A Girl's Reflections

In 2009 I read an article about a UK TV anchorman in praise of his insulin pump. The heading read..

‘I thought insulin pumps were for lazy diabetics – now I’m hooked’, says Steve Dixon.

He goes on to apologize saying –

I am sorry to say I was extremely critical,’ says Steve. ‘I gave the guy a thorough roasting in the studio. I thought the people recommending them were being lazy. These pumps are expensive for the NHS and I couldn’t understand what the big deal was or why they weren’t prepared to test and inject like everyone else had to.

‘But I feel bad about that now because having used one, I can really see the benefits. I feel so much healthier and I am no longer worried about having hypoglycaemic reactions. I would have given anything for those years ago.”

Unfortunately, until there is a cure there is no device out there for lazy diabetics. We still have to do a lot to manage diabetes even when we wear insulin pumps.

If I could be granted one wish, it will be for a unit which wirelessly captures all of my diabetes / health related data when I am near it or at night while I sleep. This device will then integrate all of the data and store it on a magical cloud.

Information from my pump, blood sugar meters, blood pressure meters, and blood ketone meter, fitness gadgets like the fitbit ultra, sleep monitors and garmin watches will all be collected and stored as one integrated data.

Regardless of their brand, please!

This diabetes / health data warehouse can be then analyzed as needed. Different apps and reports can be written mining the data for critical analysis. The data will belong to us, the patients but can be shared with our health care and support team.

I see so much potential in having a diabetes / health data warehouse. From research potential to “Diabetes intelligence”

Sigh and waking up from my daydreaming…………

You can read the complete article referenced on Daily Mail’s site

You can also read about others fantasy diabetes device here

Yesterday we patted ourselves on the back with one great thing that we do spectacularly. Today we are blogging about one thing to improve, plus to improve is to change.

It is not the strongest of species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change”

I beat myself up when I see a blood sugar result that is not within an acceptable range, especially when I work so hard at being a human pancreas. But, there is more to managing diabetes than simply eating right, exercising and taking insulin, living well with diabetes takes emotional strength.

The one thing I need to improve is my emotional strength. I need to work on the emotional side of diabetes.

I believe staying emotionally strong is the key to keeping stress and my blood sugar levels where it belongs. I need to start putting as much effort into managing the emotional side as I do managing the physical side of diabetes.

To read about the one thing others will be improving click here.

As a toddler I had two older brothers who were already in school and my mom worked outside the home. I hated being home “alone” with my nanny so much so that I begged my parents to put me in school. I was two and a half years old and unable to feed myself when, I was sent off to an all-day preparatory school (what is known as head start in North America). My poor nanny made her way back to my school every day during lunch to feed me.

I loved going to school, I was just like the older kids. Most importantly I loved my teacher Mrs. Asare, she taught me the importance of leaving the day behind and looking forward to the new coming day as a special gift.

At the end of each school day we tidied up and just before leaving the classroom we would recite “our special poem”.

Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.

When the morning wakens
Then may I arise
Pure and fresh and sinless
In thy holy eyes.

Type 1 diabetes is a self-managed disease for which we the patients provide about 99% of our own care. It is also a thankless and an ungrateful disease. Some days, living with type 1 diabetes feels like being in an abusive relationship.

However the lesson instilled in me by Mrs Asare lives on and is my one great thing. It is the one diabetes thing I do spectacularly.

At the end of each day I check my blood sugar and treat or correct as needed. I then leave that diabetes day behind, looking forward to the new coming day as a special gift while reciting my poem just as my head hits the pillow.

You can find out the one great thing others do spectacularly by clicking here

This week I am participating in the third Annual Diabetes Blog Week organized and hosted by Karen Graffeo of Bitter Sweet, “because life with diabetes isn’t all that bad”.

Today’s topic is “Find A Friend”. Previous diabetes blog weeks introduced many of us to new blogs that we had not yet found or heard about, hence the brilliant idea to introduce a diabetes blog in the hopes of finding a new blog friend today.

I found her blog a year ago during the second Annual Diabetes Blog Week and I have been hooked ever since. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2002 at the age of 28. She is a runner and blogs about exercise, health, cooking and the ever-present diabetes.

Her name is Celine with an accent aigu, Céline. You know like the famous Canadian Céline Dion the singer, she is also a Canadian form Ontario.

Céline blogs at Running On Carbs she has a great sense of humor that comes across in her writing. I sometimes find myself laughing out loud while reading her blog.

Hop on over to her blog and say hello.

You can also find more friends here

My new iBGStar blood glucose meter is tiny enough that it felt lost in my regular diabetes supplies carrying case. Sadly, I do not like using the cases that comes with blood glucose meters, they all look a little too medical.

I chose this little midnight blue M0851 case. It is the perfect size plus, I accessorized it with some hardware to personalize it while adding an element of fun.