Close to Home

Over the weekend I got a message on facebook from a friend of mine. One that isn't linked to my "diabetes world." We've known each other for a few years now, and met through mutual friends. He's an awesomely fun person to hang out with, and a person I don't get to see in person near often enough.

This message, however, wasn't a happy message. He sent me a message because his young niece had just

Sort of Wordless Wednesday

When you see your favorite low glucose treatment on the "last chance" rack, you buy them all. 

Cereal: The Devil's Food

“Hi. My name is Cara and I’m a cereal addict.”



I feel like I should be in some sort of a recovery program.
Ever since I started monitoring my blood sugar super closely and got on an
insulin pump, it became apparent that cereal was a TERRIBLE thing for me.
Non-sugar cereals make my blood sugar crazy. The less sugar and more whole
grains, the less crazy. But still crazy.



Sugar cereals make

Strip Safely

Test strip accuracy is important to me because as a person with diabetes, I test my blood sugar. As a type 1 diabetic, I test my blood sugar sometimes as many as 12-15 times a day. True, with my constant glucose monitor (itself with accuracy issues) I sometimes test less. But no decision I make during the day (or night) is made without regards to what my blood sugar is.

The recommended range for

Technology is Scary: A Skeptic Changes Her Mind

I was diagnosed with diabetes in 1986, a few months before
my fifth birthday. I have very, very few memories of my life before diabetes.
It’s just always BEEN. Diabetes has been a part of me so much, that I’m not
entirely sure who’d I’d be without it. I’m throwing a wild guess out there that
I’d have more money, less stress and get more sleep, among other things. But,
it’s nothing that I can’t

Sometimes It's Who You Know

Every so often I go get fast food for breakfast. I know, I
know. It’s not healthy. It’s not good for me. It’s not always good on my blood sugars.
BUT, I do it. And I’m guessing that you probably do as well. I live in the same
town I grew up in. I left for a while and ended up back here for a job and
haven’t been able to escape since (those of you that know me, know what I mean
by that!).

Opinions and Name Changes

Even though I’ve been slightly detached from the diabetes
online community in the past several weeks, I’ve seen some talk about the
petition going around that seeks support to have the names of T1 & T2
diabetes changed. This grabbed my attention almost immediately. I started
searching around on the different posts that people were putting up, and even
received an email from the women behind the

Six Years...and a Day.

I missed it again. I seem to miss it every year. Yesterday my blog turned six years old. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. Six years is a long time to keep something up. I'll admit, my blog and I have had our ups and downs. In fact, the past month or so, we've barely communicated. But I always know that my blog is there when I need it. Something to pour out my frustrations and my

Announcements

It's all over the internet today. All over twitter and facebook. Probably all over media outlets (I wouldn't know as I rarely watch television or pay attention to much news). The announcement that was hinted at yesterday, and release today from the Diabetes Research Institute. 

I won't lie. I had a hard time yesterday, after reading what was being hinted at. That four letter word that many of us

Meet Penelope

So we all know that those of us in the D-OC like to name our medical devices. I've had the MiniMed Revel for a while now and this pump didn't actually have a name. I'd named my old pump Lola, but this one hadn't gotten a name yet. She'd been stubborn, and until I got her an outfit to wear, she hadn't given me her name.

A few weeks ago I custom ordered a pump skin for my pump. I did this with

Scar Tissue Issue

I love that the title of this post rhymes. It kind of makes me laugh. And this little problem is one that I NEED to laugh at. Otherwise it makes me want to bawl my eyes out.

Let me start at the beginning…
Several months ago I started having infusion sets give me “NO DELIVERY” alarms quite a bit. Always within the first 12 hours of a new infusion site; mostly within the first few hours of a new

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-seven. Twenty-seven. Twenty-seven. I’ve been mulling this word (these words?) over for a while now. I’ve used them for a while. But today is the official day. Twenty-seven years ago today I was rushed to the hospital in a nearby town and admitted to the hospital, where I would stay for nearly a week, so that my parents could learn how to take care of their diabetic child and so I could

"Do No Harm" Does Harm

Tonight on NBC there is the series premiere of a new show
called “Do No Harm.” I’ve known this show was coming for quite some time. In
fact, I knew about it when they were filming the pilot, mostly due to the fact
that one of my favorite Broadway actors is in the show. Turns out SEVERAL
Broadway actors I like are in the show, and it was directed by a Broadway
director that I also like.

"Non-Preferred"

So several months ago MiniMed made the announcement that they had teamed with Bayer to produce their new Link meter. Prior to that, they were teamed with Life Scan/One Touch. I’ve only been insulin pumping for six years, but during that time I’ve always had a link meter. Prior to the Life Scan/One Touch partnership, there was a BD link meter.



My One Touch Ultra Link

I like the convenience of

Fourth Times a Charm?

I swear, sometimes diabetes just likes to raise a fuss. It does it in whatever way it can and causes as much trouble as possible in as short a span of time as possible. A couple of days ago my blood sugars starting running on the high side. I wasn't sure why. It happens sometimes. But I dealt with it. I thought.

I was at work and I ended up bolusing ALL DAY LONG. It felt crazy. I figured I was

JDRF South Region T1D Symposium - 2013

Over the weekend I attended the JDRF South Region Symposium in Nashville. I was so blessed to get to go and I have so many things to share. This was the first Symposium of it's kind that I've been to. And the first that Nashville and the South Region of JDRF has done. I'd personally like to see it become a regular thing. Let me tell you why....

When they announced this Symposium back in

New Year with Diabetes

New Year with Diabetes : Striving for _______ in 2013.

This is the topic for this month's #DSMA Blog Carnival. When I saw the topic I spent some time thinking about what I want to do this year in regards to diabetes. My first thoughts were about specifically health related things. Perhaps trying to lower my A1c? Exercising more (or at all)? Eating healthier? Avoiding things I know make my