January 4th, 2012 by KerriSparling in Opinion, True Stories
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High blood sugars come in three different tiers for me: No Big Deal (NBD), Tricky Little Sucker (TLS), and What The Eff (WTE).
No Big Deal (NBD) highs are the ones I see when I first hear the Dexcom BEEEEEEEP!ing. They are the 180 – 240 mg/dL highs, where I’m cruising out of range, but not so far outside that it takes hours to correct. The NBD highs are usually mild in their symptoms (kind of thirsty, sort of tired, maybe wouldn’t have noticed if the Dex hadn’t hollered) are thankfully short in their duration, so long as I’m on the ball about keeping tabs on my blood sugars.
Tricky Little Sucker (TLS) highs are obnoxious pieces of garbage that hang on for hours. These highs are the ones where you hit anything over 200 mg/dL and just ride there for hours. HOURS. Like you can undecorate the Christmas tree and pack up all the holiday nonsense back into the attic and STILL find yourself rolling outside the threshold. They’re the ones that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
December 28th, 2011 by Berci in True Stories
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I was just making preparations for the top 2011 posts I’m planning to write in the upcoming days when I bumped into this cute story about a diabetic kid who felt ashamed to wear the insulin pump so his parents got insulin pump tattoos.
Some parents get tattoos of their child’s name, but Philippe Aumond and Camille Boivin went one better.
In a show of solidarity, they each have an image of an insulin pump tattooed on their abdomens, declaring that they are “forever linked” to their son Jacob.
“It is a great thing for him, and we were thrilled just to see his smile when he saw those pumps. It made our day, that’s for sure,” said Boivin, 36, from the family’s home in La Sarre, Que.
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
December 6th, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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Two weeks ago, I was in the emergency room for some severe stomach pain, down on the lower right hand side of my abdomen. After consulting with Dr. Google (bastard), I realized that it could be appendicitis. Knowing I was heading to Toronto the next afternoon, I didn’t want to take any chances with this pain. So I headed off to the ER to check things out.
Looooong story made Twitter-esque short, I didn’t have appendicitis. I just had some rogue stomach pain. However, while I was at the hospital, I asked to have my A1C run. I figured I was there, they were already drawing blood, so what’s one more vial?
“Can you guys grab an A1C while you’re at it?” I asked.
“Is your diabetes under control?” asked the doctor.
“Um … define control? I wear a pump, I wear a CGM, and I’m very aware of my disease. But I’ve been having a hard time juggling things lately, on just about every level, so I’m pretty sure my A1C is crap.”
The doctor shot me a very rude, very judgmental look. I shot one back at him.
“I’m asking you to run an A1C because I’m trying to regain control. I don’t have this nailed down and perfected, but I’m trying. Is that the wrong thing, in your opinion?” Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
November 25th, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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It’s that well-worn tale of Pavlov and his crazy dogs, the ones that he trained to expect treats whenever a bell was rung. And whether or not the treats were offered, the dogs learned to respond by salivating, waiting.
Diabetes has made me one of Pavlov’s dogs. But instead of the chimes of a bell triggering salivation, it’s the sound of the Top Gun theme song coming from my insulin pump, making me check the status of my battery. Or the sound of my Dexcom letting loose with a BEEEEEEEP!, making me reach for my glucose meter. The sounds of diabetes are so ingrained in my brain that I don’t think before responding. My reaction to certain sounds is visceral.
Sometimes the sounds of my diabetes are subtle – Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
November 4th, 2011 by KerriSparling in True Stories
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A few weeks ago, I posted a photo and part of an email from a reader who had made an insulin pump-shaped cake for their daughter’s birthday. In that magical way of the Internet (where cats haz a cheeseburger and lovely little bean people talk about diabetes), another family with a kid pumping insulin caught the post, and baked up a little bolus of their own.
So, to kick off Diabetes Month here, I connected with Gwyneth’s mom, and Gwyneth emailed me her perspective on what it’s like to mark her first diaversary, which is TODAY. At the start of Diabetes Month. How’s that for timing? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
