August 23rd, 2011 by KerriSparling in Opinion
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I have several One Touch meters, a Freestyle one, and a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor that I consult on a regular basis. (Not usually at the same time, but I have been doing multiple checks recently. More on that below.) I also have an Agamatrix meter and an Accu-chek one, somewhere in the diabetes cupboard in the bathroom, only without any strips that aren’t expired.
And I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to glucose meters. The variability of these machines makes me crazy in the head, and it caused me a lot of grief when I was pregnant, because my blood sugar goal range at that point was so tight and so specific, and any variability was huge for me. (I shared some samples of wonky results in this post.)
In the last few weeks, I’ve been doing some experimenting with my meters, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
June 3rd, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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The Dexcom said 177 mg/dl and dropping, but after a full 60 minutes of cardio, I expected the graph to show a lower trend.
“Whatever,” I said, a little confused because my pre-workout blood sugar was 143 mg/dl. Felt foggy, but I was a little dehydrated so I figured I needed to get home and relax. Ignoring the cotton-ball haze I felt encased by, I grabbed my keys and gym backpack from the locker room and walked out into the parking lot. After trying to get into someone else’s black Honda Civic (forgetting, in my fog, that we replaced my old car for the Mom Car), I put the key in my car’s ignition and sat there for a few seconds.
And then a few seconds more.
It wasn’t until I was out there for about two full minutes that I thought “Hey, might want to double-check that Dexcom reading” with my meter. The receiver was now showing some double-down arrows. And my glucose meter confirmed with a bright, shiny 35 mg/dl.
“Oh, you suck,” I said directly to my diabetes. And like a fast, hot breeze, all the symptoms of the low hit in full force, as though seeing the number made it actually real. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
May 15th, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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September will mark 25 years for me with type 1 diabetes, but I still haven’t learned that an afternoon of lazy 200+ mg/dl’s that won’t budge, even after multiple boluses (and one really solid rage bolus where I actually grunted “You. Frigging. Diabetes.” as my fingers mashed the buttons), after repeated tests that showed climbing numbers … wouldn’t you think I’d inspect that infusion set? Maybe just give it a peek? See how things are doing there, on the back of my hip, where that 6 mm cannula is resting (hopefully) comfortably?
Oh, you mean I shouldn’t have waited until I smelled that distinct scent? The one that smells like a cross between bandaids and the dentist’s office? And then, when I dabbed at the gauze patch around my site and felt the dampness, I still didn’t really hone in on it because I was so high that everything was on like a 20 minute delay? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
October 24th, 2009 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, True Stories
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Do you know how hard it was to not tell you guys I am pregnant? Sitting on that information for three months was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done. There were SO MANY questions I wanted to ask, and so many stories I wanted to share, but I knew it was best to keep my mouth shut until we were past a certain point. And it is still early in our pregnancy, all things considered, so I shared our news with hopeful optimism and in hopes of some positive thoughts being sent our way.
And holy crap do you guys deliver. I’ve read every comment on the Dear Baby post, even though I’ve had to take breaks to grab tissues because you made me tear up quite a bit. My husband, my mom, and my mother-in-law are reading the comments, too. And they say thanks for the support as well. 🙂
So now you know. And now I can talk about what the past three months have been like. (Video to come this afternoon.) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
November 14th, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Patient Interviews
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Kerri Morrone-Sparling
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Kerri Morrone-Sparling is a whirlwind of energy. Not only is she the founder of one of the first diabetes blogs on the Internet: SixUntilMe, but she has devoted her career to helping others with diabetes. She works full time at dLife.com, a delightful and practical diabetes website and community. Kerri recently offered me some Halloween survival tips for people with diabetes, and today I had the chance to interview her about her life, her work, and the meaning of World Diabetes Day.
**Listen to the Podcast**
I’ve summarized some of our talking points below for those who don’t wish to listen to the dulcet tones of two very friendly ladies dishing about diabetes.
Dr. Val: Tell me a little bit about your blog.
Kerri: My blog is called SixUntilMe and I started it in May of 2005. I was looking for other people like me who were living with diabetes and since I couldn’t find a community like that I decided to start one myself. As it turns out I wasn’t the only one – there were 2 or 3 other diabetes bloggers out there at the time, and now there are more than 250 of us.
Dr. Val: What does “six until me” mean?
Kerri: My diabetes started when I was six years old – I had a viral illness on my birthday which probably triggered an autoimmune response, causing the disease. My blog is about my diabetes – which started when I was six and is ongoing until now. So I called it “sixuntilme.”
Dr. Val: How are you involved in diabetes advocacy?
Kerri: I work for a diabetes media company, (dLife in Westport, Connecticut) so my entire day is built around reaching out to people with diabetes, trying to make a difference in their life, and connecting them with up-to-date health information. Since I grew up without knowing any other kids who had diabetes, this job is like the holy land. I mean, this whole company was built to help people like me.
Dr. Val: What are some of the worst diabetes myths and what do you have to say about them?
Kerri: First of all, most people don’t know the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and to make matters worse, they believe that people “give themselves diabetes” by eating too much sugar. So they make it seem like it’s all our fault. Secondly, people often believe that insulin is the cure for diabetes. They don’t realize that a glucose meter, an insulin pump, or a continuous glucose monitor are just technology, not a cure. Sometimes people think there’s no need to donate to diabetes research anymore because these technologies are available. And finally, Halle Berry has promoted a myth that has done a lot of harm to the diabetes community. She claimed that she was able to wean herself off her insulin, and that other type 1 diabetics could do the same if they tried hard enough. Of course, that’s blatantly false.
Dr. Val: What’s your favorite new technology for diabetes management?
Kerri: My continuous glucose monitor (CGM). It doesn’t replace finger stick checks, but it helps you to see the trends in your blood sugar. For example, when you’re about to go to bed and you see that your glucose is 90, the CGM will give you some idea if that’s 90 on its way up, or 90 falling towards hypoglycemia, or 90 holding steady – you can go to bed and not worry about a thing. It’s like swinging on a trapeze only now I have a net.
Dr. Val: How does the machine work?
Kerri: It’s a small device that has a needle in it, and you stick it to a fleshier part of your body. There’s a small wire (introduced through the needle) that continuously samples the sugar level in your interstitial fluid. It’s easy to remove and should be rotated every 3-7 days.
Dr. Val: Is it painful?
Kerri: No, I don’t think so. I use the Dexcom Seven CGM. Occasionally I feel a little prick when I insert it but then I don’t even notice that I’m wearing it. Here’s a photo of me wearing it:
Dr. Val: Tell me about World Diabetes Day.
Kerri: It’s a global awareness campaign that was started in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation. The United Nations recognized the event for the first time in 2007. It’s a day that directs the world’s attention to diabetes and the epidemic its become and the effort it takes to manage it. On World Diabetes Day bloggers want to spread the word that diabetes is not an invisible disease. It affects lives every day, and it deserves the world’s attention.
Dr. Val: What’s the most important thing for Americans to know about diabetes?
Kerri: They need to know that diabetes is not cured by insulin, and it’s not going away without their help. It’s a very difficult disease to manage. No matter how well you control your sugar levels, the effects of the disease take their toll eventually, and the effects can be devastating. We must not ease up on our research efforts, especially when the numbers of people living with diabetes are growing exponentially.
References
www.diabeticfeed.com
http://the-bad-blog.blogspot.com/
http://www.diabetesdaily.com/johnson/
Kerri writes a column at dLife called Generation D (www.dlife.com/generation_d) and maintains a pretty extensive Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sixuntilme/. And lastly, if you’d like to follow Kerri on Twitter, you can find her at www.twitter.com/sixuntilme.
