Saturday, December 31, 2005

I've been tagged

Nicole tagged me to share five random facts.

1. I hate shopping. I really do. I can't stand going to the mall. I avoid it at costs. I have failed as a girl. Fortunately, I have a sister who looks out for me who loves shopping, so I usually look decent. :)


2. I'm going to school to be a nurse practitionar. It's a 5 year program, so in three short years I will be an NP (hopefully).

3. I have to younger sisters, who so far, are both healthy.

4. I love camping. I do it as often as possible, which usually means a few times during the winter (in a cabin), most of the summer (I still get summer break ;)), and several weekends in Spring and Fall.

5. My dad has type 2 diabetes, and totally does not take care of himself, which fraustrates the hell out of me.

And now I get to tag people. Sorry if someone else tagged you, but it is getting confusing, so I will just be checking to make sure you have not posted 5 random facts yet, not so much that you have not been tagged, though I won't tag you if I know someone else tagged you.


Elizabeth at Diabetes 24-7


Skytor at Dia-gonal

Ryan Bruner


Kelsey, at the Diabetes Diary

and

Supermom, at Butterfly Kisses and Bedtime Prayers.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

My All Time Favorite Geek Computer Things

Friends, it is time I exposed you to my geek side. Yes, I have a geek side. A pretty hard core geek side. And now you shall see it, and possibly share in my geekiness. What an opportunity this is for you.

And without further ado- my favorite free computer things.

Firefox- This is the web browser I use. If you haven't already discovered it, it's pretty darned amazing. The pop up blocker is great, and it's fast. It also has tabbed browsing, so it's easy to go back and forth between pages. My favorite feature though is it's security. I get almost no spyware.



Opera- This browser is as good as firefox. Also fast, secure, and tabbed browsing enabled, Opera has it's fans. Opera is also highly customizable. I use both, but prefer Firefox merely through personal preference.



Supertux- This has been the demise of more of my time than I dare to think about. This is basically a highly addictive game the is similar to Super Mario Brothers. If you do not have free time, step away from the link!



TuxRacer- Another highly addicting waste of time. This game features the same Tux we met last game, however, instead of jumping on bombs to rescue his girlfriend, this time he is racing down hills.



OpenOffice
- Now that there is a good chance I have turned you on to two very addicting games, and encouraged you to spend more time online, I shall encourage productivity. This is basically a free kick-butt office suite that recently released version 2.0.



Gmail For some reason it would not surprise me in the least if many of you bloggers were already using this. This is an awesome e-mail service from Google. It has a very nice user interface, and some pretty cool features, including a new mobile service, which I used to check my e-mail during a recent camping trip, virus scanning, an RSS feeds right on the website. RSS feeds can enable you to check up on your favorite blogs at the same time as checking your e-mails. Don't let the beta scare you.



Well, I am sure I will think of more later, so we may be having a part 2, but for now, it's bed time.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Bad Day for Technology Here

So today my Inspiron 5150 (yes, I know it is notorious for PSU problems) died. I was just typing, and off it went. Power just cut out. I tried to turn it back on- no luck. Hours later I tried again. Then it worked- for about 5 minutes. Then total death again. Okay, time to call Dell. Thank God it is under warranty. The lady I talked to- what an idiot. My gosh. I told her my computer will not power on. So what does she ask? "Can you get online?" No dumbass, my computer will not do anything. She asked me this three times. So we continue on some further excersises in futitlity. Does my CD drive work? Well, it did. Does my monitor work. Uhm...no. So she tells me to clean out my fan. Right... She keeps telling me it's an OS problem and I just need to reinstall my OS. As calmly as possible I tell them I can't install anything, the farking computer won't power on, and that I have seen plenty of "OS problems" and this was not it. To get her off my case I simply told her a live cd didn't work either.

An hour later I get transferred up. She has me take out my optical drive, hard drive, wireless card, RAM, and modem. After taking out each item I have to try powering it on.

Well, she tells me it's a MOBO problem (I told them at the beginning the problem was likely PSU). Their solution? Next week I get a box, then I can send it too their center (I asked where it is, she doesn't know), and maybe three weeks later I will have a computer that works.

I'm a little pissed.

To make matters worse, my sister got home from work today, parked my mom's car she was using. Then she tried to start it. It didn't start. So my dad replaced the battery. Still no luck. So he jumped it with another car. Then the lights started flashing, the windows went up and down. and the doors locked and unlocked. It still won't start.

Friends, it was a bad day for technology in my house.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

A Little Rant...


...About a couple things. Hope I don't end up complaining too much ;)

I also want to use this post to wish everyone a happy one-week-till-Christmas-day!

Firstly in the rant department, my c-peptide. C-peptide is a test used to show how much insulin your pancreas is producing naturally. The normal range is .5-2.0, or some labs use 3.0 as the top mark. Before this diabetes stuff, mine was 5.9. Clearly, double or triple the normal range. Typically this would mean insulin resistance, or type 2 diabetes. However, I was neither. My blood sugars normally ranged with highs in the 50s. Clearly too low. The diagnosis was clearly clear as hyperinsulinemic hpoglycemia.

But that was then.

Then the blood sugars were high. And the new c-peptide- .3. In the year between the two lab draws my c-peptide became a fraction of what it was. Now, this result is in the type 1 diabetes range. But alas, not that simple in my case. So the question becomes, what type am I? I don't know whether I have insulin antibodies or not, and that isn't accurate all the time anyways. I do not have the body of a type 2 person, I am not overweight, nor am I old. Or even close to old, thank you very much. However, type 2 runs in my family. Though I must confess to being the only person I know, or ever knew that had hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia.

The c-peptide fraustrates the heck out of me because .3 is low enough to need supplemental insulin (though apparently not all the time), but also high enough to show my pancreas is still plugging along- some. .3 also means my pancreas does spurts, like what likely happened during my crazy lows.

So this is either LADA or a honeymoon, but either way, it's here for good, and apparently, the c-peptide is only gonna drop. But maybe it will be easier when I don't have to worry about my pancreas kicking in once in awhile?

As far as blood sugars are conscerned, I have reduced the insulin to prevent lows. This works okay most of the time, but then there were a few concerning numbers: the first day I pulled a 429, a 467, and then two 600s. So back up went the insulin dose. Next day was good, but I had a few 50s. Granted, still better than the 20s. So I pulled the dose back just a little more (half a unit less). That brought me to now. Seems to be doing okay. On that dose I had a 190, and a 218, but oh well, I also had a 100! So I think that is as good as it's gonna get.

Moving on to my second "little rant." Even though I was recently dx'ed, I have been using a meter since before then. I got the Freestyle Flash because it has the lights, is small, and you get the free data cable to upload results to the computer. Well, the software has been recalled since AUGUST. Still no new version. Gerr... And then to add to my fraustrations, the website STILL says they have software to go with it. Talk about false advertising! I'm seriously considering switching to Lifescan, so I can use their software.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Just Thought I Would Share with Everyone

That finals are officially over! I am on break! No more school till mid January!

Monday, December 12, 2005

Glucagon Fun for Everyone

Prior to this week, I have used glucagon once. This week changed that.

Monday evening started out with a blood sugar of 56 after dinner. Okay, no biggy. Didn't even feel low. So I had some crackers and juice. Tested again 20 minutes later. Hmm...not coming up. Drank more juice. Another 15 minutes later, I was all the way a up to 60. More food. Again, sitll not coming up, actually, going down. Not so good. Even worse is that I am home alone. In the basement. Luckily, smart me, brought down what should have been more than sufficient carbs with her the first time she tested low. I start in on the glucose. I eat 8 tabs. Yuck! I hate that stuff. But me thinks this is best for me. I test again in 20 minutes. 34. Geez. What the heck. More juice this time. Seeing as I have been low for almost 2 hours now, I am now feeling low. Very low. So more food. Fast forward another hour and a half, and my blood sugar is 26, and I am vomiting my head off. My eating is worthless, and I'm about to pass out. Glucagon time. I grab the kit, and damn, I can't get the needle to poke through the vial. It's not going through. Persistant as I am, it's not going through. Remove safty cap, idiot. Righto. That piece of plastic. Okay, remove that. NOW it works. Right. I think so clearly when I am low. 50 units of glucagon shoots me up to 147. Yay!

The week did not improve from there. Next day I wake up 80, and that was my highest reading of the day. I continue the vomiting thing, vomiting everyday this week.

Luckily, I refill my glucagon right away. Knowing that using glucagon puts you at increased risk of lows after using it, since glycogen stores are depleated, I am careful to keep my bs up. Unfortunately, my stomach disagrees with this plan of action, and the vomiting continues. This makes it hard to stay up.

Friday night, I worked, then came home. Tested at 60 after work. Okay, food time. Unfortunately, my body and I experienced a repeat of Monday night. No food in the world will get my bs up. What the heck? After 4 hours of futily eating, and a whole half gallon of OJ later, my body rejects all the carbs I offered, and I once again find myself over the toilet (actually, the kitchen sink- I couldn't find the bathroom). After vomiting, my blood sugar is 32. Okay, might as well use glucagon. Right through my pants, into my thigh, I shot up 50 units, which, earlier this week, was more than enough, I continue dropping once again. Okay, 50 more goes into my abdomen. This gets me all the way to 80. Okay, that works. I go to bed, and wake up low that night after a crazy dream, but luckily, food worked that time.

The whole week has been hell. I just don't get it. Normally all the food I ate would leave me at 500. Why didn't it seem to effect my bs this time? Well, besides the fact that I threw most of it up. Whatever. Thank God for glucagon, I just wish those syringes were a little sharper!

Hope everyone elses' weeks were better.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

But I'm Not Depressed...

I keep hearing how diabetes and depression go together. Maybe I am a weirdo (or maybe I am just a newly dx'd person who is in the midst of their honeymoon), but I rarely find myself getting down about diabetes (note to readers- new to diabetes, not new to bs problems). I mean, yeah, it sucks majorly at times. Monday i was up half the night treating a low, my fingers look like hell, and there is a whole slew of complication thoughts running through my head. But oh my, it could be so much worse. It's Christmas time, and on the news they show kids at our nearny children's hospital getting gifts from volunteers- I am not in the hospital. During my childhood years I have spent many a day in that very hospital, but my goodness, I have never had to be there for the holidays. I have a friend who was just diagnosed with a deadly illness that will slowly take away each part of his physical body, leaving only his mind left. Diabetes? Yep, I'll take it.

Do I get tired of it? Yes. Can I deal with it? Hell yeah.

One thing about diabetes is it never ceases to amaze me how your thought train adapts to it. I think this is true for all chronic illnesses though. For my non-d sisters, if they have a headache, they pop a few pills. Me it's more like:

a. Drink water- you must be dehydrated
b. Test- you may be low/high
c. Test again an hour later- you may be dropping/rising
d. Then take drug if other causes ruled out
e. Take nap to cure headache- but not too long, wouldn't want to miss a bs test

Sometimes I think about the future. Will I be at my wedding bolusing for cake? Will I risk passing out from a hypo during my kid's christening? Will I have kids?

I have no idea for any of those, but someone told me to take it one day at a time- and that is all you can do. So for now, it's "What do I have to do today?" Jump the hurdle ahead- not the one down the field.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Some More about Me- and other random ramblings

Like I said in my last post, before I got diabetes I had hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. I had symptoms of this my whole life, ranging from shaking to the point where I couldn't carry anything, so not being able to tell my mom what I was watching on TV one night before dinner. When I was 14 I passed out cold at school. The nurse sent me home, saying I couldn't come back to school before I saw a doctor. So off to the doctor I went, expecting to be told something like, "Drink more water." Not so much the case, they did a blood sugar test, and it was 48. I felt fine then. So they gave me a meter and told me to call in daily with my readings. I did- they ranged from LO to 50-something has my highest. I was sent to an endocrinologist, where I had a slew of tests. An A1c of 4.0 and c-peptides, proinsulin, and insulin levels three times normal were found. I was told this would either go away, or I would run out of insulin since there was no way this could continue. I was given a glucagon kit (and I've used it twice) and sent to a dietician, who taught me the rule of 15s for lows (15 grams carb, wait 15 minutes, test again, repeat as necessary), and a CDE, who basically taught me how to use my meter (I got a new one at the appointment) and how to use glucagon.

Fast forward 6 years to now. Diabetes was no surprise. I knew the symptoms, and I was noticing them in myself. Constant thirst, fatigue, and getting up three times a night to use the bathroom. So I did what any rational person would do- I threw the meter is a drawer and stopped testing. What you don't know can't hurt you- right?

But the symptoms appeared more and more. So I decided to test. "HI" read the result. What the heck? That was fast! I look up HI in my manual, since this is a new one on me, and there it is- "Test result over 600." Wow, I spent years of my life rarely seeing over 100, now this.

Obsessed, I then tested more than ever. Well it did not stay over 600, in the first week alone I had 5 results over 600, 2 in the 500s, 1 in the 400s, none in the 300s, at least 20 in the 200s, and just 1 under 200. So I call up not-so-faithful endo (I hate my endo and try and avoid going there as often as possible). On September 29, I was dx'ed with diabetes. She determines I am honeymooning and don't need insulin at the moment. Whatever. So at the moment, I am not on insulin, but boy I wish I was! It actually amazes me I have lasted this long without insulin. I may sound crazy, but I would love more than anything to be insulin. I just hate constant highs and not being able to do anything. I would also feel so much better. Right now my bs seems somewhat normal though- running 200 to 300. I am in the process of looking for a new endo. As far as type is concerned- the current suspicion is LADA.

Changing subjects-
I went grocery shopping yesterday. I was shopping for my whole family, so I had a ton of food in my cart. Usually my food in my cart looks pretty healthy. However, yesterday, this was not the case. I was following my mom's list, and had a cart o' carbs. At one point in time I had 5 brownie mixes, a bunch of rice, and 7 cake mixes (my sister is in the cake business- okay?) in my cart. Yeah. And I couldn't help but think, "I would hate to run into my endo now." Or even anyone that knows I have diabetes.

I also had to go to the eye doctor yesterday to pick up a trial pair of contacts, since I had dropped my last contact on the floor (note to self- turn on light to take out contacts) and hadn't noticed it was missing till the next morning, at which point it was unselvedgable. I hadn't had a contact eye exam in two years, officially disqualifying me from being able to get my contact script refilled, and insurance will pay for a new exam in January. Thankfully they agreed to give me a pair to get me through till then, cause I hate glasses! At that appointment I get to tell my eye doc I have diabetes. Now that is something I look forward to- not!

Thanks for commenting on my blog, those who did. I look forward to getting involved with the O.C. (I love that name! Reminds me of a TV show of something).

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Intro

Well, blogging is something I never thought I would be into. I tried once and it was not something that I enjoyed. The idea of an online diary (which is basically what a blog is- right?) seems kinda weird to me. But recently I found a series of blogs about diabetes, and since I found out I have diabetes in September, I figured I would try my hand at it again. We'll see how it goes, no promises.

Anyways, while I was dx'ed with diabetes in September, I had a condition called hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia my whole life before then. My pancreas spazed out and created too much insulin my whole life, till it up and ran out of insulin this year. Oh joy. So I am no stranger to blood sugar tests, carb counting, or low blood sugars, but this high blood sugar stuff is new ;)