No Soup For Me!

Sundried Tomato Soup. That was all I wanted and how this whole thing began.

My good friend and BFAM (brother from another mother) Anthony texted me last week to see if him and his partner Mark could Jasmine and I to dinner at a restaurant called Sundried Tomato. Now we ended up at this restaurant by accident one night and loved it, especially their EPIC tomato soup. Which any other time I have had it have not liked it one bit. This one I crave!

His partner had been out of town back in March and they wanted to take us out for a belated birthday dinner. After to checking with my wife to make sure the schedule was clear we set the time. Saturday at 6PM. Perfect.

It was about 5:40 that I get a call from my good friend and BFAM Mark (a different one BTW) and he sounded really upset.

“I hate to ask this of you but there is an event happening at church tonight and I was asked to set up the portable sound system. When I plugged it all in the lights came on and then just shut off. Could you please come by church really quick to check it out? Are you home?” He sounded really concerned and I was not going to let him go down like that.

“We are just getting ready to head to dinner but we will stop by on our way out. We can find something else for them to use if we need too. Don’t worry.” I told Jasmine that we would have to stop by church on our way out. When Mark and Anthony got to the house I let them know that we would need to stop by church quickly to help Mark. Everyone was cool with it since our Reservations were not until 8PM. We had plenty of time.

When I pulled up to church I saw the parking lot was packed. “I thought this thing didn’t start until 7PM? I hope people aren’t upset!”

I parked far away from the hall where the event was being held so as to not take a parking spot that a guest might need.

“I see Mark pacing out front. I’ll be right back guys.” I thought it was weird that they all just got out and said, “We are just gonna wait out here.

Whatever.

I walked up to the door and saw Mark. He said, “I don’t what the deal is, I have tried everything.”

He motioned for me to head into the hall and I could hear all kinds of commotion.

And then this…

That was the DOC’s very own Jaimie in the house! I love the moment when I spot her. So cool.

I was completely shocked and surprised! It was amazing. Everything was Hollywood themed and one of the highlights of the night was the awards ceremony.

My Sister Jennifer, Cousin Alyssa, and SFAM (sister from another Mister)Jenny awarded me with a “Tony” for plays I had been in and my directorial debut, Cinderella, which they were all in.

My DOC Sister Jaimie awarded me with an “Emmy” for my episode of dLife about diabetes and smoking.

My oldest sister Anna awarded me an “Oscar” for my portrayal of “audience member at a basketball game” in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

My BIL Paul, BFAM Dave, and BFAM Jeremy awarded me with a “Grammy” for my hit single “Not By Choice.”

And then my daughter Gillian awarded me with an EGOT for winning all 4 trophies.

Each one had some really nice things to say that made me laugh and cry.

A slideshow of course made me well up but as soon as it ended and I saw my sister Diane on the screen with my BIL Frank I really fell apart. With her being in New Mexico and still undergoing chemo treatment I knew she could not easily take off for the party but to see them on the screen in a video they made wishing me happy birthday was just awesome. Then my nieces came on to shout a big, “We love you Uncle George!” I love that and them so very much.

A photo booth, DJ, Taco Bar, Dessert Table, and the most unique guest book I have ever seen added to the perfect night.

All I wanted for my birthday was to have a room filled with people I love and that what was I got. My speech wasn’t too great because I started to blubber. Looking around that room I had a story and memory with every one of those people. Like actual funny or meaningful memories! That is a HUGE gift and am spoiled rotten! Spoiled rotten with love.

Such a perfect night and a perfect surprise.

I still can’t believe it happened! 

Konnichiwa

Hola!

Bonjoir!

Zdravstvujte!

Those words are how you would say "hello" in Japan, Mexico, France, and Russia. And that took me probably 10 minutes to figure out and make sure I was spelling correctly.

 So when I heard that Lilly Diabetes and Disney are making the "Coco" book they debuted two years ago available in 18 different languages to be distributed around the world, there was no question as to why it took a few years to make happen.

I wrote about Coco before and still I talk about the character whenever I can. She is important in the push to get real, accurate information out there to dispell myths about what PWD's can and cannot do. The cannot's by the way are join the military and levitate.

Check out these images...

Que bueno! Me pone contento que Lilly está haciendo esto. Los niños en todas partes necesitan entienda la diabetes mejor. Y los padres también!

English translation: So great! It makes me happy that Lilly is doing this. Kids everywhere need to understand diabetes better. And parents too!

This was just one thing I wanted to share with you about the Lilly Diabetes Blogger Summit I just returned from. More to come but this was too good not to share first.

Adios!

**Check out the official press release from Lilly here. 

Teamwork

Have you heard of Mellitus City? It is like most cities in the world. Tall buildings, busy streets, tall trees, mad scientists...

That's right! Mad Scientists!

But don't worry because The Diabetes Duo is ready to protect Mellitus City and help the world fight diabetes.

Check out the latest episode of Captain Glucose and Meter Boy as they take on the evil Blood Sugar Maniac and his monsters. When things get a little crazy and some extra help is needed a certain character you know well makes an appearance. 

Every Single Time

My bg’s have been pretty good lately. Especially my fasting bg’s. I have been waking up under 120 every day for a good long while.

Go overnight basal rates! WOO HOO

And also maximum respect to my correction bolus amount. Good job!

My post prandial bg’s are not so great but the more time I leave between bolus to grubbing the better. It makes for less corrections which is always nice.

So why is it that EVERY TIME I am scheduled to have my A1C and other lab work done, EVERY TIME, I have my highest blood sugars in months the day before.

My diet doesn’t change so that’s not it. I just bolus incorrectly, forget to bolus all together, have a tubing issue with my pump, or in this case totally miscalculate my carb intake.

536.

That was the number I had last night before I started my fasting for the draw this morning.

I woke at 119.

I know an A1C reflects your bg average of three months so it sucks that my average just got destroyed but some lame once in a great while screw up.

The only solution I can come up with is spontaneous blood tests. Maybe I can trick myself into not jinxing my quarterly draws.

Does this happen to you? I feel like an idiot because I honestly do this EVERY TIME!

Understanding Sleep Apnea

When I went to my doctors to go over the results of the sleep study I had, I had a lot of questions. Luckily my doctor is one who loves to educate and explain everything to his patients. It a big part of the reason I drive so far to see him.

My doctor wanted to go through the results of the first night of the study first than look at night two. He said, "before we do that Georgie, you need to understand what Sleep Apnea is and how it affects your heart." 

Sleep Apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing during sleep. The study shows how many times I stop breathing in an hour. You are solid if you have less than 5 events an hour. That means if you stop breathing 5 times an hour or less you are considered normal. Crazy, right!?

My number?

41.

So every 90 seconds I stop breathing. 41 times an hour I wake myself up gasping for air. No wonder I am dead tired all the time.

"You did break the recond and won an award for the fastest time to sleep. You went to sleep in 3.5 minutes!" My doctor loves to tell me this kind of stuff. I told him I thought that was compliment on my efficiency but he said, "It's because you are always tired." Which makes a lot more sense.   

Not breathing seems like a big deal, and it is. Sleep Apnea is associated with Diabetes, Stroke, memory issues, weight gain, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Not to mention accidents due to sleep depravation. 

Now I understand Stroke and Memory stuff since less oxygen could lead to brain damage. But how does it tie into heart disease? My doctor explained it to me.

Our heart pumps of course while we are sleeping. A slow steady pace it goes and we rest. When someone with Sleep Apnea stops breathing and takes in too little oxygen the brain kicks into survival mode.

"Hey Heart, we are not getting enough oxygen in this body so could you pump that blood a little faster please?" That is what I pictured the brain saying.

So as the heart increases its pumping rate it is in turn raising blood pressure. When you enter into a state like this your body releases adrenaline to keep that heart pumping fast. That causes stress on your body which can restrict blood vessels and cause blood pressure to raise even more. Not to mention heart disease.

"It's like God gave your heart a certain number of beats and you are wasting a lot of them every night." That was how my doctor put it.

I saw the print out of what my heart was doing and it looked crazy. My heart was speeding up and slowing down and speeding up over and over again. I could not believe it. Just by looking at it I knew something was wrong. My doctor explained that you didn't want a readout like that but rather a smooth straight line.

He then showed me how many times I actually made it to real REM sleep. The sleep that refreshes and reenergizes our bodies. I had 3 instances that all lasted less than 5 minutes each. It's no wonder I feel the way I do.

Then it was time to look at the second night of the study. The night when I wore the CPAP machine.

Times I stopped breathing was 1.2 per hour. My heart was steady and smooth all night. And I should mention I had 5 nice long sections of REM sleep.

Now I am waiting on insurance to get me all cleared for starting on the CPAP machine. I am looking forward to life after a real nights sleep. Something tells me that a better rested ninja is a much more alert ninja.

If you are falling asleep all the time during the day you may want to get checked out. I was a real eye opener to see how little I slept. Pun intended.

And treating your Sleep Apnea will not only give you a goods nights sleep, but anyone in earshot of your snoring!