Laughter And Tears

Definition of D-Love

2011-11-19T18:35:00.004-05:00

We attended the 10th annual Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana annual dinner gala on Friday night.

While Mike put in a normal workday at his office, I had the day off work and spent the entire day in downtown Indianapolis helping set up for that night's activities. Evening came and we had a great time. He's a board member so we did what we could to help out, putting our volunteer hats on to make sure everything went smoothly. Much fun was had, and money raised to help our local Camp Until A Cure.

Our camp director lives a couple hours away and had previously booked a room for the night at the hotel where the gala was being held, but it turned out she couldn't use it so she let us stay there. We sent Riley to a"dog-sitter" the night before and were all ready for the mini-vaca, and after the volunteering we were about ready to call it a night about 11 p.m.

That's where the adventures began. Our night was an interesting experience and I think that entire day and night is evidence of how I was able to prove once again what the definition of love is for a loving and supporting D-Wife:

- In support of your husband, you work all day to setup for a diabetes fundraiser and then work an "interesting" auction pickup, despite only having a few hours sleep the night before because you went to see the midnight showing of a new Twilight movie. (Starbucks helped!)

- You spend your money at the auction supporting the diabetes camp and organization, by buying a deluxe box of cheese that contains seven different blocks of cheddar varieties. All in the name of your husband, a self-proclaimed member of the #cheeseslut clan.

- As you wind down for the evening, you realize your husband's blood sugar is Low and the only edible items in the room are several blocks of cheese and two tubes of glucose tabs. So you opt to go find something to eat and drink, yet there are no food vending machines on the floor. The elevator's are occupied by the hundreds of teenagers staying in the same hotel and riding them up and down, so you resort to the stairwell and find that most of the floors below yours on the 15th floor are closed off because of construction. You walk up and down 14 flights of stairs, and about mid-way your husband's CGM starts vibrating repeatedly in warning that he's Low. You learn that he was in the 60s before the stair-descent even began. Finally at the ground floor, no vending machines are found and the only option is a bar that's now closed and has no food, yet a friendly bartender provides a complimentary plastic jar of orange juice. We head back to the elevator and find our way back upstairs.

- We were thirsty but something was wrong with the water faucet in the bathroom, so you decide to go find the single soda machine on the floor to get a bottle of ice water. But when pushing that button, you instead get a bottle of regular Dr. Pepper. It costs $2, and only debit card is allowed.

- Returning to the room, it's now 85 degrees. The earlier attempt to cool the room down apparently isn't working, mostly because heat is shooting out of the vents instead of cool air. A call to the front desk, and Mike's 15-minute conversation with the front desk complaining about the room temp, elevator-stairs situation, and vending machine confusion. An engineer arrives at the door and investigates, and informs you a switch in some remote part of the hotel was actually on "heat override." He fixes the problem and also points out the water situation was part of that same issue, and it's now resolved. Someone also arrives at the door to provide a few bottles of "chilled" water, except that it's room temperature. We don't complain and drink it anyhow.

- The CGM and an accompanying BG tells Mike he's now in the 200s thanks to that bottle of orange juice and some cheese, and he opts to go to sleep. It's after midnight. But even though he falls asleep quickly, you don't - in large part because the Dexcom on the nightstand won't be quiet and keeps vibrating and beeping.

- Just before 3 a.m., the CGM starts beeping because no one had been listening to it vibrate. Finally, a restless Mike wakes up, realizing something isn't right. The signs of a Low are evident: cold, sweaty, confused, indecision. Refusal to test. He does, and sees a 39 mg/dL. We resort to the glucose tabs, but know there's nothing else in the room to eat for long-term effectiveness. A phone call to the front desk gets us new information that there's actually a food-vending machine on the 6th floor, despite there being no signage anywhere else in the hotel telling you that. You leave your husband on the bed eating glucose tabs, while going downstairs with your debit card at 3 a.m. to buy Cheez-Its, Nutter Butter Bites, and some peanut butter cheesy crackers. As if there wasn't already enough cheese in the room... Oh, and you get some orange frosted Hosted cupcakes for yourself as a reward. Because, you know, after all that your non-diabetic BG is Low, too.

- By the time you return, Mike's rising into the 100s with straight up CGM arrows thanks to the tube of glucose tabs. He eats some of the Nutter Butters and Cheez Its, and a couple bites of one of the cupcakes for good measure. Then, it's back to sleep. Breakfast is in three hours.

- In the morning, his BG was in the 300s. We got everything packed up and headed out, grabbing the car from the way too costly valet-service and then heading back to our area to pick up the dog and enjoy the rest of the weekend. With our new box of cheese.

Oh, the things we do for love, in the name of diabetes. Or is it the other way around...?

Diabetes Art Day 2011

2011-09-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

In honor of the 2nd Annual Diabetes Art Day, I have continued my tradition of D-Art & food... So, I present to you...

Edible Insulin!!!

Mike says it's "totally bolus-worthy"...

Here's what I made last year for the first D-Art Day.

I Love Math!!!

2011-04-20T21:42:00.000-04:00

I know; I'm a weird strange person like that, but it's true. It's the same all over, never changes, constant, consistent: A + B will always equal C. The strange thing is that I never used to like math, until I got to high school and had that one teacher who changed my view and had a profound influence on my life. And what she said is true, you will use math, to some degree, in your daily lives past high school. Case in point = D-Math...

While out this afternoon on my lunch hour; I was walking through the Easter candy isle at the store and thought I would get a little something for Mike. I saw the chocolate bunnies, in many varieties, including sugar free. So, I picked up 2 bunnies; one regular and one sugar free. Yay math in everyday life!! 1 + 1 = 2... Sorry - back to the blog purpose...

The sugar free bunny is 2.5oz which equals 1 serving at 40grams of Carbs per serving. The regular bunny is 3 oz which equals 2 servings at 25 grams of Carbs per serving (or 50 grams of Carbs for the whole bunny). Now comes the fun part... The mathematical breakdown... Can you feel the drama?!?!

For each ounce of chocolate: the sugar free bunny has 16 grams of Carbs per ounce and the regular bunny has 16.6666 grams of Carbs per ounce. And what does this mean??? They are the same!!!!! Or almost, with a .6666 difference.

Thought that was kinda interesting.

This Type 1 Diabetic Wife loves D-Math.

Strange Places

2011-03-31T00:00:00.001-04:00

So, in my latest adventure of being a T1 wife (makes me sound like I'm a version of the Terminator or something... anyway); I went to the dermatologist yesterday. Now, I'm not one to go see her on a regular basis; the last time being about a year ago, give or take a month. Nothing is wrong and my reasons are more vanity than medical necessity. I've seen the physician's assistant once before this visit and I really like her. Especially this time, being that we're both female and she's able to understand my vanity a bit more than a male can (Sorry boys - somethings you just don't get :( )
I explained my reasons for the days visit; one being some scars on my arm & wrist. I had received some "battle wounds" from Mike's alter ego "Michelangelo" during a bad low in January. Long story short: infection + 2 rounds of antibiotics = finally healed with scarring.
Being the inquiring mind, of course she asked how the scars came to be. I explained that Mike is a T1, had a low, not a normal/regular thing... DON'T CALL ADULT PROTECTIVE SERVICES!!
She looked at me as she's examining my arm with compassion (a bit more than the usual doctor's compassion; something that I didn't understand until later on in the appointment.)
We went on with the rest of the appointment and as she continued her exam; she said "So, your husband is a Type 1?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Me too," she said
"I've heard there are more out there, I've just never met one before - didn't think they existed!" I said, smiling and joking around.
"I know" she said with the same smile, "there doesn't seem to be too many of us out there."
We went on to talk about insulin pumps, how long each has had it for (both since childhood - in case you're wondering), and the understanding of lows.
The appointment ended without a hitch, I got what I needed and left to head off to work.
My adventures as a Type 1 wife may seem boring, especially to me, but this Type 1 wife loves that other Type 1 show up in the strangest places.

Silly Me!!!

2010-09-01T20:21:00.000-04:00

Hey all!!! Just a super quick blog to say thanks for the Happy Birthday wishes!! And also that I'm a bit of a dork because I have no clue how blogger works (figuring it out is a work in process) and apparently my comment settings were set that I had to approve them before posting... Something I DIDNOT know and have now fixed... So your comments are now viewable!!! YAY!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!

Diabetes Art Day: Cake for a Cure

2010-09-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

So, today is the first-ever Diabetes Art Day. Thought up by Lee Ann Thill over at The Butter Compartment. In honor of the day, on Monday (my day off from work!) I baked a cake. Actually, it was a duel purpose because Tuesday was my BIRTHDAY! (31st, to be exact!).

This is a banana frosting cake, with homemade frosting. (BTW - No carbs to worry about because it's birthday cake). We all want a cure, so that was the theme for my cake - to the tune of Journey and their hit song, Don't Stop Believin'. Great song, not only because it is but also because it was most recently on GLEE!!

So, here's my cake, with some theme music from GLEE!

We enjoyed a piece each later the night of my birthday on Tuesday, but only after going out to dinner at our local brewpub The Oaken Barrel and then going out for a birthday SURPRISE!

The only clue Mike gave me at dinner was that "this time this surprise means the most!"

We went to Baskin Robbins, 31 Flavors! - - -> Meaning: I had my 31st Birthday, on August 31, and got 31 Flavors at the ice cream shop on U.S. 31!

Had the BEST Chocolate & PeanutButter Icecream in a Waffle Cone... It was AWEsome!!!!!

- - - - >"For 31 on 31, got 31 from 31 on 31."

Then, we came home and enjoyed the Cake for a Cure! What a great day!

So, not only was it a Happy Birthday To Me, but it's now Happy Diabetes Art Day!

Shot in the Arm

2010-04-06T00:00:00.001-04:00

On the Easter weekend, Mike asked for my help in giving himself an insulin shot.

I'd never done this before. So of course, you know it's going to be adventure.

We've been married since September 2005 and together since early 2000, and for nearly all of that time he's been on an insulin pump. Through the years, I've occasionally helped him put in an infusion site by squeezing a spot on his arm, near-back, or other hard to reach places. But since he hasn't been injecting since the early days of our dating life, I hadn't ever done that. Recently, he took a break from insulin pumping for the first time in nine years in order to let his body heal some. He's been doing Multiple Daily Injections since March 26, taking a Lantus Pen dose each night and Humalog injections throughout the day as needed for food and correction boluses.

Needing to use a new spot on the backside of his arm, he summoned me to assist. But instead of just squeezing, he wanted me to actually inject the 1/2 cc needle. A quick how-to and we were set.

Put it into the pinched backside of flesh, about on the halfway point of his left arm. Pushed the plunger down. He didn't flinch or say anything and indicated everything seemed fine.

Pulled it out, turning the needle slightly as I've seen him do when pulling a needle out on his own.

That's when he flinched. And made a comment. And the blood started flowing.

Not much blood, but enough to notice and find something to wipe it up and hold to the arm for a few moments.

It must have knicked a muscle or vein inside, he said, noting that it didn't hurt at first.

I hung my head low in shame, feeling as though I'd failed miserably on my debut insulin injection.

He reassured me that it was fine, not my fault, but the facts can't be ignored.

I stabbed my husband with a sharp needle, made him bleed, and caused a bruise.

I'm done with giving insulin shots. Instead, I'll go back to pinching the skin and letting him do the shot so that whatever damage happens is on his hands.

A Ninja Thank You

2010-02-14T23:46:00.000-05:00

Recently, Mike and I had the honor of being featured in a NinjaBetic VLog. That was awesome.

He made a video recently featuring a special gift we sent him this past week. Here it is below:

This was awesome. Thanks for the shout-out, George. I'm honored and LOVED IT!

Here's the story behind this ninja-making project. Mike for many years has claimed he's a ninja, something that goes back to his college newspaper days when this apparently was a joke. Anyhow, when we discovered NinjaBetic and his great D-Blog, it changed everything and the Ninja-themes became more diabetes-focused. Then, one day he showed me a blog about how Kerri at Six Until Me got a little surprise gift in the mail - a mini-ninja. Thought that was cool, and it gave me the idea to make one. Christmas just seemed like the best time.

So, the XmasNinja Lance was born. Complete with little Lancet-made NinjaStar and numchucks. Classicly awesome-ness.

Making Lance was pretty inexpensive and easy to do. Apparently, Mike saw the "ninja" pattern laying around the house while cleaning before Christmas. But he says he didn't see the final product, and was so incredibly geeked about it once opening the gift. His parents were in town, and they probably thought it was a little strange - even with an explanation. But, we had a blast.

Since then, Lance has hung out in various places around the house and just been around to watch over things. We wanted to send one to George, being the inspiration for this whole thing. After his blog, Mike blogged about it on The Diabetic's Corner Booth and the reaction on Twitter has been great. Someone even asked if I was going to start a business making these ninjas. Funny. Like I'm crafty like that. Making more ninjas or even for a profit wasn't the point and not something that interests me. This was simply a fun little craft project and I had the joy of making a few extras to have on hand and send out to those D-Friends who've made a difference to us -like G who it's in honor of. That's a fun way to say thank you, and that's all. Hope it's enjoyed.

Pet Peeves

2010-02-06T15:07:00.000-05:00

After watching Oprah's show on Thursday about the growing epidemic of Diabetes, it got me thinking about some of the things her and Dr. Oz mentioned and how much they irritated me. While much of the information mentioned was true, it wasn't in the correct format and the use of a Type 1 to show the side effects to Type 2 diabetic seems slanderous (not sure if that's even the correct term, but it sounds good).

Anyway, it got me thinking about many of the "terms" one uses when talking about this disease, how they are incorrect and my thoughts behind their meaning. So, here we go...

1) "Got sick" - When you "get sick", you can "get well". You can recover from the flu or heal from a broken bone, but you don't recover or heal from a disease. Sorry, it just doesn't work that way. When people find out that Mike is diabetic, they ask when he got sick. Well, he doesn't have the flu so he's not sick - he was diagnosed at 5. Same thing for some Type 2's I know, they didn't get sick 2 years ago; they were diagnosed 2 years ago.

2) "Bad food" - There is no such thing as a bad food. All foods are good, IN MODERIATION. It's called a serving size. The only "bad foods" are the ones that we are allergic to. For me, any form is seafood is a bad food for me.

3) "Wouldn't understand, you're not diabetic" - That's true, I'm not diabetic. It it's such an awful disease, you should be thankful that another person doesn't have to go through what you've gone through. But at the same time, you don't know what it's like to be me - to have my thoughts or feelings or even go through my own personal health issues.

4) "Your waist should be half of your height to avoid diabetes" - Thank you Dr. Oz. If this is true for me, I would underweight and my doctor would have issues with this.

5) "You'll pass it on to your children" - Yes, this can be true. But we can also pass on the fact that I have hazel eyes and Mike has brown. My mom has green eyes so there's a chance they can get that too, heaven forbid.

6) "Can you eat that?" - See bad food pet peeve. If you're not allergic to it and actually have the capability to eat it, then it's not a problem. Just dose correctly for it - oh, and don't complain afterward that you shouldn't have eaten it.

7) "Is he OK?" - The assumption of being high or low when acting silly. Mike enjoys quoting movies and making up stories about the dog being a black cochroach or the cat being an iguana. The cochroach or iguana stories rarely leave the house, but the movie quotes do. We have a friend and sometimes when Mike will text him with quotes, the friends response to me is normally "Is Mike off his meds?"

8) "Pre-diabetic or border-line diabetic" - To me, this is like saying that we are pre-children. It's a stupid phrase.

9) "High at 121" - This is mainly for Type 2's who test their sugar and take the test results to the extreme when they are not in the "normal range". Result is 121, while the normal range is 80 to 110. The world is going to end!!

10) "Maybe if you had taken care of yourself, you wouldn't have developed diabetes" - This is for Type 1 and the people who seem to believe that those who were diagnosed at 13 months, if they had more exercise in their daily lives, Diabetes wouldn't have happened.

These are just some of my Diabetic pet peeves. There are more, but a list of 10 is a good start. What are some of your pet peeves (they don't all have to relate to Diabetes)? Maybe we can all learn something about eachother and how communication can effect us.

Randomly Posted

2010-02-02T23:36:00.000-05:00

The Shadow Cat.

Eying Me.

Wondering why I haven't posted more blogs....

Yes. Sorry cat. I'll do better.

The DL

2010-01-06T19:49:00.009-05:00

No, not the Down Low, silly people. Well, not quite. The Diabetic Low, and yes, people should know... (it's a song reference, for those who don't know).

One thing to understand is that every low is different, and while we (the non diabetic folk) may be used to them and know how to handle them (grab the meter, find the glucose tabs, figure out what to use in place of orange juice - maybe sugar water will work?? Oh, and don't forget to turn off the damn insulin pump), we too have to handle them different every time.

I mentioned previously that I have had to call the paramedics on more than 1 occasion. It's not a form of weakness and doesn't mean it the current low was/is handled wrong; it is what it is and it's the way that specific low was handled at that specific time.

Sidenote: As most couples do, we (Mike & I) have our own little 'pet' sayings; basically our own little terms of endearment. Think of this as a teenager saying "I hate you" or "You're a dork" to their parents. My parents (hopefully most parents) think of that as "I love you" or "You're the best". Anywho, one of my husbands little sayings is "Get you" & "Kick you". But don't worry, it's not violent - please don't call the diabetes spousal abuse support group. Remember - Term of Endearment.

My point is that when these little phases become real and your own safety is at stake, paramedics have to be called in; as in the time when my husband wanted to kick me out of the window of our bedroom. Did I mention that the bedroom is on the second floor of our house?? This was the first time to the house.

Some may say, "I don't have to worry about that, I can handle my other half," then you've never experienced the power of an uncontrolled D-lifer. Good for you, consider yourself lucky. I hope you never have to experience that. But there may come a point when you do and when that happens, good luck...

The 2nd time was more recent, this time there was no kicking or swinging of the arms, just a somewhat conscious boy whose meter said 21 and after 10 minutes of honey, the meter said low... Why did I not use glucagon you ask, because I didn't. There are many reasons for this, too many to explain why. But the coherent one, me, choose not to use it and that should be reason enough. But the boys in the red fire truck came and all ended up being right with the world.

I know how my husband acts when he's on the DL, just as you know how your other half acts when their going through the DL. You do what you have to do to keep yourself and them safe. Notice how I said keep yourself safe first - remember that if you're injured because of them, you may not be able to help them the next time or may think twice about it, possibly wasting some precious time.

I hope my 'rant' makes sense. I tend to jump around in my thoughts sometimes. It's a flaw but it makes me lovable :)

I guess my point is that you handle the DL the best way you can and don't let anyone tell you it was wrong. If that's the case, let them be the ones to get hit in the face and you can keep your pretty, unblemished face smiling, while thinking "Told you so..."

BTW - Thanks to Kerri @ sixuntilme for the use of the low blood sugar photo that I borrowed from her site. Kisses, love your blog!!

First Post

2010-01-03T22:50:00.001-05:00

This is my first post as a wife of a D-blogger. Or more accurately, my first post as a blogger ever; so bear with me... Spelling and grammar may not be exact :):) I'm not the writer in the family, that would be my husband (The Corner Booth) - you can look there to find correct usage of the English language; I have the math brain in the family. This is all mine - my spot to vent, cry, tell funny stories (some D related, some not), get advice and possible give some in return.

I have been the wife of a type 1 diabetic for a little over 4 years now, but have had the big D in my life for almost 10 years. On that note, let me answer some of your basic questions:

1) Yes, we are planning on having children
2) No, I'm not 'freaked' out that I may have a diabetic child
3) No, I do not have Diabetes
4) Yes, I love sugar and have a huge sweet-tooth
5) Yes, I have called the paramedics for my husband - twice to our house and once to a Panara (that was a rocking good time)

So, there you have it - my first post on my first blog. Please be kind if you have any comments and if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer. Just remember, whether you are new or old to the D; whether a spouse, parent, sibling of the D - it's the person you love, not the disease and that person will help you through the laughter & tears.