, depending on who I am with.

    By the way, if you want to double mask without any bulk, those liners from GIR.co are really great.

  • Things are going well with Profile by Sanford.
     
    I am steadily losing weight. We did a second measurement Wednesday and I have lost 9 inches. I have lost just over 15 pounds and am close to a third “decade”.
     
    I am now wearing the short band on my Apple Watch.
     
    It’s still very easy to do this way of eating.
     
    I've been living out of hampers since my bathroom stopped working.  I didn't realize that I had a whole bunch more clothing than I was wearning — some of it is really cute.  The nice thing is that the tops will work for a while.
     
    So I started cleaning out my closets.  I'm going to have Operation Kindness pick up my 3x clothing on their next pickup.  
     
    I also discovered a whole bunch of clothing that I bought when I was this almost small with Jenny Craig, so I have a whole wardrobe of athleisure that is waiting for me to lose a few more pounds!