It Wasn't Me

My wife’s iPhone has been acting up. She will be plugging along and all of a sudden it will shut off. Not lock screen but completely power down. During phone calls, when reading emails, sending text messages, and most importantly while playing Candy Crush you would lose whatever you were doing. So we finally went to the AT&T store last night to get her a new one.

After what seemed like an eternity we got her all upgraded to the 5. Of course she got a case, screen protector, and a car charger. You know, the add-on’s you have to have.

Across the parking lot from AT&T was Red Robin which always reminds me of the DOC but first and foremost my friend Sara. My Dexcom was showing a South East pointing arrow with a number of 96. My mom and daughter were with us so I asked them to head on over and get us a table. Also to have them order Diet Cokes and Cheese Sticks. So while we were finishing up the transaction they walked over.

The short walk from the phone store to the food store made me tank. I walked into the restaurant and the hostess stepped out in front of me and asked, “How many?”

“Um, our party just walked in. Like 2 people just came in… I saw them walk in but I don’t know where they are.” I could hear my attitude and could feel my face heating up in anger.

“Okay? Well if you want to walk around and find them…” She trailed off because I just walked past her frantically looking for my mom and daughter.

The entire restaurant stopped what they were doing and looked at Jasmine and I. I could feel every eye looking at us in fear. What is this guy going to do? Why is he so angry? Who is he looking for? Is he going to hurt us?

“They are over there by the back wall.” My wife saw them but I couldn’t.

“I cannot see them. I can’t see anything.”

“Over there. Can you see Gillian?”

“I am too f***ing low to see any f***ing thing so please just walk and I will follow you.” I snapped. I wasn’t mad at her I was mad at the low. Luckily my wife knows the difference and doesn’t hold that against me.

Before I even sat down Jasmine grabbed glucose out of her purse and handed it to me. I sucked down the pouch of Level glucose and leaned my head on my daughter’s shoulder. She leaned her head on mine and I said, “I am not snuggling so please just sit up and let me escape for a second.”

She sat up and let me rest my head until my glucose caught up.

CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH What the heck was that noise? CRUNCH CRRRRRUUUUUNCH

“Oh my goodness it sounds like a monster is eating nachos” I said it very quietly, just so Gillian could hear it and she started laughing. Whoever was behind us was eating chips and not closing their mouth. Eww.

When she started to laugh and I did too I knew I was back. It was done. This was a really grumpy low for me, not normal but not unheard of.

The fact that both my daughter and wife know what diabetes does and more importantly what it does to me. They know that how they respond can make all the difference in the world.

 If Jasmine would have wigged out when I snapped about my temporary “blindness” it would have probably gotten ugly. Gillian could have gotten an attitude about the not wanted to snuggle thing but she understood.

When I go through a low everyone around me goes through it too. Having people like my wife and daughter around who understand what is happening makes the road from low to normal much smoother.

And in case you were wondering no one in the restaurant stopped to look at us. That was just how I felt but Jasmine reassured me later that we did not make any scene.

It’s scary what a lack of glucose can do to your brain and your attitude. Thank God I have type 3's in my life that get it.

You Tube Tuesday

This may be the best/worst thing I have seen in a while. Honestly I could not get through the full 10 minutes. But at about 1:57 I started laughing so hard I was sold that this was the clip for today.

Enjoy!

No More Spring

I had mentioned last week about going to see a Dermatologist and it finally happened.

To say I was nervous was right on the money. Why? I am not sure. Maybe its just how self conscious I am about the whole acne thing. Maybe its because I have had it for so long that I was worried nothing could be done. Plus its always a little scary meeting a new doctor.

When the Doctor walked into the room she said, "Alright, let me see it." When I took off my shirt she got up close to check it out. I was so uncomfortable. 

"You know, it is not as bad as you think it is. Most of what I see are issues of pigment not acne. Likely caused by acne, but more like scars. You do have some acne but we are going to take care of it, don't worry."

She told me about a bunch of cleaners and skin stuff she wanted me to use. She also started me on an antibiotic or I should say, some pill. I don't even know what it is now that I think about it! 

"So how long have you had diabetes?" I knew the diabetes thing would come up with the whole insulin pump site. I hate talking to new doctors about diabetes. 

"For almost 23 years now." 

"And you are a... type 1?" Whenever anyone asks that question I see them look at my waist line. It's subtle but I catch it every time.

"Yup, that's me!" In my most confident skinny sounding voice I could come up with.

She went on to tell me that diabetes can in some ways affect your skin. High blood sugar makes it harder for white blood cells to fight infection and heal us. It's why wounds can take longer to heal when our bg is elevated. BUT that does not mean we are meant to live with skin issues. Diabetes is not the cause but it makes it harder to fight acne.

The point is I don't have to live with this like I was told before from another doctor. 

So now I have all these weird washes, creams, and gels not to mention the pills but if it works than so be it. I am willing to do what I have to do to get this done once and for all.

The only bummer is I had to trade in my Irish Spring soap for this new special one. I love Irish Spring! It just smells clean to me. 

At least I still have my Irish Spring scented deodorant! No one will take that away from me!

Trippin' on Strippin'

When I was diagnosed with diabetes I was introduced to 2 things from my doctor that I would have to live with for the rest of my life.

Insulin and a Glucometer.

Besides the insulin I needed to live I knew I was going to have to check my blood sugar for the rest of my life. So test strips have been showing up in shoes and in the washing machine for a long time.

All that time I have trusted that the number they give me is correct. And why wouldn't I? My doctor never told me to check twice or question a number. As long as I wash my hands (usually do) and rub alcohol on my finger (which I never do) I should be good.

The fact is that is not true. Test strips are not as acurate as you'd think. In fact they are not even as close as they are SUPPOSED to be! That is a big deal!

Check out Strip Safely. As their About Me page describes, "StripSafely is an ad hoc Diabetes Online Community (DOC) collaboration to help the general public understand that there are inaccurate blood glucose test strips. We hope to get folks involved to do something about that. By something, we mean write the FDA, elected officials, and the news media."

Awesome! So now what? You can start by taking the quiz on the site. 10 questions that will open your eyes pretty quickly to the problem we are facing.

I would suggest also checking out some articles regarding the Test Strip problem. After that let you voice be heard! The StripSafely site has sample FDA letters for you to customize and addresses of where they need to go.

My grandma is currently in an extended care facility. She takes insulin daily to manage her type 2 diabetes. The other night when they tested her bg before bed it was 199. I asked what the correction dose of insulin would be and the nurse said they only correct if it is over 200. So they didn't correct. 

According to FDA guidlines a bg over 75 must be accurate within 20%. So grandma was really somewhere between 160 and 240. THAT IS A BIG DIFFERENCE! And the FDA says they only have to be that accurate 95% of the time. AND, this is going to blow you away, MANY METERS CANNOT EVEN DO THAT!

If this bothers you at all please get involved in sending a message to the FDA. Also let others in your life know so they too can add their voice to the message we send.

We are a powerful community when we work together in a contructive way. Visit StripSafely to get involved and make a difference in your health and the health of others. 

Wordless Wednesday - (actually 12)

This makes me feel like a kid again. Before I had diabetes.