I have been keeping a dirty little secret. I don't know why it feels like a dirty little secret, it's legal in 50 states and not immoral.

I've told everyone I haven't needed insulin since Kate was born. I was up to 30+ units a day of NPH. I haven't taken any NPH since her birthday. I also had an insulin pen of Humulin for the days that I just didn't control myself at lunchtime. Sometimes it was lunch out with the girls, or birthday cake at work, or just unfortunate run-ins with the evil vending machine. But it was important to control my sugars for the baby's sake, so I did what I needed to do. (READ MORE)

I modified a recipe from the Hungry Girl website for a low sugar eggnog and found it very acceptable. It has nearly the same taste and mouth feel as the lite eggnog I've been drinking. It may be a bit late for this year's holiday season, but there's still New Year's.

The original recipe is here. My version is below.

6 C 1% milk
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 small (4-serving) package Jell-O Sugar Free Fat Free Instant Pudding mix, Vanilla
6 no-calorie sweetener packets (like Splenda)
1 tsp Mace (or nutmeg)
(optional) 6 oz dark rum or 1 tsp rum extract (READ MORE)

If I could do one thing the next 3 weeks, it would be a vacation from my type 2 diabetes, weight issues and actually, my health entirely. Even one day seems like it would be divine.

Warning - "food fantasies" follow.

I would eat pastries for breakfast, and have another one or two for a morning coffee break (I do love me some carbs). Perhaps a nice Eggs Benedict. And oh, yes, I would have pumpkin spice lattes until I shook from the caffiene.

I would eat homemade cream of mushroom soup for lunch, or a nice lobster bisque, full of heavy cream. Then I would take a nap, just because I wanted one, not because my blood glucose was at 200.

Homemade cookies with full-sugar cocoa and lots of marshmallows for afternoon snack. (READ MORE)

My job will be ending sometime this summer. Consequently, I am investigating our health insurance options. Since hubby is self-employed, we have always covered the family under my work policy.

Now, I know that "health care in this country is in crisis"!  I know this is a huge touchpoint for political candidates.  Yes, I know all this intellectually. 

Now it's PERSONAL.  COBRA, offered by my employer by federal mandate, is more than a house note EVERY month.  Private insurance is still pricey - more than what we paid on 2 car notes.  And it carries a $2000 deductible per person.  Some sloppy math later and it could be $15,000 a year before they pay any expenses for us.

  (READ MORE)

I found some old blood work results from 2002 and was comparing them to my recent results. In 2002 I was a newlywed and had not had gestational diabetes yet. The only inkling I had of any blood sugar problems was a strong family history of type 2 diabetes and a diagnosis of hypoglycemia when I was 19.

My numbers are exponentially better today. Fasting sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL; you name it. This got me to thinking about my health and lifestyle today versus 5 years ago. I may be 5 years older but I should be feeling 10 years younger!

The biggest change, health-wise; is that I no longer smoke. 27 years of a pack plus a day are history. I have been smoke free for almost 22 months now, this alone would bring up my HDL levels. I remain very proud of this and it continues to remind me that I can change old ingrained habits. (READ MORE)

It seems to me that nearly every female in the diabetes online community has thyroid issues also. I got curious about this and did some reading. Nearly a third of Type 1 patients have thyroid disorders, usually an underactive thyroid. It does indeed affect more women than men. This is because if you have one auto-immune disease, like Type 1, you are at higher risk for another. As if people with diabetes need another challenge. The linked article also cites a higher than normal incidence of thyroid disease in Type 2 diabetics, but no statistics are given. (READ MORE)