My Sincerest Apologies

I’ve been a pretty bad blogger, I know. I haven’t posted since my JDRF interview. And, full disclosure…I was pretty disheartened by it. The JDRF is a great organization that does a huge amount of work for Type 1 diabetics every day. I know I don’t need to tell you that. I am just trying to acknowledge it in an attempt to not sound bitter when I discuss my interview. I was just very passionate about starting Diabuddies, and when I kept receiving e-mails and an interview offer from the JDRF I got my hopes up that I would be able to work there when I graduated. They we excited about my idea. They even wanted to do it, with me running the entire thing. Its just that they offered me a 40 hr/week unpaid internship to do it. And I would have had to pay the state fees and taxes on the organization out of my own pocket. I completely understand that JDRF like most non-profits doesn’t really have the budget to just create a position and program for some just graduated hopeful. However, I have to pay for insulin, not to mention rent and there is just no way that I would ever be able to take that offer. So I got kind of depressed, because I felt like all the time and effort and excitement that I had went to waste. I feel this way because I think that newly diagnosed diabetics would have really benefited from my idea, and I know that I will not have the time or financial means to do it until I have an actual job. It also just added a lot of stress for me, because now I have been applying for jobs like crazy and honestly have no idea what I am going to do when I graduate in 3 weeks.

That in addition to finishing my honors thesis, (which I am so grateful to those of you who helped me with that) doing finals, and raising money for the JDRF walk left me completely exhausted. Every time I opened my blog I would get anxiety that I could be doing some other school work.

However, with that aside, I do want to say that my dad, Nick and I raised $585 for the JDRF and completed the 5k Walk to Cure Diabetes last Saturday! So many people reached out to support me in this, and I am so grateful. It is truly inspiring to me, because my original goal was to raise $200, and then when people were so interested I raised the goal to $300. I kept raising it at small increments as people donated, but I never imagined that I would approach $600! This to me was a true testament of how supportive people have been in my recent endeavors. I hope that those who donated to me who do not know about Type 1 diabetes took the time to read about it. It was also cool because I was the newest diabetic there, having been diagnosed in September.

This is my dad and me at the walk! My shirt says "Divabetic since 2011" His says "DiaDad since 1990"

Nick's shirt reads "Type Awesome since 1988"

 

Fitness wise, I have been keeping up with that. I’ve been at the gym or running from home at least 4 or 5 times a week. How have your fitness goals been going?I have been experiencing weird trends with my BG, which I don’t know whether to attribute to stress or not. When I started exercising, my insulin needs decreased and I had to turn down my basal permanently because I was setting a temp basal almost every night just to wake up between 90 and 100. But now, my exercise habits have remained the same, yet I have been waking up in the 130s-150s. I turned my basal back up to what it used to be, but I don’t really understand the change. I would prefer to use as little insulin as possible so I am sort of disappoint about it…

I finally completed my Honors Thesis, and I turned in the final draft last night. A HUGE thank you to anyone who participated. I will be searching for publishers, and hopefully be able to send out the paper in a few months. Though it is academic writing, I think anyone who wears a pump would enjoy reading it!

I’m Sick

I caught a cold from Nick. I have used so many tissues I find it hard to believe that there could possibly be anything left in my nose, so I continue to be surprised with a sneeze every 2 seconds. Obviously, I did not work out today.

However, I did have my interview with the JDRF. I will have to write about that later, as I am not sure how I feel about it.

I know I owe you guys a Dexcom review. (heads up, I did buy one.) So I will be doing that shortly.

I haven’t had any kind of sickness and diabetes at the same time before. My sugars have been totally normal though. I know that for a lot of people that isn’t the case.

How do I make this go away faster?

Endo Nurse

At my endocrinologist appointment yesterday, they wanted to check if my meter was working correctly since I will get three totally different results when I run high sometimes. (I have a really cheap meter because I have to pay out of pocket for test strips.)

So a nurse comes in with the office meter and is priming it. I just thought it would be stupid for her to check it for me…I mean come on, I do that myself 10 times a day. Plus she was taking sort of a long time and individually alcohol swabbing all of my fingers, even though we’d only use one. So I offered to do it. And she gladly handed it to me. As I pressed the lancet to my finger she squeezed her eyes shut and turned away in disgust. And I said, “It bothers you?” She responded, “I can do it if I have to, but I don’t like to look at the blood.” Then afterward she insisted that I wash my hands AND use an alcohol swab.

I was SHOCKED.

1)WHY do you work as a nurse at an endocrinologist’s office if you can’t check people’s sugar?????

2) Why do you work as a nurse if a tiny drop of blood freaks you out so much?

3) WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?

As a diabetic I check my sugar in public multiple times per week (in class, at restaurants, at the gym, when I feel low in the middle of a supermarket etc.) Yea, in the beginning I was self-conscious that I was bothering people. I used to be really grossed out by blood too. I get that it bothers some people, but I also don’t feel like I should have to feel shame about my disease. Additionally, if I feel like my sugar is low, I don’t care what people think, I am not going to take the time to go to a bathroom when I can just check where I am standing. 99.9% of the time people have no reaction. On the rare occasion that they do, I ap0logize and very obviously use my hand sanitizer in front of them afterward.

BUT A NURSE, AT AN ENDOCRINOLOGIST’S OFFICE?!?!?! COME ON!

Thoughts?

A1C!

Hey guys! I hope you had a good weekend! I did! (Except my pump ran out of insulin while I was out…you know how that goes.)

Today I had my endocrinologist appointment and I got back my A1C. (The measure of average blood glucose for the past 3 months.) It was a 6.0 which roughly translates to 120 mg/dl average blood sugar…which is a normal reading for a non-diabetic! I was stoked as my last A1c was 6.6 at about 2 1/2 months after diagnosis and before that it was 12 and I was in the hospital. Getting a good A1C feels to me like when you look at a scale and you lost 10 lbs. Beyond that, my triglycerides and cholesterol were really low and the doctor asked me if I work out a lot because my numbers indicated that I did. As diabetics, we have the opportunity to really monitor our systems so much more closely than the average person. It is amazing to me to see how my lifestyle pays off on a regular basis! (There’s a plus side to diabetes!)

I also found a new work out buddy. (Hey Lauren!) And she really holds me accountable as I got up at the butt-crack of dawn this morning to meet her at the “Y.”

My doctor pretty much told me that doing a juice fast is a ridiculously stupid idea. I think I could get a way with substituting one meal a day with it, but I guess I have to give up on that one.

This week, I challenge you to “plank” every day and hold it for as long as you can! This is a great exercise for your abs. Time yourself, and I bet that by the end of the week you will have extended your time by so much! Let me know how you do with it! I will post my times here as well!

Now I am going to go bury my head in thesis writing…Have a great Monday!

Nick made a Type 1 Meme!

I recommended the Type 1 diabetes meme Facebook page last week. It is so funny. Nick was inspired to make a meme because of it too! I<3 him!

 

Yummy Recipes and Killer Workouts!

Today I made these two recipes from blogilates.com.

Cream of Asparagus Soup and Roasted Chickpeas

I modified the soup by making it with vegetable stock and topping it with a bit of Parmesan cheese. It was DELICIOUS. However, I think next time I would make it with slightly less stock and more yogurt as it wasn’t very creamy.

Yum!

It is asparagus season, so this is a great time of year to make this! When I was in Switzerland, I had white asparagus with Hollandaise sauce…which believe it or not is an extreme delicacy there. This is a great way to have a low carb and low fat dinner with tons of protein! I bolused 15 carbs for a whole bowl! And it was extremely filling!

The roasted chickpeas were literally the best snack ever! I am going to buy at least 5 cans of chickpeas and make a huge batch. Nick and I ate the whole bowl of them in 10 min. I didn’t leave them in the oven long enough, so they weren’t crunchy enough. Next time I will leave them in for longer. I didn’t use any oil, except for on the pan that I cooked them in so that the chickpeas wouldn’t stick. They are a great snack substitute with barely any carbs and no fat, and I think they are way better than potato chips! (Plus you can eat a lot more of them!)

Today I did an INSANE 45 minutes ab workout. I am going to be so sore tomorrow! Then I did 15 minutes of thighs and 20 minutes of suicide running. I feel awesome! I also went shopping and picked out lots of dresses for graduation…I may post them as I need advice on which to actually wear.

I am having hesitation about doing the liquid juice diet. I decided to substitute lunch for a 30 carb beet, apple, carrot, spinach juice mix. I was super low with in 2 hours. I think that the juice makes my sugar spike and then drop so fast because of how it is absorbed. Therefore, I don’t know how I could only drink juice. I may bolus for half of what the juice is actually worth, or turn down my basals while I do it. I have an endocrinologist appointment on Monday, so I may ask for advice about that then.

Lastly, I just wanted to share with you guys the new Type 1 Disney character! Check this out, so cool!

I hope you are having an awesome Friday!

Fitness Day Four

Hey guys!

Yesterday was such a long day! I got up, did my training after eating a left over cheesecake muffin. My BG was 122 after eating and running. I drove 2 hours to Gainesville for a meeting that ended up not happening. I visited my favorite diabetes RN at the University of Florida Student health Care Center, and then I headed off to the Undergraduate Research Symposium to display the project I have been working on for the last year.

I'm a nerd.

There were some other interesting projects on display. My personal favorite was, of course, the one about the artificial pancreases that had been implanted in diabetic mice. (Half were cured of diabetes, the others not so much.)

Anyway, then I drove all the way back to Orlando and met Nick and his coworkers for a drink. When I finally got home at 11:00 p.m. I had to clean Addy’s poop off of the floor. I went low 3 times because I never really had time to eat. the I over treated because I was worried about it happening again. However, when I went to bed my sugar was 110.

So today I took it pretty easy…meaning that after I got out of class I “accidentally” fell asleep for 3 1/2 hours.

Though I have been doing my running, and eating lots of healthy recipes (I am about to make one which I will share with you tomorrow), I literally haven’t had ANY other time to do strength training or anything.

Just a tip for all of the other pumpers out there about basal rates. I know some of you probably do this, but after talking to some women who have told me they get really nervous about lows in the night or with exercise, I figured I would put this out there for those of you who haven’t thought about it. (For all you non-diabetics, a “basal” is the steady stream of insulin that we get throughout the day, whereas “bolus” is a boost of insulin we get for food. On the pump, the basal rate is automatic and we direct the pump to give us a bolus. On shots, there are separate shots for both of these things.) Anyway…when I don’t feel like eating and its 11:00 p.m. and I am about to go to bed, my sugar is usually in normal range. Then I get paranoid that I am going to have a low blood sugar in the middle of the night. So now what I do is set a “temporary basal” for 65-75% of my regular basal rate. I wake up in normal range 90% of the time with this. And if I am out of range, my sugar has ALWAYS been 130-140. I have never gone low after doing this. I also set temp. basals when I exercise, which is especially pertinent to those of you who are working out a lot like me. This is one of the biggest benefits of the pump. After you inject a long-acting insulin basal, you just have to deal with whatever the outcome is for your sugar. With a pump, I can decrease how much insulin I am getting whenever I want. I never snack before bed, as most people with diabetes think you need to do to keep steady overnight blood sugars. That would just cause me to gain weight. So temporary basal rates are the best thing ever to me!

Tomorrow I hope to get through at least half of the rough draft for my thesis. (Finally I will get to analyze all of the awesome date that you guys sent me!)

How are your fitness goals going??