Settling In

More changes came our way this month. After giving things a lot of thought and trying my best to make it work, I resigned from my job and accepted a position at a different company.

There's no need to go into much detail, but the job and hours were just not right for me, even if my coworkers were great. So, I'm on to the next chapter and really am enjoying my new job. It's a huge relief, and I'm able to do the kind of work I like.

That said, the career move has also helped out with my blood sugar spikes and schedule. Anyone with diabetes, particularly type one, will tell you that keeping a relative schedule is important to the management of the condition. Now that I'm working standard office hours with little variances in meal times and activities, my numbers are flatter and I'm using less insulin.

I've also been taking my Vitamin D supplement for five weeks. It's hard to say if it's been helping with anything, or if I'm just feeling the cumulative effects of the new job and settling in here in Ohio. However, I'm feeling great, so either way, it's a win.

I turned 29 a few days ago, and I'm looking forward to a great year!

Diabetes and The Other D

A lot has happened in the past two months. I'd like to say that my schedule and stress have evened out, but that is certainly not the case. Moving is hard work! That's all I'll say.

On the upside, Anthony and I have gotten to spend a lot of time with both of our families since moving back, and have been able to reconnect with some old friends we haven't spent much time with for the last several years.

I've also gotten hooked up with a great new Endo, Dr. M, and a CDE. We're working on some basal testing right now in preparation for my next appointment. For those unfamiliar, this involves skipping meals and adding lots of finger pricks to see how my pump's basal insulin settings function without the influence of food and extra insulin.

And today, I had a follow-up discussion with Dr. M about some bloodwork she had drawn a couple of weeks ago. All in all, everything was great. Kidneys, cholesterol, thyroid and all of those other things that can secondarily go bad with Type 1 are doing fine.

Except for one. Now I have a new "D" to worry about - a Vitamin D deficiency. And suddenly, lots of little things make sense. Higher levels of stress and anxiety, feeling more tired than normal, and, I've been sick more times this year than I have probably been for the last several years combined. All of these little things could be affected by low Vitamin D levels.

A web search says that this is very common, and likely very under-diagnosed. To give me a quick boost, I am taking a once-a-week mega-prescription Vitamin D pill for a couple of months, and when that brings me into a normal range, I can rely on over-the-counter supplements. There's not a lot we can do to get more D from diet. Even Vitamin D Milk is not concentrated enough to help much - you'd have to drink several glasses and eat five servings of salmon every day to reach desired quantities of the vitamin. Humans evolved with the ability to synthesize their D from the sun, just like plants. Since we drive cars, sit behind windows (or in windowless offices like me) and wear sunscreen, we just aren't getting what we need from nature. This is not to say that I don't do plenty outdoors. Anthony and I go for evening walks, and we bike and golf on the weekends. However, like my pancreas, my photosynthesis just needs some help.

I took my first dose with dinner this evening, and I hope I will be able to see some benefit from this little miracle vitamin soon.

Newness

Last week, I finally pulled the trigger and went to see a new endocrinologist in Dayton.

It had been about six months since my last appointment with Dr. K in West Virginia, but with all of the changes in insurance, moving and scheduling with a new doctor, this was the soonest I could make it in.

My new endo, Dr. M, is a tiny, soft-spoken, sympathetic woman who knows her stuff. The first thing she did was upload all of my pump data, right there into the exam room, so we could go over my plans. She agreed with most of my assessments, and was very pleased with my numbers considering the general stress involved with moving, selling a home from another state and starting a new job and life in a new city.

We outlined a couple of areas that need improvement, and she had some helpful ideas for handling the challenges provided by my new job. It has me managing nighttime events after a day at the office several times a month, which obviously, confuses my eating/insulin schedules. Dr. M was very understanding that this is a transitional period, and was hesitant to make many changes to the routine that was working for me a few months ago and is still largely okay.

All in all, it went better than I expected. As stressful as these recent changes have been, I was definitely worried about the "getting to know you" appointment.

I go back to see her in a month for a "real" appointment and to see how the numbers are panning out when things have (hopefully) settled down for me personally. She also referred me to a CDE (certified diabetes educator, for those who don't know the lingo) who she likes all of her patients to see. I've never been to a CDE, having just seen an endo or family doctor in the past, so I'm looking forward to having a team look out for me.

And on a positive note since my last post, thanks to my parents' garage serving as our storage unit for now, Anthony's and my apartment no longer looks like this...

When do you tell?

It's time to catch back up to speed here on Sweet Feat. You may remember me writing about moving and job hunting last post, so  you can probably guess what I've been doing...

Our house in West Virginia is empty (still for sale) and our apartment in Ohio is so full that it overflowed to my parents' garage. And, yay, I started my new job this week!

No, it's not a pager.

Which brings up the question all of us Type 1s are familiar with - when do you tell? Being just four days in, the opportunity to disclose hasn't really presented itself yet. And I didn't exactly want to lift up my shirt (see right) during the Monday staff meeting and say, "Hi, I'm Courtney - check this out!"

Being as I have a blog and post to Facebook, this obviously isn't something I'm keeping a secret. Also, with several pending friend requests out to my new coworkers, they'll probably figure it out soon enough.

So, my plan is to just roll with it as it comes up naturally. I had a moment today, when someone asked if there was anything they should know about me, but a client walked in and it was no longer the right time.

Aside from that issue, everything has been going very well with the move and both of our new jobs. We also picked up some new bikes last weekend for the awesome Dayton area bike trails. We went for our first ride on Sunday, and plan to go this weekend too. I have a feeling we'll be doing nothing but biking and golfing all summer!

As Freddie would say, "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike..."

It's good to be a Buckeye again!

I'm a terrible blogger...but in my defense, there has been so much happening since the holidays!

Long story short, Anthony accepted an awesome new job and we are officially moving back to my hometown in Ohio. We thought long and hard about leaving the home we've built in West Virginia, but in the end, it was impossible to say no.

January was filled with getting our house on the market, packing, apartment viewing, moving and stomach flu.

During the week following Christmas, Anthony and I, plus about a dozen other family members from his side, came down with a nasty virus that made us very ill for about a day, and nauseated for several more days.

A couple of weeks later, after listing our house and verifying Anthony's new employment details, we started the search for an apartment to make home while our house sells. We found a winner, and lucky me, I also found another strain of the stomach flu. Apparently I was uniquely qualified to pick up both the Greater Columbus and Greater Dayton variants of the virus. Good times.

Anthony started work at the end of the month, so we moved some of our furniture into the apartment, while I kept (the nicest) majority with me at the house. I am staying behind for now, waiting for our house to sell and trying to find a job in the Dayton area. When one or the other happens, I'll be joining Anthony.

With all the stress of moving and job hunting, my blood sugar has been well-behaved, barring the two times I had the stomach flu.

Now onto the scary diabetes portion of this post:
During my first round of The Virus, in the three hours preceding the onset of sickness, I stayed at a steady 65. I ate an entire pack of Twizzlers, half a bottle of sugar tabs and drank juice to try and bring up my number. Sometime during this episode, I realized my Glucagon injectable (an emergency dose of sugar) was expired. By five years. Oops.

After nothing working, I started throwing up everything I had ingested in the last three hours and told Anthony that we may need to go to the ER. As a desperate last attempt to get some sugar, I dissolved some table sugar in half a cup of hot water and managed to keep it down for almost an hour, which was long enough for the sugar to work. It was the last thing I kept down for the next day, but after The Virus really hit, my sugar skyrocketed anyway. It happens, unavoidably, when you're sick.

Lesson learned? Make sure your Glucagon is current! This could have ended in a trip to the ER or worse, but it was okay.

I wish you...

Happy Holidays, whatever you're celebrating!

Anthony and I will be visiting both sides of the family for Christmas.

A new glucose sensor has been locked and loaded on my leg in preparation. I have a good understanding of what works and doesn't work for me during family functions. I can enjoy a few of my Mom's No Bake Cookies, but I lay off the sandwich bread and eat a lot of veggies. I can enjoy a few glasses of Anthony's aunt's homemade wine, but I have to dial up for it because it's so sweet.

Being with family and friends who we see only a few times a year calls for indulgence, so keep in mind that blood sugar works with the same principle as gravity - what goes up WILL come down.

Also, I will be celebrating my seven-year diaversary on New Year's. Maybe I'll bake a cake!

Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

World Diabetes Day

Today is World Diabetes Day, when people across the globe will observe and remember those who are challenged with this disease. There's not much else to say, so I'll leave you with some visuals that show how diabetes impacts my life every day...

Diabetes Awareness Month

Welcome to November! You know - that month that everyone likes to skip over to get straight to Christmas/whatever else you celebrate.

I, for one, am glad that it is November. In addition to Thanksgiving, which is a big deal in my family, November hosts Diabetes Awareness Month. November 14th is World Diabetes Day.

During Diabetes Awareness Month, the JDRF and the International Diabetes Federation are asking people to wear blue on Fridays during the month of November, since our symbol is a blue circle.

I'm wearing blue today, and maybe you'll see some others in blue. It seems like you can't get away from all the breast-cancer pink in October, and they've done a spectacular job to raise awareness. Now it's our turn. Do your small part on Blue Fridays and help spread the word!

Another way to participate in Diabetes Awareness Month is to take just 90 seconds to help us Type 1's by electronically signing this petition to the U.S. FDA: http://takeaction.jdrf.org/site/PageNavigator/APAC.html.  By signing, you are asking the FDA to remove any delays on the Artificial Pancreas Project - a device that would have an enormous impact on the management of Type 1 Diabetes. The FDA is set to make a recommendation on December 1, so time is running out to help them see the immediate importance of a device like this.

Happy Diabetes Awareness Month!

Success!

A month ago, I posted about my A1c A1wtf, when I had inexplicably gotten a reading that didn't match up. It was a 7.5, not terrible of course, but not where I want or expect to be. My follow-up appointment was last week.

Since I couldn't get an A1c at the doc's office due to insurance, I bought a Bayer A1c Now test (insurance only covers a blood test every three months; six months if you're a type 2). For the price of an office visit, you can get two tests to do whenever you want between your regular checks.

I assembled the kit, mixed my blood drop with the chemicals...

and...

waited...

five...

long...

minutes...

for...

6.7!

Yay! Almost a full point drop in just four weeks! My pump was reporting a month average of 130, and my sensor was showing 128, so this is just what I was expecting for a three-month average. That means I can expect to be in the low 6's next time.

Dr. K was very excited to see my reports, and even gave me a high-five and a free vial of Novalog for all my hard work!

Some of my non-diabetic readers may be wondering what all the fuss is about regarding the A1c test. The scientific explanation is this: red blood cells in your body live for three months, and during their lifetime, absorb the glucose in your body. There is a chemical reaction between glucose and hemoglobin (red blood cells) that produces glycated hemoglobin. The A1c test measures the percentage of glycated hemoglobin in your blood. Since your cells only live a few months, the reading represents an average percentage for that time frame.

The non-scientific explanation is this: going from 7.5% to 6.7% in just one month is pretty freaking awesome!

A1wtf?!

As you may or may not have noticed, I've been absolutely ignoring this blog for the past month or so. I have no explanation other than a general burnout. We've all been there, I know.

Adding to this feeling, I had my endocrinology check-up last week. I took an at-home A1c test a month ago, just to self-monitor, and was pleased that it showed a 0.3 drop from my last appointment. Needless to say, I went to my appointment last week feeling very confident that I would be solidly in the "under 7" category.

As my fellow T1's know, every endo appointment comes with that hold-your-breath moment when you get your report card A1c number. This appointment felt different. I was confident and upbeat, excited even, to hear my number. As Dr. K flipped through my electronic chart, I just KNEW he would say 6.5. Imagine the sheer disappointment when he reported that it was a full point higher than that at a 7.5. With the at-home test that registered a 7 only four weeks ago, coupled with my last appointment at a 7.3, I just don't get it! I've had my CGM on almost constantly in the past several weeks, and I've seen nothing to verify this higher number. Could it be a fluke?

Dr. K understood my frustration, and practically (and comically) panicked himself when I teared up a little while I explained my at-home test and confusion over this number. We went over my CGM graphs and tightened some settings on the pump. I go back in a month for a retest, which I am again expecting to be better. While Dr. K wouldn't say if he thought the number might be an error, he agreed that it didn't make sense.

Logically, I know that this A1c is just a blip on the radar. Emotionally, though, I am so disappointed and despondent over this number. Until the next appointment, I am stalking my numbers in a borderline OCD fashion, and aiming for the best! Because, really, what else can we do?

Playing Catch-Up

First off, I apologize for not updating in a few weeks. Long story short: I still have no laptop cord, took an awesome beach-house vacation with ten of our closest friends and got out of the habit of writing.

My diabetes was very well behaved on vacation, including long stints without the pump attached because of the heat on the beach. In fact, my numbers were almost too good, resulting in lots of minor lows. But, being out in the hot sun and being pretty active all day will do that. The only downfall was the night when we were playing beach volleyball and got swarmed by mosquitoes. I lost count at thirty bites, and one of our friends probably had double that!

Since vacation, we haven't slowed down. Two weeks ago, we spent a weekend visiting my college roommate, her husband and their adorable almost-one-year-old. Then, this weekend, we attended The Greenbrier Classic Golf Tournament with a couple of great friends. The tourney included a concert. I don't listen to country music, but I have to say that Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban gave great shows!

In addition to all of our travels, Anthony and I have been keeping up our running. We haven't found a 5k to attend yet, and our training has slowed a bit due to the heat.

To help supplement some cardio for our missed days, I stopped by Brickhouse Cardio to try their hour-long $5 Zumba class last night. Wow! What a workout, and what a lot of fun! I did have a really stupid low blood sugar mishap (checked in at 50 halfway through class, after a granola bar) and had to run next door to get a Coke (stupid moment for forgetting to unpack my sugar tabs from this weekend's trip). While I'm not going to sign up for membership yet, I will definitely be going back soon. For just $5, it's great exercise, and, it's air-conditioned!

A Diabetes Gold Star

Last week, I had my three-month endocrinology appointment, which was technically a five-month appointment thanks to scheduling issues on both ends.

Dr. K was pleased that I had lost some weight and I had great bloodwork returns. Most important, though, we were both excited to see that over the last two appointments, my A1c had dropped by 1.5! Which means I am almost at my goal of under 6.5. All in all, I gave myself a gold star for the appointment. I take my appointments seriously, and I'm a people-pleaser, so I frequently leave Dr. K frustrated and have a pity-party car cry on the way back to work. Walking out with a positive report is always a relief!

As for 5k training, we have been keeping it up this week despite the stormy weather. The muscle strain I mentioned last time is feeling better, and I hope it will be completely healed soon. I've been able to up my distance, anyway. Anthony and I have decided not to do the 5k this weekend because neither of us feels ready yet. It's summer, though, so I'm sure we'll find one in a month or so.

I tried typing this post from my new iPad 2, but couldn't get it to load pics or scroll correctly. The iPad is not Blogger format compatible, I guess. It's a hand-me-down from my mom, who won it in a weight-loss competition at her school (she's an educational aide). She is uncomfortable with the Apple foreignness, so I inherited it. It arrived just in time for my laptop cord to melt through and start throwing sparks. Yeah, fun stuff.

I've been having fun playing with the iPad. It's a pretty cool product. Especially the ridiculous options in the photobooth app...this kaleidoscope photo goes out to all my fellow type 1s, who, I know, love Diet Coke as much as me...

The Peroneus What-us?

As you may have read here before, I'm training for a 5k. All has been progressing well and I am actually starting to make some gains!

But, last week, I started to have some soreness in my lower legs which has progressed into a searing pain and tightness this week. It pops up about 10 minutes in, and sticks around until I stretch it. Which means I'm stopping to stretch every five minutes or so. The pain is not my calf, not shin splints, but on the outside of the leg, between the ankle and knee. There is no discernible swelling or heat, so I'm thinking it's just a strain and not a tendon problem. And while the immediate pain stops shortly after running, it feels fatigued pretty much constantly, in the same way your arms muscles feel after doing a lot of reps.

After some speculation from Anthony that there IS no muscle there to pull, I turned to my next-trusted research source, Google, and I learned that the muscle is called the peroneus longus. It controls eversion (lifting the pinky-toe side of the foot) and plantar flexion (like pushing your gas pedal). And, ouch ouch ouch, pushing the gas pedal on the way home after a run hurts!

Really...leave it to me to strain a muscle no one's ever heard of! My calves, hamstrings, quads, etc. all feel great, but this odd side-stabilizing muscle is killing my training!

I am trying to work through it at a slow pace, but am definitely going to have to put the 5k training program on repeat for a couple of weeks. I'm also icing after runs, which seems to give some relief.

There are some specialized stretches for the longus that I am trying to do a few times a day and extensively before running.  Yoga stretching and rolling onto the outsides of my feet are practically the only way I can feel a good stretch in the muscle, but it does seem to help a bit.

Surprisingly enough, there are a lot of discussion hits for this type of strain. It seems like it will lessen within a couple of weeks with rest and care. While this is a frustrating set-back, hopefully it will clear up soon so I can get back to pushing myself! I still don't enjoy running, but I am enjoying seeing gains and reaching new milestones.

It's Hard Out Here for a Pump

After weeks of rainy, stormy weather, we had a weekend of sun and hot hot heat. And it seems to be here for the season, finally!

Summer entered with a bang just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, during which Anthony and I did lots of yard work, golfed, partied and generally spent a lot of time outside in the 90+ degree sun. In other words, we were sweating our asses off for the better part of three days!

As a type 1 diabetic on an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor (cgm), this presents a whole set of problems the average person doesn't consider. This weekend's sweatfest caused me to lose a four-day old cgm sensor, which just seemed to melt off my leg, and caused a pump infusion site's adhesion to lose its sticky, which meant I was leaking insulin. Luckily, I guess, insulin smells weird, so I noticed pretty quickly.

Another consideration is the effects of the heat on the insulin being stored inside the pump and then transferred to me. If I let the pump get too hot or expose it to too much direct sunlight, the insulin can start to go bad by losing its potency. Think of leaving a beer out in the hot sun then re-refrigerating it...eww, right?

So, how does one get around these issues? Usually, if I know I'll be outside and sweating, I'll just unhook my pump and leave it somewhere cool. On beach vacations, I'll leave it shaded in a purse or insulated bag next to me. If I'm not being physically active enough to keep my blood glucose in the normal range, I'll go reconnect for a few minutes and give myself a bit of insulin to get by. As for the cgm and infusion sites melting off due to heat and sweating, there's not much you can do to prevent it. I tend to lose three or four sites every summer to this issue, and since the hubby and I are being decidedly more outdoorsy this year, it's bound to happen more often.

Anthony and I are still going strong on the Couch-to-5k program, now in week four. Week three seemed like a breeze, but bumping up to five-minute runs plus the new 90-degree weather has made this week's jump a little more difficult. We're planning to do a 5k in Huntington at the end of June, intimidatingly called the WV 5k Championship. It says the race is for runners of any skill level. I hope so, but the name alone is scary!

Highs and Lows

While trying to compose my thoughts for this post, I felt like I was all over the place with things I wanted to say, but I did pick up on a theme: highs and lows. Not just in specific reference to type 1. 


On the diabetes front: At the beginning of last week, I was under a lot of stress, which, for me, means highs. By Tuesday, I was tripling my insulin rate and still couldn't come down under 140. It's a vicious cycle of being stressed in my personal life and then going high, only to then stress over the numbers I'm seeing on my meter. A kind of circular reasoning takes place and it takes hours or days to break it. After I got myself back under control, I had a great week and weekend numbers-wise, only to have a site go bad today. Note to self - if the infusion site itches and burns, pull it out because you're not getting your insulin! And of course, this happened when I'm not wearing my continuous glucose monitor. Sometimes a girl needs a break from her machinery.

A great weekend: Anthony and I had a full weekend that started out at the Charlie West Blues Fest in Charleston. Great show, great friends and a great time! Saturday, we saw the new Pirates movie (a good pick if you liked the others) and Sunday we caught up on some much-needed yard work. After breakfast, we washed our vehicles, went for a run, grilled out, trimmed hedges, mowed, cut down a dead rose bush and then I "helped" at Anthony's first soccer practice. By the time we finished all of that and got home, it was almost 8. It was a busy but fun day. And I didn't have any major low sugars, which was a high point!

And just because I want to share: To the "dude" who works on the second floor of my office building...your white-guy fro, bicycle riding and style of dress all make me think that you are probably a hippie. I am intrigued by the way you leave your office door open as if our building is a college dorm. However, thanks to your odd door habit, I get to listen to your music choices after work everyday. Death Cab, REM, Garth Brooks, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, jam bands...I just never know what I'll hear walking from stairwell to stairwell. I must say thank you for giving me this interesting afternoon guessing game!

JDRF Walk for a Cure Review

The Good:
First off, I'd like to thank our great friends who donated to our Walk Team - we set a first-timers goal of $100, but due to your generosity, we ended up at $200! Thank you for donating, and when a cure is found, you will have been a part of the all-important research process.

There were an estimated 500 people at the event, which set a goal to raise more than $129,000. Their numbers aren't in yet, but I'm willing to bet they made it.

The Not-so-Good
All of that said, I am sad to admit that I was disappointed with the event organization on many levels. Weeks before the event, I emailed the local branch to ask how I could volunteer three times. All I got in reply was one email asking me to sign up as an advocate for the Children's Congress. (My husband and I both signed up.) 

Very little information was made available before the Walk. We received an email telling us to arrive at 12:15 p.m. for photos, but when we arrived at the registration booth, no one seemed to be able to tell us where to go for the photo-op. Three tables and twenty minutes of wandering later, we finally found an answer. Since the walk wasn't scheduled to start until 2 p.m., we had some time to kill and spent it at the adjacent Cruisin' for a Cure Car Show, which was fun. But, as far as Walk-hosted activities, if you weren't under the age of twelve, you didn't matter. There was a bouncy house, a clown, face painting and all sorts of fun kids' activities. Which was great - all the kids there had a blast. BUT...every announcement, note and sign was about kids with type 1. No mention was made of all of us there who were adults. (And when we finally got to start the walk, there was so much confusion about the course that people were going in three different directions at one intersection.)

Why Does it Matter?
This is prime time for public education! Here's the kicker - at the event, I heard someone say: So, how old do you have to be until it's not Juvenile Diabetes anymore? There was so much opportunity for advocacy at this event, and it was lost.

While I support the cause, I was let down by the execution.

Blog Week #7: What We've Learned

As blog week ends, we have been asked to say what we learned from other bloggers in the diabetes online community (the d.o.c.).

The things I have learned from fellow bloggers in the past week, and long before that, are too numerous and profound to name. The d.o.c. is a place to gain perspective, comfort, ideas, humor and so much more.

I could never name all the reasons I'm glad to have the d.o.c., so let me just say THANK YOU to all of my online "friends" who inspire me everyday. It was wonderful seeing the camaraderie this week and I've now picked up even more blogs to follow.

On another note: I'd also like to thank our wonderful family and friends who donated to today's JDRF Walk for a Cure. While the experience was not exactly what I expected (more on that this week), it was for a great cause, and I'm thankful for all of your donations.

And one more note: A big congrats to my husband who graduated this weekend with his MBA. I'm so proud of him!

Blog Week #6: Snapshot Saturday

Mustard, ketchup, taco sauce, eggs, insulin...the usual.

My supply closet. Very organized after spring cleaning!

Glucose tabs next to the alarm clock for middle-of-the night lows.

Fruit punch and orange are the best!

Blog Week #5: Awesome Things

Let's take a look at the bright side - being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes has come with some perks. Every finger prick, shot, pump-site change and SWAG (scientific wild-assed guess) insulin dose comes with a balance of learning (on a bad day), gratification (on a good day) and wonder (where the F did that number come from?!).

Here are some of the finer points of diabetes:

• I love being right.
  Exhibit A: my three-hour readout after a lunch of beef stir-fry, fruit and a handful of almonds.

• Learning about nutrition. Most people eat what they want and don't think much about it unless they are trying to be healthy or lose weight. Diabetes and insulin pumping have taught me a lot about the delicate balances in meals - carbs, proteins, fats, fiber - and how they all work together and affect the absorption of glucose into cells and the bloodstream.
• Real food is way better than sugar free. A lot of non-D people eat sugar free because they think it's healthier. It's really just chemically enhanced. I learned the hard way that "sugar-free" treats are, first, not really "sugar-free"; and second, made with sugar alcohols. You remember when Olestra hit the potato chip market and the problems that caused to peoples' digestion? Yeah. Sugar alcohols do that, too.
• Having a really good reason to exercise. Aside from the obvious benefits to overall fitness, exercise is also instrumental to keeping blood sugar regulated. I can tell a big difference if I take more than a few days off from physical activity.
• I honestly believe I am healthier because of my diagnosis. I pay attention to details I never bothered with before, and would probably still ignore.
• Having cool technology is a must. At any given time, I am carrying no less than three pieces of life-saving technology. My insulin pump, my glucose meter and my continuous glucose monitor are almost always with me, and in two of the cases, actually attached to me. While carrying all of this stuff can be cumbersome, it's tolerable when I think about how much easier they make my life.
• Other bloggers. I have learned so much about diabetes and life in general from all of the other people who have put their stories into the world wide web. The diabetes online community is a great place of learning, camaraderie and venting.

Keep on the sunny side!

Eggs - 2 carbs, 31g protein!

Blog Week #4: Wild Card Post "Outside the Box"

Today's Blog Week post was supposed to be "Ten Things I Hate About Diabetes." However, since I did my own Top Ten List a couple of weeks ago, I'm picking a wild card today: "Thinking Outside the Box" to produce something creative.

So, while many talented bloggers will probably express their "outside-the-box" posts in inspiring and much more creative ways, I have decided to take this post verbatim and show you something "outside-the-box", literally.

Yay for new shoes! Anthony and our good friend Jacob have decided to take up the Couch to 5k training program and I am tagging along...at a much slower pace, a few laps behind. The program seems do-able, and should be a great way to help shape-up my layer of chub A1c number. (FYI, non-D readers, the A1c test is like a report card for your blood sugar numbers, averaging from the last few months.)

For the record, after our first two sessions, I still hate running. It is definitely an outside-the-box activity for me! Wish me and my shoes luck!