As a reporter I learned pretty quickly that there's a fine line between pestering and pissing off. Although the pissing off part can work to one's advantage. I had a summer job once working at a customer service call center for a major automaker. There was a man who called constantly and always had a problem. Of course his requests were outlandish and we basically had to endure whatever verbal assaults he threw at us. Until one day when one of the big-wig managers was in and the pest called. All it took was one rental car to get this guy off our backs and I don't think we ever heard from him again.
  (READ MORE)

"I noticed that you're diabetic," D. said looking over the patient information form as I was nursing the flu-shot-injection-site on my right arm.

"Yes," I said. Geez, I thought to myself, that's usually one of the first things I mention in a situation like this. I can't believe I didn't say anything up front. Could have been because I was the last in my family of five to go and I was busy comforting my children. (No. 2 volunteered to go first!) Interestingly, I wasn't looking forward to the shot. Actually kind of dreading it. I knew it was going to hurt. I've almost passed out in years past from shots in my arm. It's not the injection, it's the medicine -- it stings.

  (READ MORE)

Cycle day 27: Aunt Flow will arrive in approximately three days. And likely with little warning.

Except for the lows. Oh, man the lows she brings for several days before her arrival. They're not brutal, just surprising. Not like, "Holy &*%$ I'm 29!" More like, "Wow my post-meal is 94."

I actually enjoy the relative lowlessness that she brings, although I have to be much more vigilant about my blood sugar management. For example, this morning it was an incredible 60ish degrees, so I took No. 2 and No. 3 for a walk (No. 1 was camping with The Mr.). While it was roughly two hours since breakfast, I somehow find that I usually don't test when I spontaneously decide to take on physical activity. Something prompted me to check this morning. I definitely didn't expect to see low 90s.

  (READ MORE)

I must admit that I do wonder how in the *&%^ing world Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler manages his sugar during what I can only assume to be an intense several hours every Sunday. I asked a friend of mine, who has type 1, how she managed her sugars when she recently ran a marathon. They were, predictably, up and down. But from a novice's standpoint, it seems like she may have had more luxury of stopping to treat a low or deal with a high. There are no TV timeouts in community marathoning, though.

When a professional sports team – and all that comes with it including your job, sponsorships, advertising, ad nauseum – are essentially riding on whether or not you can throw a football to a guy 50 yards down the field without getting sacked, the stakes are a little higher.

  (READ MORE)

Elizabeth commented on yesterday's Pump Nostalgia post, saying she has been type 1 for 38 years and has in the past resisted the idea of going on a pump. She wants to know what I find so thrilling about it.

For starters, and probably the biggest things for me, it's the precision and the convenience. As for precision there are a couple of aspects: I don't have to conform to a certain number of carbs to match my insulin:carb ratio. For example, like many people, I am more insulin resistant in the morning, so my insulin:carb ratio is lower. So if I'm having 45 carbs and my insulin:carb ratio is 1:12 and my sugar is within target, I can't take 3.75 units with an insulin pen. So I either have to decrease or increase the number of carbs or the amount of insulin and deal with the consequences later. (READ MORE)

There is a number that I won't go to bed below. Typically it's 100 depending on what I've eaten. I havent' figured out what my upper limits are, though.

Two nights ago, for example, I was 198 somewhere close to bedtime. I bolused and went to bed. I woke up at 110. I would have liked to have been lower, but again I haven't figured out where I need to be prior to bedtime to get a good fasting.

  (READ MORE)