A New Hope.

My brother (who lives in Colorado), challenged me to make a list of things to do to become a better diabetic. So, now that I've been off the phone with him for about ten minutes, I am going to make that list. It's not always easy to accept that you aren't the best at whatever you are trying to accomplish. I have learned this by experience the past few days. Failure is part of life. I didn't fail, but I didn't try my hardest. Sometimes that is worse than failing. Now, I am making a list, so I can try my hardest at being the best me that I can.

1. Try to accept an endocrinologist*. I am not always the most accepting when it comes to doctors. I think it might be because I've been to the doctor about every three months since I was eleven. But, it's time to just bite the bullet and try to open my mind. My journey with this task begins on November 15th. 

2. Eat healthier. My husband and I have been trying to do this for a while now. We suck at it. However, a healthy diet is a good idea for anyone. I plan on making more meals at home. I love to cook, but I rarely have time. I think I am going to try to have quick recipes available, making it easier to whip up. Also, I feel like more fruits and veggies should be a part of my life style. The food pyramid suggests eating 2.5 cups of veggies and 2 cups of fruits daily. I feel like I have dairy on lock. I love milk and cheese. I think I drink at least two cups of milk daily. Along with eating more healthy foods comes eating less crap. So, less more chips, candy, ice cream, and other junk foods. Everything is fine... in moderation. 

3. Exercise. I hate physical activity. I hate running, squats, and sports. Even though I hate these things, I still need to work out and be more physical. I have this Zumba game for out xBox 360 Kinect. It is really fun. I was really doing it when we first got it, but I have been slacking. It's fun though. I have decided to do it twice a week. Another thing I can do is walk my dog. My puppy Ralphie is the most rambunctious dog I have ever met. We live in a townhouse without a yard so he gets cabin fever easily. Walking him (and eventually running with him) will not only benefit me but it will also benefit Ralphie.  

4. Get more sleep (and go to bed earlier). I never sleep enough. My husband and I have extremely weird schedules (we both work seconds and go to school). I usually get home from work around 10:30pm. It's been proven that you need a solid eight hours of zzz's a night. I need to get to bed at a decent hour (as early as my crazy life allows) and wake up earlier than what I tend to. 

5. Reduce stress. As much as I would love to get rid of all the stress in my life, that is impossible. I can reduce stress though. I need to learn to let things go. Sometimes I can be controlling and defensive. I need to just let things that are out of my control, go. Stress is a major contributor to high blood sugars for me. Also, stress leads me straight to the brownies and lazy days. Those things aren't always bad, but I need to find another way to deal with stress other than becoming a bum. Ideas to deal with stress: drawing, exercise, cleaning (that is just something I can do because our messy house stresses me out!), cooking (healthy foods and snacks!), writing, reading. Those are just a few ideas to keep my stomach knot free. 

Alright, this is a start to my better diabetic life. Let's see if it plays out. 

*Endocrinologist:  A doctor who specialized in the study of the glands and hormones of the body and their related disorders. This type of doctor specializes in diabetes among other illnesses.

Awareness.

It is extremely important to let others know what is going on with you. Medical alert gear has really evolved. Here are some awesome sites that have some adorable pieces on it.

http://www.laurenshope.com/

http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?search_submit=&q=medic+alert+jewelry&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US&page=1



These are some of the necklaces that I really like. They are super cute.

Fear.

So another terrifying thing about being diabetic is driving when your blood sugar drops. This happened to me about three days ago. I left Staples (where I work- which is about a half a mile or less from my house) wearing a tutu, leggings, a Ninja Turtle shirt, and a cardigan (Halloween week at work...) to get a pizza to take home to Zachary at 9:30.  I talked to Zachary during the ten minutes it took for the pizza to get ready and felt completely fine. I was making complete sense and acted like normal. I went in and got a cheese pizza, bread sticks, and two drinks (a regular Pepsi and a diet Pepsi). I got into my car and headed home. From this point on my memory of what happen is scattered. I don't remember how I got so far away from the pizza place but I ended up about a forth of a mile past our house- next to the air port. I remember calling Zachary and telling him I was lost, which he couldn't understand because I drive the same path every night. Then my phone died. A guy pulled up in a truck (I think) and asked if I needed help. I told him I was lost and that I wanted to go home. My phone had some juice and I ended up on the phone with Zachary again. The truck guy told me that I was going to get pulled over because I was drunk. That's when I yelled, "I'M NOT DRUNK!!". Zachary tried to get me to give the guy (it hit him what was actually going on) the phone so he could find out where I was. But I wouldn't do it and the guy drove off. I remember people honking at me because I just stopped in the middle of my lane and put my car in park without any flashers. I also remember thinking that it was all a dream and that someone would rescue me. When Zachary realized what had happened he called my mom, who called my siblings. My parents and my older brother drove (who live about twenty minutes away) to my house. On the way my mom thought maybe I though I was going to her house and took the back road at the last minute and my older brother took the highway. My mom found me by chance. I was freezing (it was about 34 degrees out and like I said before, I wasn't dressed for the weather). My dad opened my car door to turn on my flashers and grabbed onto him. I didn't even recognize him but I was freezing. Shortly my husband and the police came. I grabbed Zachary as tight as I could when he got there. He tested my blood sugar. It was 39. At some point I tried to eat the bread sticks that I was taking home. At another point, I threw them up.The EMTs got there around 11:00. I was lost for about an hour and a half. I am so thankful the EMTs  got my blood sugar back up, however, one of them was a jerk. The thing I don't think people realize that when I am in this state, I do not do well with strangers, unfamiliar things, or things happening that I don't know what they are (like getting an IV without being told that I am getting an IV). I feel like they should be gentle and just let the person who is sick (in this case the crazy diabetic) know what is happening. Did I mention that I couldn't see anything? Another awesome perk of a low blood sugar- little to no vision. In the ambulance, I was so cold that they couldn't get an IV in me, so they had to give me gel glucose (three things of it). I just kept shivering and my arms were blue. I was so cold.

My blood sugar eventually raised and I went home (I did NOT drive!) My sister (who lives about 40 minutes away) met us at my house. Everyone told me how scared they were. I tried not to show my fear because I didn't want to be weak. It was the scariest moment of my life. I had no idea what was going on. I was cold. I couldn't see. It was horrible. Just like before, every moment counted. On top of hurting myself, since I was probably driving insanely, I could have hurt or killed someone. These thoughts scare the crap out of me. It's a horrible thought. I don't know if I will be able to drive myself again.

The First Scariest Day Of My Life.

In January 2011, the first scariest day of my life happened. So far in my diabetic life (almost eleven years at this point), I had never had a problem with my diabetes. I also had never had a real fear of what could actually happen if something were to go wrong with my blood sugar*. This is what happened... I don't remember most of it so my husband filled in the gaps.
Zachary (my husband) came home from work sometime in the afternoon. We laid upstairs watching "Lost" until he fell asleep. This is when I started acting like an idiot. I wouldn't let him fall asleep. I kept hitting him (playfully), tickling him, and speaking non-sense. It was to the point that my husband got mad enough to go downstairs. After a split second of thinking about the situation, he came back upstairs and called my mom (who told him to call 911). An ambulance came and discovered my blood sugar was at 11. They immediately gave me an IV and D 50. When I came to (because I was pretty much past out the whole time), I was terrified. I didn't know what was happening. I just kept repeating that "this was just a dream". That's what it felt like to me, a dream. Also, since I had been watching a lot of "Lost", I thought the EMTs were doing scientific experiments on me- which freaked me out even more. It wasn't until I finally saw Zachary that I started to calm down a little bit. Basically, I could have died if Zachary wouldn't have called. I could have died if the ambulance came about 5 minutes later than what they did.
Why did my blood sugar drop? I really don't know why it dropped. The closest conclusion I can come up with is that when I did my follow up with my doctor the following week, I had a urinary tract infection (extremely common in diabetics). I lost lots of hours of sleep after that.


*Blood Sugar: the amount of glucose in the blood, it should run between 80- 180

Type One vs. Type Two

They say it's best to get everything out in the open. So, since my life was almost over this past week, I have decided to get it all out in the open. That's why I have started this. I can't be the only one who suffers from type one diabetes and the "awesome" things that go along with it. Hopefully, I will be able to let people know how scary this illness is. I know a lot of people think that diabetes is caused because a person is fat or lazy. I also know that a lot of people believe that diabetics cannot have candy or soda. Neither of these are always true. I just want to clear the air. Let's begin by learning the difference between type one and type two. They are certainly not the same thing- or even close.

Type One (also known as Juvenile Diabetes)

-insulin dependent

-pancreas produces little to no insulin*

-caused by genetics, exposure to certain viruses, or birth defect (like me)

-no cure

-treatment: insulin (by pump or shots) 

-typical in children, but can appear at any age

Type Two

-most common type

-body become resistant to the effects of insulin* or doesn't make enough insulin*

-caused by lack of physical activity, obesity, genetics

-no cure

-treatment: oral medication, exercise, diet

-typical in adults, but can appear at any age

Welp, that's the difference between the two types of diabetes. There is also another type of diabetes that occurs in pregnant woman. This is called gestational diabetes, but we won't get into that right now.

Insulin: a hormone needed to allow sugar (glucose) to enter cells to produce energy

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/type-1-diabetes/DS00329