Word of the Day – Day 5

Shananigator

That right there could be my entire post for the day. It sums me up in one word. Normally I tell people I am indescribable or possibly just fucking weird.

But let’s look at today’s topic.

Lets wrap up the week by sharing a little more about ourselves, beyond the chronic illness we or our loved ones live with.  Share an interest, hobby, passion, something that is YOU.  If you want to explore how it relates to or helps with diabetes you can.   Or let it be a part of you that is completely separate from diabetes, because there is more to life than just diabetes!  (This topic is a suggestion from the 2016 #DBlogWeek survey.)

I periodically recycle this pic when I have nothing else to say, so I think it applies to yesterday as well.

img_0177

This post wasn’t difficult to write, but I was still delayed in it’s writing. Internet went sporadic on Thursday afternoon and it took the better part of a day for company to fix the issue. So anytime we had bandwidth, I was actually working.

There are many ways in which to say who I am. But honestly, I am not the one to say them. This is not a false humility thing. It is a reality of who I am. If you were to ask any person who meets me to describe me, you would get the answer of “Sarcastic” after that, the explanation of who I am varies from person to person, based on our interactions.

If nothing else, I like to think I am normal and calm. But the reality is, I am multiple levels of odd mixed with uniqueness and bizarreness. I am awkward, yet awkwardly funny. I am horrible in groups of people I don’t know, that is really where the awkward escapes and embarrasses me. I am a weird friend with quirks.

Honestly, that is a touch of who I am. I am a cyclist, a hiker, and ultimate frisbee player. I am a gamer, a reader, and a pro napper.

I am many things. Each of these things makes me, me. The one thing my friends do not lump into their descriptions of me, is a person with type-1 diabetes. They know, but it is not who I am. Yes, over the years type-1 has shaped me, but the reality is, I do not let it define me. So, I do not let my friends use it to define me either. It is a part of who I am. But I never let it rule me or anything like that.

So this is me in a nutshell and me going off to get some waffles.

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Waffles – Day 4

Weird topic header right?? I’ll get to that in a second. Today’s writing prompt is great. So much so, I did it on Tuesday. However, here it is again.

Today let’s revisit a prompt from 2014 – May is Mental Health Month so now seems like a great time to explore the emotional side of living with, or caring for someone with, diabetes. What things can make dealing with diabetes an emotional issue for you and / or your loved one, and how do you cope?

Anyway, I am veering slightly again. First off, sorry it took me so long to start today’s post my internet went down earlier today and this is the best I’ve had in over 6 hours. Plus earlier, I was recovering from a low. Anyway on to my title.

I figured I would wildcard it today. Since I am PERFECT, I have no bloopers to share. Instead I will talk about waffles.

Channeling my inner Genie from Aladdin, this is no ordinary post on waffles. It does have a valid point, which I will get to in a second.

I always have Eggo waffles on hand, they are an all purpose food. In fact because I was too lazy to go food shopping for the past week, I have had waffle lunches, dinners, breakfasts, snacks. And it is so good.

But here is why I love waffles, they work for you on so many levels. Think about it each waffle is 13.5g or a serving is 27g. Let’s say you are low, mind you yes you need to wait for them to cook, but you make a waffle, put some jelly on it, and now you have roughly 20g of carbs in your system, both fast acting from the jelly/jam and the “longer” acting carbs from the actual waffle. I feel it’s a good balance.

They are consistent in size, shape, taste, etc. But things get even better if you want, think about it. Let’s say you need to get something in as a snack before bed, you put peanut butter on it and now you have something that will last longer in your system if you are worried about anything happening at night.

They are the perfect delivery food for whatever you need, plus at least for me they taste damn good, hell I even eat them plain.

If you are still with me, obviously this is my own opinion and my own obvious WILDCARD, but the reality is, we all have that comfort food that is something we can eat consistently and get the results we need, which takes some of the stress off of everything else. When we talk about our own mental health we need those gimmes, while obviously this is not a “free food”, it is something I am familiar with. So I singe the joys of my waffles for breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime snack, low treatment, or just my reward for making it to Friday.

Have a good day, stay sane. Have a waffle on me.

#DBlogWeek – Life Hacks

Honestly, I got nothing here.

Today’s post suggestion was: Share the (non-medical) tips and tricks that help you in the day-to-day management of diabetes.  Tell us everything from clothing modifications, serving size/carb counting tricks to the tried and true Dexcom-in-a-glass trick or the “secret” to turning on a Medtronic pump’s backlight when not on the home-screen (scroll to the bottom of this post). Please remember to give non-medical advice only! (Thank you Rachel of Probably Rachel and Kelley of Below Seven for this topic suggestion.)

My advice my life hacks are nothing great. I mean everything I do, anything I can suggest is all common sense related. It makes my life easier, but it is nothing big.

I mean putting my Dexcom in a glass to amplify the noise if I am low or high seems like a great idea. I know I should do it. However, I sleep with my Dexcom. Let me rephrase that. I sleep on my Dexcom. I lose it in my bed. Are we seeing a theme here? Do I hear it. Sometimes, should I be trying something better than sleeping in the same bed as it. Probably. I mean, we aren’t even married….

My common sense things. Non-medical related of course. I have bottles of glucose tabs all over the place in my room. I have two bottles on my nightstand at all times. I make sure before putting said bottles there, the plastic is off, the cotton removed, etc. I am ready if something happens. If I have had a meal that I know periodically f’s my sugars up at night. Or I know it was a weird day and I am not sure how X, Y, or Z is gonna play with me at night. I take said bottle of glucose tabs and sleep with them too. The worst thing in the world is having a night time low, you know the one I am talking about, when you wake from a cold sweat and your muscle coordination is not all that great?!? Yeah that one, sometimes even rolling over and getting my hand around the bottle can be a bit of an effort. So I have been known to sleep with my tabs, just in case (never needed them) I have an easier time getting my hands on that bottle. It’s stupid, but it’s the best I got.

When it comes to diabetes, you know your shit better than me. You know your own quirks and stuff. You have your routines.

I mean for me, when I need to change my pump I have a simple process:

  1. The night before I go into my perfectly organized closet and grab one of my pump supply bags. Closet
  2. I open the plastic around the infusion set.
  3. I open and prep the tubing for the morning, removing the little white tape.
  4. I take the insulin cartridge and fill it up the night before. Trying my hardest to remove bubbles. (If there is a bubble issue it usually sorts itself out by morning.)
  5. In the morning, I use the insulin I have left to bolus for breakfast.
  6. Than I remove the pump and rewind as if I am about to change everything.
  7. I take my shower.
  8. Than I do the rest of the site change.

This way with everything prepped the night before I don’t have to be all that awake to do things, plus I am not waiting for what seems like forever for my pump to rewind. You know all 45 seconds.

That’s all I got. It makes my life easier and makes a morning set change about 3 minutes.

PEACE!

 

 

#DBlogWeek: Poetry Tuesday

Seriously Karen? What vindictive pills did you take when you were coming up with this list??

Today’s Insanity: This year, Diabetes Blog Week and TuDiabetes are teaming up to bring out the poet in you! Write a poem, rhyme, ballad, haiku, or any other form of poetry about diabetes. After you’ve posted it on your blog, share it on the No Sugar Added® Poetry page on TuDiabetes, and read what others have shared there as well!

So we want a diabetes Poem, right?

I would rather just take flight.

Don’t get me wrong, I can do this.

However, I just think my rhymes will miss.

However, since Karen is making us.

I will just try not to cuss.

Talking diabetes, I can do.

I mean after 17 years, it is nothing new.

Handling the frustrations I face day by day,

sometimes I want to make someone pay.

Getting a no-hitter?

That’s gone the way of the shitter! having me daily on Twitter.

The thing is, when I face the problems that crop up.

I know I am not a newborn pup.

I have the ability to figure this stuff out,

even when I would rather rant, rave, and pout.

The thing is, in this world when one faces diabetes,

we need to be ready, maybe eat our Wheaties.

This condition is controllable,

even if we are sometimes fallible.

What truly matters for all involved,

is we try to have the problems faced solved.

Instead of saying “woe is me”!

We say, “I am not gonna flee”.

We make diabetes ours.

Hey, it ain’t SARS!

We face the hurdles day by day.

Knowing we can make it in our own way.

If you a still reading this tripe,

please don’t gripe.

At the end of the day,

we blame Karen, what can I say?

Mystic5(Yeah, that’s her in the middle!)