Every few years, my symptoms of low blood sugars morph a bit. When I was first diagnosed, numb lips and quick tears were my reflex symptom. The emotional uptick would hit first, and I knew things were going south quickly once my mouth and tongue would go numb. This caused a lot of slurred speech during hypoglycemic events, an immediate…
Earlier in the week, I wrote up my thoughts on the Freestyle Libre 14 Day system and also promised perspectives from a colleague who is using the system who has type 2 diabetes. Today is that day! Thanks to Barry Campbell for visiting SixUntilMe today, and I’m grateful for his generosity with his words and in sharing his graphs! *…
It’s been a day. It’s been a week, honestly, because the Pukes have been making their way through my kids, and it’s been a no-school, workus interruptus sort of adventure with lots of hand washing and flat ginger ale and Pedialyte. My washing machine has earned a gold star this week for un-yucking the very yucky linens. No one has…
[DISCLOSURE – PLEASE READ: The team at Abbott reached out to me and asked if I’d like to trial the Freestyle Libre system. I said yes. After my doctor approved a prescription for the device, Abbott sent out the 14 day system to me, which included a scanner and three sensors. This whole review needs that bias lens in place. Good?…
Poking around in that box that’s been hiding in every iteration of “home” for the better part of a decade, I found another writing sample from what looks like third grade. (No date on the piece of paper, but third grade is where we learned cursive, so this is either the end of third grade/fourth grade time of my life….
Seems like there’s been a yearly theme since … like 1986. I found this paper in a box in my basement, one that had been given to me by my father years ago as he was cleaning out our family home. I’ve had it for ages but it’s taken me until this week to start going through it. I found…
I needed a pump break for a few days. Actually, I needed a diabetes device break entirely, because the cold winter air was eating my skin alive. Everywhere I had put an infusion set or a CGM sensor in the last month or two became a patch of scaly, itchy skin that I was scratching into oblivion even while I…
Diabetes Dance! Stomp your feet! Dexcom glance! Everybody ready For the Diabetes Dance! Bow to the pancreas Furrow your brow Twirl with the pump if you know how. Bounce with the blood sugars. “Fiabetes, duck!!” Dial in a rage bolus, Such crap luck! With a BEEP and a BOOP And the lancet stabs. Everybody promenade Glucose tabs! Prance with infusion…
I opened my eyes slowly, taking a second at least to convince my lids to lift. Oh, home. I’m in my own bed. Moved my hand towards the cellphone on my bedside table, in pursuit of my continuous glucose monitor graph. My hand moved in slow motion, a trace of its movement in the air behind it. 53 mg/dL. “Not…
Hi there. How are you? … No, really. How ARE you? I’m good. Thanks for checking in to ask. Keeping it casual here in my digital house because I don’t have the desire for carefully crafted sentences and overly oppressive narrative structure. Just felt like writing and sharing some links. It’s kind of like a Friday Six, only on a…
With a (semi-organized) stash of yarn and a growing list of crochet projects for friends and family always in development, I have a soft spot for fellow PWD crafters. This week, I saw a post from Becky Thomson roll by in my Facebook feed and I stopped, because she was making awesome mouse ears to help fund her travel to…
Quick post to share a link to the Pardon My Pancreas podcast featuring some diabetes and pregnancy talk with host Matt Vande Vegte: If you have 30 min to fill, take a listen. And thanks again to the team at Pardon My Pancreas for having me on. You might also like: Diabetes Connections, with Stacey Simms. Podcast Alert With My Whole…
I’m at a loss. In cleaning out the diabetes cupboard (aka the shelves dedicated to diabetes stuff in my pantry), I found over a decade’s worth of Dexcom receivers. And old glucose meters. And the exciting-at-the-time-yet-now-obsolete Dexcom Share dock. What’s a girl to do with all this old diabetes tech? Instagram friends recommended bringing the stuff to Best Buy (they…
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I give to you a poem for my weaksauce pancreas, with a nod to Robert Burns (link to his original poem below). And Happy Valentine’s Day to all my fellow PWD and PWLPWD (People Who Love People with Diabetes). Remember that today is a perfect day to Spare a Rose to help make a…
Sometimes my glucose meter feels like a random number generator. (And for people who read Friday’s post and thought this blog was immediately archived, it’s still live and will be updated until May 4th. Check back when you feel like it for new content, and then it’ll go Rip Van Winkletown in May. <3) You might also like: Five Random…
When I was a lot younger, I thought about my 40th birthday as so far in the future and potentially scary. I didn’t know how I would feel. I didn’t know if I’d still be healthy. I didn’t know if I would be happy. Also, what the hell middle aged?! Today is my birthday. I’m turning 40. I feel pretty…