A Date to Celebrate!

I knew I wanted to do a walk this year. I have walked for the ADA twice in the past but this year I was determined to walk for the JDRF.

I looked up the local walks this year and all of them were on Sundays. It’s not easy for me to get away on Sundays because I lead the band at church so I was hoping to find one on a Saturday that I could attend.

That was when I saw it. A walk on Saturday October 2^nd in Ontario California. Perfect!

Not only was it perfect because it was a Saturday and it was local, but because October 2^nd is the day I was diagnosed. AND this year will be my 20 year anniversary.

AWESOME!

So I have decided that not only am I going to walk but I am going to celebrate. I am going to throw a Diabetes party for anyone who wants to walk with and be a part of Team Ninjabetic.

And that means you!

If you want to join the team and walk on October 2^nd with me and many others please sign up on the JDRF website and join! We can raise money for research, raise awareness, and raise our heart rates as we walk and then get our dance on at the party. DJ, Food, Fun, and who knows what else but it’s gonna be a party and you should be there!

And October is hopefully far enough away for you to make plans to come out. I promise it will be a good time.

If you can’t make it to walk or to the party, would you be willing to donate towards my goal? Here is a link to my fundraising page.

Thanks!

The New Endo

Monday morning I met with a new endocrinologist. I was nervous because I was really hoping this one would be a good fit for me. And after that first appointment, I am hopeful.

When I first got into the exam room the nurse asked what type I was. When I answered “Type 1” I was sure she was going to give me the whole, “Are you sure?” Or, “we normally don’t see type 1’s in your shape” like the last endo did. Right there she scored a point with me.

She checked my blood pressure and temp and actually told me what they were. I always have to ask what the numbers are. I don’t know why this is kept secret but again, she scored.

“I am going to check your blood sugar and take an A1C right now. Then I am going to need your pump so we can download all the information off of it.”

This blew me away. I have never had an in house A1C done and my endo has never downloaded my charts from my pump. I was very impressed. More points.

Soon after the nurse left a Physician’s Assistant came in to talk to me. She introduced herself and said that she works the endo and would be meeting with me too.

She said my A1C was 8.3. I was worried I was going to get a scolding but she said, “That is not bad but we can do better!” I loved her attitude and her use of the word “we” which made me feel like this was going to actually be some sort of team effort.

When the endo came in he went through all of my logs from my pump. He wants me to see a CDE (yes!) and a podiatrist. I told him about my pump being out of warranty and he said that he would have the PA get with Medtronic about upgrading to the Revel. He gave me a prescription for a Glucagon shot (which he taught me how to use) and also doubled the amount of insulin I get each month since my needs have increased.

Not once was I scolded. Not once was I questioned. Not once did I feel like I was going to go at it alone. It was very different.

“Until we get these basal rates set and really have you feeling better I want you to come in every two weeks. I hope that is not a problem.”

I assured him that it wasn’t. As inconvenient as it might be for a while, getting on top of this stuff is a major priority for me.

Score, score, and score.

I think I may have found the right endo for me.

You Tube Tuesday #175

I am not an Oprah fan. Her show on Diabetes kind of killed it for me but I would not call myself an Oprah hater either. 

I wonder how it would sound if I was on the show?

NINJAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHBETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy.

Lucky Guy

I am a lucky guy. Honestly. I win stuff. We go to raffles and I win. Put my name in a hat and I get pulled, a lot. I’ve won concert tickets, palm pilots, t-shirts, gift baskets, and passes to the movies.

But don’t get me wrong. I am not bragging or anything. I am always surprised when I do win but my wife and family always say, “You always win!” I am also not complaining. I guess I just still get surprised every time.

Tonight I get to attend an event that I won tickets to.

Last week I won two tickets to the VIP world premier of Disney’s World of Color show at Disney’s California Adventure.

Here is how Disney describes the show.

"World of Color features digital projections of Disney and Disney-Pixar animation, accompanied by music, fountains, fire and lasers. It all happens at a 1-acre superstructure "stage" built in the middle of Paradise Bay lagoon at Disney's California Adventure theme park."

The cool thing is that you can check it out too while my we get to see it. For the first time every Disney is going to livestream the world premier event on Ustream! It starts up tonight at 8:45PM PST.

I’ll be tweeting some pics so follow me to check them out.

And with all the winning and luck, I have yet to win the lottery. I am still trying.

Fear of Change

I fear change.

This is a pretty common thing, the fear of change. We get into what works, what we are comfortable with and doing anything differently is a little scary. The same goes with diabetes.

Let me rewind a little. So last year I finally got approved for the Minimed CGM system that works with my pump. I have been using it and after many ups and downs I believe that I like it and am going to stick with it for a while.

The CGM has caught several highs and not so many lows but I see more and more the benefit of having it around and the fact that I feel a little anxious if I don’t have a sensor on. But after months and months of CGMing I have yet to do anything with any of my basal rates on my pump.

Bolus amounts have been adjusted but still I have not touched the basal rates. Why? I am not sure. There are clearly trends and patterns that I can see on the reports my CGM gives me so why have I done nothing with all this info? Fear I guess. Fear of screwing up or over doing it and running into a scary low.

Anyhow, I got over it and finally sat down to change some things. I adjusted some basal rates that I could tell were a problem and sure enough, for the past few days I have had solid flat numbers all through the night (a problem spot for me) and have been waking up in range!

There are some other spots that I have been working on and I can see a big difference already. My numbers have been much better which on one hand makes me very happy but on the other makes me mad because I waited so long.

Why do I fear change so much when it comes to diabetes?

I guess the fact is that with this disease, a miscalculation can be fatal.