Monday Rocks!

Okay, not every Monday rocks, but this one does. After fighting highs all night long (literally up in the 300s and my CGMS waking me every hour) I got up and went to work. After having 5 days off, I felt spoiled and really didn't want to go in, but that's the life of someone who isn't independently wealthy. :)Last night, I had made some muffins from a recipe listed in one of my new cookbooks that

Secret Santa!

I spent the morning with two of my best friends (and a tag-a-long husband) this morning. We were having out Christmas. It's always been rough for us to get together, but since one of them got married this summer and moved, it's even harder than before. One lives two hours south-east of me and the other (and her husband) lives 4 hours south west.But, this morning we were able to get together for a

Winning and Christmas and Catching Up

I've not had the time or energy to post much in the past few days. I have such good intentions, but I never seem to get around to it. So this is my catch up post. I WON!!!!!!!!! No really, I did. :P Amy T, over at Diabetes Mine, has been having her great holiday contest. Not this Monday, but the last, I won one of the great prizes. My prize: a great medical ID bracelet from HAH Originals. It had

Merry Christmas

A much lengthier (is that a word??) post will go up, hopefully later today. But for now, I am getting ready to head to my mom's, loaded down with Christmas presents.I hope everyone in the OC has a great day filled with family and love (and maybe even some gifts).p.s. This is not snow from today. I have no white Christmas. It's currently 48 degrees. :( So I put the picture up instead. :)

What Happens When A Diabetic Eats Too Many Cupcakes....

I found this picture and this post on a great blog called Cake Wrecks. You can see it's the only non-diabetic blog on my blogroll. I am a cake decorator in my hobby time. I love the act of creating (though if you ask me to draw my cakes, it's a disaster!) this kind of art. I'm not fantastic at it, but I am learning. Anyway, this one was found on Cake Wrecks just yesterday. When I saw it, I

To Request or Not to Request....That is the Question

I am planning on taking another Praxis test in a couple of months. The Praxis, for those of you who don't know, it the test you take to get your teaching license. The first license I got had only one area of endorsement and took 3 tests to get the license. I am working on another area of endorsement right now and working toward my Master's degree. There are 2 additional test to get this

Christmas Tree

George beat me to the Christmas Tree post. And he did a vlog. How cool! Well, I still don't vlog, but I did take some pictures last night to share with all of you in the Diabetes OC. I, like George, don't have a themed tree. I just have a random collection of ornaments that I have collected over the years. I quit using garland and changed to ribbon. I have my first Christmas ornament and many

The Bad Side of CGMS...

Occasionally you get a bleeder. This one was the worst one I'd ever gotten. It was like a scene from a bad horror flick. There was blood all over my bathroom floor. Kind of gross, but very true. These pictures are from six days after. Before taking the sensor out and after.The first night having the sensor in, it kept throwing bad sensor alarms at me and I kept restarting it over again. I was

So Cool!

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from MiniMed requesting I take a survey. I usually try to do this because I want them to keep improving on what they already have. I think it's important to let them know what they need to improve.At the bottom of the e-mail it said that by responding you would get a $25 Amazon.com gift card (for the first "x" amount of responses). I figured I

Frustrations

November is over and since NaBloPoMo is no more, I decided to go back to my couple of times per week posting. As I said before, blogging is a full time job! Work has been crazy, family has been busy, and the Christmas season is upon us. I have almost all my Christmas shopping done, which takes away some of my stress, and overall, I am doing okay. Give me a couple of weeks and I may be singing a

Christmas Meme.

Christmas meme! Thanks to Lora!1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I like it to match if I can do it and I put curly ribbons on all of my Christmas presents2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. But only cause I don't want to have to carry a real tree up the stairs to my apartment3. When do you put up the tree? Usually right after Thanksgiving. I actually put my tree up last night.4.

I Did It... Unofficially.

I Did It... Unofficially. This is my 30th (actually 31st!) blog post for November. I didn't sign up for NaBloPoMo because I honestly didn't know if I could do it. And I hate to not finish something I start. I'm pretty proud of myself. :) I feel like I can officially sign up next year. :P

My Coolest Cousin

My family lives all over the country. Both my mom's side of the family and my dad's side. I've never lived closer than 6 hours away from any of my first cousins. Currently, most of my cousins reside in California. I have one in Missouri (who is much much younger than me), and my 2 cousins in Texas. One of my cousins came in from Texas to visit our grandmother for Thanksgiving. I don't think I've

The Day After Turkey....

My grandmother is in the hospital. She went in the day before Thanksgiving. There's nothing seriously wrong with her (we think), but the doctors are all on vacation so she has to stay until they can come back and do the procedure that they need to. So she will probably be in there until Tuesday. It's kind of sad, since her son flew in from Texas to surprise her and brought my cousin with him. I

Happy Thanksgiving

It's officially Turkey Day! I am posting late due to a day full of food and family. It's nice to have time to just be a family together. In the true spirit of the holiday, I am going to share with all of you what I am thankful for:-My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him, I am nothing. Without Him, I would not be. -My family. They are disjointed, and slightly dysfunctional at times, but

Getting Desperate

I'm getting desperate....for posts.I've spent the evening early cooking for tomorrow. My uncle flew in from San Antonio to surprise my grandmother for Thanksgiving. We knew he was coming...he didn't tell us he was bringing his son. :)My favorite cousin is here! I've not seen him in around 3 years. Actually, it's probably been longer than that.What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish, bloggers?

Vacation

I'm not really on vacation. But I am spending the entire week at my mom and step-dad's house. They, and my baby sister, went to Missouri to see my grandmother for Thanksgiving. I opted out to be sure that my dad and other grandmother had someone to cook Thanksgiving dinner. And in doing that, I am dog-sitting for my mom and step-dad. It makes my drive to work in the morning about 10 minutes

Secret Santa

Check it out! Thanks Allison. I can't wait for this first Diabetes OC Secret Santa.

Twitter

I have joined the dark side. I still don't know how to find people too well on this thing, so if you want to add me, find me. My name on there is cerichards21. I am trying to follow people right now, but I swear it's so confusing. :(

Food Meme.

Thanks to Lee Ann for the meme. It's desperation time in the land of NaBloPoMo. :)1. Can you cook? If yes, do you like to cook?Yes, I can cook. And yes, I like to cook.2. When do you eat with your whole family?Well, I live alone, so eating with my whole family doesn't happen very often. Maybe at holidays. But if you are counting just the family that lives in your home, all the time. :)3. What do

Movie Review

I went to see Twilight last night. It was pretty darn good. There are mixed reviews on the internet. Some say it's great. Others say it's not. Personally, I think they did a great job with the small amount of money (only $37 million = very small in movie terms) they had to film. Not to mention the fact that the book is extremely descriptive, which can be hard to capture on screen. It was worth my

Family Effects

We all know that diabetes affects everyone in the entire family. It affects friends. It affects jobs. It affects every aspect of life as you know it. Lee Ann wrote just the other day about how it affects her husband and how much it can affect a relationshipKerri wrote about how ingrained in our lives the little bits of diabetes are. Our blogs, our lives, our family, our work seems to revolve

Up and Down and Down and Up...

Blood sugars have been crazy all day. I woke up this morning at 190. Did a correction bolus. By the time I ate breakfast I was 112. Dropped to 63 a few hours later. Drank a juice box. By lunch I was still only 79.We had Thanksgiving at work today. Since I was only 79, I got my food and started eating. I ate for a few minutes and then did a dual wave bolus. 50% now 50% over the next 2 hrs.After I

Thanksgiving at Work

Too busy to blog tonight. I am making a pumpkin spice cake with pumpkin filling and cream cheese icing for Thanksgiving at work tomorrow.

Blogging is a Full-Time Job!

Okay, I have decided that blogging could really be a full time job. Even if I don't blog every day, like I am this month, I am often thinking about things to blog about or things I've read on other blogs.Seriously, if someone would pay me (and offer me top-notch insurance, of course) I would just blog full time. I would travel to meet all of you fellow bloggers and blog about that. Then I would

Cold and Snowy...

I hate Monday nights. I have class an hour from my house. I leave work as soon as I get off and just get there in time for class to start. Most of the time I don't have time to stop and eat. Class ends at 8:00 and I can sometimes stop and grab something then. It isn't good for my diabetes because I get so hungry and then my blood sugar likes to rise. Not to mention the later I eat, the harder it

This is what I woke up to this morning....

Not much. But it was some snow. :) It's gone now... :(

Stupid CGMS...

Not wanting to work right. :( My readings have been off for the last 24 hours. I just ripped it out. Going to try a new one today.

Happy World Diabetes Day?

Today's the day folks. And while I'm glad there's a day to bring awareness to this disease that effects so many people, I'd much rather just not have diabetes. I'm sure that most of you agree with me. Often people ask, "What will you do when there's a cure?" I don't think about that very much. Mostly because diabetes has been with me for so long. I believe a cure is possible. I believe there will

Trying...

Okay, as I've mentioned before, I am unofficially trying to do the NaBloPoMo. This weekend may be the breaker for me. My church has an intensive 3 day program that they do a couple of times per year. It's called Encounter. And I am going to be there this weekend. So posting may not happen. I'm going to try, but you never know. I am going to try to make it a point to post tomorrow, since it is

Monday Again??

All day today, it's felt like Monday...again. After having yesterday off for Veteran's Day, I had to go back to work. As much as I am glad that we have a holiday to honor Veterans, I HATE having a day off in the middle of the week. It always seems to throw my internal clock all out of whack.I fought high blood sugar almost all day yesterday. Today, it's only been slightly better. I think I have

Veteran's Day

This day can mean different things to different people. For some, it's another vacation day. To some, it's just another day to work. But for veterans and their families, it can mean so much more.Both of my grandfathers, my dad, my uncle, and my brother served in the armed forces. I have a host of great-uncles who also served. I grew up in a home filled with pride for the armed forces. My dad

Nothing to say...

This is one of those days when I wish I had a meme. I have nothing to say. I don't really know why, but it is what it is. I do want to say THANK YOU to all of you who posted yesterday! It was a record for me for most comments on a blog post. I was truly touched. If I didn't post on yours, I'm sorry, but be sure I appreciated your comment very much. I LOVE YOU GUYS!

D-Blog Day

Well, today is D-Blog Day. I have to say that I've been at this blogging thing for over a year now and it's become a very productive and important part of my life. I've made new friends, found kindred spirits, and been blessed in more ways that you can even begin to imagine.From some, it's been a kind word. Others, a care package, or a card in the mail. And some of you just bless me through my

Stupid Me

As often as I test my blood sugar, you would think I would remember to put a new bottle of strips in my meter case when I empty the first one.... I forgot this morning. In the midst of running around trying to find my script for the Veteran's Day program my kids at church are doing, and going to get two of the kids to bring this to practice this morning, I completely forgot. Thank goodness for

Every Day

Okay, so I am unofficially trying to do the NaBloPoMo thing. I'm not committing officially, since this is my first attempt and I don't know if I can actually make it through the month. But we will see.Diabetes related stuff...what happened today....well, other than having my CGMS go completely crazy (reading from 180 to 91 back to 190 within 20 minutes) when my blood sugar was pretty much steady,

I should be nice to you....

I had the most interesting thing happen to me over the weekend. As most of you know, I live in an extremely small town. Until I was in high school, the whole county only had 2 stoplights. A few years ago, when I was college, our town was blessed to have 2 ethnic restaurants move into our town. This would have been unheard of when I was younger. The closest thing we had to ethnic was the Taco Bell

History

I am currently reading a book for a college class. Brown v. the Board of Education. I am glad to see how far our nation has come in comparison to these times I am reading about now. The results of this election proves that in America you CAN truly be whatever you want, regardless of race or gender. But I am also disheartened. I know a majority of you in the Diabetes OC are over the moon about the

Differences

That's what this country was built on. The fact that we could all be different and still have a voice. So, please, if you are a registered voter, GO VOTE! I early voted this year, so I've had my say. No matter your beliefs, Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, your voice is important. Don't let someone else speak for you. Remember the line "A government for the people and by the

Disney Channel!

Okay, apparently all our voices worked. Disney pulled the episode of Hannah Montana to "re-evaluate" it.I found this out reading a blog over at dLife. Carey Potash, a parent of a child with diabetes, posted about it here.Sadly, I couldn't find the letter that he said was listed on the Children With Diabetes website. But as far as I'm concerned, that is okay.Maybe we made some head way on stopping

Operation Christmas Child

My church does gathers boxes for Operation Christmas Child almost every year. This year is no different. Last week we had spoken a little bit about it. This week we did again. They showed a video today that really touched my heart.For those of you who don't know what Operation Christmas Child is, it is an outreach by the organization Samaritan's Purse, which was founded by Franklin Graham, son of

One Word Meme.....

A New Meme....it's been a while. :)1. Where is your cell phone? Desk.2. Your significant other? None3. Your Hair? Brown4. Your Skin? Light5. Your mother? Wonderful6. Your favorite thing? Music7. Your dream last night? Sad8. Your favorite drink? Diet9. Your dream/goal? Happiness10. The room you’re in? Kitchen11. Your ex? Absent12. Your fear? Spiders13.Where do you want to be in 6 years?

Hallelujah

Every year, on our town's trick-or-treat night (which happens to be October 30th), my church does a Halloween alternative program for kids, teens and adults called Hallelujah. They have programs, skits, music, a costume contest, and they give away candy to the kids. We've done this for many years now. I think around 16 years.Each year it is different and fun. This year was no exception.Our youth

Hannah Montana

November approaches us very quickly. Diabetes Awareness Month is all the buzz in the diabetes community. This is the time of year when it's much easier to get our word out and to educate those on what it is like to live with diabetes. There are activities, World Diabetes Day, and events like the National Luminary Lighting Event. There will be spots on television talking about diabetes and

Bad Sensor

I put a new sensor in a couple of days ago. About 1/2 the time since, I've had it turned off. Because when it's on, I can't seem to get it to work right. I think I have officially come across my first "bad" sensor.There have been no calibration errors. But time after time I will check and it will be 100 to 150 points off! I will try to reset it and then in 4 or 5 hours I test again and the

Tennessee Gathering Report

Last Saturday was our first Tennessee gathering. Despite small numbers, we had a good time and plan on doing it again. In fact, already others have told both myself and Vivian at Danieldoo, that they want to come to the next one. We had food, games (thanks for the challenge Daniel!), paddle boating, and GREAT weather! Below are some pictures that we took. Maybe you can join us next time!

Detached

I have read on other blogs, at other times, about people becoming "detached" from their pump. Taking it off to try on clothes and forgetting to reattach. Or having a site just not go on correctly. Well, it was my turn on Sunday. I have ripped out a site before. But I've never had one not attach. I was running late on Sunday morning (too much lazing around!) and was in a hurry when I got out of

Nationwide Luminary Lighting Event to Support Juvenile Diabetes!

What: Annual Juvenile Diabetes / Type 1 Luminary Lighting T-1 Luminary EnlightenmentWhen: November 5, 2008. Where: Luminaries displayed in front of your home, visible from the road. All roads in town will be lit with luminaries.Why: Three years ago, Harrison was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. This year he has one major goal: to build awareness for the millions of people with Type 1 /

The Today Show-Diabetes T-1

This looks like something that might be of interest to our Diabetes online community. I am going to e-mail this lady and see what happens.

Gathering Coming...and a Poll

I am just posting a lovely reminder that the Tennessee Gathering that will be next Saturday, October 11th in Cookeville, Tennessee. I am hoping to see several different people there. Let me know if you need directions or more information. Or you can visit the event page on TuDiabetes.com.Also, I am naming my pump with all of your help. There is a poll on this page that is good until October 17th.

Name That Pump!

Okay, after persuasion from Daniel (his mom is over at Danieldoo), I have decided my pump needs a name. I know Amylia's is Gil. Daniel's is Zack (or Zach, I can't remember). Now mine needs one. But I am coming up empty. So here's what I've decided to do: I want suggestions. Give me your best shot (pun intended!). After a few days, I will pick my favorites and make a poll on my site and let you,

Friday Night Lights...and Diabetes

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Vivian, from over at Danieldoo. We live about 2 hours apart and had never met. Last night, my former high school played her daughter's high school at football. The game was in their town, but I gathered up a friend to go with me, and I knew I would know other people that came down from home to watch the game. Vivian and I agreed on a place to

Teaching Diabetes 101

My teacher of the graduate class I am taking has Type 2. I've never hidden my diabetes so they all know. When I got to class this week, I was obviously not feeling well.Blood sugar check rang in at 368. My teacher about had a meltdown wanting to know if she could get me anything. I told her I was fine, I would just take some insulin and go get some water.I came back and sat next to a fellow

The Biggest Loser

Tonight was the season premier of The Biggest Loser. I have watched the show occasionally in the past and enjoyed it. I am overweight. According to the BMI, I am obese. That disturbs me. It always has. I wasn't always overweight. As a child, up until I hit puberty, I was average for my height. Then, around the time I was 14 or 15, I hit puberty (I was a late bloomer) and I went from taking 2

A Busy Week

I've been absent from the online community for almost 2 weeks now. Life has certainly come at me fast and furious. I had a wedding cake to make last weekend, which took a massive amount of time and ended up taking my whole weekend up. On that Saturday morning, my step-dad lost his father. I ended up taking a day off work to be with my family and attend the funeral on Tuesday.Then, while I was in

A New Friend

I was pretty much the only diabetic I knew growing up. There was one person who was an adult and her daughter, who was much younger than me who I knew that were Type 1. I, essentially, was on my own. Until I discovered the Diabetes OC, I knew very few Type 1's. We are a minority in a minority.I had some friends when I was in high school who were siblings. They didn't go to high school with me,

Lifesaver

I found out last week that BCBS of TN is going to be making their decision regarding if they are going to continue to pay for CGMS for certain patients. The decision is supposed to be in the next week or so. I have known that CGMS coverage was important. I have even know that CGMS coverage was important to me. But I didn't realize how important it was until last night.After having only 1 low in

Desperation

I had my endo appointment today and I was severely disappointed. He had ordered a thyroid blood test, but no A1c. They did it in the office again. In my finger. Instant results. I STILL don't think these can be so accurate. I just don't see how they can be. And my fears were confirmed when the results came back 6.3. I'm sorry, but there is no WAY my A1c is that low. My blood sugars have almost

Weekend Pointless Post

Okay, has anyone seen the new JC Penny's commercial? The spoof of the Breakfast Club? I can't decide if I love it or hate it.Technically, it's target audience is the Junior High/High School age children from about 12 thru 18. At least, that's what I would think a commercial that's advertising back to school clothing would be aimed at.But yet The Breakfast Club was release in 1985. The year I was

A Mental Disease

I fully believe diabetes is a mental disease. Now don't get all defensive on me! Diabetes is a disease that your pancreas doesn't work or doesn't work well enough, causing a rise of glucose in the blood. I understand that.I'm talking about the mental part of dealing with this disease. It's something that I think many people don't think about or realize.People talk about dealing with a diagnosis

Arguing with Myself

The past few days have been crazy for me. Starting Saturday, I have done nothing but fight with my blood sugars.I have not had a single low. I've been fighting highs. Some even over 350. This is so uncommon for me. Especially since I have been on CGMS. In fact, getting a number that's close to 150 has been a huge thrill for me. Just to see something below 200 has been wonderful. I go to get blood

The Report Card

I know that we are told, time and time again, not to look at the A1c as a "report card". But in a lot of ways, that's really what it is. It's a literal progress report of out last 3 months of blood sugars. Just like in school, we get an average of our "grades". In school a 90 is a good, solid average. Not perfect, but not bad either. But in that average of 90, there may be five 100's and a 60. In

Absolutely everything and nothing is going on right now. I've been very busy with church, friends, and cake decorating all week long. This weekend is going to be crazy, so probably no posts for a few days.By the way, I am going to be meeting a fellow diabetic (although not a blogger or a member of TuDiabetes to my knowledge [I am working on it!]) this weekend. I will be posting all about this

Gathering Date Set

Okay, for all of you that commented here and on TuDiabetes, I have set a time, date and place for a Tennessee gathering. However, it is not limited to Tennesseans, bloggers, or TuDiabetes members. Let lots of people know. Anyone is welcome. Date: October 11, 2008Time: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Place: Cane Creek Park, Shelter #2, Cookeville, TN! I am still open to suggestions on either a potluck type

Thankful and Blessed

I went to church tonight to be greeted with the news that a friend of mine lost her husband day before yesterday. My church has a phone tree, but I don't get the calls as I have a cell phone and it doesn't call cell phones.She and her teenage daughter teach with me in my Mighty Mites class (5-6 year olds). Her youngest child is in my Mighty Mites class. They have 3 children total, ranging from

Readers

I know there are those of you who faithfully read as many blogs as you can. I have several of you who regularly comment on my blog.But sometimes I feel like no one is reading. I am sure that some of you deal with this too. Logically, I know there are some people reading. Illogically, I think no one is. The other day I was catching up on my blog reading when I came across this post on Lemonade

I am....

I am a diabetic. Type 1. For the past 23 years. I barely remember life before diabetes. Sometimes it seems like diabetes is the center of my world. Other times, it is just a part of my life; insignificant and small, but always there.Recently, diabetes has taken that "smaller" role in my life. The lack of blog posts would reflect this. As I thought about this last night I began to thing of all the

Diabetes Education

I know I have talked before about how much I love my CDE. I have been going some since the beginning of the year since my insurance allows up to $500 in diabetes education per year. I mostly wanted to go to have a second (or third, if you count my Endo) pair of eyes to look at my blood sugar readings and to help me make some adjustments. I went to see my CDE again yesterday and we have set up 1

A Scary Low

I don't have scary lows very often. Most of the time I catch them (either by CGMS or by my very frequent testing) and treat them and that's that. I have, for the most part, lost a lot of my ability to detect my lows. Some of that is starting to come back with the use of the CGMS, but it's still not perfect.And, CGMS isn't perfect. Sometimes the sensor is "off" or my blood sugar just drops way to

Attentions Tennesseans....and all others!

Okay, after reading about Bernard and the 1st Annual New England Diabetes picnic I have decided that those of us in and around Tennessee need to do something like this. I am hoping to get something organized before fall sets in and it gets cold, but my first step is to put out feelers to see how many of your would be interested. I have already posted on the TuDiabetes group, TN Diabetics. But I

Sick

I posted yesterday about how great my CGMS is. Sometimes, though, I just need a break from it. I never take more than a few days at a time off. Today was the perfect example why I don't leave CGMS off more often than I do. I took the CGMS off yesterday afternoon.I woke up with a high blood sugar this morning. It was 250. I corrected, proceeded to get ready for work and when I checked my blood

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Where does diabetes fit in?I have been so busy these past several weeks, both with work, family, and friends. I've had a million things on my mind. And it would have been very easy for me to "forget" my diabetes.We all know that we never really forget it. It's always there, hovering, waiting, acting up without much notice.Just like the title of my blog, it's around us every day, every hour, every

God Bless America

Just a quick note, late at night on this Fourth of July. I just wanted to say that I am so thankful to live in America. I have both friends and family who are serving or have served in the military. And to them, this day, I say THANK YOU for all you do. No matter what your political stance, left or right, liberal or conservative, democrat or republican, we are all blessed to be able to have our

Meter Mania!

Okay, Amylia wrote a blog post that made me want to write one. Inspiration I'll say. Thanks Amylia!I am not the most organized person. I like to say I'd lose my head if it weren't attached to my shoulders. I loose my car keys, a DVD, my wallet, my bills. Since i got my pump, I can't say that I have ever thought I lost it, like Amylia did, but I can say that I have thought I lost my meter many,

REQUEST FOR CGMS: DENIED BY INSURANCE

Today is a special day. A day when we all raise our voices and tell our stories. CGMS is a fairly new technology, but it has done wonders in the lives of many diabetics already. My life is one of those lives. I was one of the lucky ones. I was approved the first time I requested CGMS. This was back in February. I had only been on CGMS for two months, and my A1c dropped from 6.7 to 6.4. This is a

Call To Arms!

Over at TuDiabetes, Gina Capone has dubbed July 1 CGMS Denial Day. So many of us are being turned down for this coverage that we need to raise our voices. If you have been denied or know someone who has been denied, join us on this day. We should make our voices heard.We did it during Type 1 Diabetes Day. Here's the next call to arms.

CGMS Coverage

Yesterday Kerri posted about being denied for CGM coverage by her insurance company. She also posted her letter. Denials seem to be going around lately. Things are still iffy with my continual coverage. I wrote my letter and sent it. I am going to post mine also. Voices are being raised as more and more people are being denied for this new technology. Yes, it's new. No, it's not perfect. But it's

MiniMed Rep & the Insurance Company

As I had mentioned in a previous post, my insurance company may stop paying for my CGMS. And for everyone's CGMS. This has been a concern of mine for the past few weeks. I ordered another supply of sensors, and so far they are paying for them. I ordered a 3 month supply at the time, hoping that I could stretch them out for a while. Mostly because I cannot afford to pay for them out of pocket. The

Diabetes and Other People's Problems.

I was talking with my mother the other day. She and my step-father run their own business and have been having some trouble with a client. While I was talking with her, I kept saying, "I just hate to see you have to deal with this!"And she said this to me, "There are people all over the world who have problems that I don't want. They deal with earthquakes and tornadoes and floods and sickness and

Taking a Break!

I am officially taking the day off tomorrow! No work! Woo-hoo!!! It was originally planned that I was going out of town for the weekend, but after some changes in plans, I am staying home. I could have gone into work tomorrow, since I'll be in town, but I decided, after a very emotionally draining week and a half (long story dealing with my personal life...you know, the one I don't talk about.),

Nick Jonas

This article was taken from June 2008 People Magazine Special Collector's Edition. I did not write this and give full credit to People Magazine.'Little' SecretThe Inspiration Behind Nick's SongWhen the third Jonas Brother album, A Little Bit Longer, coming out this summer, we asked Nick to give us the inspiration behind the title track (see lyrics, right), which he wrote in the middle of filming

Grieving and Diabetes

Grief is a very normal process that everyone goes though at some time in his or her life. People grieve after they experience the loss of a person close to them. Sometimes it is after the loss of a home in a disaster. Some people experience grief after a life altering event.Illness is also a time when people experience grief. I've often heard about people going through the stages of grief after

Doctors, Vacation, and Birthdays!

I had an endo appointment this morning. Got the new script for One Touch strips for my new Ultra Link meter! I switch from BD effective tomorrow afternoon. Yay! My A1c was down to 6.3. Ties for my lowest ever. I had it that low once before. I'm still shooting for below 6. I think I can do it. CGMS has helped greatly. The bad news is that I am pretty sure that my insurance company is going to STOP

Cara: iRobot

One thing I will assure you all that I will not discuss on my blog is my personal life. It's just one aspect of my life that I rarely talk about to anyone I know. I will say this: I don't have much of one. I never dated in high school. I only casually dated in college. Due to this, my dating experience is severely limited. Some days I feel like a robot. Really. I am attached to a machine 24 hours

Tagged!

I was tagged by Donna, over at Donnabetes. Bless her. Now I have to find 6 people. Yikes!Rules:Once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird, random, facts, habits or goals about yourself. At the end, choose 6 people to be tagged, list their names & why you tagged them. Don’t forget to leave them a comment saying “You’re it!” & to go read your blog. You cannot tag the person

Craziness

I took my CGMS off today, after my customary 6 day run. And nearly the entire 6 days was off. It was rarely right. That is unusual. I typically have close readings about 90% of the time. Not so with this past run. I know it was probably just a bad sensor, but it can be kind of frustrating at times. I left it out today and plan to start over again tomorrow or Friday. Wish me luck. :)My insulin

My Mother

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. As most all of us know. It's supposed to be a special day to celebrate all our mother means to us. Sadly, the flowers I sent my mother cannot begin to express my thankfulness for her and her role in my life. Three years before I was born my mother and father went to the House of Ruth adoption ministry and began to fill out paperwork to adopt a child. My mother prayed for

What Do I Do Now?

My best friend got engaged in January of 2007. She got married last Saturday. That translates to 16 months of "wedding" going on. It was a nearly constant topic of conversation. More so in the past several months as the wedding got closer and closer. The past two weeks were wedding 24/7. Now it's over. And I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. I have other stuff going on and other stuff to

Diabetes in the News

It seems that in the past week diabetes has been all over the news. So much so that I felt I needed to post on the various articles. Many of you in the diabetes OC have already read and posted on these articles. But there are so many that I am going to give a brief run down and post some of my own thoughts on these articles.First, last week I read this title: Study: Pregnant Women With

Spray Tanning and My 100th Post

Today I went to get a spray tan. Cause of the whole wedding thing. And I have learned a new thing for all you ladies that are pumping and want to get a spray tan. I timed my site change so that I could rip it out right before getting the tan, and the put the new one in right after.The tan turned out great. I got back to the vehicle and put the new site in, no problems. Then we went to Old Navy to

Weddings, Birthdays, and General Stressors

One of my very best friends in the world is getting married on Saturday. This is, in part, why I haven't been posting as regularly. I have been busy with many wedding things. Also, I have helped my baby sister celebrate her 12th birthday. When I really feel like she was just born yesterday. She's now taller than I am. Another of my friends also celebrated a birthday since the last time I posted.

A new meme that made me smile and a change in insulin intake.

The rules: Make a list of your loves. The only catch? You can’t include a single person you know on your list. No “I love the way my husband laughs” or “I love hearing my little girl call for me.” It’ll be tough, I know. But this particular little exercise is about stripping away everyone who defines you and figuring out what you (not his partner; not their mother/daughter/sister/friend) love.1)

Raise Your Voice!

This day, Kerri has dubbed Type 1 Awareness Day. Raise your voice, type 1's!This is my perspective on Type 1 diabetes. I will have been a Type 1 diabetic for 23 years in just a few months. In many ways, it's all I've ever known. My memories, pre-diabetes, are few and far between.I have shared stories on this blog in the past about my diagnosis. I have shared tales of good days with diabetes, and

One Year Later...

I write this post one day early because my tomorrow is going to be filled with friends and cakes and bridal showers for my best friend's upcoming wedding.One year ago tomorrow I posted my first blog post. Inspired by Kerri over at Six Until Me, whom I stumbled across by surfing around on dLife, I ran across this world of people just like me. I knew there were other diabetics in the world. I had,

A Long Week....Already

It is only Wednesday, but it has been a loonnnggg week already. Every day has seemed to drag by. Is it just me, or are others experiencing this also?Yesterday, however, was a great fun day. The Women's NCAA basketball championship was last night in Tampa. My lovely Lady Vols played Stanford, and won their 8th National Championship. :) I can't complain. I had a great time watching the game and

Blessings in Times of Stress

I have a million things going on in my life right now. This is (mostly) why I haven't been posting. I have had things to post, yes. But getting the time or energy to do it has been hard. When I have free time I have been vegging out or talking with friends. I have been out of town 3 times in the past month. I am preparing for my best friend's bridal shower and wedding (now only 1 month away) and

Sugar-Free

This is going to be a short post. Short and sweet (pun intended). Am I a horrible person for refusing to eat items that are "sugar-free"? The only thing I consume on a regular basis, that is classified as "sugar-free" is my diet drinks. Even as a child, I never enjoyed "diabetic foods". I thought they tasted funny. As I grew up, I continued to get lots of "sugar-free" this and that. It wasn't

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I love St. Patrick's Day. I don't know why, I just always have. It makes me smile. My friends make fun of me and tell me that it's because I'm really a leprechaun because I'm so short. I just laugh. Maybe it's true. Due to being adopted, I don't know a lot about my family heritage. I know my mother's mother was of German decent and I believe my mother's father was of English, Irish, or Welsh

Feeling Blue

For the past week or so I have been feeling a little bit blue. Since my doctor's appointment, I have really been feeling overwhelmed, unstimulated, and just kind of down in the dumps. I have been in the long process of getting myself out of this funk. I've keep on thinking to myself, "I really need to blog. I need the support." But sadly, I haven't been able to make that move. Last night I had a

Misconceptions

I took this quiz today on FoxNews in their health section. This is a gross misconception on the last question that lumps all diabetics together. It disturbs me. Continually. The only positive thing I can say is that the answer does state it is Type 2 diabetics. But they answer I gave should have been correct also. SighDr. Manny's Health QuizQuiz ResultsYour correct answers are in grey and your

An Endo Appointment and Retail Therapy

I am a firm believer in retail therapy. Most women would agree with me on this on. Today was a need for retail therapy for me.I had my 3 month appointment with my endo. I had some of my data printed off MiniMed's Care Link, and was ready to go. I had my blood drawn for my A1c last week. I was interested to know what my A1c was since my last appointment they did my test in office and I felt it was

Snow Dayz

I have been waiting all winter long for a good snow. We have a few light dustings. Nothing to even cover the ground really. I am a sucker for snow. I hate dark and dreary winter, but I love it when it snows. Go figure.Unfortunately for me, it doesn't snow a lot here in Tennessee. In fact, the whole world nearly shuts down if we get a couple of inches. Yesterday, around noon, it started to spit

Vacation? Or not?

I went out of town this past weekend with some friends of mine. One of my best friends is getting married and moving about 4 hours away from where she & I currently live. Her future sister-in-law threw her a bridal tea this weekend, so we gathered up and went down to stay the weekend.I thought it was going to be a fun getaway. It was. It just also turns out that I didn't get a whole lot of sleep

Any Time Now...

I haven't been around near enough since I got my CGMS. For that, I apologize to those of you who read my blog. I have just been busy, stressed, and tired in general. Over the weekend I took a break from the world, watched the Daytona 500 (GO #88!!), and had the day off on Monday, courtesy of Presidents' Day.On Monday I did spend quite a bit of time cleaning out my spare bedroom. It is really just

CGMS, Dentists, Sickness, and Valentine's Day

I am now, officially, hooked up to the CGMS. I went on Tuesday afternoon to meet with my CDE and the trainer from MiniMed. It was nearly a 2 hour training and there was another person also being trained at the same time. I enjoyed the time. The rep/nurse from MiniMed is also a diabetic and is on the CGMS, so she could talk from her personal experiences. This was very nice. As you can tell, I

A Good Day and a Nice Surprise

I went to get a new cell phone today. Since I was in college, my dad and I have been on the same plan. He paid the bill until I got out of college and I have split it with him since. It's cheaper that way. Our 2 years was up and we were due new phones.Personally, we were both ready for new ones. The batteries in our old phones were shot. Because I live in the middle of no where, there is only a

CGMS News

My appointment with the trainer from MiniMed is February 12th at 1:30. I am so excited. By this time next week, I will be hooked up on CGMS.

Storms in Tennessee

Some of you have already been asking if I am okay. Just wanted to let you know that my town escaped the worst of the storms. We just got some wind and bad thunderstorms. However, there are several other communities that I have friends in that got hit pretty hard. So far, I don't know any of the people who have died.I have also sent out a message on my TuDiabetes.com group, TNDiabetics, asking

Overnight Mail

Yesterday, as I was on my way into my class (I am currently working on my Masters degree) my phone rang. It was MiniMed, wanting to know where they could ship my new CGMS to be signed for today! I gave them my work address and they told me that it should arrive around 10:30 this morning.I am a very impatient person. 10:00 rolled around: nothing. 10:30: nothing. 11:00: nothing. I got to lunch at

Trip-The End....And SUSSY!!!

On the last day of our trip we really didn't do anything exciting. Basically got up and ate breakfast and then started our looonnnggg drive back. The blood sugar behaved itself most of the day. And I didn't have any major problems during the trip back. Although on the last leg of my trip (from M's house to my own) I thought my contacts were going to dry to my eyeballs!The joys of learning to wear

Trip-Part 2

On Sunday morning we got up and got ready to take a road trip to Philly. M and I had never been to Philly and we both wanted to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I made A breakfast. Biscuits and gravy. Apparently they don't have biscuits and gravy up there. And so every time I go visit I have to make it for her. It's not the best on the blood sugar, but it's fun to have every once in a

Trip-Part 1

I am going to take a few days to tell you all about my trip. I went with a friend of mine (M) to visit another friend (A) in the D.C. area. A recently told us she was pregnant and we wanted to go visit her since she is going this whole experience alone. Not to mention that we just flat out missed her. I hadn't seen A since October and M hadn't seen her since May. So it was time for a visit.We

Going Away. And Just One Word.

Okay all, I am headed out of town today and won't be back until Monday night, so don't expect any posts for a few days. I will have lots of pictures when I get back I'm sure. As well as lots to blog about. I am taking a road trip with a friend to go visit another friend.I am leaving you all with the post that's been going around the Diabetes OC lately.Use just one word to describe me....Have a

Questions answered....and a meme!

There were a few of you who asked questions about what I did to get approved for the CGMS. Sadly, I don't have a lot of information to give you all. I talked to my doctor about it at my last visit in early December. He said he would write the request letter. About 2 weeks after that one of the MiniMed reps contacted me (Hi, Danny!) and asked me several questions and asked me to fax him some of my

APPROVAL!!!!

I just got my letter from the insurance company about my request for the CGMS! They approved it! First time through. I am so excited I can hardly breath! I have already talked to the rep from MiniMed and they are going to get the process started. Basically, this means I should be hooked up by no later than the end of February, if I am figuring correctly. This is so exciting!

"Do you ever feel like you're not accomplishing anything?"

I watched a movie last night. It was one I have seen about a million times. St. Elmo's Fire. It was an 80's movie about these seven friends and their life the year or so after they graduate college. I am a huge 80's movie fan. I have several. I don't know why I like them so much, but I do.There's a scene in the movie where Wendy (Mere Winningham) is working as a social worker. She's trying to get

Eyes and Teeth

Today I had a dental appointment and an appointment for my yearly dilated eye exam. To be honest about it all, I have not been to the dentist in quite some years. I have good teeth and haven't had a cavity in my life. Due to this, and lack of money (dental care's not cheap!) I hadn't been going to the dentist. Well, I went today. It wasn't good news. Basically, people, don't stop going to the

Melancholy

I haven't felt the greatest in the world today. I woke up this morning at 59. I hung out the rest of the morning right around 70 to 75. Not low, but just low enough to scare me that I was going to drop quickly. With my hypo unawareness, it was nerve wracking.After lunch the blood sugar rebounded and hung out in the upper 100's. With the highs and lows, I have felt a little bit "off" all day today

CGMS Update

I called my insurance company today to see if they had gotten the paperwork requesting they approve CGMS for me. They received it January 9th and the lady told me it was due to be reviewed by their doctor and should be done in 14 business days.Let's just pray they approve and that I don't have to fight it!

A Moment of Weakness

An afternoon snack. A moment of weakness. Price: $3.00 and.....

Numbers

In school I had 3 subjects that I hated with every little bit of passion in me. The first was Physical Education. I hated it. I used to fake sick at least twice a week just to keep from having to run or play volleyball or do whatever else was on the agenda for the day. I am not an athletic person. I am not even a very active person. I don't know why, but it is something that I am having to work

New Year's

I know it's a little late, but I was out of town. This might be a terribly long blog, but I have lots to say.First off, I have to thank Amylia for the wonderful postcard she sent me before leaving Taiwan. It's beautiful. And a really cool souvenir. Also, lots of healthy thoughts I am sending her way since she and Figgy are not feeling well right now. Secondly, I hope everyone had a safe and fun