Two BIG things, BIG!

• The BIG Blue Test event is happening! 
• November 11th 2012 @ Westminster ICE from 12-2pm. 
• Free skate rental to all participants, just mention the BIG Blue Test at the box office.

Please come out and participate, it's a great event that raises diabetes awareness, promotes exercise and provides diabetes supplies to those who cannot afford them. I'll see you there!

• I was accepted to the Nursing Program at Loma Linda University. I am so excited.  

Halloween Party!

I am just full of bright ideas right now! I left a hint note sitting in Mr. Harer's easy chair, listing items I would need to host a Halloween Party.

Mr. Harer actually agreed to host a Halloween party! This is a big deal, because he is very anti-holiday and refuses to dress up for Halloween. I am so excited! So here is what I'm thinking; since I know that Mr. Harer will not be happy with a costume party, I won't push my luck. I'd like to keep the front yard pretty and classy, very kid friendly. 

Image Credit

Like this but, with lace covered white pumpkins, and twigs covered in spider webs instead of hydrangea.

Image Credit

I am thinking I'd prefer party guest to enter through the back gate.  In the back yard I want to make it look like a haunted forest. 

Image Credit

I think I can use cardboard carpet rolls to make haunted trees in the backyard. I'd like to have a werewolf hiding in the haunted forest.

Image Credit

We are going to set up the big movie screen in the back yard and watch Sleepy Hollow and Red Riding Hood. 

Inside the house I want to decorate it like a witch's cabin. 

Image Credit

Image Credit

I am still trying to figure out food details, but I know I want to serve Diet Butterbeer!

Image Credit

I think it is going to be a great party, if I can get it all planned out and put together on time. I need to get invites sent out this weekend!

                

Am I Crazy?

Last year, Sister C and I participated in the BIG Blue Test, by skating at IceTown. Since then I've had the idea of hosting a BIG Blue Test event at the rink.

What I would like to have happen is, the rink would host the BIG Blue Test during a Friday night or Saturday public session. If the skater comes to skate wearing a blue shirt, they will get free skate rental, but if the skater participates in the BIG Blue Test, they will get a pass for a free public session! 

In order to make this happen, I need to;

1. Get the rink to agree
2. Find someone willing to donate all the testing supplies (meters, strips, lancets, alcohol swabs, cotton balls)
3. Find some Medical Assistants/Nurses who are willing to volunteer their time to do the finger sticks.
4. Advertise the event, via press releases, radio/tv news reports, flyers.... 

A big box electronic retailer has already said they will allow us to use laptops to log the skater's test data. 

So am I crazy? Will this work? Can I get everyone/everything necessary for a successful event? Any suggestions or volunteers are greatly appreciated! 

Fighting for balance

At the rink, I've been working on spirals, which are those lovely moves where the skater is on one leg with the other lifted behind her.

Sasha Cohen
 known for her amazing spiral

Mine look nothing like that, but they are getting closer to the passing standard, which is hip height.  

Trying to skate on one leg isn't the only balancing act I participate in at the rink. I also have to balance my blood sugars. Most type 1's know that exercise can sometimes raise blood sugars, and it is generally a bad idea to exercise if your blood sugar is over 250mg/dl. 

Skating definitely reeks havoc on my blood sugars. I've learned through trial and error, that I cannot skate if my blood sugar is over 200mg/dl, or I will end up very high. If my number is in range (120-130mg/dl) and I treat with glucose tabs, I will go high, but if I don't treat, I will go low. So whats a girl to do?

Thank goodness for my pump and CGM. I always use the capture event feature to mark my exercise, that way my endo can see any patterns that may occur while I am at the rink. I skate with a temporary basal rate, which is dependent on quite a few factors; time of day (I love 6am freestyle ice), IOB, Carbs in my system, and my blood sugar. The CGM helps me catch if my blood sugar starts to climb, or if I am going low. 

I can only skate my best when my blood sugar is balanced and I rely on my diabetes technology to help maintain that balance, the same way I rely on my blades and edges to keep me balanced on the ice.  

D-Blog Week - Saturday with D and me

"With a nod to the Diabetes 365 project, let’s grab our cameras again and share some more d-related pictures.  Post as many or as few as you’d like.  Feel free to blog your thoughts on or explanations of your pictures, or leave out the written words and let the pictures speak for themselves."


Join me and D as we recap our Saturday;

A great way to start the day!

Yes, I can eat that.

I can spell things with my BG readings :)
Pre-Skating #.

Exercise is good for me. Yes, I did run into the wall :(
See the nice pink pump on my hip, it is at 50% basal.

Housekeeping is great for lowering BG.

See?

Double down, time for a snack.

Yeah, I can eat that too. 

D-Blog Week - We grow up

"Let’s do a little advocating and post what we wish people knew about diabetes.  Have more than one thing you wish people knew?  Go ahead and tell us everything."


Type 1 is still commonly referred to as juvenile diabetes, but what people don't seem to know is that we grow up and diabetes doesn't go away. 


When I was diagnosed at age 3, I had to test my blood sugar multiple times per day and take insulin to survive. Now 27 years later, I still have to test my blood sugar multiple times per day and take insulin to survive. I will continue to do so until there is a cure. 

I loved Rainbow Brite when I was dx.

D-Blog Week - Conquest Pump

"Tell us what your Fantasy Diabetes Device would be?  Think of your dream blood glucose checker, delivery system for insulin or other meds, magic carb counter, etc etc etc.  The sky is the limit – what would you love to see?"

Meet Conquest, the learning pump. Answer a few simple questions and Conquest will begin to learn to manage your diabetes. 

• Conquest learns your eating habits including; meal times, nutrition content, and BG spikes. As well as exercise and hormone fluctuations.
• With the built in food index database, simply scan the barcode on your food or look it up.
• Get precise carb counts, fiber and fat data factored into your insulin dose. 
• Conquest knows your BG, thanks to integrated continuous glucose monitoring technology.
• One insertion site houses both insulin infusion and CGM. 
• Insertion site is nearly flat and about the size of a dime.
• Insertion is simple and painless, no insertion device necessary.
• Conquest will automatically adjust basal and bolus rates based on learned patterns.
• Conquest will e-mail your endocrinologist or CDE whenever adjustments are made.
• Conquest will shut off insulin delivery during hypoglycemia.
• Conquest can be controlled via smartphone or tablet. 
• At a glance logbooks, with charts and graphs.
• Estimated HbA1c
• Conquest is available in any color or custom cases.

D-Blog Week - Day 1 revisited!

Ha, I've thought of a blogger who is not known to the DOC (heck, I'm not sure if she even knows about the DOC!)

Please meet Isela of Sweet Rollercoaster.

I "met" Isela through a friend of mine who competed in pageants with me (Hi Cynthia @ Kait & Aud)
I was at an event for Operation Sweet Dreams, and I kept hearing a pump, but it wasn't mine. I searched and searched for the tell-tale tubing, but couldn't find any.
I thought I was going insane. When I mentioned it, Cynthia introduced me (via Facebook) to Isela, the source of the pump noises.

Isela is a T1 who enjoys cooking, crafting, photograpy, dancing and of course blogging. She is married to her high school sweetheart and has an adorable son.

D-Blog Week - Action Plan

"Yesterday we gave ourselves and our loved ones a big pat on the back for one thing we are great at.  Today let’s look at the flip-side.  We probably all have one thing we could try to do better.  Why not make today the day we start working on it.  No judgments, no scolding, just sharing one small thing we can improve so the DOC can cheer us on!"

Today's topic is much easier for me than yesterday's was, which is kind of sad.... 

I am notoriously bad at treating low BGs. Half the time I ignore it until my husband tells me to go treat, the other half of the time I treat with inappropriate foods. Usually something high fat, but super tasty. 

Some of my favorite "low" treats.

Starting today I am going to make an effort to treat my lows with glucose tabs. I have to be specific here, otherwise I will manipulate whatever I want to eat into magically becoming "fast acting" carbs. In addition to treating with glucose tabs, I am going to follow the rule of 15 to the best of my ability. 

One of favorite flavors of tabs (the other is watermelon)

D-Blog Week - Everything in it's place

As we all know, with diabetes comes lots of stuff; insulin, reserviors, infusion sets, etc... and each piece is uniquely important. If one little item were lost, it could become a matter of life and death.

I've lost and forgotten d-supplies before, so to prevent it from happening again I've organized all my supplies. Having everything in one place makes it easy for me to know when I am running low on supplies and to find exactly what I am looking for.

D-supply zone

When a new shipment of supplies arrives I put it away immediately. I always put my sof-serter and sen-serter back on the shelf where they belong. I put the CGM transmitter on the charger, so it is ready to go when I need it.

I am a D-supply Super Hero!

D-Blog Week - Find A Friend

"Think about the d-blogs you read that you think we may not know about and introduce us to one that you love!!  Let’s all find a new friend today!"


Yikes, this is hard, I think that the d-blogs I read are all well known in the DOC. I'm on the hunt for a new undiscovered d-blog. 

brb :)

Ok, I'm back and I found one.... okay well kind of. I searched Type 1 Diabetes on Blogher and this was the first blog I clicked on :)

Slaughterhouse Rules (sounds intriguing, right?)

But the author, writer, bloggeress?, blogger w/T1 is super adorable and even though her blog is not entirely dedicated to all things D, I am going to follow her anyways :)

Okay this all seems a little creepy actually, but there you have it; and I'm off to check out more blogs!

S'mores Please

Here at the hollow we are preparing for our annual road trip to Yosemite National Park. One of the things I look forward to most about camping is making S'mores. Thanks to the old school exchange diet of my youth I never got to have S'mores as a kid, so I've got years of S'mores to make up for!

However I don't like traditional S'mores, they're too sweet and make me feel like I am high even if I am not. So Mr. Harer and I created some variations on the traditional S'more.

The Dirty Fishbowl: (sounds tasty right?)

Ingredients: 

Pepperidge Farm Honey Goldfish Grahams

Kraft Jet-Puffed Original Marshmallows

Hershey's Chocolate Bar

Instructions:

1. Roast marshmallow over open flames, until golden brown. Do not burn. Also use real wood if possible, the artificial logs and charcoal put off chemicals and alter the taste of your marshmallow.
2. After you roast your marshmallow and pull it off the stick, there will be a hole where the stick was; Take 2-3 Goldfish Grahams and push them inside the marshmallow. 
3. Push 1 square (or more) of chocolate into the marshmallow. If you do step 2 & 3 quick enough, the marshmallow will be warm enough to melt the chocolate.
4. You now have a dirty fishbowl. Enjoy!

*Serving Size 2 Dirty Fishbowls = 20g carbs.

Bear in a Cave:

Ingredients: 

Nabisco Honey Teddy Grahams 

Kraft Jet-Puffed Original Marshmallows

Hershey's Chocolate Bar

Instructions:

1. Roast marshmallow over embers, until golden brown. Don't roast over open flame. Do not burn or catch your marshmallow on fire. 
2. After you roast your marshmallow and pull it off the stick, there will be a hole where the stick was; Push a Teddy Graham inside the roasted marshmallow. 
3. Push 1 square (or more) of chocolate into the marshmallow. If you do step 2 & 3 quick enough, the marshmallow will be warm enough to melt the chocolate.
4. You now have a Bear in the Cave. Enjoy!

*Serving Size 2 Bear in a Caves = 20g carbs.

Health Time Capsule

"Pretend you’re making a time capsule of you & your health focus that won’t be opened until 2112. What’s in it? What would people think of it when they found it?"

Why, just pretend? Let's make a real time capsule! I can't hold off until 2112 to open it, so my time capsule will be opened in 2022. Since I don't know where I'll be in 10 years, I am going to give my time capsule to my mother-in-law for safe keeping.

I'll start by putting a current photo with my "stats" (weight, age, years w/T1, etc...) written on the back, into the time capsule.

I added a picture of my pink pump, an infusion set, reservoir and sensor.

I put a page out of my log book.

and a button from the ice rink, with the elements I am currently working on.

Lastly I added this letter to my future self; (which will also be e-mailed to me on April 1st 2022, through FutureMe )

"Dear FutureMe, I am working really hard to keep you healthy so you'll be alive in 10 years to read this letter. I am working on a nursing degree so we'll have a secure job in the future and who know's maybe I played a part in curing diabetes? Do you still have Type 1 diabetes? I hope/wish/pray, that you don't. Diabetes has been so mean to you (is it ever nice?) you deserve a cure. If you aren't cured yet, I am sorry, but look how long you've survived, 37 years! That's pretty amazing, good job! Thanks for all your effort. I hope you've kept skating, it's good for you and you really enjoy it despite how frustrated you get. Maybe you've landed an axel? I trust that you were brave enough to take that BIG step and start a family. I know it was scary and you worried about finances and your health, but God intended for you to have children, I know it. Did you name your children Lindsey (girl) or Tennyson (boy), these are the names the are at the top of your favorite list. What has it been like to be married to Gerry for 18 years? My gosh that is a long time! I hope in those years you've learned to push each other less and embrace each other more. Give him a kiss for me. I hope you were able to mend your relationship with Carrie, and that she is no longer sick. It would really suck to survive 37 years with diabetes, but lose your sister to drugs and bad decisions. For that matter I hope you are close to all your siblings, they are a huge part of who you are. I hope you spoil all your nieces and nephews (if you have any nephews) It makes you so happy to send big packages to Evie and Rory. You have a very giving heart. Keep your faith, if you've lost it, RUN back to God. He will always accept you with open arms. I think I've gotten way off topic here, anyway. If you don't receive this letter by e-mail, there is a back-up inside your time capsule. Take care of yourself and those you love, Past Me. "

Free Shower Days = Torture Days + New Batteries = Happiness

Every so often, it occurs that my infusion set and sensor need to be changed on the same day. To many in the DOC these are known as "free shower" days, but to me they are torture days. I dislike having to stab myself twice, the new infusion sets almost always hurt on these occasions and the sensors tend to be gushers. It's definitely not something to look forward to.

Today was one of those torture days. I put off changing the set and inserting the site as long as I possibly could. Finally the pump began to whine "No Delivery" and I had to go downstairs and take care of it. About half way down the stairs the pump whines again; "really?, wtf? can't you just leave me alone, I am going to take care of it right now!" Uhh never mind it was a low battery alarm.

I love putting in new batteries, especially when it is time for a new reservoir also. There is something about having both the reservoir and battery icons full, that gives me a thrill. A new battery and full reservoir makes up for today being a torture day.

*not my pump, mine is pink!

Precious Cupcakes: JoAnn Gift Card Giveaway

Visit my friend's blog for a chance to win a $25 JoAnn Gift Card!

Precious Cupcakes: JoAnn Gift Card Giveaway 

Happy Birthday to Aurora!

Wishing my niece Aurora Elaine a very happy 3rd birthday. Auntie and Uncle love you very much and miss you. We hope you get everything your sweet little 3 year old heart wants.

Hope for a cure for Diabetes Day 2012

March 1 is "Hope for a cure for Diabetes" day. Write HOPE on your hands, and show your support for someone you love with diabetes ♥

I think events like this one spread throughout the year are very important to diabetes advocacy, and I am happy to participate.