Thankfulness.

I am eternally thankful for:

• My family and friends who make up my amazing support system
• The Diabetes Online Community for diabetes support when no one else understands
• Fredrick Banting and Charles Best, and their work that resulted in my life today.
• Advanced technology – making better diabetes care possible, and making it possible to communicate with people with diabetes all over the world
• Being blessed enough to be able to eat until I can’t move on thanksgiving
• My amazing parents for allowing me to live under their roof and eat their food and their help with my diabetes costs
• Living in a country where I enjoy numerous freedoms that I might not have elsewhere in the world
• All of the men and women who keep this country safe and fight for me to keep those freedoms
• That despite my chronic illness, I am healthy and happy

Happy Thanksgiving, bloggies. I am thankful for you, my readers, too!

(Sorry I’ve been absent this month. Normal stuff happens).

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Solution to Diabetes Crossword

Solution

+ + E S T U B I N G + + + M + + + + G + + + C + +
+ + S + E + + + + + + + + + E + + L + + + A + + +
+ + O + I T D I A B E T E S + T U + + + R + + + +
+ + C + + N E + + + + + + + + C E + + B E + + + +
+ + U + + + F B + + + + + + A + + R O + X + + + +
+ + L + + + + U T + + + + G + + + H + + E P + + +
+ + G + + + + + S A + + O + + + Y + + + R U + + +
+ + + + N + + + + I E N + + + D + + + + C M + + +
+ + + + + I + + + + O W + + R + + + + + I P + + +
+ + + + + + L + + + + N S A + + + + + + S + + + +
+ + + + + + + U + + + + T + + + + + + + E + + + +
+ + + + + + + + S + + E + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + N + + + + + + + Y + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + T + + I + + + + + T + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + E + + + + + + + + I + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + C + + + + + + N + N + H + + + + + + + +
+ + + + N + + + + + + + I U + O + + + + + + + + +
E C N A R E V E S R E P M + P E R U C + + + + + +
+ + L + + + + + + + + M R E + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + O + O + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + C + + F + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + T E G N I R Y S + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + M + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 

(Over,Down,Direction)
CARBOHYDRATE(23,1,SW)
COMMUNITY(10,21,NE)
CURE(19,18,W)
DIABETES(7,3,E)
EXERCISE(21,4,S)
GLUCAGON(19,1,SW)
GLUCOSE(3,7,N)
HOPE(17,16,SW)
INFUSION(5,3,SE)
INSULIN(11,14,NW)
LANCET(3,19,NE)
METER(14,1,SE)
METFORMIN(13,24,N)
PERSEVERANCE(12,18,W)
PUMP(22,6,S)
SWEATBETES(13,10,NW)
SYRINGE(20,22,W)
TUBING(5,1,E)

DIABETES CROSSWORD

I made this here.

Diabetes Awareness Month

G N E S T U B I N G H V H M N G B M G N R Z C G T
R D S S E B X H W V C B P P E Z E L J L G A G S A
Z Y O H I T D I A B E T E S S T U D C A R Y M K Q
W N C X I N E H A I R T K C W C E Y S B E Y G H P
T U U Z R K F B J Y D F P J A N I R O R X G W N S
J X L H Z J V U T X X D Z G H S N H Y I E P W D Y
I K G N I X S O S A L V O H E U Y M I B R U G E S
Z P C D N B M E R I E N L O N D K H M R C M I S X
S R I Y X I J X O I O W P D R Q A U V U I P E Z K
X S C I M W L S F Y N N S A A U Z E Z L S Q P W T
G O W J V W C U G O R V T Z V V W L Z X E H S Z X
K C U V Z S F Y S P Z E B T O O K U N M D C B P Y
R W C D D M N G V N J V L E B W H Y Z O W D J C L
A T A V Q A D T Z X I E Z O D C T S M K J W J B U
S S O T Q R E P A W X J V M O I F Y L Z J L F B D
H K I D M C T W W E G A N R N G H S T R F I P C A
U Z A K N J I A L J Z H I U I O Y W A G Y T Z V D
E C N A R E V E S R E P M P P E R U C G N R H L L
V K L W J W I G Y H V M R E M G K N T R T V U S J
E O J T F A Q M R C O H O U B H X P X Z B S G K X
F Z R X F C B W X C M U F G N Q O O A B V G Q I C
R X A L I Y J M J R R F T E G N I R Y S M U J N T
M Y U A W R O J E W S X E T A W S S Y U G L Z I T
T W N A U L U L Z W S G M D B R B W G Z S N X H A
X X D K P W Q B H V T A S C O X J M T K T Q O S A
CARBOHYDRATE
COMMUNITY
CURE
DIABETES
EXERCISE
GLUCAGON
GLUCOSE
HOPE
INFUSION
INSULIN
LANCET
METER
METFORMIN
PERSEVERANCE
PUMP
SWEATBETES
SYRINGE
TUBING

Solution tomorrow!!

Tales of Cats and Other Thingers

So, when my brother moved back into my parents house (yes, we are all three lame and living at home currently), he brought home a kitten he had acquired while he was living in his apartment. Her name is Wiz. She looks like this:

And yes, in case you were wondering, I already have a cat who looks like this:

So now there are two cats living in my house that look exactly alike, except the little one has a white paw and a white spot on her chest. I have to admit, I have enjoyed having a kitten around who actually enjoys cuddling, because with Smokey the best you can do is him plopling himself next to your leg and leaning against you for a short period of time. Wiz, on the other hand, will climb up on you and sleep in the crook of your neck or behind your knee. Once, my dad was sitting in his favorite chair, and he began to feel his back get warm. He stood up, and there was the baby cat, cuddled into the small of his back! She’s crazy.

The one downfall, which I have dealt with previous cats, is that she enjoys a feather or two. Remember this guy? I posted him a couple of weeks ago on wordless Wednesday:

(If you cant see the image you can click it. It’s being difficult).

Well, he got a haircut.

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Mondays and Starting Over (and yes, I am fully aware that it is Tuesday).

Seriously, I feel like every Monday I decide it’s time to begin again, regarding healthy lifestyle and exercise as well as diabetes. “This is the week. I will spend the whole week following my exercise, diet, and diabetes care plans.” Every Monday I tell myself this, and every week at some point (sometimes Sunday night, sometimes Wednesday, usually not Friday because that would be progress) my morale tends to fizzle out and I get lazy again. Yes, part of this is that if I don’t do what I planned on Monday I lose the will to continue, feeling as though I have already failed.

Does anyone have any advice on how to fix this problem? This week I just plan on looking at each day as its own success/failure unit, rather than seeing the entire week as a block. I think that this is the best way to look at Diabetes, because if we look at one day’s failure as the end of the week, month, year, life, then we never get anywhere, because there will be failures in diabetes. And not all of them are our failures, in fact, most of them are diabetes’ failures or our body’s failures.

One day at a time. That’s the motto for this week.

And now for your weekly dose of music video: 

An Open Letter to the National Football League

Dear NFL commissioner and whom else it may concern,

Property of the National Football League

First of all, I’d like to than you for your support of Breast Cancer awareness and the American Cancer Society each October.  My grandmother passed away after a long battle with breast cancer in 1994, and the cause is close to my heart. My grandfather is a colon and prostate cancer survivor, so I appreciate that your profits from the auction of the NFL player-worn pink merchandise is going to the American Cancer Society rather than a type-specific cancer organization. For your philanthropy in this realm, I am truly grateful.

However, my intentions for this letter are more than for gratitude. I am writing to ask you, why can’t you go further? Did you know that September is Alzheimer’s Awareness month, and that November is Diabetes Awareness Month? And that each of these causes, like breast cancer, have colors to represent the awareness of the diseases? And that, like cancer, each of these diseases leads to thousands of deaths in the United States and the world each year?

I am personally writing because I live with type 1 diabetes, and have many friends and family members who live with type 2 diabetes. The struggles we face every day cannot be compared to someone living with cancer, because they are far from the same, but they are important not only to us personally but to the nation as a whole.

The Diabetes Blue Circle

Commissioner, I know that the NFL is active in the Play 360 campaign. A positive effect of this campaign would be to reduce the number of type 2 diabetes cases in children. Because you seem to already be on board for this type of campaign, I urge you to look into dedicating one week in November to allow awareness of diabetes the way you do breast cancer in October. Our color is a pale blue. It would be great to see players wearing purple in September for Alzheimer’s, and blue in November for Diabetes. You’ve taken the step to very publicly support one non-profit fighting a disease that affects millions of Americans, and I can assure you that the same positive feedback would occur if you took on other causes in a similar manner. I also urge you to look into the International Diabetes Federation or the American Diabetes Association for organizations to donate money to in the name of the NFL.

Alzheimer's Ribbon

Fall is the season of fundraising events and awareness events for many organizations fighting against life threatening diseases, and since it is also the season of the money-makingest sport in America, it would make a lot of sense to unite the two, especially in the midst of lockouts over money while the rest of America is in the grips of recession.  Your fans live with more disease than just breast cancer. Please consider my offer for this November.

Sincerly,

Sarah Jane Blacksher

Person with Diabetes since age 11

Ten Years.

Never forget

Stolen from Chris.

It’s Time to Fix This.

For many people with diabetes, "Dawn Phenomenon," or the rising of blood glucose levels in the morning due to hormones naturally released, is an uphill battle. DP is the main reason I started using an insulin pump in 2009. And, for a while, I had it under control. But as anyone with any type of diabetes can tell you, if there is one thing that is constant in d-care it is change.

After nearly 8 weeks of a steady job, my body is still working on adjusting to a new schedule, waking up early and going to bed early. For most of the past few weeks, mornings have been brutal. My normal waking blood sugar level is somewhere between 150 and 200. I am OK with this for now. However, I have hit kind of a road block. No matter what I eat or even if I don’t eat, and after numerous basal adjustments, my blood sugar caps out somewhere between 250 and 400 between 8 and 11 o’clock in the morning, leaving me virtually useless, tired, lethargic, and blurry-eyed at a time when I should be very productive at my job.

I considered my next option. Getting up and working out in the morning. Not that easy for someone like me, who enjoys neither getting up early nor exercising. But yesterday I took a huge step, one I never thought I’d take. I bought a gym membership.

Today I went to the gym. I used the elliptical machine for about 30 minutes before getting ready for work. I got to work, and I still felt exausted. Blood sugar check time.

322.

What the heck? I am so bummed that on the first day of my now-committed to 18 months experiment I saw no change in my levels. I will continue to try, and add insulin adjustments and perhaps pure-protein breakfasts (but let’s face it, eggs get old fast). But for something I was excited about and sure I would get positive results to turn out so negatively on the first day, my hope has been smacked on the head.

(I can do this).

Why Blog?

This is not only days after my second blogaversary, but it’s also my 200th blog post on WordPress. Huzzah.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I haven’t blogged in over a month. In that month, I experienced both the ADA Tour de Cure and the Roche Social Media Summit, and neglected to blog on either of them. Unlike previous gaps in my blogging, I haven’t been struggling too much regarding  my personal life or my diabetes life (although I could be doing a lot better with the latter).  I did start (another) new job, which thus far, although it is a temp gig, looks promising.  I have been busy dating, which has, also, thus far, looked promising (but I’ll leave the details out;) ). Other than that I’ve pretty much been spending time living a life outside of the internet.

I know. Shocking.

I have been keeping up on Facebook a little bit, and I did manage to score an invite to Google+ , so I wouldn’t say I have been completely offline. But I have enjoyed a break in my online life. However, being away from the DOC always takes its toll on my care. Support is so important.

I also missed my second blogaversary, which happened last Wednesday.

Yes, in many ways, it’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I began this journey. In other ways, I felt a lot better about myself and my blogging life last year on my first blogaversary. I have two or three side projects in preliminary phases (one of which has been there for a year). That little side trip to Utah sure didn’t help that any.

But in all reality, with these side projects on the horizon, I have really taken time to consider where my blog is going (with little conclusion). The way I see it, it could go one of two ways:

1) Staying personal.

Typically I have written about my life, what I do, how I treat my diabetes. Giving advice to others on how to treat THEIR diabetes is dangerous territory and something we generally try to avoid in the DOC blogging world UNLESS we have medical experience or interview someone who does, and even then we add disclaimers. *YDMV* = your diabetes may vary.

So the first idea is to keep the blog extremely personal, both regarding diabetes and regarding my personal life, things I’m into, topics I find interesting, and how diabetes affects other aspects of my life. Still a diabetes blog, but the focus is on me and the blog is primarily for those who are close to me (or the creepy internet stalkers).

2) Push for professionalism

As I consider nursing school, becoming a CDE, and the desire to keep writing and touching those with diabetes,  this whole “developing my brand” idea comes to mind. Schooling myself in social media (did I mention I’m on Google+?), developing my writing skills (hello, no formal training), and doing everything I can to put myself out there. Does this mean creating a new website? Breaking down and buying a domain? And for goodness sake, learning how to use wordpress.org?

The second route means more work, but potentially more payoff in the long run. A chance to do what I love for a living. Of course, that’s all far far down the line, but it’s a thought.

So the question is, where do I go form here? It’s hard enough trying to find your purpose in your physical life, but to have to determine the same thing for my online persona?

Another quarter life crisis has arrived.

So, my fair readers. How do you feel? If you’re reading this after my break, you probably either have have me on your reader or you are really devoted to me. Maybe you’re a facebook frien