Stars Are Flying Again

I have a few things I wanted to point out to you this week so get to clicking because I do not think you will be disappointed!

Kerri posted this week a diabetes version of Post Secret. The list of anonymous comments with “secrets” from people in the OC is amazing. Sometimes being able to come clean about something can be the best therapy.

Last night’s DSMA Live was awesome. If you cannot listen on Thursday night’s at 9PM EST then you can still listen at your leisure by going to the web site or clicking on the player on the left.

Ginger Viera, who was the guest on the show last night, wrote a book called Your Diabetes Science Experiment. I am a slow reader and am still going through it but I will tell you right now that I love it. I have already learned so much and if last night’s DSMA Live is an indication of the kind of info in there I know I will learn a lot more. Check it out!

I was honored to be able to write a guest post for Amy at Diabetes Mine. Check out my post on being a dad and having Diabetes. You know I love writing about my kids.

Lastly, with all the Superbowl stuff that happened last weekend and the awesome commercials I saw, this one was by far, the strangest. And you know I have a liking for the bizarre. Check this commercial out.

I hope you all have a great weekend! 

Chats That Change

Last night’s DSMA chat on Twitter had me in a whirlwind of emotions.

Diabetes and exercise were the focus of the questions given throughout the hour and at first I was really upset. Since I am not exercising I felt like I was going to waste my time not being able to contribute anything to questions like, “Does exercising help you manage your diabetes better?” or “What motivates you to exercise?” I felt guilty, depressed, fatter than ever, and like a complete loser.

I closed my chat window.

Not a second later I realized how pointless that would be. I should just say what I feel and let whatever happens happen. I mentioned how I don’t exercise. I tweeted that I cannot seem to be motivated to do anything at all. I admitted to how much I hate the way I look and feel that it keeps me from going to any gym. I just let it all out.

And something happened that is a constant here in the Diabetes online community. I found I was not alone.

Many others felt the same way and also were struggling to get moving. Just that feeling of being understood and not the only one made me feel so much better.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not in a misery loves company kind of way. It was just knowing that I am not the only person struggling with this and if I am not alone than I know I will have the support and encouragement I need to do whatever I want to do.

My Facebook status currently reads “Somewhere between motivated and depressed.” That is a good way to describe it.

Before the chat I was much more depressed when it came to my physical health but afterwards I felt inspired.

A few people even offered to workout with me! How cool is that?

This community never ceases to amaze me. If you are not engaged or feel disconnected just reach out to anyone and see how they respond. I bet you will find a friend.

Some of my favorite people in the world are a part of this community and I do not know what I do without them. Their encouragement and support is going to help me to accomplish my goals.

Even as terrifying as it is to start on the road to better health, I know I will have lots of friends cheering me on along the way.

Annoying & Ineffective

I was watching a movie called Temple Grandin the other day and something in the film struck a chord with me.

Temple Grandin is autistic and has a Ph.D. in animal science. She is an amazing woman and I cannot recommend the movie enough. It’s on Netflix so add it to your queue.

In one scene Temple is at a party and someone asks her about an article she recently had published. She began talking about cattle ranches and how they are not designed the way they should be. Describing the faults and solutions she had made the people around her uncomfortable. Temple was upset because although she may be autistic, she is not dumb. She can see the looks people give her and the way they are not interested is what she has to say.

Her mother attempts to console her by saying, “people don’t want to hear about all those details,” and it got me wondering how many times I have done the same thing.

When someone mentions diabetes to me I get excited. I can hear my voice change and feel my energy level increase. I want to know what they know, who they know, and how I can help educate. I am ready to talk shop!

But what if they are not interested?

I once had a conversation with a few of my buddies when I first got my insulin pump. I was showing them, and bringing it up all the time. I was so excited that I couldn’t help myself. All the while I am assuming they are as excited as I am but it turned out, they weren’t. In fact, one on my friends said, “dude, we get it. It’s awesome.”

It made me feel like an idiot. Passionate is a word people use to describe yours truly but I hope annoying is not a word they use too.

My passion and need to spread diabetes awareness and education is sometimes overwhelmingly difficult to contain. I blog and tweet about it often. I update my Facebook status with diabetes reference often too. Trying desperately to reach out to a world that needs some educating. Reaching out for other diabetics that need to connect.

But when is too much? When do I go overboard? When do I become annoying and seemingly ineffective?

For now I am going to try and be more careful when I get into conversations about diabetes. It would do me well to listen a little more, pay more attention to who I am with, and really understand the desire they have to learn before I break out the Dexcom and a Power Point presentation.

Have you ever run into this sort of thing? How do you deal with it? Any advice? 

You Tube Tuesday #209

Being the movie fan that I am, I love this! 

I hope you do too.

Enjoy!

Diabetes is Wrong!

One of the pains of living with type 1 diabetes is the injections. Literal pains of course. Now when I was on multiple daily injections to manage it I would take anywhere from 4-6 shots a day. Rarely did the shots hurt and when they did it was just a little pinch nothing major.

Now, and for the last 4 years, I have been using an insulin pump instead which makes it nice because I only have to have an injection every few days. Much less than before which is nice.

Typically the inserter I use to put the infusing set in doesn’t hurt at all. I squeeze the device and it shoots the needle and cannula into me. Then I pull the needle out, the cannula stays in, and all is good.

Not this morning.

This morning I had to change my site, fill my reservoir, and go through the whole ritual. I usually wait to do it at work because I am always late so adding this to my morning means I am going to be extra late which is never good.

I typically rotate my sites like this. I start at one side of my abdomen, move across my stomach, then down and across my thigh, then over to the other thigh, and up back to my abdomen. It means for a long time before I end up in the same place again. My brain tells me it makes sense for scar tissue and healing but I have never had a doctor tell me that. I am methodical so it works for me.

This site was the second on my stomach so very close to my side. When I squeezed the inserter and the needle went in, I swear it was like someone stabbed me with an ice pick. It hurt like hell. My second thought was to yank this thing out of me. My first thought of course was “OUCH!”

When I walked back to desk I could feel my side burning. In fact, whenever I move it hurts. I have left the site in hoping that it will provide for good insulin absorption. But it makes me wonder if the pain is worth it.

We stick and stab ourselves all the time and sometimes, like now, we are in constant pain and all this we do just so we can live. Pain is our body’s way of telling us something is wrong. If that’s the case, than diabetes is just wrong. Plain and simple.

Typing this post while feeling my side burn makes me feel so very sorry for myself. Still I am going to keep it on until the numbers on my Dexcom warn me otherwise. I am just going to deal with the pain.

And that is just wrong!