Day 38 (5/16)

Dear Sue Progress Report(PR) followers,

Tonight we need you all to pray for a procedure that Sue is having done very early in the morning.  At 3:30, when I arrived, Sue and I met with two gals from AMH who spelled out what decisions had to be made today in order for Sue's Physical Therapy Treatment…

Wolves mate for life. When they come of age to form a new pack, they become lone wolves until they find a potential mate. Part of their behavior at this point is called Parallel Walking.

I think of it as "hi-do-you-think-we-might-get-along-for-a-long-time-and-make-our-own-community?" Remember, they are not from the same family. Perhaps even from far-flung territories. I first read of this behavior in a beautiful book of essays about the natural world by the Native American…

When it comes to bolusing are you a pessimist or an optimist? I think that for the first year on the pump I’ve been a pessimist because if I wasn’t quite sure of the carbs in a food then I would bolus less than I should have. I recently went to my endo and she yelled at me to bolus-bolus-bolus for all food that I intake!! Since then my numbers have been better especially when I go out to eat or somewhere else where I’m not quite sure how the food was made. I’ve learned that I must bolus a…

As I prepare for another fun session I will be delivering along with David Edelman, Amy Tenderich, and Hope Warshaw, at this year's AADE meeting in Philadelphia, one of my tasks is to share with attendees 'The State of the Diabetes (Social Media) Union'.

I would love your take on it, to bring to the meeting everyone's thoughts in true social media/crowdsourced spirit.

If you can, please indicate in one paragraph your opinion about the highlights, the not-so-great moments and…

The Gifts We Forget

Mark will never be written about in history books. He will not be remembered except by his family and even they will not completely understand his sacrifice or his courage. Mark was one of ten people who received an early investigative pump and he kept it for a record 15 days.

Today’s diabetics stand on the shoulders of giants, most we do not even know of, including the children who endured early…

"In many of the more relaxed civilizations on the Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy, the Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.…

Two posts in a week, I am on a blog-posting roll! Here is one about my experiences as a visually impaired insulin pumper:

The Quest, the Request, the Plea

April 4, 1983

Dear Christel,

You knew what the doctor would say when she stood in the doorway of the examining room, staring at the expedited lab work . The checklist in Time magazine you read in class a week earlier gave you all the clues. (And sweetie, you really should have been studying…) Mentally checking every box next to the symptoms, it said: “You might have diabetes.”

Now it’s confirmed, but you have no idea what that really means. Mom and Dad do however,…

Well, hello there. I'm new to the TuDiabetes community! I've had type 1 (possibly LADA...?) for four years. I love to travel. I was actually diagnosed while studying abroad in Chile. Thankfully, I am in good health with no complications thus far. Recently, my husband and I decided to do a 10-day group trip to Peru and Bolivia. I'm excited to be returning to South America for the first time since I was diagnosed, but apprehensive at the same…

Travel

Have you ever moved across the country on an Amtrak train? Chances are you have not, and chances are you never will. If you do not get the chance to move across the country on an Amtrak train then you are missing one of the great joys of life. I had the experience of a lifetime as I traveled from Chicago to Taos, New Mexico and back without adult supervision in 1973 and 1974. It is one of the great joys of my…

The kindness of Others

How many times in our diabetic life are we required to rely on others? For whatever reason in my diabetic life I often have to rely on others. Most notable of these is my wife, who has rescued me more than I could ever count or pay back. Once she found me bouncing around the bedroom in the middle of the night laughing without stop and sweating with the gusto of a coal…

So last doctor said I'm "most likely diabetic" he didn't know much about diabetes that much was for sure so he's sending me to an internist...in june. So today went to the clinic to see if I could get something to control my blood sugars for meals aka bolus insulin.

I have no doubt in my mind that I'm LADA. I told the Dr about the excessive peeing and dry mouth literally Mojave...and the headaches and the high post meal bg's. Also apparently my fBG of 9.3 mmol/168 mg/dl is high but…

This started out as a forum post here on TuD, then as a blog post here, and then morphed into a full-fledged post about my thoughts and experiences around being told I could "eat anything" as a young adult. Now that I've stayed up well past my bedtime writing this post, I hope you enjoy it, and please share your thoughts! :)

The Worst Advice, Ever

My very first encounter with diabetes was as a child when we used to sit around the radio and television listening to documentaries on true life events in our community.

These documentaries that feature various life stories are also a complete blend of community events, metaphysics, spiritual and hard to believe true life stories.

Interesting among these stories was that of a woman who had a deep cut wound believed to be inflicted on her by aggrieved neighbors who wanted to…

TuDiabetes member Sue, aka catlover, had an operation on Tuesday, April 9th. She could not wait to have it performed, but she did not want to tell many people about it. She did not tell…

The date has been set. The packing list has begun. The companions have been chosen. I am off into the planning stages of my next adventure. Tony, Michelle, Brian and I will be hiking from one end of Catalina to the other over two-ish days. In addition to the usual hiking/backpacking preparations, I also need to make the diabetes preparations. And there are quite a few.

I recently came into contact with another diabetic hiker, Dylan, looking for tips. He is a ten year old who is hiking…

I am a 47 year old male with a history of alcohol and drug abuse but have had the under control for over 7 years. My addictive personality allowed me to get into sugar....really get into sugar. Noticed tingling in my hands for about 2 years ago but the 12 - 15 pints of water a day made me realize that I had a real problem. Tuesday my blood sugar was just under 500 now through diet and medication it was just 226. I'm not a person who can do things by half and have really decided to attack the…

Hey All

So there is this guy.. we are really close with each other and i love how it's going. He's so cool about my diabetes, it worries me. He is being too cool about it(if that makes sense). I keep asking him if it freaks him out or if it worries him and he always response with 'its not your fault, it's nothing you did or didn't do which caused u to have diabetes, its a part of u'. But the other day he made a comment (on my 8th year anniversary) about "when i get better"....... it…

The Really Short Version

If you have been diagnosed with diabetes (fasting blood sugar greater than 125 mg/dl) and suspect you may have Type 1 diabetes/LADA, get tested for glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GAD), islet cell cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ICA), insulinoma-associated 2 autoantibodies (IA-2), and zinc transporter 8 autoantibodies (ZnT8). It is important to get the full suite of autoantibody tests, not just GAD…

Francine Ratner Kaufman, M.D. has had a 30 year distinguished career in diabetes care, research and advocacy. In 2009, she stepped down as director of the Comprehensive Childhood Diabetes Center, and head of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles to become Chief Medical Officer and VP of Global Clinical, Medical and Health affairs at Medtronic Diabetes (Northridge, CA).

Below is a…