Additional considerations. Lately, they're making me crazy. Diabetes serves up a plate load of them. Every. Day.

The insulin pump at my hip - and how to keep it dry. The insulin that goes in the pump - and how to keep it cold. My hip-hopping bloodsugar - and how to make it sit somewhat still. The food I eat - and how to keep it from sending my bloodsugar levels soaring. And all the medicine and supplies - and how to pay for them all.

That last is a big deal. A really big deal. (READ MORE)

Logging. It is something every diabetic should do. It is important in terms of identifying patterns and making decisions about dosing - and it is vital to figuring out when you need to be paying more attention and where your problem areas are in the course of a day. I remember the bad old days of handwritten logbooks. They were cumbersome and not at all useful, even when they were kept up and brought to the doctor. Technology has come a long way and there are many great tools available for logging everything we need to be tracking. But, for me at least, logging is still an excruciating task. (READ MORE)

Badlands

Some days, I really LOVE my insulin pump. On those days, I recognize the power of this life-saving device and I am grateful to have it at my side. On those days, when I'm not connected for a shower or exercise, I am acutely aware of its absence. (READ MORE)

T McShane

The letter C brings us to cannula, by request.

I found an interesting photograph of an insulin pump cannula that said much of what I'd decided to write when I was thinking through this post. Essentially, the photo verbalizes for me the sentiment that my life - the lives of all of us who use an insulin pump - turn (quite literally) on a dime. The cannula that delivers the medicine that keeps us alive is smaller than a coin that, this day and age, won't even pay for a gum ball. (READ MORE)

Turbo Photo.com

I have vivid dreams. When I close my eyes at night, a whole new world appears, in living color. My dreams hold smells and sounds and sights that often rival the sensory reality of my waking life. There have been times when I could swear I've seen people, had conversations, and done things in real life, when these memories were simply creations of my sleeping mind. I know that I talk, run, laugh, and cry while I sleep; something that makes sharing a bed with me a real challenge. I suppose that the vividness of my dreams might be a reflection of the constant activity in my brain. (READ MORE)

Children with Diabetes

I called my supply company today. A very good company that provides me with all of my pump supplies - including batteries and IV preps - thank you very much! Here's how the call went:

"Hello, this is Nicole Purcell calling, I'm due for my supplies so I'm just calling in."

"Oh, OK, hold on a second."

I hold on, hearing her type-type-typing.

"Oh, you're a pump."

"Excuse me?"

"You're a pump, just hold...o..."

"Excuse me, before you transfer me, I need to tell you that I am not, in fact, a pump. But I am a person that wears a pump..." Letting that little gem hang out there for an uncomfortably silent few seconds. "Hello, are you still there?" (READ MORE)