Type 1 Diabetics Be Like...

We've all been there...You sit down to dinner with a newly acquired friend, work colleague, or your significant others family. *Click* you hit the button and your lancet produces a drop of blood. Immediate gasps, exclamations, and nervous ticks erupt. "Ouch!" *Cringe* "Do you do that every day?!" *Shakes head in pity*

We've all been there.

Like the time I injected insulin in front of a kid at work who gripped his stomach dramatically and jumped about three feet backwards.

Or my brother-in-laws little brother who starts freaking out every time I pull out my insulin pen. "Aw man I cant watch- but I have to! Ahhh man. Geez. Mmm" he proceeds to make grotesque exclamations as if he were watching the 77th Hunger Games unfold.

Lets be honest, sometimes its fun to flip people out, make them think we are tough.

Other times peoples concern/open revulsion is just annoying.

Like the following comments:

Annoying Person: "Does that hurt?" Me (wants to say): No of course not, it feels like a tiny needle massage. Me (actually says): "Yeah, most of the time".

Annoying Person (again. See what I mean?): "I could never do that!" Me (wants to say) : Na your right, you'd probably die. Me (actually says): "You could if you had to".

Kudos to all those T1Ds out there who bravely "Impale" themselves daily without a flinch.

But more kudos to those who aren't afraid to admit it hurts sometimes.

Who are we kidding? We are all stinking awesome.

~Kelby, T1D (a.k.a. Human Pincushion)

Merry Christmas!

Featuring my FAVORITE festive drink! SO happy they have this in Diet! Its seasonal so grab it while you can! Yummy!

Another Season favorite is my wrapping paper this year! (Dollar Tree is my fav!)

Lastly, coming up on the blog this week I'm going to talk about juice boxes and why you should use them to treat a low. Fun Times :D

So Merry Christmas! I'm just gonna sit here and stare at these presents in torture until the rest of my fam shows up to open them with me. Ughhh

~Impatient TID  

Identify Yourself

Identify Yourself (Imagine deep male voice at the end of a commercial...). Ive been meaning to write a review on this company and haven't gotten around to it (I know I haven't gotten around to anything on here lately, sorry y'all. More on that later). But new experiences with this company and their customer service has motivated me to finally do this! (*DISCLAIMER* this is not a payed for or promoted review. Its just my honest opinion on a product!)

First, lets talk about ID bracelets for a sec... starting with a list of reasons why I wear one:

1. My mom FREAKS out if I'm not wearing one
2. It decreases my mom's stress levels
3. My mom MAKES me

Okay, okay, those may all be true but here are some legit reasons ;)

1. I have an hour commute to school, one way, at least 2-3 times a week- and I don't always remember to eat breakfast (bad Kelby). In the event of a hypo, I may or may not drive like a drunk. And if I'm driving like that, how in the name of Pete am I going to be able to explain why I am driving like that if I get pulled over? Hopefully, before the cop pulls me out of my car and tries to make me walk the line, he (the cop) will take notice of the giant red Medical Alert symbol on my wrist and NOT arrest me (although, if we are being honest, that would make a TERRIFIC story..*evil laugh*)
2. What if I just randomly pass out in the mall (Or anywhere) when I'm by myself...? O.O

So see, really, my mom is just SMART.

My first medical alert bracelet was green- and awesome. You may remember here where I told y'all how I lost it. So we ordered  new one, complete with a set of interchangeable colorful bands. That worked great! Until the faceplate got so scratched you couldn't even read my name.. a lot of good that would do if I passed out. We discovered it was because my bands were too loose, which caused the bracelet to slide around a lot and get hit on stuff. So my mom (beautiful soul that she is <3) emailed the company to ask why the bracelet was so scratched. They asked us to send it back and then promptly returned a new one with a set of smaller bands FOR FREE. 

Yup. 35 bucks out of their pocket. Well this all would have been great, but the new bands were too small and practically cut off my circulation, so I just stopped wearing it. Which didn't make my mom very happy...so she emailed them once again to figure out how we could fix the problem. Mind you, she never asked them to send us free stuff. At least, not that I know of :b They didn't have any bands that were my exact measurement, so they ended making a bigger plate to compensate for the shorter bands. They sent this plate, in a higher quality metal so it is less likely to get scratched, along with TWO sets of bands (long and short) to me, once again, FOR FREE. Now tell me that's not customer service?! 

Moral of the story?

Check out American Medical ID.

You wont be sorry!

~Satisfied T1D Customer

(All pics are of the newest bracelet, which fits like a charm! Ha, get it, charm?)

Culicidaes

 Every time I write a new post, I find myself wanting to title it “The Struggle is Real”, and almost every time I remind myself that, although this is an excellent title I cannot use it for every single post. Even though it probably applies to every single post. Cause isn’t the struggle real, folks?

On a totally different topic, for some reason writing a post on blogger (the actual site) gives me writers block. Is this is strange? Yes Kelby, but we all know you’re strange so it’s fine. Okay, good. Glad we have an understanding. But for realz, I am so much more inspired when I type my posts out on word. Can’t you tell the difference?! I sure can. Of course, this could have a lot to with my mood, or my stress levels… or blood sugar. Who knows?

So now I am finally moving on to today’s topic. Culicidaes. Also known as, mosquitos. Of course I would like to say I had this scientific name stored in the recesses of this befuddled brain of mine, but we all know that’s not true and I just googled it to be impressive. Are you impressed?

See that red spot on my face? No it’s not a zit. It’s a mosquito bite. Or rather, the leftover mark of a mosquito bite from the night before this picture was taken. That night (at least I think this pic is from then) I was sitting on my sister’s couch watching a movie with her. Mind you, she is sitting right beside, that’s important info so store it. I got bit inside three times. Once on my wrist, once on my face, and the third time on my finger. I mean, who gets a mosquito bite on their finger?! A diabetic, that’s who. Grr Bobby Jean Piper (If you don’t get the Junnie B. Jones reference, you were a deprived child). I’m just too sweet, they can’t resist me (Sorry, we are back to the mosquitos now). My sister didn’t get bit not once. She’s just not sweet enough I guess.

Yours sweetly: Kelby, T1D, mosquito food court.

An Icee Revelation

So this one time I walked into a gas station and, temporarily forgetting about my (almost) dead pancreas, I came this close to buying a slushy.

1^st thought: *Gasp* those look ah-maz-ing

2^nd thought: It’s hot out, a perfect day for a slushy!

3^rd thought: And they don’t even cost that much!

Then, just as I was getting all worked up, a light bulb went off:

4^th thought: Oh yeah. I have diabetes.

Although I don’t often let this disease limit me when it comes to sweet treats, I had NO idea how to count carbs for a slushy. Not only did I think the amount of carbs would be too much for a normal day treat, I also wasn’t in the mood to take insulin. The thought of avoiding an injection was a more pleasant one than the thought of the cold cherry-coke slushy touching my taste buds.

As before stated, T1D doesn’t usually detour me from devouring sweets. I mean, let’s be honest here, Mickey D’s frappes are my weak point. I think I had three last week (hopefully my Mom’s not reading this…). A small Oreo frappe, my favorite, (thanks a lot person who introduced me- you know who you are) has 82 carbs. A small chocolate chip frappe has 110 carbs, a fact that I discovered yesterday after I already bought one because the Mickey D’s employee informed that they did not have Oreo frappes, even though the picture was clearly displayed on the menu (Uhhh can you say false advertising?!). Although I’m addicted to these things, in all fairness I only get one when I’m out with friends or, like today, traveling. I just happened to hang out with friends a lot last week. Frappes are probably so processed and terrible for me. Ew. I’ve got to kick this habit.

Healthy eating is something I aspire to pursue when I move out and have to buy my own food, but right now I don’t pay for food so I don’t complain, ya know?

Referring back to the slushy story, have you ever almost forgot you had diabetes? It’s all still fresh for me, so I guess it makes sense that I might have a momentary lapse in memory. Or does it?

~Absent minded T1D

Traveling

My blood sugar does not like traveling. Rather, it doesn't like high carb foods and lack of physical exertion. As I'm sure you've figured out, from last nights post and the sentences opening this post, my sugar has been wacky. Mostly high, but today I went low and this why (I think):

• We were eating food prepared at someone's home, so I didn't have an exact carb count
• I corrected for a slightly high BG (163)
• I also tried adjusting my bolus ratio
• I didn't have a calculator so I had to guess when dividing my carbs

So I corrected, but didn't re-check (I know, bad Kelby). In all fairness though, I was in a vehicle and I couldn't even wash my hands to check. When I corrected, my glucometer stated my BG was 88 but I knew better than that. I was pretty sure I was dropping fast, so I drank some juice. It was the lesser of two evils. I mean, don't correct and pass out, or correct without an exact number because I couldn't wash my hands, ya know? I ate some chips just a bit ago and didn't count or bolus for them. I had maybe a handful. 18 chips=19 carbs. I can have a 15 carb snack twice a day, so I figured the amount I ate was around that. Well I just checked and I was a little high, but feeling like I'm climbing. *Sigh*. Can't wait to get home and hopefully get this wackiness straightened out!

If these kinds of posts are annoying, just let me know. Ill move on to more relatable stuff eventually.

~Apologetic T1D

Troubleshoot

Current location: bathroom floor of our hotel

Current time: 10:55pm

Last four BG's

1. 7:57pm- 139
2. 8:50pm- 180
3. 10:34pm- 229
4. 10:49pm- 230 *after a bottle of water

 Last meal's carb count? 106 carbs, 7 units of insulin administered.

Cause of high BG? Probably all the processed junk I've been eating on this trip and lack of physical activity due to sitting on my bum in the car.

Ketones? Negative.

Action being taken? Almost finished with my second bottle of water, retesting at 11:05 to see if my BG is still rising or if it's decided to cooperate and drop for me.

Future preventative measures? Lowering carb insulin ratio for lunch and dinner from 15/1 to 12/1, trying if at all possible not to eat as much junk tomorrow and maybe try to get some exercise in.

Why don't you take insulin? Because my endo recommended no insulin before bed right now.

****UPDATE****
BG at 11:05pm is now down to 205. Goodnight folks!

Insurance = Assurance

Last Friday I was super ticked off and upset. Last time we talked to the medical supplier working with us to get my pump, they informed us that they would file with insurance and hopefully my pump would be on its way soon. That was almost a month and half ago. So after playing phone tag for about three days, I finally got the opportunity to ask what in the world was taking so long. The answer... made me mad.

My insurance denied my pump. They said it was because my blood sugar was under such good control. So in their opinion, I don't need a pump.

Obviously, the reps at my insurance company don't have T1D. The pump is not to give me better control because my A1C is bad, my last A1C was 5.6 ( Thank the good Lord!). The pump is so that I don't have to take a shot 4-6 times a day. Its for convenience, so that when I'm running late for school I can grab breakfast, press a couple buttons, and run out the door, instead of having to take the time to prep my needle, pen and skin for an injection. Plus- I just want a pump. Which may be selfish, I just think it would make my life a little easier. So how dare they say I don't need one?? You want me to have an unhealthy lifestyle before you will give me something to help maintain the already healthy situation of blood sugars? That's not fair.

All these thoughts and more have been running through my head the past 4 days. Until about 20 minutes ago.

Scrolling through Instagram I came across a diabetic account (check her out: @diabeticoutrage). One of the posts was about this young lady (the owner of the account) who's income does not support her medical bills, the bills resulting from type 1 diabetes. She posted about running out of Lantus and going without it for two nights, resulting in the development of ketones.

Holy cow. I'm a spoiled brat. Lord, forgive me when I complain about the insurance that gives me the ability to afford the medical supplies that keep me alive. Help me never to take my blessings for granted. I can live without a pump- I cant live without insulin. What a blessing it is to have the assurance that I can afford the supplies that sustain my life. 
~Blessed T1D

P.S. This is the first time I've mentioned Instagram, but I also have an account specifically linked to this blog. Check it out: @alittlebitofinsulin

Lows

When I was first diagnosed I remember thinking, How am I supposed to know when I go low? 
Ah ha ah ha. That was a good joke. Lets talk about low symptoms here for a sec. Thoughts that run through my head during a low:

• I am going to die of starvation
• Holy smokes, these hot flashes though 
• Legs, if you could work properly that'd be great 
• Why is my tongue not coordinating with my brain?

One of my worst lows yet was only 58, I believe, but it was one of those, I need to sit down and recover kind of lows. Our youth were working hard to prep a meal for a fundraiser we were hosting, and I'd been so busy I hadn't caught my early symptoms (fatigue, shakiness). When I finally realized I was low, I corrected with some carbs (duh, what else would I correct with? :b) then had to sit down and take a breather.

Well tonight at work I'm preeetty sure I went low. I was bagging drive through which had been slammed for about two or more hours. I started feeling tired (normal side effect of working in general though), and my legs didn't seem to feel right. Then I started having difficulties concentrating (also not really unusual). I didn't really have time to check my sugar. One, because we were so busy and two, drive through bagging is kind of a coveted position and showing your manager your interested enough to stay put may give you more opportunities to bag later on. Oh the joys of fast food.

Back to the story. I felt like those cartoon characters with the devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. The conversation may have went something like this, Devil: "Just drink the Dr Pepper! If you go low you'll pass out!" Angel (or rather, my mothers voice ringing inside my head): "You know you need to check your sugar first, what if your symptoms are all in your head? You could go high later! *GASP*".

Well I drank the Dr. Pepper with nothing to go off of except the fact that I felt like I was trying to go low. I started feeling better though, and I checked my BG as soon as there was a break in the monsoon of cars. 125. Shew! 

Whats your most prominent low symptoms? Have you ever corrected without a number? 

Long Acting Insulin

Lets talk about it for a moment, shall we? Lantus and I have never gotten along. From the first injection at the hospital, to last nights affair. Lets start with the hospital story first.

Well, actually, let me describe long acting insulin's purpose to those of you reading who don't know what it does. Long acting insulin does just as the name implies- it acts over long periods of time to maintain your blood sugar. It absorbs slowly as apposed to fast acting insulin (ex. Humalog or Novalog) which works quickly with your body's digestive system to process your food. Fast acting insulin is takin 4-6 times a day (any time you eat or need and extra insulin boost to bring down a high).You take long acting insulin at the same time every evening and it works throughout the next 24 hours to maintain your BG.

Back to the hospital: Very first injection of Lantus happens the night I am diagnosed. The nurse injects it into the back of my arm and it stings going in (which it is apparently not supposed to do, but all insulin stings going in this gal). 5 minutes later the injection site was still burning, along with welting, and itching. My first thought- Great, I'm allergic to insulin. We call the nurse in there to take a look at my lovely little welt, and she states she's never seen it do that before. She will call the doctor and let us know what to do. She comes back with an icepack and says that the doctor said its just skin sensitivity. So we hold ice on it until it feels better. It did this for days after. I finally bought an icepack and just always had it ready when I took Lantus. Eventually it stopped welting, so that was good.

That was my first experience with LAI (long acting insulin. Your welcome for my made up, unofficial abbreviation :b). I set an alarm on my phone that goes off every night at 10 pm, because I've found I'm not very good at remembering to take Lantus. It frequently gets forgotten, especially when my phone is dead or I go to bed early. Which is a story coming up here in a sec. Before we talk about early bedtimes though, I want to tell another story.

One night, about a month ago, ten o'clock came around and I COULD NOT find my Lantus pen. Like, freak out mode, OH MY WORD what did I do with it. The night before I had taken it at work. I often work a closing shift which puts me getting off around 10:30, if not later, so I take my insulin at work. Another privilege of the pump my friends: No more having to stop in the middle of stuff for Lantus. If only my pump would get here.. another story for another time.

So I cant find my Lantus. I'm freaking out. Of course that was my last pen I had in reserve, and we have no 24 hour pharmacies around us. We called my emergency endo number and the sweet endocrinologist on call at the hospital told me to check my BG every 3-4 hours and inject fast acting insulin according to my sliding scale: "And hopefully you won't get ketones" she adds. Lovely. It was going to be a looong night. Before I went into panic mode, I called work to see if anyone was still there and if they could look to see if my pen was anywhere around. Long story short, my Mom and I made an 11pm trip to CFA to grab my Lantus pen that a coworker had found under one of our coolers. Dumb Kelby. Apparently it fell out of my pocket. BUT, I took Lantus that night and the inevitable all-nighter stabbing catastrophe was avoided.

Now we are to the whole point of this post, with a surprisingly shorter story than those above. I had a headache last night, went to bed at 9pm and accidentally turned of my Lantus alarm in my sleep instead of hitting snooze. Woke up at 7am, realized I HAD NOT taken and Lantus, told my Mom who preceded to say my FULL name in exclamation followed by a, "Check your sugar now!". It was 99. Wow! Gods good, right? I took Lantus right after I checked my sugar, then made it through the day without any major highs or lows. Thank God.

Moral of the story: Lantus hates me. The End.

Support Systems

Today I read over a friends new blog. Her posts are so real and full of raw honesty. She has been T1D for 30 years- she's kinda a pro. She also was recently diagnosed with gastroparesis. You can read more about her and her T1D journey over on her live journal. She is one incredibly strong lady folks.

 I first met her over 6 years ago, when her and her husband brought their little family to church. I connected with her son quick; he was two at the time I believe, and so sweet ; ) Her youngest wasn't but a few weeks old. I don't think I realized right away that she wore a pump, (she was and still is a pro at keeping that thing under wraps ; ) but we knew she had Type 1 diabetes. At the time, I had no idea what T1D was- I just knew the basics like most people. She wore a machine that helped keep her alive, pricked her finger alot, and always had snacks and juice around. As I got closer to her and family, I still never really asked about her diabetes much. Its not like that's who she was, she was just a loving, kind and wonderful friend. I never had an idea the struggles she went through.

I remember one particular time asking about her pump and how it worked. The way she explained it, I thought she just stuck that little piece of tape on and went. I didn't understand the needle part, or the fact that she had to change it constantly and couldn't just whip it off whenever she wanted to. The concept of the cannula was lost on me.

The part that saddens me about all this, is that I didn't care to ask. Sure, I loved her very much and wanted (still want) her to be healthy, but I never really cared to know why she had the machine attached, why she pricked her finger. What was blood glucose? Well who cares as long as she knew what she was doing and how to take of herself? I thought.

Oh my. How very wrong I was.

Larissa is the first person I called when I was diagnosed. We were on our way home from the doctors office to pack for the hospital when I called her. I was completely composed and fine until I heard her sweet voice on the other line- I sobbed so hard I could barely get out any words. I remember saying, (in between sobs) "I'm okay, its really okay. I'm just scared". She was very sweet and reassuring... Although looking back on it now I realize how hard it must have been for her to console. Its not like she could say, Oh its a breeze! You'll do great, no worries!

Throughout this journey Larissa has been one of my rocks. When I was trying to decide on whether I wanted to try a pump, I asked her to show me her site at church one Sunday. She has the whole pumping thing down to a science, I can never even tell where her pump is half the time. She very willingly showed me her site and also her Dexcom. She's always interested in whats going on with my diabetes, and I know she prays for me daily- this means the WORLD to me. Her support has been so fundamental in my acceptance of this disease. I hope she reads this- I LOVE YOU LARISSA!

So I said all that to say this, do you ever feel frustrated with peoples disinterest in this disease? I don't know about you guys, but I love to tell people about type 1 (hopefully this is not an attention-seeking trait, but rather a desire to educate). Sure, it can get awkward, especially when its strangers, but sometimes its just nice to vent on people and explain to them what you have to deal with everyday. Before being diagnosed, I had no real interest in learning about T1D. I like to think, well rather hope, that I am, in general, a pretty compassionate person.

But I have to say this. Even the most compassionate, loving people have NO idea what you face sometimes. That's why support from other T1Ds is crucial. I'm thankful tonight for my support system : ) Larissa is just one the few who have kept me sane through all of this. My family aslo, are always willing to learn and try to understand all the aspects of this disease. I have other friends, great ones that do their best to support me even though they don't necessarily belong to the diabetic community.

Of all those people though, Jesus is my favorite : ))

BAD Days

Have you ever had a bad day with diabetes? Not a bad day as in, my numbers are all over the place and I have no idea why because Ive done everything right, but a bad day as in, wow I ate too many carbs, didn't check my BG when I should have and didn't inject at the right time. Its about to get real y'all...

My BG is currently 235. You know why? I ate out all day, for starters. A biscuit for breakfast, a burger and fries for lunch, and Japanese for dinner. I also had ice cream after lunch, and a Klondike bar after dinner. I'm sharing this, not because I am unashamed, because certainly anyone who is as glutenous as I was today should feel a little remorse, but because I want you to know that sometimes a lot of times I mess up. 

My sugar likes to go high on Sunday evenings anyhow, so when I checked my BG before eating out with a friend this evening, it was no surprise I was tad high (166). I bolused as well as I could without an exact carb count, and ate, probably using too much shrimp sauce (contributing factor #1). Then, we stopped by Walmart and I bought Klondike bars (bad decision #2). I remembered I had forgotten to give a correction dose at suppertime so I injected 3 units for 28 carbs instead of two. Pretty rough management here folks- but I'm not done yet. When it came time for my nightly Lantus injection, my friend and I were in the middle of a movie. So what did I do? Put that off until 11pm, when I should have given it at 10 (bad choice #3). 

So this explains why my sugar is high and why I am a failure. Does anyone else ever just NOT care? Of course I care to certain extent, I don't want to go blind, lose limbs or go into kidney failure, but are there times in anyone elses life where you just wish diabetes didn't have to be the center of attention? That you could be careless and get good results? 

Unfortunately, this is not the way life works. In order to obtain good results you have to work hard.
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might".
Here's to a better controlled tomorrow. 

PB Cookies :b

Preheat oven to 350

Combine 1 cup PB, 1 cup sugar, and an egg. 

Dollop out into 12 cookies on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes.

24 carbs for one cookie. Not bad!

Your welcome : )

Glucometer Spotings

Replace "Insulin pump" with glucometer and this was totally me the other night at work. A kid comes in with his mom, maybe his sister and probably a girlfriend. He was my age, maybe a little younger, tall, skinny, kind of sickly looking actually : / I wasn't on register, I believe I was bagging. Anyways, somehow I managed to get a glimpse of the little black case he carried to his table and I'm thinking, "Oh my gosh!! Does he have a glucometer?!" So I bag their food and take it to their table. The case is beside him but I cant see much, the table is in the way. So I go around the dinning room to do a "cleaning check" while trying to see what he is doing without looking like a stalker. Bahahaha! Sure enough though, I'm pretty positive he was checking his sugar with the one touch ping remote. Have you guys ever experienced a moment where you seen someone with a glucometer or pump? Do you also have to resist the urge to run up to them and gush out that you are T1D too?! Sadly, this would be kinda freakish of you, so you resist the urge and carry on in painful silence. I don't know what it is about seeing someone like that that makes you feel less alone in this battle. Just remember, your NEVER lone in your fight with T1D. There are probably lots of kids right in your community who have it too! Maybe one day I'll write a really cool post on how I overcame my fear factor and talked to someone i noticed with a pump/glucometer. ;)
Stay True!
-Kelby

I should sue! (Sp?)

If you are a chain of twenty or more reaturaunts, you must provide nutritional information. Cracker Barrel apparently didn't get the memo. Or Cheddars. These are the only two resturaunts I've discovered so far without nutrition info. I'm sorry, but this is aggravating to me. If I had a child who was diabetic and I couldn't find the exact carb count for them, I would probably have a cow. As the case is, I'm the diabetic here and I can pretty much guess and just see how it goes. I'm not angry enough to sue or anything, it is just one of those little aspects of diabetic life that people don't consider; or rather understand. So I'm going to come back this afternoon and post: exactly what I ate, how much insulin I took, and my before and after BSR. Maybe that can help you guys some down the road if you wanna eat a fruit and yogurt parfait from Cracker Barrel. Your welcome in advance. 😄

Video Games

So last night I discovered that video games effect my BSR. Well, rather the excitement of video games. I took insulin and ate right around nine. I had been snacking on some small amounts of carbs before then, but I don't think it would have been enough to shoot my sugar up to 249 three hours later. Not sure what that's all about, but ya just kinda have to roll with the punches. My guess though, is that Super Smash Bros may have gotten me a little too excited.
Update on the pump thing- we decided that the Insulet company (the makers of the omni-pod) were not the right choice for us. So now I am waiting to fill out paper work for the Animas One Touch Ping. Still shooting up with insulin pens for the time being.
I start college June 30th, and we are now sleeping in our new house.. *round of applause*
That's pretty much all!
Stay True! ~Kelby

Burnout

Everyone experiances burn out at some point and area of their life. Work, School, sometimes even family can becoming overwhelming. So whats the solution? Your tired of work or school? Take a vacation. Your family driving you crazy? Go for a drive and put your phone on silent. Tired of having diabetes?..... *cricket*cricket*

You see, when you are tired of pricking your finger, getting bad results, taking injections, counting carbs, lows, highs, inconsistency..... You have to suck it up and move on. You have to deal with it. Because diabetes doesn't take a vacation. You cant call your pancreas and say, "Hey todays my birthday, can you work for just today so I can eat all the junk I want?". Nope. You can eat that cake- go ahead, but bolus first; check your sugar first.

Im barely three months in to this thing. You know the hard part? It doesn't go away. I will have diabetes when I walk across the stage this Saturday and receive my diploma. When I walk into my first college class, diabetes is gonna be there. T1D will walk me down the isle on my wedding day. It will play an instrumental part in me raising my kids.

You know what else? Its OKAY. Sure its hard, sure its dumb, and sure a cure or healing would be fantastic. But until then, I can do this. We can do this. With Gods grace and help, Im gonna keep on chugging, because quitting isn't an option.

The point of this post: Be encouraged. Even when you get burnt out and fed up, just keep on going. Remember, your not alone in any battle you face.

**Random Updates**
Insulet finally called about my pump. Hopefully it won't be much longer till they hook me up, literally! Oh, and Im getting a new medical ID because I took mine off during senior pics and lost it. You know, typical Kelby thing. The good part is, we ordered interchangeable bands with my new one, so I can match it to my outfits ;)

I had my highest BSR since diagnosis last night.. 220 : ( #inexperianceddiabetic I know y'all have WAY higher sugars than that, but thats pretty high for me. I double checked my dinner bolus and following snacks, but I did everything right, sooo just one of those things I guess.

As always, Stay True!

Why..Just Why?

Ketones, I don't understand you.

Sugars have been fine, haven't really felt bad, and yet you are still hanging out.

What is so awesome about my urine?! (Sorry, TMI)

But for realz!

Your exhausting me. Between you and Mother nature, I'm lacking some major energy. 

We need to have a powwow.

Sincerely, frustrated T1D

Sisterly Pride

2:01am. She's dilated 5cm. Contractions every minute and a half. And today is my birthday. YAY! What a cool birthday present! Cant wait to smooch his sweet little face...

This is my first all-nighter as a diabetic. I haven't checked my sugar at all yet because I haven't really felt the need to. I was getting sleepy than I drank some Diet Dr Pib (boo for no Diet Dr Pepper-curse you cafeteria) and that caffiene woke me up gooood. Went with Shan (the bro-in-law) downstairs to get his sweatshirt and ended up running all the way to the car and back. It felt GREAT.

Let me just say- my sister is a hero. She has breathed through those contractions like a champ- no epadural! So very proud of her <3 She has an awful good husband too..they make a great team! He is going to have to train my imginary never going to exist future husband. Everything is going smooth and naturally... Praise God! This baby is going to be well loved. Aunt Kelby is going to love him and kiss him and be there for him as long as she lives... cant wait to squeeze his sweet self!

On another random, (litteraly) less sweet note, I have my appointment with the diabetes educator Tuesday! Pump life, here I come!

God is so good. Im so thankful for how he has helped my big Sis. So thankful for how he has helped me EVERYDAY. #GODSGOOD (Oh yes I just hashtagged...deal with it) Hahaha. Its late, k? Its my birthday too.. so gimme a break. 

Decisions, Decisions

Omnipod or One Touch? College Now or Later? Pale orange or bright orange?

Well, the good news is, my A1C at my appointment Friday was 6.3! Perfection! Dr V still thinks I'm in my "honeymoon stage", which means my pancreas is still producing a significant amount of insulin.; but because T1D is an auto-immune disease, my pancreas will continue to produce less and less insulin, until it no longer produces any. My Dr thinks that will happen between now and the end of next year. He says right now I have great control of my diabetes and my numbers look great! Thank the Lord : )
He (my doctor) also thinks that an insulin pump is great option for me! I have literature on 5 different pumps, and Ive narrowed it down to 2. We are waiting on a call from the diabetes specialist to schedule an appointment; she will tell us more about the pumps and what we are looking at financially. Truth of the matter is: I'm excited! Although it does feel a little strange, because this is the first time I've realized how serious diabetes really is. I will have a device attached to me that sustains my life; but if it malfunctions, could end my life. How crazy is that?!
My friend with T1D that has had it her whole life, is in the process of figuring out if she is a candidate for a pancreas transplant. She said if it works for her I would have a personal experience to go off of if I wanted to consider it. I'm like, woah, I don't think I need an organ transplant. Holy Cow! That really makes diabetes seem bigger and more serious!

College is a long story. The decision there is whether I should wait a year to save up/pay off my car, or to jump right in this summer.

Last but not least, we are painting our new house this week.... what color should I paint my room? Should I go with a peachy, more subtle color? Or a nice, bold, color? What to do, what to do...

So, life is crazy. Being almost 17 years old is crazy. Lots of decisions coming up that require lots of prayer. Shew! Lord, give me strength and wisdom beyond my years! ; )

Thankfulness

Wow y'all. Life is....overwhelming, and yet.. beautiful. I'm overflowing with thankfulness tonight. God is SO good, ALL the time. Not just when everything is going smoothly, but in every season of my life He has been good to me. I am blessed with a beautiful, amazing family that loves me so much, a church family that is always there when you need them, no matter what, truly wonderful friendships, shelter, clothing, food, the opportunity to be educated, freedom to worship Christ, a safe, loving home, health, a good job, the ability to see, hear, taste, smell, walk, the beautiful seasons God gives us to enjoy, freedom from the bondage of sin, and the liberty of salvation.

 The assurance of being fully submerged in all Gods love, his goodness, his peace, no matter what your facing is, without a doubt, the most wonderful feeling in all the world. 

I sat down tonight to write about all the changes, difficulties, and struggles I and my family are currently facing. 

Then I realized what a gift it is to live. 

Do you guys understand this? Do you understand how beautiful it is to freely worship Christ? To have an education? To be blessed with a loving family? How often do you really take time to appreciate the beauty of life? 

Sure, life's hard. There are times its difficult, depressing, confusing, and downright overwhelming.

Can I give you some reasons to be thankful? 

If she can be thankful for beatings, sickness, and pain, cant you be thankful for your blessings?

Something to think about. 

The Struggle is Real

Ohhh the temptation! 

Mean little hot, salted, crunchy, soft waffle fry. Why couldnt you stay in the box where you belong?!

Whats your temptation?

Understanding the Purpose

One of the hardest parts of being diabetic is trying to figure out why. Why did God give me diabetes? What is his plan, his purpose? How is he going to use this? My wonderful, sweet friend who has been a type 1 diabetic for 30 years, recently prayed with me. She begged and pleaded with God to heal me, to take it away, that she knew how hard it was, that she didn't want me to have to bear such a heavy burden. As we cried and prayed together, I realized I had been praying for answers, looking for a reason, a purpose, asking God to show me his plans, how he was going to work this together for his good. Then all the sudden it hit me- Faith. This is where my faith must take over my fear. Not that I'm really afraid of diabetes, because I'm not. My fear is that I wont do what I'm supposed to with this burden God has given me. Do I pray for healing? Do I pray to stay diabetic so I can help others?

Do I pray for understanding or psychic abilities to see see the future?

I realized just how dumb it was to ask God to show me what he planned to do with my diabetes. Knowing his plans would eliminate my need for Faith. No. Praying for complete understanding was not the way to go. 

All I could pray was God teach me. 
You see, I do not mind having diabetes. As ridiculous as that sounds, its true. Do I like daily injections and finger pokes? Do I like having to count everything I eat 24/7? Of course not. But I can handle it. Its really okay that I have type 1 diabetes, God has given me peace from day 1. I just want to learn. So when I pray it is not necessarily for healing, it is to ask for direction. God, how can you use me through this? Or, do you want to heal me for your glory? Don't get me wrong, healing would be GREAT, but that's not how Ive felt led to pray just yet.
My prayer is that God will teach me something through all of this. God has a purpose, but its not about understanding his purpose. Its about having faith that he has a plan, an expected end, and that he is going to teach you and make you stronger. So whatever your facing, remember your not the only one. Whether its T1D, sickness, family problems, whatever it may be, leave your ears and heart open to God. I just know he has a lesson to teach you.
Stay True, Kelby

Yoohoos, alarm clocks, and tractors

Today makes 5 weeks since I was diagnosed. I celebrated this morning with a Yoohoo. Well, actually I drank a Yoohoo because I woke up with a BSR (blood sugar reading) of 65, but hey, I still got to drink some Yoohoo! Ill take it any way I can get it :D
I was supposed to get up earlier than ten, but my alarm clock didn't go off. The poor little thing is almost eight years old and I only paid $7 for it when I was nine. My phone wont charge as of last night, so I didn't set an alarm on it. Long story short, I'm supposed to be on the tractor plugging and throwing seed but I'm waiting to re-test so I can eat breakfast.

I hope you all have a super wonderful, amazingly fantastic, extremely blessed day! :D 

Stay True!
Kelby

Before Bed Lows...

Sooo I had a nice, long day today. I worked a 10-330 shift and ran around the whole time refilling peoples "beverages" (Your not allowed to say "drink" at Chickfila...) and being nice and smiling.. ALOT. The whole 6 hours between breakfast and lunch I didn't have a low. Just to clear this up, the lowest I've been so far is only 62. So I'm not talking a can't function kinda low, just below my target range low. I was out of test strips so I couldn't eat right after work and had to drive home. (My Moms a little freaky about me eating without testing first.. We are all new at this, so I understand.) I felt a little weird so I ate a small snack before leaving work. Long story short, before my late lunch I tested in range and before dinner I tested in range. Bolused for my dinner, took my Lantus at 10, everything is good. We had a game night at our house tonight so we played Rook and then sang while a friend played the piano. It was a good night. I ended up coming home with my best friend and staying the night with her. I'm really tired but I thought it was from a long day. I tested before going to bed (or so I thought) and I was at 75. Not bad, but below target range. Ive never had a before bed low, so I'm sitting here like, "Oh my word did I take Humalog instead of Lantus?!" "Did I over-bolus for dinner?" "What made this happen?" When, in all actuality, diabetics have lows sometimes.. its kinda what we do, right? I drank some juice, tested 15 minutes later and I'm at 82... Still not super comfortable going to sleep below 100, I decided to blog about it. Your welcome. I tested just about five minutes ago and I'm at 117 currently. So its all good. Its funny because I know all of you diabetic pros are reading this and thinking, "She has no idea what a low is" and I'm sure that's true, but its okay. I don't mind being a rookie ; )

Just to clear this up though, there will be times I am on the lower end for no apparent reason, right? Does that happen to ya'll?

Stay True,

Kelby

Here we go..!

Howdy everyone. This is my first official post. Hallelujah, I finally got here. I'm tellin ya, I'm long winded and it took me forever to finish all the special pages on this blog. That said, here we are, my first post. I plan to post regularly about everything from diabetes to dogs. Why dogs you ask? Because my dog just jumped in my lap and its the first thing I thought of. So there ya go. On less random note, I do have some things to post about that relate to diabetes... first question:

Why does my family doctor want to make my life more complicated by telling me, "You ll know if you have a bacterial infection if your blood sugars are running high.."?

Does she want me to go insane?

I woke up yesterday morning around 530 with terrible congestion and a bad sinus headache. Let me just start by saying, I'm no rookie when it comes to sinus infections. I get one at least once a year if not twice. Before I was diabetic I would call, tell the office my symptoms, schedule an appt, get some antibiotics and be done with it. So I call yesterday to make an appointment because I feel terribly crummy. The receptionist says she'll leave C (my doctors nurse) a note, that she would call me back later. C calls me back several hours later, asks more questions, then says she will talk to Dr D and get back with me. An hour later she calls and says Dr D wants to give it a few days, and to monitor my blood sugars. If I have a bacterial infection, my sugar will run high. 

This makes it hard because my endo office just adjusted my carb/insulin ratio because Ive been running a little low. Plus its that time of the month for me.

So how am I supposed to know if my blood sugars high because I have an infection, because my ratio is off, or because its a certain time of the month?? Anyone else have these problems?!

As I write this I'm reminded... "Do all things without murmurings and disputings.." 

That's just difficult. Anyone else have a complaining problem sometimes?!

Stay True,

Kelby