I have a few quick announcements to make about some new changes.  First, my new e-mail address to contact me is thelifeofadiabetic@gmail.com  Secondly, the url to my blog will be changing, as will the design, format, pretty much everything about it.  You will still be able to ready about my boring ole life, but there will be some additional things other then just my life.  I figured I’d start sharing some opinions that nobody is going to care about anyway because we all have our own opinions.  I’ll release the new url shortly.

Now onto the fun stuff.  I went to a luncheon yesterday that is sort of a diabetes support group.  Total of about 30 people which included CDE’s, pharmacists, pharma reps, diabetics (type 1 and type 2), some MD’s and some other advocates for diabetes.  One of the main things discussed and brought up was education centers closing.  Just answer this one question for me. Where would you be today without a diabetes educator?  Want to hear my answer?  My answer is, probably not alive!  How would you know how to read a food label, count carbs, figure out what your bolus should be, how much exercise, how to heal a wound, how to prevent wounds from happening, I can go on all day.

It seems the new way of diabetes treatment is to have an all in one doctors visit with everybody under one roof.  So, go spend 5 minutes with the nutritnionist, psychologist, endo, nurse, podiatrist, and oh yeah, this is in all 1 big circle and setting.  Hmmm, to me that just sounds like a recipe for complications.  So they say there aren’t enough Endo’s for all the people with diabetes.  Really?  So how about we educate people a little more about diabetes, and maybe there won’t be as many, because they can make lifestyle changes.  But, no we can’t do that because how will the hospitals be able to bill for these people going to these classes who don’t even have diabetes, the insurance companies won’t have any of that.

So instead, we opt to have less education and more complications.  Does not sound like a recipe for success in my eyes.

Well, I hope you all have a good day.

Friday at work I had used my last testing strip and I made myself a little note to bring in another 2-3 boxes on Monday so I can have some more here.  Well, yesterday I was doing a lot of cleaning and this note was in the way, so I decided to throw it away.  Well, guess what?  I forgot to bring more testing strips to work.  So, I will have to go from 9-6 without testing once.  I hate going this long, especially at work on a Monday when it can be stressful.  I also forgot my lunch at home.  That is a double whammy on a Monday.

I didn’t post much last week because I have been completely swamped with work, and Panther’s games, and cleaning, and other odds and ends.  Last Thursday I was getting ready for work and cleaned my glasses and my lens popped out and I noticed that the bridge of the glasses had broken.  Normally this would be fine, but I didn’t have any contacts left because I haven’t been to the eye doctor in a long time, which I can now schedule an appointment now that I have full insurance again!  So I had these things all taped up, and it was not very easy to see nor safe to drive because there was a piece of tape in my line of vision.  So, when it was all said and done, I was given a free 2 week sample pair of contacts, just long enough for me to buy new glasses.  I went this week, and have to go pick up the new ones later this week.

I used to wear my contacts every single day back in high school, but not so much anymore, guess I’m too lazy.  Well, I didn’t really have any bad diabetic experiences this weekend, so not too much to talk about there.  So you all have a great Monday

This weekend didn’t hurt my diet too bad.  It didn’t help, but it also didn’t hurt, which I will take that as a victory!  I am down 15 pounds since the beginning of the year, but still nowhere near where I’d like to be.  My blood sugars are in good ranges, but not great where I want them to be.  The morning highs are only there when I eat past 10 p.m. and stay up later then 1 a.m (which usually causes me to eat later)  I have had no other diabetes related issues or problems, so I don’t really have much diabetes stuff to talk about.

So, I guess that makes me normal like everybody else. Oh wait, I just did remember something.  I got approved for a new pump.  I was using the older Medtronic 715, and just got approved for the 722, so that means the next step is to start using the CGMS.  I have heard different opinions, but I would like to try out this one along with the Navigator.

Well I will let you all know the updates of the CGMS!

Christmas time has come so fast.  I will already be going back home in just a few days.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was flying back home from Thanksgiving.  Well tomorrow is my A1C test, so that means fasting tonight.  I will probably eat some fruit right around 10:30-ish, and then that is it.  Drink some water in the morning to make the blood work go a little easier and hope that I’m under 7%.  I think that I may be this month.  It would be a great Christmas gift, plus it will make my educator happy.

I’m also in the process of trying to get approved for CGMS through the insurance company.  From what I’ve read, I have a long road in front of me.  But I can’t do anything other than just try and wish for the best.  I don’t know if I want to wear a whole new infusion set on my body along with the one that I already have, but if it helps me control my levels better, then I guess it is worth it.  I will do a little more research about it before I obviously go on it.  Either way, I still want to upgrade to the newer version of the pump I am on, just in case I do decide to go on the CGMS, at least I will have the right pump.

You know what, I have so much shopping and things I still have to do before Friday night.  We are having an early Christmas dinner and Christmas gift exchange since I will be flying back home this weekend.  I have no idea what to get anybody, and with time running out, who knows what I will settle on.  Maybe I should make a list, that would probably help.

What a weird weekend this was.  The worst part was the tie game between the Eagles and the Bengals.  This game drove me crazy, and was also one of the ugliest I have ever seen.  I remembered the last tie that took place because my dad is a huge Pittsburg Steelers fan and we were watching the game.  Also, on Saturday, I some how ended up at the local sports bar to watch the UFC fight.  This is where my blood sugars got all crazy.  My sugar went up really high when I was eating chips and salsa, but then they just dropped like crazy and went down to about 55.

I had a lot of chips in front of me, but they disappeared pretty quickly once I saw the number 55 on the meter.  I also had a really low experience yesterday that just came out of nowhere.  I was in the middle of cleaning up my house when it happened, so I had no problem stopping what I was doing, test and then take the time to eat some Skittles to get my sugars back where they needed to be.  The only part I hated about the Skittles is that I am trying to lose weight, so when I eat them or drink some OJ, it has like 150 calories, 15 minutes in the gym just to recover from a low.

Today’s weigh in is 238.  I didn’t reach my goal, but this week’s dieting is going to be a lot more intense.  I didn’t hit the gym as much as I wanted to last week.  I played tennis 3 nights, but I wanted to go to the gym right after playing tennis, but I never made it.

One final thought, my roommate was making fun of me because of the Eagles tying and being in last place, and then I stopped for a second, and said…. hey, we’re still the World Series Champs though.  So I wanted to take a little time today to recognize and not forget the the Chase Utley led Philadelphia Phillies, World Series Champs, Philiadelphia Phillies that is.

Finally, it’s over.  Whether you wanted him to win or you didn’t, it doesn’t matter now.  It’s time again for us to join together again…. which we should have been all along anyway, but I’ll save that for a political blog.  Since this is a diabetic blog, I don’t want to discuss politics, but what I will say is….. a lot has been promised, so like I said yesterday, I dare you, Mr. Obama, to do something to benefit the 23 million diabetics living in this country within your first 100 days.

But on to other things, my new insurance has kicked in and I am not paying a single penny for any of my supplies and I love it.  Enough strips to test 8 times a day, enough infusion sets to change every 2-3 days, enough insulin to go through over 150 units a day if I wanted to.  It feels great to be insured again.  The best part is that I didn’t even have to change companies.  The company I was getting them from while I was uninsured, just started billing insurances recently, so now I can stick with them and not have to deal with the headaches that I always go through whenever I go to a different supply company or pharmacy.

Well, this is going to be short and sweet today, but not too sweet because I don’t want all our sugars getting high.  Have a superb day all!

A rain out are you serious?  I can’t believe this.  Philly has been waiting over a decade to win a championship and they have to postpone it another freaking night!  And now, it feels like the Ray’s have a lot of momentum going into tonight’s game since our amazing pitcher is now out and they scored the last run of the night.  But, my blood sugar didn’t go above 150 last night during the game, amazing huh!

It was 113 when I went to sleep, but after I had coffee and breakfast this morning and took some insulin, I tested an hour later and I was 227.  I didnt have a meter handy right before I ate, so I kind of guestimated!  But I’m all good now.  I am going on a cruise this Friday, so I am getting prepared for that.  I know, I never told anybody about the cruise yet in here, but I don’t think many care anyway, ha!

I just received my new insurance card and everything today, so time for me to do some research on a new endo!

What a weekend this was.  It was filled with football, baseball, hockey, lancing devices, test strips, infusion sets, spilled insulin, high blood sugars, low blood sugars, alcohol, grilling, pasta….ohhh the life of a diabetic sports fan!

I had a goal of testing after every single quarter of every single game that I was watching, and I did!  The numbers were high for a while, which I don’t know why, but I was able to bring them back down.  However, the UF-LSU game is the reason I think they were sky high.  My roomate is a Gators fan, and I hate the Gators, so that is why I was irritated.  Yesterday was good for the Eagles, but not so good for the Phillies.

On to other things, I should know sometime this week a little more about my insurance coverage and what my next steps are going to be.  I would like to get on the CGMS, but who knows what is going to go on with that.  I don’t really mind testing my sugar, it is just that I usually forget to test, not that I don’t want to.

For the first time since I have been diabetic, the Phillies are in the NLCS. So, now that I have to be worried about my Eagles, since Westbrook has a few broken ribs, I now have to get nervous over the Phillies too. Plus hockey season is starting up. Sorry Philly fans, I am not a Flyers fan, I have been taken over by the local squad, the Florida Panthers. They have a home opener this weekend, but I can’t go because I have to watch the LSU Tigers romp the Florida Gators. That should be a great game.

Anyway, on to the diabetes. My sugars have been pretty good again today, 1 high but thats it. Also, good news, my certificate of credible coverage came in the mail yesterday, so now I have everything that I would need in order to get coverage again, hopefully. We will see, and I will keep you all updated on that.

Gotta Run!

So, a whole new situation with the insurance.  As of September 1, I was told by the insurance company that my insurance was cancelled.  So all this month, I couldn’t re-order my insulin because I was waiting until I received my certificate of credible coverage in order to pick up another plan since I have a pre-existing condition.  So, I haven’t received this letter yet, so  I called them today and they tell me that it actually didn’t expire until today, September 30.  So, I could have re-ordered it, and now I can’t!

So, I have to wait another 3-5 days to receive this in the mail, then I can finally pick up some coverage again.  Anyway on another note, bad weekend for the Eagles, but what are you going to do?  It was very nerve racking, that is for sure!

I was also then very sick yesterday, where everytime that I stood up for more than 5 minutes, I became very lightheaded.  But I sucked it up and came to work today, you thought Monday’s are busy, try coming in on Tuesday after not working on Mondays!

Crazy!!!  Have a great day!