Love… This is a picture of my Dexcom CGM (continuous glucose monitor) from today. As far as I am concerned, this is perfection. 🙂
Today was unusual for me in that I did not have anything scheduled. For months now my life has been so busy as I rush around each day often to many healthcare appointments as I try to heal both from my frozen shoulder and the car accident I was in a few months ago in addition to the busyness of my regularly scheduled appointments and life.
Photo Credit: Practicing the Presence through Mind and Meditation, a Facebook page.
As a sensitive person, this is a good reminder.
Wearing a Dexcom CGM (continuous glucose monitor) for several years, I have noticed just how much difficult emotion and hurt feelings impact my blood sugar negatively. My CGM graph can literally climb double arrows up within minutes of a challenging situation or emotion and stay elevated for hours even with increased insulin. I have been struggling with this for way too long.
Almost 13 years ago I adopted my two precious kitties, Mabel and Juniper. Although I visited a handful of animal shelters in search of an orange kitty, the moment I set my eyes on Mabel (original name Linda—weird name for a cat name, right?) I knew she was the one I wanted to adopt. And she wasn’t orange, but entirely black!
I knew I wanted to adopt two cats as I lived alone and wanted them to be able to keep each other company while I was away at work. My co-worker told me that if I adopted two that I would never have to turn on the television again as watching them play would be better than anything on TV. I agreed. As Mabel was the last kitten left from her litter, I had to try to find the perfect little playmate for her among the many other kittens waiting to be adopted.
We all know diabetes can be a lot of work. Many of us might not be too far away from our last frustrating moment with it (mine was this morning..). That is why I like to celebrate me when my diabetes anniversary rolls around. I take time to recognize all that I do each day to stay healthy body, mind and spirit with this often challenging condition.
Just a few days ago on Wednesday, February 13th I celebrated my 26th year of living with Type 1 diabetes. Last year for my 25th anniversary, I threw myself a big party and ended up having over 30 friends and family come celebrate with me on my special day (post still to come on this!).
I write this post today as a tribute to my life. Today marks 26 years of living with Type 1 diabetes. I wish I had some profound things to say in honor of this milestone but I’m having a difficult time expressing myself today. Here goes one last try.
I woke up with a blood glucose of 167 but must admit I was hoping for a perfect 115 thinking a good bg was something I deserved on my d-anniversary. But 167 can be how it feels to live with diabetes —not always bad or good but just letting you know it’s there if that makes sense. When I entered the living room I was greeted with an extremely friendly puppy. My dog Jonah. It was almost like he knew and understood somehow that today is special for me, almost like a holiday. He prompted me to sit next to him where I got a hug (he puts one paw on each shoulder) and then a kiss too as he let out a big squeaky yawn. It made me smile and thankful I slowed down a few minutes for him to cuddle up next to me.
I awoke Saturday morning with an email in my Gmail inbox (this same email was sent to many diabetes bloggers in the DOC–Diabetes Online Community) from one of the most well-known diabetes bloggers in the world. Kerri Morrone Sparling of Six Until Me. I was curious. What could this be about? Why was she writing me? I read through the email right away rather than starring it to read later. My consensus? If there is one thing to help with.. this is it!
Spare a Rose, Save a Child!
I LOVED what I read. There are not many things I like more than connecting with people all around the country and world—learning about the individual and cultural differences and similarities we each share. I am also passionate about helping people in need. Sometimes Often, it feels like a full-time job taking care of my health and along with everything else that keeps me busy, I do not have as much time or energy as I would like to donate to causes that are important to me. That is one reason I like Diabetes Light. I am able to fit in posts to the Facebook community and write new articles here at the blog when the time is right for me—like this morning. I woke up super early and am now writing this post from the comfort of my bed. 🙂 It is also why I like this initiative.Â
My good friend Natalie and I started our vegetarian restaurant tour on Thursday this week. Stop one was an organic-vegan-raw-gluten free restaurant called Ecopolitan in Minneapolis.
Why a Vegetarian restaurant tour?
A few reasons. I have not liked meat much my whole life. But.. I have always eaten meat because of what we are told about it being good for our health and that as someone living with Type 1 diabetes, it is especially critical to keep our blood sugars balanced and keep us healthy. The extent of my meat protein consumption for many years has come from organic free-range chicken and turkey and very occasionally beef. I have always had to disconnect from the meat I was eating to actually be able to eat it (I really love animals a LOT!).
This past month, the last few times I ate meat, I experienced stomach aches and high blood sugars that were very resistant to insulin. Along with always feeling so vibrant and healthy when I eat a meal full of fresh yummy organic vegetables and fruits, I figured this was a great time to experiment with getting my protein from sources other than meat. I will still be eating organic eggs, cheese and butter and occasionally other dairy too—a vegetarian diet. This is different from vegan which does not consume any animal products including honey (which is something that I find works very well for me to bake with and keep my sugars balanced).
Waking up in the night to tend to one’s diabetes can be a big pain in the butt! Whether it’s a low or a high or needing to use the bathroom because of a high. Or the worst—realizing you have to change your infusion set after all because the final bolus of insulin you gave at bedtime is not working (you are still high!) meaning your site really is dead and needs to be changed out pronto! One of my least favorite things is waking up in the morning with a high I’ve had all night long! Better to just get up out of your warm bed and take care of it. Anyone with me here?
