Last night I went to bed early knowing that I have a busy day ahead of me at work. There is a big food show this week and today is the day I have to have it all ready to go.

And that is not all.

Tomorrow I have a presentation I need to prepare for.  Speaking in front of a group of School Foodservice directors is not something that worries me. What is on my mind is making sure I have my presentation ready to go and hand outs and such. It is kind of a large account so if this goes well it could mean a very nice order for our company. Always a good thing but especially right now, it is very good.

And that is not all!

I have a meeting this afternoon with the owner of the company. The big boss! He wants to talk to me about a promotion or should I say, I want to talk to him and he set the time for this afternoon. Knowing that meeting will take time, require some sharp thinking, and good delivery made me want to have a good nights sleep and be “Johnny on the spot” today.

It turns out I was woken up by a low at around 4:00 AM and after treating could not fall back to sleep thinking about all the stuff I needed to get done. I was so tired but my brain was wide awake.

I finally fell back asleep when the alarm went off. It royally sucked and still does. I am tired and foggy and need more sleep.

Keep your fingers crossed that I pull today off. With the way it started, I may need a miracle.

EPIC FAIL!

Here are the fail moments and why they are fails in no particular order.

FAIL - Oprah shows a clip of a lady who has to have dialysis and who has had several amputations due to diabetes complications. After they go back to the O’s (how I will refer to Dr. Oz and Oprah) Oprah asks if she is type 1 or type 2. I did give a snap up for Oprah for asking. Dr. Oz said that she was a type 1 and her pancreas did not make enough insulin but that there were going to focus on type 2’s.

WHY – Two reasons. First, being type 1 does not mean you pancreas is not making enough insulin, it means NO insulin. NONE. ZIP! ZILCH! Get it? And why show all of these awful complications to scare us and then say, oh we are not going to talk about that type of diabetes. So a type 1 was humiliated, probably embarrassed and ashamed to show the possible results of neglect in hopes, I would imagine, that Oprah was going to tell about her disease and it is flipped and used as a tool to scare type 2’s. Which could be the third fail here. I know that fear motivates some, but not most.

FAIL – Diabetes is going to bankrupt the healthcare system. The O’s talked about how expensive diabetes is and how it is the most expensive disease to treat.

WHY – They needed to say that dealing with diabetes complications is the most expensive thing to deal with. Not just diabetes. Diabetes causes all kinds of problems that with preventative care, which is not where most of the money goes, would be lessened. That was never the focus. It made me think that non-diabetics are going to say, just let them die, they did this to themselves. That is how it was presented.

FAIL – No Endo.

WHY – How can you talk about diabetes,want to educate, and “SAVE MILLIONS” Oprah and not have a specialist on your show? You wouldn't have a show about the dangers of cancer and not have an Oncologist as a guest, right? I don’t understand. To make the diabetes picture complete you should have had an Endocrinologist, CDE, Podiatrist, Dietician, Ophthalmologist, and even a therapist to discuss every angle of this “SILENT KILLER.” (I could probably add more people to the list)

FAIL – The focus on Sugar. They kept showing teaspoons of sugar to measure how bad foods are. They showed Ranch Dressing, Ketchup, and other sauces.

WHY – Carbohydrates are the issue. Sugar is a carb but looking only at sugar content is not correct! It makes Sugar Free products seem safe and also a stack of French fries if not covered in ketchup. Wrong! Wrong! And WRONG!

FAIL – Dr. Oz said that the more insulin you take, the worse your diabetes is.

WHY – This royally pissed me off. I personally know several type 2’s that think if they take insulin that it is all over. That insulin means they have failed. That is not true at all. Insulin can be just the thing they need to save those eyes, kidneys and limbs. Shame on you Dr. Oz.

There are still more issues I have with this show, like why they didn’t have a diabetic who has had the disease for a very long time and who was healthy. There was no positive at all in my book and I am deeply saddened that the O’s didn’t do the job I hoped they would.

I am still hopeful that someone will get it right some day.

Hey Ellen, I have an idea for a show.  

I should be back at it tomorrow.

I realized I was not going to have enough insulin in my pump to make it through until I got off of work so I left a little early, or I should say I tried to.

As I was heading out of my office but boss. The big boss. The one whose name is on the building said, “I need to speak to you before you leave.” I asked him if we could please meet that moment and he said sure.

After about 30 minutes we were done and I was rushing out the door.

Traffic was living up to Southern California standards so the ride home was much worse then normal. I was reminded by my buddies on Twitter that Minimed pumps have a back up reserve but I am pretty sure I went through that since when I finally got my set changed and checked, I was 297. Blah. It could have been stress so I cannot rule that out. Anyhow, moving on.

Last night was band practice at church so I inhaled half of my dinner and took off to rehearsal. That ended around 8:30 so I knew I would make it home for the Lost premier. Sweet timing.

When I got home I checked my BG. 568!!!!

I bolused and waited to see if it came down before I yanked the site. Sure enough I checked about an hour later and was down to 417. Nice, although I felt horrible.

When the show was finally over and I was ready for bed I checked and I was 244. My pump suggested a correction which I did and promptly fell asleep with visions of smoke monsters in my head.

At 3:10 I woke to a loud moaning and someone had turned the heat on so high in the house that I was sweating like mad. I had no clue who did it but someone must have put extra blankets on my because I couldn’t move.

“You’re low honey. Here’s your machine.” She handed me my WaveSense meter that I keep on my dresser. She put in a strip and handed me the lancing device. It took all I had to lift up my arms to punch that plunger. Blood made it on the strip but no reading came up.

“Oh crap, the battery is dead. Let me grab the other and find some glucose tabs.” She left the room. I closed my eyes and thought to myself that this was it, it was over. She was not going to make it back in time and this is the end. So. Be. It.

“HERE!” She handed me some glucose tabs and got my meter ready. I chomped down the powdery tabs and pricked my finger. My hand dropped to my side but Jasmine already had a strip in the machine and grabbed the drop just like a pro.

“53.” She knew I felt bad because I rarely have trouble sitting up in bed. She made me something to eat and I went back to bed as soon as my BG read 79 but still I felt extremely dizzy.

“It’s 6:45!” My wife took our son to school and typically when she gets back I am getting out of the shower. I tried to hop up and out of bed but it took a lot of effort to even stand up.

“It’s 7:15 honey. Are you alright?” I woke in the shower standing under the hot water trying to make myself move but I hurt everywhere. I checked my BG and I was 258.

I called work at 7:40 from my driveway to tell them I was on my way. I am supposed to be at work at 7:30 by the way.

When I got here I slid into my office as quietly as I could. I hate explaining how diabetes screwed up my morning.

I opened my vial of strips and saw only 3.

I forgot to grab an extra vial of strips this morning.

I closed the vial with a snap and dropped my head into my hands. I lost it. The tears were not stopping and I felt like a little kid. I felt hopeless, tired, fed up, frustrated, and just plain sad.

When I finally got it all out I figured I would do my best today and just see how it goes. It’s all I can do. 

I was sold.

She gave me the instructions on how to make it and Friday night I made my first batch. They were amazing! The chocolate was sweet and rich and the bacon beneath was crispy, salty, and oh so scrumptious. The friends that came over for game night Friday were way impressed and loved every bite! Thanks Major Bedhead for the idea! You rock!

The weekend continued on the Bacon theme with a visit from one of my best friends and his family. I planned on making some hamburgers on the grill outside since the weather was perfect but I wanted to do something different. We typically buy frozen burger patties from Costco and although good, not great. So I hopped online and found a recipe for Bacon Wrapped Burgers.

Wow!

They were amazing. I had never made burgers like this before so this was totally new to me. With egg, grated cheddar, parmesan, and onion in the ground beef and then surrounded by a thick strip of bacon made these burgers juicy and delicious. Did I mention I made another batch of chocolate covered bacon too? It was a great day.

Then yesterday we went to Disneyland to renew our passes and enjoy some time at the happiest place on earth. All that walking made for great blood sugars all night. I went to bed last night at 99 and woke up at 96! Hooray for a good overnight basal!

As fun as this weekend was I am ready to be back at work so I can get some rest.

As funny as that might sound, there is truth in it.

My life outside of work is much busier which I am thankful for.

(All the pictures in this post are part of my contribution to the Diabetes 365 project on Flickr. Check out all the pics here.)

So now I’ll recap for the week’s almost done.

From Monday to Last night and all in between,

A post from “G-Money,” “SuperG,” or “Sheen.”

On Monday, done thinking and ready for the plan,

Come Lent I’ll be a weight loss, exercising man.

After time in deep thought trying to self motivate,

A talk with my sister made the plan apparate.  

My clip that came Tuesday of the bear and the cat,

Was another in the many I pull from my hat,

All cute little cat clips end up on YTT,

My new nickname should be “cyber cat lady.”

Come Wednesday I told you I’d be a travelling man,

To the place we Lutherans call “the Holy Land.”

To Minnesota for a meet up on the very 1^st of May,

Come down! You can meet me and my friend Scotty J.

Just yesterday morning I told you of the fun,

I’ve been having with lame insulin absorption,

To the side of my thigh I decided to go,

And I spoke of how happy I was I went low.

So now onto Friday, and a weekend of fun

Tonight I’ll kill zombies with Scott and my son,

Tomorrow a visit from my friend from my old band,

And Sunday after church a trip to Disneyland!

So thanks for reading my little week recap,

Leave a comment if you like it, or if you think it’s crap.

Now have a great weekend, cause all weekends are rad,

Oh No! I forgot to mention the best thing. iPad! ;)

As far as my diet goes, not much has changed but honestly, the other day I went through a full reservoir in less than two days. And still I was high.

So on Monday I needed to do a site change and decided to move my set to the outside of my thigh wondering if I was having an issue with absorption.

Turns out I was right.

After the switch I started having constant lows that I had not seen in a while. It is an awful feeling when you are actually happy you have a low. But to be in good control is to be closer to the edge of a low. The key of course is to stay steady enough not to drop into a low. Let me know if you have figured that feat out.

Ever since I started with the CGMS I have kept my pump sites on my thighs and left the CGMS my stomach to destroy. I typically start low on my thigh and move across and up in a zig zag until I reach the top of my thigh then switch to the other leg. I thought this was good enough but apparently not. I am going to stick to the outside of my thighs for a while longer and let the front of my thighs have a break.

I have never tried an infusion set on my arm. I have tried the lower back which was great once and awful the next couple of times I tried. If you have any suggestions please let me know. 

The plan is to hang out with my buddy Scott on the weekend starting April 30^th. We plan to have a meet up that Saturday May 1^st at a location yet to be decided. I wanted to give you a heads up if you are planning a second honeymoon in Hawaii or something and maybe are looking for a better time. Well almost as good.

Anyhow, I would love to meet you if you can be there.

Meet ups are always great and I am hoping this one will be awesome as well!

So, do you think you can make it?