Hockey has taken over my life.
Saturday first game - 10-5; I played awful, my D was also awful.
Saturday second game - 5-3; I didn't play amazingly, my team won but I wasn't playing for them...
Tuesday - 7-4; I played well and we lost, not a big deal, I really enjoyed this game and made some awesomesauce saves.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Today
Update: No pump as of yet. It's at the UPS depot. My mom will be getting it sometime today, although she has been sidetracked by a very unfortunate occurrence.
A car driven by a kid from my school rear-ended a bus from my school this afternoon. The two teens who were in the car were killed, and it's very likely I know them well. [I have 800 kids in my high school... I can put a face to almost every name.] The kids who were in the bus are okay, but obviously there's a horrible mental aspect to deal with; same with the bus driver, who is a very nice lady who I feel very sorry for right now.
I want to know who they are, but at the same time, I don't. Tomorrow won't be a good day, and break will have this cast of despair over it. When we come back, it'll hit us again, realizing that we're two less, and that although we've had more than our fair share of tragedy in the recent years, we're not invulnerable.
You don't know them, but all the same, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Mine is a small community, where everyone knows everyone... Thank you. While you're at it, remember your family and give thanks for them.
A car driven by a kid from my school rear-ended a bus from my school this afternoon. The two teens who were in the car were killed, and it's very likely I know them well. [I have 800 kids in my high school... I can put a face to almost every name.] The kids who were in the bus are okay, but obviously there's a horrible mental aspect to deal with; same with the bus driver, who is a very nice lady who I feel very sorry for right now.
I want to know who they are, but at the same time, I don't. Tomorrow won't be a good day, and break will have this cast of despair over it. When we come back, it'll hit us again, realizing that we're two less, and that although we've had more than our fair share of tragedy in the recent years, we're not invulnerable.
You don't know them, but all the same, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Mine is a small community, where everyone knows everyone... Thank you. While you're at it, remember your family and give thanks for them.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Insulin Pump is not here.
1. Diet Mountain Dew is the best thing in the universe.
2. Christmas cookies are not good things to keep in the house.
3. My Ping came to my house and left today!!! Nobody was home and somebody has to sign for it... Hopefully they'll come after I get home from school tomorrow... (because nowhere does it say you have to be an adult to sign for it)
2. Christmas cookies are not good things to keep in the house.
3. My Ping came to my house and left today!!! Nobody was home and somebody has to sign for it... Hopefully they'll come after I get home from school tomorrow... (because nowhere does it say you have to be an adult to sign for it)
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| YOU WILL BE MINE! |
Monday, December 5, 2011
What's New
I have issues writing stuff when there are other people around me. My mom is on the phone with our lovely medical supplier right now [I think], so I wasn't going to write a post but I haven't in a while so I did. /awfulrunonsentence
Our medical supplier got purchased by some other company recently [read a month or two ago] and they are ridiculously slow now. It takes at least two weeks to get a shipment of strips out, after we call and tell them to ship them. We ordered strips right after [the company] was purchased and they didn't get here for two and a half weeks - when I had like one vial left. Not happy.
They want to rip us/our insurance company off by putting us on auto shipment and sending us enough diabetes garbage to last a nuclear apocalypse. I don't need 800 IV3000 sticky things! I already have 300! Same with the IV prep wipes and the random accouterments that come with diabetes. All I need are my strips and infusion sets and cartridges. NO MORE LANCETS!
Next bit of randomness. I am getting a lime green Animas Ping! I dunno when or if it has been shipped, but I should be getting it soon. Which is good because the warranty on my Minimed is over as of today.
The ridiculous thing is that my insurance company would not pay for a new pump until 4 years had elapsed/my warranty was up/it was damaged. It's been damaged for some time, with some cracks and such in the cartridge thing and the battery cap thing; that was enough for them, I guess, but it's still stupid. They didn't buy me the last one I had [current minimed]; that was a different insurance company.
Nice thing is we don't have to pay the copay as Animas has a rebate program going on - they will reimburse your copay up to $700 if you have a pump already, even if it's not Animas! So that was a happy day.
We also happened to win a Target gift card through a study we did [diabetes and adolescents and transferring care], which we found out about on the same day; was a good day.
We are dissecting cats in Anatomy and Physiology. Right now we're just doing muscles, but eventually we will get to organs and such, at which point I will find its pancreas and take a picture of myself with it.
We won our first hockey game of the season 5-3 on Saturday. I have slightly messed up my knee, which is disappointing, but I can deal with it.
Our medical supplier got purchased by some other company recently [read a month or two ago] and they are ridiculously slow now. It takes at least two weeks to get a shipment of strips out, after we call and tell them to ship them. We ordered strips right after [the company] was purchased and they didn't get here for two and a half weeks - when I had like one vial left. Not happy.
They want to rip us/our insurance company off by putting us on auto shipment and sending us enough diabetes garbage to last a nuclear apocalypse. I don't need 800 IV3000 sticky things! I already have 300! Same with the IV prep wipes and the random accouterments that come with diabetes. All I need are my strips and infusion sets and cartridges. NO MORE LANCETS!
Next bit of randomness. I am getting a lime green Animas Ping! I dunno when or if it has been shipped, but I should be getting it soon. Which is good because the warranty on my Minimed is over as of today.
The ridiculous thing is that my insurance company would not pay for a new pump until 4 years had elapsed/my warranty was up/it was damaged. It's been damaged for some time, with some cracks and such in the cartridge thing and the battery cap thing; that was enough for them, I guess, but it's still stupid. They didn't buy me the last one I had [current minimed]; that was a different insurance company.
Nice thing is we don't have to pay the copay as Animas has a rebate program going on - they will reimburse your copay up to $700 if you have a pump already, even if it's not Animas! So that was a happy day.
We also happened to win a Target gift card through a study we did [diabetes and adolescents and transferring care], which we found out about on the same day; was a good day.
We are dissecting cats in Anatomy and Physiology. Right now we're just doing muscles, but eventually we will get to organs and such, at which point I will find its pancreas and take a picture of myself with it.
We won our first hockey game of the season 5-3 on Saturday. I have slightly messed up my knee, which is disappointing, but I can deal with it.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
So many things, so little time
I have been meaning to write a blog post since I got back, but it's only just now happened.
Flying to Houston - no problem, didn't even tell them I had diabetes. Insulin and everything went through x-ray just fine, empty pockets so Dex went through with my carry-on. I walked through x-ray thingy and was the first one out in my group. Did fly out of my local smallish airport though.
In Houston - no problems. I ran high pretty much all the time, because I switched basal rates, until the last day when I decided to screw it. Changed pump a bit early twice because we spent all of the day away from the hotel and I didn't want to risk it. Ate a lot of carbs:
They had to empty the mini-bar for me [never mind the fact that we're three unaccompanied minors in the room] so I could put my insulin in there. Thoroughly enjoyed reading the price lists on the food in the minibar though... $3 for a Snickers. Dex didn't bother my roommates, only went off once or twice in the night. Only had to charge it once over the four day trip. Kept it on in the plane.
Trip back from Houston - We get in the line at the airport [Houston Hobby if you care] and I glance down towards security... Then I grimace. I ask my chaperon if those are the same things they had when we left; she agreed with me that they were not just x-rays. Full body scanners, fun. [insert witty comment about leaving me in Houston here] I get up to the line, throw my stuff through the x ray, and tell the guy I can't go through it because I have type 1 diabetes and an insulin pump. He tells me to stand in a sort of awkward place [I'm in front of the scanner thingy so people kind of think I'm in line...] and I wait for about five minutes for someone to come over to give me a pat-down. I get taken to the back of the security thing [wouldn't you want the potentially sketchy person away from the secure area?] and the lady does it - nobody was annoyed or uncourteous to me.
Was just kind of stupid that I couldn't go through the scanner and had to have a pat-down just because that's the only technology they let passengers through [employees can go through the metal detector.] Oh and also because I had more than 3 oz of unfrozen ice pack gels in my bag with my insulin and they said nothing about it. Seriously folks, please at least be consistent?
Besides my trip, I've got lots of hockey. Expect a nifty picture of my in mah gear soon, and probably not a whole lot of blog posts - three days a week hockey takes over my life now!
Flying to Houston - no problem, didn't even tell them I had diabetes. Insulin and everything went through x-ray just fine, empty pockets so Dex went through with my carry-on. I walked through x-ray thingy and was the first one out in my group. Did fly out of my local smallish airport though.
In Houston - no problems. I ran high pretty much all the time, because I switched basal rates, until the last day when I decided to screw it. Changed pump a bit early twice because we spent all of the day away from the hotel and I didn't want to risk it. Ate a lot of carbs:
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| One of many giant cookies consumed |
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| Potato=Carbs + large cookie + bacon! (on potato!) |
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| Obscenely large pretzel. |
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| The ever-present Diet Coke, which I couldn't get in any vending machines/at the convention despite Coke being a sponsor. |
Trip back from Houston - We get in the line at the airport [Houston Hobby if you care] and I glance down towards security... Then I grimace. I ask my chaperon if those are the same things they had when we left; she agreed with me that they were not just x-rays. Full body scanners, fun. [insert witty comment about leaving me in Houston here] I get up to the line, throw my stuff through the x ray, and tell the guy I can't go through it because I have type 1 diabetes and an insulin pump. He tells me to stand in a sort of awkward place [I'm in front of the scanner thingy so people kind of think I'm in line...] and I wait for about five minutes for someone to come over to give me a pat-down. I get taken to the back of the security thing [wouldn't you want the potentially sketchy person away from the secure area?] and the lady does it - nobody was annoyed or uncourteous to me.
Was just kind of stupid that I couldn't go through the scanner and had to have a pat-down just because that's the only technology they let passengers through [employees can go through the metal detector.] Oh and also because I had more than 3 oz of unfrozen ice pack gels in my bag with my insulin and they said nothing about it. Seriously folks, please at least be consistent?
Besides my trip, I've got lots of hockey. Expect a nifty picture of my in mah gear soon, and probably not a whole lot of blog posts - three days a week hockey takes over my life now!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Houston!
I'm flying out to Houston on Wednesday for the 52nd Girl Scout National Convention! So I won't be here, or writing blog posts or anything, for a while. Expect pictures when I get back though, or an angry rant about the TSA. I'm hoping for the best though.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
"Lethal medical device hack," MY ARM!
Ugh. I saw this on Twitter today.
I wish the people who wrote and publicized these sorts of things knew what they were doing when they did them. Because of a few highly unlikely coincidences in the pump itself, a questionably intelligent person was able to hack into the pump and cause problems.
There are a huge number of issues with this still. Even though you don't need the pump's serial, you still have to have the remote option turned on [as we know the pump in question is a Medtronic - and this probably doesn't hold for the Animas Ping, see below]. Who really uses that? It doesn't come standard with the pump, and is $150.
Secondly, you'd have to be really unobservant to notice that a) your pump is alarming [in the case of suspending it] or b) that it's delivering a bolus when you haven't eaten anything. Seriously, we use this stuff too often to not notice when something's off, with ourselves or our devices.
Third, they refer to the max bolus as 25 units. I don't know about you, but my max bolus is set to 15u, and I can't exceed that; it alarms. 15 units for me, is 120 carbs - about four pb&j sandwiches, or a really large meal [dinner+cake+ice cream!]. This isn't unrealistic, but I only hit it when I've been running high and have just eaten.
Hopefully, those with high sensitivity to insulin have this threshold set much lower, even if only to protect themselves from their own human error potential. I would make a presumption that those who have not changed it would not have a huge issue with a 25 unit bolus - their insulin needs make this a reasonable bolus for them.
I don't know about you, but I think this quote in particular is hilarious:
To reference the other main device on the market - the Ping. Or even the DexCom, the two operate similarly. The Ping comes with one meter-remote and one pump. The two are factory set to communicate with each other and only each other. There have been studies done with ridiculous numbers of these device pairs in a room to test cross-contamination, or having a pump pick up a data value not meant for it [they operate on the same frequency, so it would happen eventually]. There are actually really pretty graphs in the back of the Dex user manual on this. In short, it doesn't happen too often. So even if you were just sending out jamming signals, you wouldn't do much damage.
I believe that the Ping is unique in its transmitting method, in that while there's a limited option [one meter], that option gives you more security. The Dex is a bit sketchier, as you can change your transmitter ID, but you shouldn't be able to receive false data; you're not supposed to treat solely on that data anyway. I honestly have no idea about the Omnipod... If the pod only receives transmissions from the pdm... I'll give it some thought.
With some intelligence applied to your diabetes devices, there's no reason that any of this garbage should cause concern. Unfortunately, not everyone who gets to decide things about our devices is that smart. The FDA doesn't know a thing about diabetes and the people who get the devices that companies make.
We use our diabetes crap too often to not notice if someone or something's been messing with it. We have safety checks built in to let us notice something's happening. We're not stupid, and a lot more knowledgeable about our disease than those who decide what devices we can and can't have. I'd like to make a very angry statement to those who have decided to expound this 'flaw' to the world but will withhold it.
Seriously though. Go build the next DexCom or something. Don't waste my time ruining my life and eating all of my steak.
I wish the people who wrote and publicized these sorts of things knew what they were doing when they did them. Because of a few highly unlikely coincidences in the pump itself, a questionably intelligent person was able to hack into the pump and cause problems.
There are a huge number of issues with this still. Even though you don't need the pump's serial, you still have to have the remote option turned on [as we know the pump in question is a Medtronic - and this probably doesn't hold for the Animas Ping, see below]. Who really uses that? It doesn't come standard with the pump, and is $150.
Secondly, you'd have to be really unobservant to notice that a) your pump is alarming [in the case of suspending it] or b) that it's delivering a bolus when you haven't eaten anything. Seriously, we use this stuff too often to not notice when something's off, with ourselves or our devices.
Third, they refer to the max bolus as 25 units. I don't know about you, but my max bolus is set to 15u, and I can't exceed that; it alarms. 15 units for me, is 120 carbs - about four pb&j sandwiches, or a really large meal [dinner+cake+ice cream!]. This isn't unrealistic, but I only hit it when I've been running high and have just eaten.
Hopefully, those with high sensitivity to insulin have this threshold set much lower, even if only to protect themselves from their own human error potential. I would make a presumption that those who have not changed it would not have a huge issue with a 25 unit bolus - their insulin needs make this a reasonable bolus for them.
I don't know about you, but I think this quote in particular is hilarious:
"Three or four units [of insulin] would be a serious problem. Ten units would probably send me to hospital for sure. The whole reservoir, when it's full, holds 300 units, and that's between a three and a four day supply," said a diabetic introduced as Anthony, who is fitted with the same model pump.What? Anthony must be a kid then, or really skinny. Probably not typical of your average PWD. Four units? That's a snack. Ten? Lunch. [and I'm your [maybe not] average 5'6", 170lb American]
To reference the other main device on the market - the Ping. Or even the DexCom, the two operate similarly. The Ping comes with one meter-remote and one pump. The two are factory set to communicate with each other and only each other. There have been studies done with ridiculous numbers of these device pairs in a room to test cross-contamination, or having a pump pick up a data value not meant for it [they operate on the same frequency, so it would happen eventually]. There are actually really pretty graphs in the back of the Dex user manual on this. In short, it doesn't happen too often. So even if you were just sending out jamming signals, you wouldn't do much damage.
I believe that the Ping is unique in its transmitting method, in that while there's a limited option [one meter], that option gives you more security. The Dex is a bit sketchier, as you can change your transmitter ID, but you shouldn't be able to receive false data; you're not supposed to treat solely on that data anyway. I honestly have no idea about the Omnipod... If the pod only receives transmissions from the pdm... I'll give it some thought.
With some intelligence applied to your diabetes devices, there's no reason that any of this garbage should cause concern. Unfortunately, not everyone who gets to decide things about our devices is that smart. The FDA doesn't know a thing about diabetes and the people who get the devices that companies make.
We use our diabetes crap too often to not notice if someone or something's been messing with it. We have safety checks built in to let us notice something's happening. We're not stupid, and a lot more knowledgeable about our disease than those who decide what devices we can and can't have. I'd like to make a very angry statement to those who have decided to expound this 'flaw' to the world but will withhold it.
Seriously though. Go build the next DexCom or something. Don't waste my time ruining my life and eating all of my steak.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Flu Shot
I'm working on a project in graphic design about diabetes. I probably mentioned that in the last post. I got my flu shot today, in the same arm as my Dex [I had my infusion set in my other arm... kind of forgot about the flu shot].
I had something awesome I was going to say, but I've forgotten it.
I had something awesome I was going to say, but I've forgotten it.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Homecoming
This week is homecoming at school. I am not particularly fond of homecoming. It is a waste of a week, in my opinion. Monday night was our powderpuff football game; seniors won! It's flag, but I got tackled... On offensive line, when the juniors were in possession... It was odd, and I still don't know who tackled me.
We decorated the hallways last Friday and Saturday, let me show you some pictures:
I absolutely suck at making these nice and formatted... To the left is clearly SQUIDWARD! Right, we have SpongeBob's pineapple and Gary, then Sandy and spongebob below... The Wild thornberries, Otto from Rocked Power, and our bucket of slime.
Anyway. I've been working on a piece about diabetes in art, and I should have it sort of done by Friday, so expect that. Nothing else to say as of now.
We decorated the hallways last Friday and Saturday, let me show you some pictures:
I absolutely suck at making these nice and formatted... To the left is clearly SQUIDWARD! Right, we have SpongeBob's pineapple and Gary, then Sandy and spongebob below... The Wild thornberries, Otto from Rocked Power, and our bucket of slime.
Anyway. I've been working on a piece about diabetes in art, and I should have it sort of done by Friday, so expect that. Nothing else to say as of now.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Fog Sucks
I have to talk about the week in diabetes today, because tomorrow is no D day [too lazy to link to the blog... my bg is 68...]
It was pretty okay this week, until this morning. I woke up around 200 and it didn't go down. I didn't do anything [besides put in some correction boluses] until lunch [at 12:30] because I noticed it was then 330... So I bolused an obscene amount [for me], 15 units, because that's the max bolus [for a bg of 330 and 83g carb, it was 15.4u actually].
My site was in my side-butt, and had been kind of painful in the morning. I went to check it, and there was lovely blood and all that on it. Ran to my locker to get spare infusion set, Iv prep wipe, and meter. Put in new set. Went back to table. Hooked pump to the other set. Tested. 330. Punched in correction and lunch bolus, like 10.4 units [it threw out the sugar correction and I didn't even notice/care]. Bought powerade zero in lunch line, first time in 4 years I've actually bought stuff in the lunchroom; didn't have any $1 bills for the [all diet!] pop machine.
Was fine until after school, although I drank the powerade in like five minutes. At like 3:30, blood sugar starts dropping. I eat fruit snacks, and notice it's the last pack in my bag, and my locker's been out of fruit snacks for like a month now. I was talking to myself, as I do when I'm low, and other people asked about my d, so the story was told, with a great deal of pausing and forgetting what I was saying and being interrupted and such, because we were working on something special [you will find out on sat/sun].
Yep. And I'm still in a fog, 80 as I write this. Hopefully will be fixed soon.
It was pretty okay this week, until this morning. I woke up around 200 and it didn't go down. I didn't do anything [besides put in some correction boluses] until lunch [at 12:30] because I noticed it was then 330... So I bolused an obscene amount [for me], 15 units, because that's the max bolus [for a bg of 330 and 83g carb, it was 15.4u actually].
My site was in my side-butt, and had been kind of painful in the morning. I went to check it, and there was lovely blood and all that on it. Ran to my locker to get spare infusion set, Iv prep wipe, and meter. Put in new set. Went back to table. Hooked pump to the other set. Tested. 330. Punched in correction and lunch bolus, like 10.4 units [it threw out the sugar correction and I didn't even notice/care]. Bought powerade zero in lunch line, first time in 4 years I've actually bought stuff in the lunchroom; didn't have any $1 bills for the [all diet!] pop machine.
Was fine until after school, although I drank the powerade in like five minutes. At like 3:30, blood sugar starts dropping. I eat fruit snacks, and notice it's the last pack in my bag, and my locker's been out of fruit snacks for like a month now. I was talking to myself, as I do when I'm low, and other people asked about my d, so the story was told, with a great deal of pausing and forgetting what I was saying and being interrupted and such, because we were working on something special [you will find out on sat/sun].
Yep. And I'm still in a fog, 80 as I write this. Hopefully will be fixed soon.
Friday, September 30, 2011
The Week in Review
This week has been busy! And randomly full of diabetes stuff.
Monday night, in lieu of weekly community band, I went to my JDRF chapter's mentor training meeting thing. There were about 30 of us there, and we took up all the chairs in the office. :P I met two adults who had been misdiagnosed with type 2; it's pretty surprising that it's that common. Besides that, there were a couple of 'twenty-somethings' (like 4?) and a couple other PWDs. Myself and a girl who was probably 8 were the only 'kids', but the parents of a couple of kids were also there and miscellaneous family members and such. It was nice to see some people who have done what I'm going to do [college *gasp*] and come out well.
Then there was school... Typical school, AP stats and ignorant teachers. Bleh. Dex has been high all day today, I think my site was dying, so I changed it... Still in the 300s.
Speaking of college, I was accepted to my second choice [if first choice doesn't give me enough scholarships] college, and they will give me $1500 a year just for showing up, and I can compete for their dean's award which is between 3-7k a year. Their total with room and board is like 20 (I think), and my first choice is 28k a year... I live really close to my second choice college, and could live at home and go for free pretty much with all the scholarship money I will probably get.
Thursday I went to a special 'diabetes technology' meeting and heard about the Revel and the Ping - decided for sure I'm getting the Ping, and will start with that process soon. I'm psyched about the 4th gen Dex, but not sure if I will upgrade to the Vibe when it comes out. I ate cookies too. There's a new purple MiniMed that I was jealous of. I didn't get to hear the OminPod guy because we had to leave...
TODAY WAS SENIOR TREAT DAY! There's a group of parents who put together a senior all nighter after graduation, and they also give us treats once a month, just for being seniors. Today it was apples and caramel, which I appreciated but I really wanted cake with a ridiculous amount of frosting. Maybe next time?
Homecoming decorating is coming up soon! I'm excited - pretty much the only thing I like about homecoming. We decorate the halls, each class gets one hall. We've won the past two years because my class is absolutely amazing. Our theme is TV channels, and we have Nickelodeon - the best one. (frosh - animal planet, soph - game show network, jun - A&E)
Monday night, in lieu of weekly community band, I went to my JDRF chapter's mentor training meeting thing. There were about 30 of us there, and we took up all the chairs in the office. :P I met two adults who had been misdiagnosed with type 2; it's pretty surprising that it's that common. Besides that, there were a couple of 'twenty-somethings' (like 4?) and a couple other PWDs. Myself and a girl who was probably 8 were the only 'kids', but the parents of a couple of kids were also there and miscellaneous family members and such. It was nice to see some people who have done what I'm going to do [college *gasp*] and come out well.
Then there was school... Typical school, AP stats and ignorant teachers. Bleh. Dex has been high all day today, I think my site was dying, so I changed it... Still in the 300s.
Speaking of college, I was accepted to my second choice [if first choice doesn't give me enough scholarships] college, and they will give me $1500 a year just for showing up, and I can compete for their dean's award which is between 3-7k a year. Their total with room and board is like 20 (I think), and my first choice is 28k a year... I live really close to my second choice college, and could live at home and go for free pretty much with all the scholarship money I will probably get.
Thursday I went to a special 'diabetes technology' meeting and heard about the Revel and the Ping - decided for sure I'm getting the Ping, and will start with that process soon. I'm psyched about the 4th gen Dex, but not sure if I will upgrade to the Vibe when it comes out. I ate cookies too. There's a new purple MiniMed that I was jealous of. I didn't get to hear the OminPod guy because we had to leave...
TODAY WAS SENIOR TREAT DAY! There's a group of parents who put together a senior all nighter after graduation, and they also give us treats once a month, just for being seniors. Today it was apples and caramel, which I appreciated but I really wanted cake with a ridiculous amount of frosting. Maybe next time?
Homecoming decorating is coming up soon! I'm excited - pretty much the only thing I like about homecoming. We decorate the halls, each class gets one hall. We've won the past two years because my class is absolutely amazing. Our theme is TV channels, and we have Nickelodeon - the best one. (frosh - animal planet, soph - game show network, jun - A&E)
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday Afternoon Art
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| Art's affect on my blood sugar... |
A collection of pictures taken at the adventure that is ArtPrize; basically a whole bunch of art within walking distance of downtown. I inevitably went low and we spent about ten minutes sitting waiting for it to come back up.
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| Trying to take a picture at aforementioned blood sugar. |
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| Not a velociraptor. The chicken dinosaur; actually shorter than me. | Awesome angle courtesy of me. |
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| Fabric-y thingy in a stairwell. |
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| Laser levels are art! |
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| Flowers in PVC pipe are art too! |
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| I'm not insane, this lady is using painted cereal boxes for stuff too! |
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| Looking up at one of my favorite pieces.. A 'waterfall' that spans three stories - totally awesome. |
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| Perry the Platypus in disguise? |
Friday, September 23, 2011
Stalker Post
Wie geht's? Es ist Freitag!! Und am Freitag wir mussen tanzen. Tanzen!
If you know German you probably appreciated my silliness up there. If not, too bad so sad.
This post exists entirely so you may stalk me on many levels... Hmm, creepy.
Stalk me:
@jackiesgotd on Twitter
This doesn't need explaining, I hope?
~hawkxs on DeviantART
DA is a sort of art social network-y place. It's pretty cool. I only have a couple of d-related arts up, but if you enjoy fantasy, hockey, graphic design, Legos, and miscellaneous other things, you ought to take a look.
hawkxs on Last.fm
Last.fm is a music listening/sharing site. I like it more than Pandora because a) add on for Firefox means no tab and automatic listening, and b) no ads and unlimited skipping. Plus you customize your stations to what you actually like, not what it thinks you might like. So stalk my whacked-out music tastes too!
hawkxs on flickr
Oh hey! My flickr! With Legos and goalies! Nothing yet about diabetes, I've been meaning to do the D-365 thing for a while now...
Yep. And you can always e-mail me at jackiesdablog at gmail dot com.
If you know German you probably appreciated my silliness up there. If not, too bad so sad.
This post exists entirely so you may stalk me on many levels... Hmm, creepy.
Stalk me:
@jackiesgotd on Twitter
This doesn't need explaining, I hope?
~hawkxs on DeviantART
DA is a sort of art social network-y place. It's pretty cool. I only have a couple of d-related arts up, but if you enjoy fantasy, hockey, graphic design, Legos, and miscellaneous other things, you ought to take a look.
hawkxs on Last.fm
Last.fm is a music listening/sharing site. I like it more than Pandora because a) add on for Firefox means no tab and automatic listening, and b) no ads and unlimited skipping. Plus you customize your stations to what you actually like, not what it thinks you might like. So stalk my whacked-out music tastes too!
hawkxs on flickr
Oh hey! My flickr! With Legos and goalies! Nothing yet about diabetes, I've been meaning to do the D-365 thing for a while now...
Yep. And you can always e-mail me at jackiesdablog at gmail dot com.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Your Weekly Scheduled Picture Spam
From the Walk on Saturday:
Ugh, the pictures are obnoxious. Anyway, these last three are from this afternoon, when a flock of birds attacked the house. There were at least two hundred of them. They were really loud, but whenever you opened a door to take a picture they all flew away; there were enough of them to make a rather loud whooshing noise as they got up...
Creepy, I think.
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| Roll Zone. I dunno what's rolling though. |
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| Stalactites. |
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| Tall Building |
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| The back of my dad's head. And a random kid. |
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| The magic line we followed through downtown. |
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| I didn't know ents drove cars. |
Creepy, I think.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Invisible Illness Week
I will get walk pictures up later.. Tomorrow, probably. I am suffering from eating too much food at the band picnic after the walk...
Invisible Illness Week is this week (today is also Constitution Day, so go read our rights as Americans!). Since everyone else has been doing this, and I love memes, I thought I would do it as well:
1. The illness I live with is: Type 1 Diabetes
Invisible Illness Week is this week (today is also Constitution Day, so go read our rights as Americans!). Since everyone else has been doing this, and I love memes, I thought I would do it as well:
1. The illness I live with is: Type 1 Diabetes
2. I
was diagnosed with it in the year: Dec. 23rd, 2002
3. But I had
symptoms since: November probably, but only really noticeable from the week leading up to d'x.
4. The
biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Remembering everything I eat and bolusing for it... And being really OCD about pop/juice and jello, things that may or may not be sugar free.
5. Most people
assume:It's easy because they don't really see it...
6.
The hardest part about mornings are: Eating something for breakfast.
7. My favorite medical TV show
is: The only TV shows I really watch are Doctor Who and Top Gear. Neither are medical.
8.
A gadget I couldn’t live without is: DexCom and/or meter.
9. The
hardest part about nights are: DexCom going off and my mom force-feeding me fruit snacks because my blood sugar's like 80.
10. Each day I take 2 pills &
0 vitamins: Plus insulin.
11. Regarding
alternative treatments I: There aren't any, Dr. Oz and all you liars!
12.
If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I
would choose: I know that I could have much worse illnesses and an invisible one is definitely what I would pick; I don't necessarily have to tell people about it if I don't want to.
13. Regarding
working and career: I want to work for Animas or DexCom as a biomedical engineer. I haven't graduated high school yet, so I don't need to worry.
14. People
would be surprised to know: I eat a lot of garbage despite diabetes... I really should eat better.
15.
The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: Having to plan for instances.. Having fruit snacks everywhere, change for when I eat all the fruit snacks, carrying extra infusion sets and all kinds of junk around with me.
16.
Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did
was: I dunno. I know only of a few things I can't do... Be a commercial airline pilot [which I don't want to be], join the military [which I don't want to; although I'm pretty sure if you were bent on it, they'd figure out something for you], or be an interstate truck driver [but I could be an intrastate truck driver. Go figure.] I've done a lot of stuff that normal people don't really do anyway, so I'm just awesome like that.
17.
The commercials about my illness: Medical supply company ads are just annoying. I kind of like the OneTouch ones with BB King...
18. Something
I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: I don't really remember what life was like before, I was all of 8 years old.
19.
It was really hard to have to give up: I dunno, again...
20. A new hobby I have taken
up since my diagnosis is: Hockey, incidentally. I started playing in 6th grade, three years after my d'x.
21. If I could
have one day of feeling normal again I would: Of being normal, you mean. I would go out and eat/drink a giant Mountain Dew Slurpee, try every flavor of Mountain Dew that I don't get to have, and get a giant ice cream/shake/flurry thing.
22.
My illness has taught me: How many carbs are in
everything, how lucky I am to have this autoimmune illness and not others.
23.
Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my
skin is: "My xxxx had that she died/had a leg cut off/is on dialysis/etc" - I don't care, and you're not helping.
24. But I love it when
people: Ask questions, remember what I tell them, and pass it on.
25. My favorite motto, scripture,
quote that gets me through tough times is: I'm a pessimist, so my quotes tend to be cynical and sarcastic... Probably mostly cynicism and sarcasm that gets me through the day.
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d
like to tell them: You're not alone. Diet Mountain Dew is really good.
27.
Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: How rote it becomes. I just do x because I have to, whenever [change site, test, stab, etc.]
28. The nicest
thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: I don't get sick too often... My mom brought me a shake from Arby's the last time I was 'real-people sick' though.
29. I’m involved with Invisible
Illness Week because: A whole bunch of blogger-y people did it too, and I thought it was cool.
30.
The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Happy.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tomorrow is the Walk!
I've been trying to write a blog post for the past three hours. This time it will finally get done. No distractions or anything.
So, the nifty things for the week.
We began discussing stuff in Anatomy and Physiology class this week. Of course, when we get to homeostasis, I know what's next: blood sugar regulation! So he draws a lovely sine wave and explains it to everyone else in the class, and I give the hormone that my body doesn't make: insulin. I wanted to show off my Dex, but I hadn't eaten anything lately so there wasn't a spike or anything.
Today in AP Stats we conducted an experiment. To my dismay, it involved regular pop. Plain old Coke and Caffeine free Coke; the experiment was to see if caffeine affects pulse rate; it doesn't... At least for this group of high schoolers. I'm pretty sure this is only the second or third time I've had regular pop in a long while [like five years], and possibly the first time I've had regular coke since d'x. I tend to go for Mountain Dew when there's nothing diet, and SWAG the heck out of it. I'm pretty good at that, and it helps that that only happens at school dances and such where there's a good amount of activity.
And for the record, you can taste the lack of caffeine in caffeine free coke. And Coke is disgusting anyway, for someone attuned to Coke Zero, Diet Coke, and Diet Mountain Dew [the best stuff in the world!].
And some other things... The JDRF walk is tomorrow, I will probably have raised about $1,000 for the fourth year in a row (thanks everybody!). I will also be wearing my ren fest garb; it'll be a perfect day for that, as it won't be too hot. I'm looking forward to grilling the Animas guy about the Vibe again, and will let you know how that goes.
I kind of completely ignored Invisible Illness Week... But I think it's a super-important thing and should get to doing the lovely meme sometime.
TOMORROW IS CONSTITUTION DAY!
That is all.
So, the nifty things for the week.
We began discussing stuff in Anatomy and Physiology class this week. Of course, when we get to homeostasis, I know what's next: blood sugar regulation! So he draws a lovely sine wave and explains it to everyone else in the class, and I give the hormone that my body doesn't make: insulin. I wanted to show off my Dex, but I hadn't eaten anything lately so there wasn't a spike or anything.
Today in AP Stats we conducted an experiment. To my dismay, it involved regular pop. Plain old Coke and Caffeine free Coke; the experiment was to see if caffeine affects pulse rate; it doesn't... At least for this group of high schoolers. I'm pretty sure this is only the second or third time I've had regular pop in a long while [like five years], and possibly the first time I've had regular coke since d'x. I tend to go for Mountain Dew when there's nothing diet, and SWAG the heck out of it. I'm pretty good at that, and it helps that that only happens at school dances and such where there's a good amount of activity.
And for the record, you can taste the lack of caffeine in caffeine free coke. And Coke is disgusting anyway, for someone attuned to Coke Zero, Diet Coke, and Diet Mountain Dew [the best stuff in the world!].
And some other things... The JDRF walk is tomorrow, I will probably have raised about $1,000 for the fourth year in a row (thanks everybody!). I will also be wearing my ren fest garb; it'll be a perfect day for that, as it won't be too hot. I'm looking forward to grilling the Animas guy about the Vibe again, and will let you know how that goes.
I kind of completely ignored Invisible Illness Week... But I think it's a super-important thing and should get to doing the lovely meme sometime.
TOMORROW IS CONSTITUTION DAY!
That is all.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Today is Tuesday
And I haven't updated anything since Friday. There's this thing called school. It gets in the way of a lot of things.
And I had something interesting and/or relevant to say, and now it's gone.
Let's find a picture...
And I had something interesting and/or relevant to say, and now it's gone.
Let's find a picture...
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| This is a test strip stuck to a vertical surface, the post on my loft. |
Friday, September 9, 2011
Lazy Friday
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| I have issues with picking the scar thingies off my fingertips... |
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| This is why I hate leg sites. |
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| What I'm reading right now. |
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Yep.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Lauren's Hope Bracelet!
The one I got [giveaway from D-Mom Blog!] is the Undercover style. It's stainless steel and is pretty sturdy; I think I could *almost* run it over with a car and it'd be fine.
It came in a little bubble mailer in a little bag [see pic]. It's a little bit heavy, but I'll get used to it quickly, I think. It fits perfectly. My only thought is that you do have to remove this bracelet to see what I've got; (:P) I had it engraved with my name, Type 1 Diabetes, and 'See Wallet Card' - in case I change phone numbers, etc. It came with a nifty, detailed card that I then filled out, to carry around with me.
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| Clearly I can't take pictures very well. I think my blood sugar was a little low. |
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Endo.
Ironically, my endo appointment was also on Diabetes Art Day [see my previous post]. In my opinion, the news I have to share here is more important than my lame attempt at sculpture, so I'm posting this last.
We get in, I do the test your meter stuff; it says 147 [yay!]. I hand the nurse my pump and dex, and my endo comes in shortly thereafter. They've got nifty computers now, so there's not someone who knocks on the door and tells you your A1c anymore [slightly disappointing].
My last one, three months ago, was 7.2. Pretty good considering I'm 17; my endo's always loved me. I wanted a 6 in the first place though, and that was my 'goal' when I talked to the RN at the last appointment.
She asked me what I thought it was. I said I wanted a 6 in the first place. She said there was. I was excited. Then she had me guess the decimal... I said 7 or 8 and she said lower... MY A1C WAS 6.5! It's never been that low!
Just after I was dx'd (on MDI) [after Christmas and the garbage that my bg had been ridiculous 'cause I didn't know I had d] I managed ones in 6.8 and 6.7, mostly because of my parents OCDness and me not eating anything that wasn't free or that I wasn't 'scheduled' to eat.
But 6.5 is awesome. And my endo said so. Then she pretty much decided I didn't need anything else and was going to let us leave (this ended up only being like a 30min appointment) but we had school paperwork and needed a scrip for glucagon. Then we asked for the social worker to come talk to us about a 'new technology' workshop thing they're doing in October, since my pump warranty is up in December. I'm looking forward to that. The lady who we talked to also does a discussion group thing for kids with diabetes, and I'm going to go to the one she has in the fall, and maybe present my stuff [for my gold award] at the one they do in the winter. I'm pretty psyched about it.
SIX POINT FIVE! YEAH!
We get in, I do the test your meter stuff; it says 147 [yay!]. I hand the nurse my pump and dex, and my endo comes in shortly thereafter. They've got nifty computers now, so there's not someone who knocks on the door and tells you your A1c anymore [slightly disappointing].
My last one, three months ago, was 7.2. Pretty good considering I'm 17; my endo's always loved me. I wanted a 6 in the first place though, and that was my 'goal' when I talked to the RN at the last appointment.
She asked me what I thought it was. I said I wanted a 6 in the first place. She said there was. I was excited. Then she had me guess the decimal... I said 7 or 8 and she said lower... MY A1C WAS 6.5! It's never been that low!
Just after I was dx'd (on MDI) [after Christmas and the garbage that my bg had been ridiculous 'cause I didn't know I had d] I managed ones in 6.8 and 6.7, mostly because of my parents OCDness and me not eating anything that wasn't free or that I wasn't 'scheduled' to eat.
But 6.5 is awesome. And my endo said so. Then she pretty much decided I didn't need anything else and was going to let us leave (this ended up only being like a 30min appointment) but we had school paperwork and needed a scrip for glucagon. Then we asked for the social worker to come talk to us about a 'new technology' workshop thing they're doing in October, since my pump warranty is up in December. I'm looking forward to that. The lady who we talked to also does a discussion group thing for kids with diabetes, and I'm going to go to the one she has in the fall, and maybe present my stuff [for my gold award] at the one they do in the winter. I'm pretty psyched about it.
SIX POINT FIVE! YEAH!
Diabetes Art Day!
This is my submission. Yes, it is not particularly creative, but I've got other things in the works [eventually.] Bonus cookie for you if you know what the containers are from:
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| Four months' or so of Humalog, the stuff that keeps me alive. |
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
This has nothing to do with diabetes, but everything to do with brownies!
I am currently making brownies in a glass pie pan. There is an explaination for this. The typical pan we use for brownies is in the basement fridge chilling with some random tomatoes in it; some kind of salad thing using the ridiculous number of cherry tomatoes we grew. So I was looking for another similar pan, 9x9 or so. We have a metal one; it appears to be kind of rusty. I did not want to use it. I kind of wanted to use a loaf pan, but my mom said it would probably never get done in the middle; this made sense, so I chose a pie pan! Huzzah for brownies!
Our oven is also broken, yet I am making brownies in it. It is a GE Profile double oven; never buy any GE appliance if you're buying them [that's a subject for another post]. We've surmised that the keypad is the problem, we keep getting F7 errors. I did some final debugging/crapIcan'trememberthatotherword and yesterday we ordered the part. It's been bugging us for like a year now, and we've only just now bothered to figure out how to fix it; the appliance guys wouldn't even come out to look at it.
I need to remember to take a pic of my 'sculpture' for Diabetes Art Day!
Our oven is also broken, yet I am making brownies in it. It is a GE Profile double oven; never buy any GE appliance if you're buying them [that's a subject for another post]. We've surmised that the keypad is the problem, we keep getting F7 errors. I did some final debugging/crapIcan'trememberthatotherword and yesterday we ordered the part. It's been bugging us for like a year now, and we've only just now bothered to figure out how to fix it; the appliance guys wouldn't even come out to look at it.
I need to remember to take a pic of my 'sculpture' for Diabetes Art Day!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Eye Doctor Visit
Today, after a manufacturing camp with pizza that I clearly did not bolus well for, I had my yearly ophthalmologist's appointment. I went in, sat, got looked at, got drops, they decided my prescription hadn't changed, they dilated my eyes, I sat there for a long time, the doctor got me, looked at my eyes and told me like he always does 'no signs of diabetic retinopathy' (which I apparently pronounce wrong whenever I read it in my head... random!).
But the lady who oringinally did all the drops and stuff asked me how my blood sugars had been. I sort of rambled about how that's a weird question, because it goes up and down all the time. I get that you ask the question, but it's still weird to answer. So I gave her what the Dex was saying, which was 217... See the pizza mention above. Then I gave my last A1c, which was 7.2 - almost three months ago, because I see the endo on Thursday.
Yep, so long story short, good eye exam. Yay. I enjoy them less than dentist visits because of the drops, but they're one of the better doctors I have seen/have to see. [I <3 the dentist because I have nice teeth that everyone likes and I only have one cavity *knocks on wood*]
See me on Thursday for results from the endo!
But the lady who oringinally did all the drops and stuff asked me how my blood sugars had been. I sort of rambled about how that's a weird question, because it goes up and down all the time. I get that you ask the question, but it's still weird to answer. So I gave her what the Dex was saying, which was 217... See the pizza mention above. Then I gave my last A1c, which was 7.2 - almost three months ago, because I see the endo on Thursday.
Yep, so long story short, good eye exam. Yay. I enjoy them less than dentist visits because of the drops, but they're one of the better doctors I have seen/have to see. [I <3 the dentist because I have nice teeth that everyone likes and I only have one cavity *knocks on wood*]
See me on Thursday for results from the endo!
Friday, August 26, 2011
It goes on...
Since Tuesday, I've not done much. I've got an epic bruise on my arm from donating blood but have otherwise recovered. I have a really nice looking site on my stomach; it was all inflamed yesterday but has shrunk.
I did drop in hockey yesterday for like two hours. Blood sugar did not change, which was exciting. It was 220 or so but it was constant! I am now sore and have realized that I am dreadfully out of shape.
Doctor Who marathon is on on BBC America. So I am watching that. It's totally awesome.
Monday I get my schedule for my senior year... I'm trying to not remember that it's senior year. Then I go for a manufacturing/CAD class/camp at a local place... Then school starts on the 6th (bleh.)
Random tidbit: In places where it says 'do not be here if you have a pacemaker/medical devices' - I've gone there and not had problems with Dex or the pump. So I don't see any particular issues unless it's crazy stuff. [normal factory floor type thing- I've gone around like four times with no issues.] If you care/are concerned about these, then now you know.
I did drop in hockey yesterday for like two hours. Blood sugar did not change, which was exciting. It was 220 or so but it was constant! I am now sore and have realized that I am dreadfully out of shape.
Doctor Who marathon is on on BBC America. So I am watching that. It's totally awesome.
Monday I get my schedule for my senior year... I'm trying to not remember that it's senior year. Then I go for a manufacturing/CAD class/camp at a local place... Then school starts on the 6th (bleh.)
Random tidbit: In places where it says 'do not be here if you have a pacemaker/medical devices' - I've gone there and not had problems with Dex or the pump. So I don't see any particular issues unless it's crazy stuff. [normal factory floor type thing- I've gone around like four times with no issues.] If you care/are concerned about these, then now you know.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Donating Blood
Yesterday I ventured into the realm of donating blood for the first time. It went well until the blood was out of my system... And I declare those who freak when they test your iron content complete wusses. I didn't know how it compared to a stab for your bg, but they're basically the same!
Anyway. I laid on the bench thing for a while after I was done, then I sat up at the request of the blood lady. She gave me some apple juice. I drank some of it, and then got lightheaded and was seeing spots and junk. So I laid back down and promptly became very nauseous.
The lady then force fed (drank?) me a whole bottle of water. After that and more laying down, I thought I was okay to go, and I sat up again. After sitting for like five minutes, I stood up, and walked to the canteen... The room in between the blood room and the canteen was the size of a small gym (it's the chapel or whatnot in the church) and was ridiculously cold. So on the way there I get cold sweats, and I'm just focusing on making it to the table. I get there, and it's coming... I threw up everything. And did not make it to a garbage can, so it was all over the table and me... Was not good.
Then I went home and my mom was freaking out about me, even though after throwing up, I felt fine. I took a shower and got all the disgusting stuff off [and got woozy again.]. My brother had a soccer game, and my mom had to work the concession stand, so my dad stayed home with me; I watched a bunch of Top Gear.
Now I'm perfectly fine, except for a bit of weakness in my right arm and a nice bruise. Working on replenishing all the stuff they took. Dunno quite yet if I'll go again anytime soon... I'm kind of scarred from that experience.
Anyway. I laid on the bench thing for a while after I was done, then I sat up at the request of the blood lady. She gave me some apple juice. I drank some of it, and then got lightheaded and was seeing spots and junk. So I laid back down and promptly became very nauseous.
The lady then force fed (drank?) me a whole bottle of water. After that and more laying down, I thought I was okay to go, and I sat up again. After sitting for like five minutes, I stood up, and walked to the canteen... The room in between the blood room and the canteen was the size of a small gym (it's the chapel or whatnot in the church) and was ridiculously cold. So on the way there I get cold sweats, and I'm just focusing on making it to the table. I get there, and it's coming... I threw up everything. And did not make it to a garbage can, so it was all over the table and me... Was not good.
Then I went home and my mom was freaking out about me, even though after throwing up, I felt fine. I took a shower and got all the disgusting stuff off [and got woozy again.]. My brother had a soccer game, and my mom had to work the concession stand, so my dad stayed home with me; I watched a bunch of Top Gear.
Now I'm perfectly fine, except for a bit of weakness in my right arm and a nice bruise. Working on replenishing all the stuff they took. Dunno quite yet if I'll go again anytime soon... I'm kind of scarred from that experience.
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| Here is some art of mine that is totally unrelated to my topic today. Please enjoy. |
Monday, August 22, 2011
These Don't Really Match...
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| On top of JDRF Kids' Walk materials, no less! |
Oh and the Dex is clearly a few minutes slow; but the MiniMed is already slow. So I'm living in a diabetes time warp :P It's 7 minutes slow from the computer...
But my UltraLink is an hour off! Didn't bother to change it last Daylight Savings Time or the time before that, so it's just messed up. Doesn't matter to me because I just load stuff off the pump, and the pump goes by its own time, thank goodness.
Speaking of blood, I am going to donate blood for the first time ever this afternoon.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Target: The Bane of PWDs Everywhere
Today we went out. To pretty much everywhere, and acquired such strange items as: three 2x4s, sports tape, giant boxes of fruit snacks, a watchband, Legos, and binders.
Yes. And on our travels, we visited Target. I was getting out of it anyway by then, even though it was only the third place we went. We were on our way to the toy aisle... "I need food." "Do you really?" "Yeah..."
Pulled out the Dex. 74 and holding. This explains why I freaked out about Penguins of Madagascar ice packs in the school supply aisle. :P Anyway, I ate some fruit snacks from my mom's purse and we realized we forgot the backpack with the meter and extra food..
My brother had a bunch of money to spend, because his birthday was last month and he hadn't gotten anything yet. So we get the Lego Heroica game he wanted [it is epic, and we haven't even played it yet!] and he picks up another set, the one with Darth Maul in it. I was totally loopy by then and was all jealous of his Darth Maul minifig.
Then we head to the video games section... He wants a DS case. They don't have it, but they have Rock Band 3 on clearance. I want it, but am saving my money for a goalie mask. I was freaking out about that and they start down the aisle but aren't going to leave me in this 'state' (under normal circumstances there'd be no problem :P). Then we got fruit snacks because I needed more, because we forgot them.
Off we went to the grocery store.. Oh wait, that was last. Before that, I tried to get a tub of gummi bears, and got a leather needle to fix my goalie glove. Then at the grocery store I went to find some cool pens (they're made out of recycled water bottles! so I won't lose them) and they left me. I'm pretty sure I was still kind of low... Dex correlates.
My brain is still off yet, I had one of those things where after the low I just don't want to do anything or stuff [kind of like how I imagine people with migranes are?]. So I was all quiet and my mother was referring to me as her 'special needs child'... Yep, that's my life.
Off to fix my goalie glove and then measure my 2x4s for my goalie equip rack.
PS. I forgot the actual point of the title - class action lawsuit much? PWDs vs. Target: they need to give us sugar when we go in there to shop. :P
Yes. And on our travels, we visited Target. I was getting out of it anyway by then, even though it was only the third place we went. We were on our way to the toy aisle... "I need food." "Do you really?" "Yeah..."
Pulled out the Dex. 74 and holding. This explains why I freaked out about Penguins of Madagascar ice packs in the school supply aisle. :P Anyway, I ate some fruit snacks from my mom's purse and we realized we forgot the backpack with the meter and extra food..
My brother had a bunch of money to spend, because his birthday was last month and he hadn't gotten anything yet. So we get the Lego Heroica game he wanted [it is epic, and we haven't even played it yet!] and he picks up another set, the one with Darth Maul in it. I was totally loopy by then and was all jealous of his Darth Maul minifig.
Then we head to the video games section... He wants a DS case. They don't have it, but they have Rock Band 3 on clearance. I want it, but am saving my money for a goalie mask. I was freaking out about that and they start down the aisle but aren't going to leave me in this 'state' (under normal circumstances there'd be no problem :P). Then we got fruit snacks because I needed more, because we forgot them.
Off we went to the grocery store.. Oh wait, that was last. Before that, I tried to get a tub of gummi bears, and got a leather needle to fix my goalie glove. Then at the grocery store I went to find some cool pens (they're made out of recycled water bottles! so I won't lose them) and they left me. I'm pretty sure I was still kind of low... Dex correlates.
My brain is still off yet, I had one of those things where after the low I just don't want to do anything or stuff [kind of like how I imagine people with migranes are?]. So I was all quiet and my mother was referring to me as her 'special needs child'... Yep, that's my life.
Off to fix my goalie glove and then measure my 2x4s for my goalie equip rack.
PS. I forgot the actual point of the title - class action lawsuit much? PWDs vs. Target: they need to give us sugar when we go in there to shop. :P
Monday, August 15, 2011
Stabby Stab Stab
I don't make any efforts to hide my diabetes. I don't just throw it out into the open though, either. My pump lives on my belt, so you don't normally see it unless I pull it out to bolus. I don't test in public a whole lot, because the time I would [ie school] I don't actually test at all.
So how do people know I have diabetes? Inevitably I will eat something, and out the pump comes. I don't mind explaining the whole thing, but I don't always feel like being forced to explain what that is (I've only had it referred to as a pager once :P ) or why etc.
What's kind of funny is that when I get the 'you have 20u or less' message, I clip my pump on my pocket, so when I run into walls and stuff with it, I remember that I need to change it soon. So that's one of the reasons it doesn't live there all the time.
Apparently I do my arm sites fairly high up on my arm as well. I dunno, I just put them where I recall the most shots having occurred. So you don't normally see those either, because I'm hiding my horrible farmer's tan and/or pasty white vampire skin.
In the end, I suppose my most visible sign is my fingers. I always have the little black stab marks on my left hand, and I pick at them. I peel off the skin, to get the marks to go away, and end up pulling off enough to get to the raw skin, sometimes making it bleed. That's my biggest problem, over nine years with diabetes, picking off the scabby/pokey skin bits.
And recently the adhesive residue from the IV 3000 things that I use to make the Dex last two weeks without potentially falling off. I just have to ask for some of those adhesive remover wipes...
Next week, [or next post, whenever that happens] read about my research into the TSA's flight regulations in preparation for a solo trip to Texas... Oh joy?
So how do people know I have diabetes? Inevitably I will eat something, and out the pump comes. I don't mind explaining the whole thing, but I don't always feel like being forced to explain what that is (I've only had it referred to as a pager once :P ) or why etc.
What's kind of funny is that when I get the 'you have 20u or less' message, I clip my pump on my pocket, so when I run into walls and stuff with it, I remember that I need to change it soon. So that's one of the reasons it doesn't live there all the time.
Apparently I do my arm sites fairly high up on my arm as well. I dunno, I just put them where I recall the most shots having occurred. So you don't normally see those either, because I'm hiding my horrible farmer's tan and/or pasty white vampire skin.
In the end, I suppose my most visible sign is my fingers. I always have the little black stab marks on my left hand, and I pick at them. I peel off the skin, to get the marks to go away, and end up pulling off enough to get to the raw skin, sometimes making it bleed. That's my biggest problem, over nine years with diabetes, picking off the scabby/pokey skin bits.
And recently the adhesive residue from the IV 3000 things that I use to make the Dex last two weeks without potentially falling off. I just have to ask for some of those adhesive remover wipes...
Next week, [or next post, whenever that happens] read about my research into the TSA's flight regulations in preparation for a solo trip to Texas... Oh joy?
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Diabetes and School
Yesterday I met up with my project advisor - my local chapter of JDRF's president. At least I think that's her title. :P She's really awesome and was all for it, so I have the go-ahead that I wanted [do actually need council's approval to 'officially' do stuff... meh.]
I got a bunch of the JDRF resources, including the school and diabetes toolkit. I kind of wish I found it before I took the ACT and a bunch of AP tests, because it spells out everything you need. It's also got an interesting section on informing college people you've got D, which will come in handy next year for me.
My part in this is working to make a 'hold all' presentation that doesn't overwhelm but offers you 'further reading'. I'm making one for kids, teens, and adults [without d] and one for people with d or the caregivers thereof. Obviously dealing with school is something that everybody will have to do, so this falls under living with d.
So basing off my own experiences, this is sort of an outline of what the part of the presentation 'School and Diabetes' shall be.
- Make a 504 plan. If you haven't needed it before, do it freshman year so it's there when you need to take important standardized tests.
- You will probably need a 504 anyway, to make even the most obvious/small of concessions [being able to test wherever is a big one that schools don't usually give you by default.] If the kid isn't really involved in their care, you will need to spell out your expectations for the school and what you will do for them.
- Dealing with the ACT - talk to your counselors in the fall of junior year. They probably don't know much about it, but need to be on board with you. You need to apply effort, find and fill out the testing concessions form. I don't believe you need a letter from your endo [depends on the concessions you're asking for? further research needed].
- SAT and AP/CollegeBoard Tests - These need to be in EARLY. For AP tests, which are in May, I was supposed to have my request for concessions in by December. This does require a letter from your endo stating you have diabetes (duh. why else would I ask for permission to have food?) and for your counselors/testing coordinator to sign up and fill out some paperwork.
- At my school I was the first person to request these concessions [afaik], and I didn't even bother to ask for stopping the clock [you should!]. I believe I was given that on the ACT, because I took it alone in a different room [they were concerned about me eating and distracting others]. I had my fruit snacks and meter on the table with my pencils and test.
- For AP, I took it with the rest of the group because there was only one proctor. If I had needed to stop the clock, I'm not sure what I would have done. I was allowed to exit the room and return, although again, I dunno if I got time back. This is probably due to the fact that I filed the paperwork in March because I didn't know it needed to be in in December. I kept fruit snacks and meter on my desk, and only had to wolf down a package between two sections of the Calc test on the first day, then I adjusted my basal/food accordingly.
In terms of the 504. I'm not sure about it, because the student is not really involved in the process a whole lot. I know that I have permission for random bathroom breaks, eating in class, and testing wherever I want/need to. [For little kids, or those of us who get really low without noticing, or for peace of mind, being required to take a buddy to the location of food should be in big bold letters in this.] Usually I don't need to take advantage of any of these [except eating. but I don't make a big deal about it.] If a teacher makes a fuss, I pull the 'would you rather me be passed out on the floor' card... But my mom emails them all before school starts with the 'Jackie has type 1 diabetes' spiel, which basically says she's not texting in class, and might act weird, at which point she should eat something. :P
Having covered the testing/education bits, on to 'where do I keep food etc.' When I was in elementary school, I had a box in the room [under the teacher's desk I think] with low stuff, and a meter. We live five minutes from school, so I didn't have any extra sites or anything because my mom would have to come in to fix it anyway [she also works on campus, which is nice]. There was an additional box in the office with more food, quarters for the pop machine if needed, and the glucagon. We had a trained EMT as an administrator, so we didn't worry a whole lot. We also told my bus driver, basically as a 'don't yell at her if she's eating' precaution, and all of that. I always drank a juice box on the way to gym class.
In junior high, we kept a box in the office with food, quarters, and gluc. I had another box in the gym office with food in it. I kept more food in my locker in a Tupperware, had some fruit snacks in my backpack, and my meter somewhere in all that.
Nowadays, I am somewhat sure that the gluc is in the office [really should check that.] I keep a ridiculous amount of food in my locker, plus more in my backpack, and everywhere in the car [center console, glove box, backseat...] I really should have designated money in there for buying starbursts when I'm low and out of food, but I don't... I normally carry around $5 or so anyway. I have my purple OneTouch Mini [that I don't use...] and an extra site and IV prep wipe in my backpack. My mom works across the street, and I can go home if needed to take care of d related issues with her permission. Freshman year, I had a box of food in the gym office again; for sports [soccer] I kept a lot of fruit snacks in my bag. They ended up being partially melted but sugar's sugar.
How do you deal with diabetes in school?
I got a bunch of the JDRF resources, including the school and diabetes toolkit. I kind of wish I found it before I took the ACT and a bunch of AP tests, because it spells out everything you need. It's also got an interesting section on informing college people you've got D, which will come in handy next year for me.
My part in this is working to make a 'hold all' presentation that doesn't overwhelm but offers you 'further reading'. I'm making one for kids, teens, and adults [without d] and one for people with d or the caregivers thereof. Obviously dealing with school is something that everybody will have to do, so this falls under living with d.
So basing off my own experiences, this is sort of an outline of what the part of the presentation 'School and Diabetes' shall be.
- Make a 504 plan. If you haven't needed it before, do it freshman year so it's there when you need to take important standardized tests.
- You will probably need a 504 anyway, to make even the most obvious/small of concessions [being able to test wherever is a big one that schools don't usually give you by default.] If the kid isn't really involved in their care, you will need to spell out your expectations for the school and what you will do for them.
- Dealing with the ACT - talk to your counselors in the fall of junior year. They probably don't know much about it, but need to be on board with you. You need to apply effort, find and fill out the testing concessions form. I don't believe you need a letter from your endo [depends on the concessions you're asking for? further research needed].
- SAT and AP/CollegeBoard Tests - These need to be in EARLY. For AP tests, which are in May, I was supposed to have my request for concessions in by December. This does require a letter from your endo stating you have diabetes (duh. why else would I ask for permission to have food?) and for your counselors/testing coordinator to sign up and fill out some paperwork.
- At my school I was the first person to request these concessions [afaik], and I didn't even bother to ask for stopping the clock [you should!]. I believe I was given that on the ACT, because I took it alone in a different room [they were concerned about me eating and distracting others]. I had my fruit snacks and meter on the table with my pencils and test.
- For AP, I took it with the rest of the group because there was only one proctor. If I had needed to stop the clock, I'm not sure what I would have done. I was allowed to exit the room and return, although again, I dunno if I got time back. This is probably due to the fact that I filed the paperwork in March because I didn't know it needed to be in in December. I kept fruit snacks and meter on my desk, and only had to wolf down a package between two sections of the Calc test on the first day, then I adjusted my basal/food accordingly.
In terms of the 504. I'm not sure about it, because the student is not really involved in the process a whole lot. I know that I have permission for random bathroom breaks, eating in class, and testing wherever I want/need to. [For little kids, or those of us who get really low without noticing, or for peace of mind, being required to take a buddy to the location of food should be in big bold letters in this.] Usually I don't need to take advantage of any of these [except eating. but I don't make a big deal about it.] If a teacher makes a fuss, I pull the 'would you rather me be passed out on the floor' card... But my mom emails them all before school starts with the 'Jackie has type 1 diabetes' spiel, which basically says she's not texting in class, and might act weird, at which point she should eat something. :P
Having covered the testing/education bits, on to 'where do I keep food etc.' When I was in elementary school, I had a box in the room [under the teacher's desk I think] with low stuff, and a meter. We live five minutes from school, so I didn't have any extra sites or anything because my mom would have to come in to fix it anyway [she also works on campus, which is nice]. There was an additional box in the office with more food, quarters for the pop machine if needed, and the glucagon. We had a trained EMT as an administrator, so we didn't worry a whole lot. We also told my bus driver, basically as a 'don't yell at her if she's eating' precaution, and all of that. I always drank a juice box on the way to gym class.
In junior high, we kept a box in the office with food, quarters, and gluc. I had another box in the gym office with food in it. I kept more food in my locker in a Tupperware, had some fruit snacks in my backpack, and my meter somewhere in all that.
Nowadays, I am somewhat sure that the gluc is in the office [really should check that.] I keep a ridiculous amount of food in my locker, plus more in my backpack, and everywhere in the car [center console, glove box, backseat...] I really should have designated money in there for buying starbursts when I'm low and out of food, but I don't... I normally carry around $5 or so anyway. I have my purple OneTouch Mini [that I don't use...] and an extra site and IV prep wipe in my backpack. My mom works across the street, and I can go home if needed to take care of d related issues with her permission. Freshman year, I had a box of food in the gym office again; for sports [soccer] I kept a lot of fruit snacks in my bag. They ended up being partially melted but sugar's sugar.
How do you deal with diabetes in school?
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Hacking is possible, so what about Homebrew?
I think part of the reason this has occurred to me is due to my affinity for gadgets... I have, in addition to the CGM and pump, a ridiculous number of them [mp3, DSi, palm, camera, phone...]
So naturally, after reading this, I'm not concerned about dying from having my pump hacked. I'm wondering about why we don't have pumps that look like this:
So naturally, after reading this, I'm not concerned about dying from having my pump hacked. I'm wondering about why we don't have pumps that look like this:
Full color, optional touch screens, excellent battery life, wireless internet capable, and, if you're up to it - you can customize it beyond what Nintendo even designed. I guess my wish also goes with the whole 'diabetes equipment is stuck in the '80s' argument - I mean, come on, who makes an oval shaped thing with at least three inches of unused annoying space? Could the d-manufacturers take a hint from the cell phones, mp3s, tablets, etc makers?
Android is a perfect example of what I want. I want a free operating system for my whatever brand pump, I want to be able to tinker with the functionality and the color scheme, be able to ship data right to an Excel spreadsheet or to a website; I want a ridiculous amount of cross-platform compatibility.
People can develop apps for Android stuff [phones, and the Nook, as well as other stuff probably]... Can you say an app that tracks your CGM and an app that gives you suggestions on what to do because your blood sugar is x (ie calculate a correction and ask for confirmation to bolus it).
Why can't I homebrew my pump? I can jailbreak my iPhone, run emulators on my DS, and put an entirely different OS on my mp3 player. OH NO it's the government. Ugh. Clearly the number one reason we don't have this is because the FDA thinks we're all stupid and don't know how to manage our disease, when clearly, we know more about it than they do.
You'd still be able to have your awesome Animas pump or Medtronic pump. But you could customize them to be ridiculously awesome, useful machines. Things that you could actually use to show off your street cred with the nerds and geeks.
I hunger for the day when I can put a picture of Jimmy Howard in the background of my insulin pump. Until then, I'll have to put up with a semi-translucent smoke MiniMed 722.
Monday, August 1, 2011
A Week of Fun - Unintentional D-Camp?
Clearly, last week I was gone. I was at a scout service camp, where we help out a state park and do things like guide tourists, check tickets, raise and lower the flags, and do service projects. There's a lot of free time, so you can explore and go shopping and stuff.
Myself and about 60 other girl scouts go up for the week with about ten adults. The best part is - I'm not alone. We've got another girl with d. Last year we sort of just went about life as normal, knowing both of us had it, but this year we embraced it. We managed to explain d to a good number of the girls in our troop, and get one obsessed with it... She watched me change my site and was excited about it. :P
(What's really interesting is 2 pwds in 60 but no peanut allergies. Which was really nice.)
So, some fun little d-moments from a non-d camp:
We were cleaning and weren't allowed back into the barracks until it had been inspected. I'm sitting on a bench in front, and A comes by with her d-bag, dumps it on me, and pulls out glucose tabs. 'I'm 41.' 'That sucks, eat more than two of those!' 'I ate other stuff already.'
I had been mopping the dining room and felt a bit low. So I went to look for my food in the kitchen, and it was gone... They had taken the unofficial food coolers out to the trailer. So somebody went and found it for me, and I gulped down some fruit snacks.
After inspection, we went back upstairs to get ready for guide duty and such. A was still a bit low, so she asked someone to get her some crackers. I announced 'I've got fruit snacks!' and threw them across the room to A. It was epic.
At one point A was rather high, and it was entertaining when she quietly explained 'I'm high' - we're all teenagers, so the reference is instant. But I laughed and realized why she was eating some turkey instead of whatever crackers were the snack. Then we explained the whole thing and it went well.
Later my bg was 58. I was pretty angry, as we were going to eat lunch out and I wanted to pig out (I did anyway... resulting in a 400-something...). I angrily walked down to the kitchen, without closed toe shoes, and M (one of the girls in the kitchen) commented. I growled and said I was low. The chicken breasts were moved off the food cooler and I removed my whole box. Then I sat down and ate fruit snacks, some granola, and a granola bar. A asks, and I say 58.
They keep our insulin in the fridge, and we actually use the same kind (Humalog). A's bottle was just rolling around in the little cashbox they use for it, and mine was actually in the box... I enjoyed it and told A so.
We discussed bringing food/meters on guide duty and A actually does whereas I haven't.
We had the inevitable 'what pump do you have' moment and A is actually jealous of my Minimed; I'm jealous of her Ping. :P
So long story short, it was awesome to spend the week with somebody else who knows and is down with it. It made me happy and I'm psyched for next year. Also looking forward to maybe being a counselor at d-camp; A kind of convinced me.
Myself and about 60 other girl scouts go up for the week with about ten adults. The best part is - I'm not alone. We've got another girl with d. Last year we sort of just went about life as normal, knowing both of us had it, but this year we embraced it. We managed to explain d to a good number of the girls in our troop, and get one obsessed with it... She watched me change my site and was excited about it. :P
(What's really interesting is 2 pwds in 60 but no peanut allergies. Which was really nice.)
So, some fun little d-moments from a non-d camp:
We were cleaning and weren't allowed back into the barracks until it had been inspected. I'm sitting on a bench in front, and A comes by with her d-bag, dumps it on me, and pulls out glucose tabs. 'I'm 41.' 'That sucks, eat more than two of those!' 'I ate other stuff already.'
I had been mopping the dining room and felt a bit low. So I went to look for my food in the kitchen, and it was gone... They had taken the unofficial food coolers out to the trailer. So somebody went and found it for me, and I gulped down some fruit snacks.
After inspection, we went back upstairs to get ready for guide duty and such. A was still a bit low, so she asked someone to get her some crackers. I announced 'I've got fruit snacks!' and threw them across the room to A. It was epic.
At one point A was rather high, and it was entertaining when she quietly explained 'I'm high' - we're all teenagers, so the reference is instant. But I laughed and realized why she was eating some turkey instead of whatever crackers were the snack. Then we explained the whole thing and it went well.
Later my bg was 58. I was pretty angry, as we were going to eat lunch out and I wanted to pig out (I did anyway... resulting in a 400-something...). I angrily walked down to the kitchen, without closed toe shoes, and M (one of the girls in the kitchen) commented. I growled and said I was low. The chicken breasts were moved off the food cooler and I removed my whole box. Then I sat down and ate fruit snacks, some granola, and a granola bar. A asks, and I say 58.
They keep our insulin in the fridge, and we actually use the same kind (Humalog). A's bottle was just rolling around in the little cashbox they use for it, and mine was actually in the box... I enjoyed it and told A so.
We discussed bringing food/meters on guide duty and A actually does whereas I haven't.
We had the inevitable 'what pump do you have' moment and A is actually jealous of my Minimed; I'm jealous of her Ping. :P
So long story short, it was awesome to spend the week with somebody else who knows and is down with it. It made me happy and I'm psyched for next year. Also looking forward to maybe being a counselor at d-camp; A kind of convinced me.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Boredom? Or something else?
Lately I've just been off. I was very happy about going to goalie camp, and enjoyed my three days of ice time and goalie friends, but now I've become very 'bleh' again.
Yesterday it was particularly apparent because Sunday night I felt like throwing up, so I didn't take my meds... My anti-depressant makes me nauseous on occasion, and I didn't want to chance it. So it was pretty obvious to my mom yesterday that I hadn't taken it.
Besides currently lacking enthusiasm for pretty much anything, I haven't done much. Or rather due to not feeling like doing anything, I haven't done anything. HP7 was awesome, saw it on Sunday.
What I was supposed to/am trying to accomplish is not happening, so I'm wasting time. Pretty [not] awesome, but I just don't feel like it today.
Next week I will be gone, so there won't be any posts... Maybe one when I come back, hopefully more excited about stuff in general. There will be fudge... Fudge is always good.
Yesterday it was particularly apparent because Sunday night I felt like throwing up, so I didn't take my meds... My anti-depressant makes me nauseous on occasion, and I didn't want to chance it. So it was pretty obvious to my mom yesterday that I hadn't taken it.
Besides currently lacking enthusiasm for pretty much anything, I haven't done much. Or rather due to not feeling like doing anything, I haven't done anything. HP7 was awesome, saw it on Sunday.
What I was supposed to/am trying to accomplish is not happening, so I'm wasting time. Pretty [not] awesome, but I just don't feel like it today.
Next week I will be gone, so there won't be any posts... Maybe one when I come back, hopefully more excited about stuff in general. There will be fudge... Fudge is always good.
Friday, July 15, 2011
One Thing
For all of you out there with diabetes, I've got a question. It's important. I will explain.
I am working on my Girl Scout Gold Award project. It's the highest award you can get in Girl Scouts and it looks nice and shiny. For it I am doing diabetes advocacy. I want to get everything we PWDs want everybody who knows nothing about diabetes to know. My goal is to end ignorance of d (pretty ambitious I know).
Anyway, my question to you is: What is/are your top 1/2/5 things that you want people with no connection to D to know/understand? If you had to pick one thing that the general public would know about your D, what would it be?
I'm going to make some powerpoints and such and put together some program things for different age groups and do some presentations and stuff (code for I haven't written all this down yet officially). Working with my school district and girl scouts and the JDRF chapter. Good stuff will happen.
Other random thoughts...
I am going to get around to recording a YCDO video sometime... I really like yogurt covered raisins... We're cleaning all the screens today (hence "Brother walks by with a screen door and says 'I've got a screen door!' #hadtobethere")...
 |
| Shiny! |
Anyway, my question to you is: What is/are your top 1/2/5 things that you want people with no connection to D to know/understand? If you had to pick one thing that the general public would know about your D, what would it be?
I'm going to make some powerpoints and such and put together some program things for different age groups and do some presentations and stuff (code for I haven't written all this down yet officially). Working with my school district and girl scouts and the JDRF chapter. Good stuff will happen.
Other random thoughts...
I am going to get around to recording a YCDO video sometime... I really like yogurt covered raisins... We're cleaning all the screens today (hence "Brother walks by with a screen door and says 'I've got a screen door!' #hadtobethere")...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
July DSMA Blog Carnival - D-Tech
I was going to write about the insanity that was my first ever #dsma TweetChat but I will save that for later (tomorrow?).
So the question is: What improvements or adjustments would you make to current [diabetes] technology?
Being that I have both a pump and a CGM, I feel very qualified to answer this question. Oh wait, it's not a college scholarship essay! :P
Anyway, I always explain to people that what I want to do in life is duct tape my pump and CGM together and put them inside of me. The essential closed-loop artifical pancreas and such. I don't really want to ramble on about that because that idea is pretty obvious. Plus it doesn't actually exist yet.
With my Dex, the list of things is short but obvious - smaller receiver, get rid of the rechargeable battery and just use AA's or something, make the backlight optional (with another button), and maybe waterproof.
I guess my 'ultimate Dex' would be about the size of a cruddy pay-as-you-go cell phone.
Mkay. So that big, nice not-color LCD (or color if you feel like it), I guess it still has a rechargeable battery, but this one lasts much longer than 3-5 days (urgh). Wouldn't be impossible to waterproof. Might make it more prone to being stolen, since it'd look more like a cell phone.
On to the pump. Right now I've got a Minimed 722, although I am going to get the Vibe as soon as it comes out, and hopefully it will conveniently coincide with my warranty ending on this pump.
So complaints about the Minimed; proprietary cartridge connections are dumb. Go open source with Luer locks. Your CGM sucks, just gonna say it. Waterproofing would be nice, so I don't have to freak out about being thrown into a pool or something (see Jay Cutler). And your link meter needs a backlight.
I'd like to see the glucagon/insulin combo in a pump, and maybe have a pump with two types of insulin for whatever, or just 2 cartridges for gluc or Symilin or whatever.
A lancet thing that changes the lancet for you more than twice a year.
This kind of turned into 'complain about your nice medical devices that you're lucky to have because you have good health insurance'... So cheaper supplies for all, and end the bureaucracy of the FDA? I know it's not just them... A story I guess.
I really wanted a DexCom for a while. I printed out the stuff I needed to fill out and filled it out. Talked to the endo about getting it. Was a goal of mine (along with a 6.something a1c). So Dex gets the insurance sorted out and gets the sensors from our supplier and stuff. Get the FedEx'ed box delivered to the door even though they said they needed an adult to sign for it. [Sensors were a different story. They showed up in the mail in a cruddy box, on a day that it was near the upper end of their 'safe storage temp'... Not a fan of the current people, although I hear being on hold is better because you don't have to listen to catheter advertisments].
I digress. The point of that was to say that our out of pocket cost for the Dex itself was $60. Well within reach of anybody who really wants or needs it. Sensors are kind of expensive, but if the Dex costs $60 after the insurance company, why does it have a 'MSRP' of $600, why do people buying it themselves have to pay $600 for it? Same goes with pumps, for a list price $5,000 pump we pay like $500 for it. Just having insurance makes the price less, and I don't get that. If I were to buy a box of IV prep wipes off the shelf, they're like $7. Because of my insurance, they'd cost $4 or so before anybody pays anything. Then we have to pay like 0.40 for them.
Yep, long-winded, and I've lost my train of thought. I guess my main wish is for d-tech to cost less for everybody.
This post is my July entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2011/july-dsma-blog-carnival/
So the question is: What improvements or adjustments would you make to current [diabetes] technology?
Being that I have both a pump and a CGM, I feel very qualified to answer this question. Oh wait, it's not a college scholarship essay! :P
Anyway, I always explain to people that what I want to do in life is duct tape my pump and CGM together and put them inside of me. The essential closed-loop artifical pancreas and such. I don't really want to ramble on about that because that idea is pretty obvious. Plus it doesn't actually exist yet.
With my Dex, the list of things is short but obvious - smaller receiver, get rid of the rechargeable battery and just use AA's or something, make the backlight optional (with another button), and maybe waterproof.
I guess my 'ultimate Dex' would be about the size of a cruddy pay-as-you-go cell phone.
 | |
| This is my cruddy pay-as-you-go phone, except it's on a plan. Go figure. |
On to the pump. Right now I've got a Minimed 722, although I am going to get the Vibe as soon as it comes out, and hopefully it will conveniently coincide with my warranty ending on this pump.
So complaints about the Minimed; proprietary cartridge connections are dumb. Go open source with Luer locks. Your CGM sucks, just gonna say it. Waterproofing would be nice, so I don't have to freak out about being thrown into a pool or something (see Jay Cutler). And your link meter needs a backlight.
I'd like to see the glucagon/insulin combo in a pump, and maybe have a pump with two types of insulin for whatever, or just 2 cartridges for gluc or Symilin or whatever.
A lancet thing that changes the lancet for you more than twice a year.
This kind of turned into 'complain about your nice medical devices that you're lucky to have because you have good health insurance'... So cheaper supplies for all, and end the bureaucracy of the FDA? I know it's not just them... A story I guess.
I really wanted a DexCom for a while. I printed out the stuff I needed to fill out and filled it out. Talked to the endo about getting it. Was a goal of mine (along with a 6.something a1c). So Dex gets the insurance sorted out and gets the sensors from our supplier and stuff. Get the FedEx'ed box delivered to the door even though they said they needed an adult to sign for it. [Sensors were a different story. They showed up in the mail in a cruddy box, on a day that it was near the upper end of their 'safe storage temp'... Not a fan of the current people, although I hear being on hold is better because you don't have to listen to catheter advertisments].
I digress. The point of that was to say that our out of pocket cost for the Dex itself was $60. Well within reach of anybody who really wants or needs it. Sensors are kind of expensive, but if the Dex costs $60 after the insurance company, why does it have a 'MSRP' of $600, why do people buying it themselves have to pay $600 for it? Same goes with pumps, for a list price $5,000 pump we pay like $500 for it. Just having insurance makes the price less, and I don't get that. If I were to buy a box of IV prep wipes off the shelf, they're like $7. Because of my insurance, they'd cost $4 or so before anybody pays anything. Then we have to pay like 0.40 for them.
Yep, long-winded, and I've lost my train of thought. I guess my main wish is for d-tech to cost less for everybody.
This post is my July entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2011/july-dsma-blog-carnival/
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Yesterday's Epiphany
Yesterday my pump was pretty much out of insulin, so obviously I was going to change it. (Actually might have been Monday. No, it wasn't.) I had already put my DexCom in my stomach (which I hate a lot - it's too big to lay on comfortably) so I figured I should probably put it in my other arm. I filled the cartridge, got the tubing all set, then got the IV prep wipe out and wiped down my right arm. I kind of forgot that I really need another person to do this properly, especially since I'm right handed. It's not complicated, they just have to peel off the sticky thing and hold it down while I pull the needle out. My brother's even done it before. But when you only have one hand... Kind of hard.
It was rather interesting. I put the needle in (Inset 30 btw) and realized I can't use my right hand at all in this situation... Crap. So I sort of slid over to the fridge and used the handle to hold the applicator (what is that thing called? inserter!) while I used my left hand to peel off the first bit of adhesive. That worked, but I didn't get it stuck down quite enough, although I got the needle out and the set on. Was pretty entertaining, although nobody else was about to see it.
So lesson learned: don't try to put sets in your arm by yourself, at least not Inset 30s; I think the other insets are really a one-hand deal, in my mind they're like the dexcom sensor, which I can put in my arm with one hand. Those things rock!
It was rather interesting. I put the needle in (Inset 30 btw) and realized I can't use my right hand at all in this situation... Crap. So I sort of slid over to the fridge and used the handle to hold the applicator (what is that thing called? inserter!) while I used my left hand to peel off the first bit of adhesive. That worked, but I didn't get it stuck down quite enough, although I got the needle out and the set on. Was pretty entertaining, although nobody else was about to see it.
So lesson learned: don't try to put sets in your arm by yourself, at least not Inset 30s; I think the other insets are really a one-hand deal, in my mind they're like the dexcom sensor, which I can put in my arm with one hand. Those things rock!
Today is a day!
It is now about lunchtime as I write this, and since the Dex says 138, I think I'm just hungry and not low. Which is pretty good considering I messed with my basal (last week) and it's still not working right. I'm blaming the pump because it doesn't have Animas' really small basal change thingies... I want a Vibe so much, but they're not here yet. Yet being the key word, and also that I don't need a new one until December.
I now have a Twitter account, @jackiesgotd. I will do my best to share stuff and such with that, although I'm not much of a Twitter nerd, I like Facebook better.
In other news I am attempting an interesting project in my backyard - a forge. I'm not sure how well it will go or if it will even work, but if it doesn't we've then got a nice little oven for cooking stuff I guess.
I now have a Twitter account, @jackiesgotd. I will do my best to share stuff and such with that, although I'm not much of a Twitter nerd, I like Facebook better.
In other news I am attempting an interesting project in my backyard - a forge. I'm not sure how well it will go or if it will even work, but if it doesn't we've then got a nice little oven for cooking stuff I guess.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Oh my. The inevitable first post.
I suppose I should introduce myself and give my objectives and all that sort of thing. I don't feel like it, if you want to know that stuff go to the About Me page.
Although I shall introduce you to my motives. I am sort of working on my Gold Award project. This is my 'first step' and hopefully it will bring me some motivation. It is the highest award you can earn as a Girl Scout, and I am planning on linking mine with diabetes advocacy.
Currently I lack a topic to speak/write any more on so I'll stop here.
Although I shall introduce you to my motives. I am sort of working on my Gold Award project. This is my 'first step' and hopefully it will bring me some motivation. It is the highest award you can earn as a Girl Scout, and I am planning on linking mine with diabetes advocacy.
Currently I lack a topic to speak/write any more on so I'll stop here.
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