I updated The PLAN for the new pregnant me, check it out :)
Showing posts with label Diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diabetes. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Pregnant!
SO for the next 7 months I am going to be pregnant (I've done 2 months already ~yay~). So "The Plan" has changed slightly.
I have been sosososoosososso sick from this kid the last couple of months and have been eating what I can and anything that doesn't make me want to vomit, and those things have not necessarily been the healthiest.
 |
| Black Olives and String Cheese... nom nom.. sometimes I throw in some chips too. |
I've had heart burn so bad that even exercising makes me want to vomit.
High or low blood sugar, vomit.
Dishes, also vomit.
So the plan for the next 7 months is to keep this baby healthy! Being a diabetic and pregnant is TOUGH!
For the last two months I've had to eat eggs for breakfast because carbohydrates in the morning kill my blood sugar for the rest of the day (eggs are stinky, vomit).
But as the weeks have gone by things have gotten better, I've ventured to lower-ish carbed cereals (Kix, Chex, etc) with portion control and fruit, I can make it through breakfast now. YAY!
I am however making THIS for Christmas breakfast and intend to eat a bunch of it. :)
Ramblings of a Diabetic
Yesterday I had an epiphany. Maybe it's silly that I didn't realize it sooner, but live and learn I suppose.
1. Not all diabetics think the way I do,
and
2. not all people involved in with diabetes know what they are talking about.
1. I have always assumed that people with diabetes (type I and II) don't want to purposely give themselves glaucoma, kidney damage, nerve damage, heart and blood vessel disease, etc. Maybe it's just me, but I happen to like my feet where they are. The damage caused by uncontrolled diabetes doesn't manifest itself until MANY years after the individual has been diagnosed and usually does so over time. The person may not even FEEL that they are getting sick, until it is too late. I just assumed that it would be a no brainer to do your best at keeping sugars in control and if your best isn't good enough, to seek medical expertise until your best IS good enough.
Apparently this isn't the case. Some diabetics just "don't get it." I once talked to a man who had a Hemoglobin A1C of 11. ELEVEN! (for minimal complications it needs to be UNDER SEVEN). Then the other day a plumber came over to our house to fix the leaky fridge told me that he has a pump but that he doesn't like wearing it, so he doesn't wear it. ?!?!!?!?!. That means the $1,500+ machine that is supposed to be pumping his medication into him 24/7 isn't. That is certainly something I don't get.
Health vs. being annoyed by insulin distribution. Yeah shots suck. But in order to live suck it up and DO IT.
2. I went in for an ultrasound yesterday and the doctor (an ULTRASOUND specialist) told me that he could take care of my diabetes for me. ... ??? What? He said "I know keeping track of everything can be really stressful, if you need us to, we can do it all for you." What is an ULTRASOUND specialist going to do? Come to my house and check my sugars every hour? Send me low carb/low sugar foods to eat and then tell me how much insulin I need to take (my pump already does that...)? Honestly. Now that I am pregnant I check my blood sugars 15-20 times a day. I can't use two fingers on my left hand to check sugars because they have been poked so much the callouses are too thick to poke through. I adjust my insulin according to those readings on an hourly basis... it is the ONE and only thing in my life that I COMPLETELY control (when I need help, I seek medical advice). It really bugged me that he thought he could "take care of it".
Anyway.. those are my ramblings. If you read it, awesome, if not, I don't blame you :)
1. Not all diabetics think the way I do,
and
2. not all people involved in with diabetes know what they are talking about.
1. I have always assumed that people with diabetes (type I and II) don't want to purposely give themselves glaucoma, kidney damage, nerve damage, heart and blood vessel disease, etc. Maybe it's just me, but I happen to like my feet where they are. The damage caused by uncontrolled diabetes doesn't manifest itself until MANY years after the individual has been diagnosed and usually does so over time. The person may not even FEEL that they are getting sick, until it is too late. I just assumed that it would be a no brainer to do your best at keeping sugars in control and if your best isn't good enough, to seek medical expertise until your best IS good enough.
Apparently this isn't the case. Some diabetics just "don't get it." I once talked to a man who had a Hemoglobin A1C of 11. ELEVEN! (for minimal complications it needs to be UNDER SEVEN). Then the other day a plumber came over to our house to fix the leaky fridge told me that he has a pump but that he doesn't like wearing it, so he doesn't wear it. ?!?!!?!?!. That means the $1,500+ machine that is supposed to be pumping his medication into him 24/7 isn't. That is certainly something I don't get.
Health vs. being annoyed by insulin distribution. Yeah shots suck. But in order to live suck it up and DO IT.
2. I went in for an ultrasound yesterday and the doctor (an ULTRASOUND specialist) told me that he could take care of my diabetes for me. ... ??? What? He said "I know keeping track of everything can be really stressful, if you need us to, we can do it all for you." What is an ULTRASOUND specialist going to do? Come to my house and check my sugars every hour? Send me low carb/low sugar foods to eat and then tell me how much insulin I need to take (my pump already does that...)? Honestly. Now that I am pregnant I check my blood sugars 15-20 times a day. I can't use two fingers on my left hand to check sugars because they have been poked so much the callouses are too thick to poke through. I adjust my insulin according to those readings on an hourly basis... it is the ONE and only thing in my life that I COMPLETELY control (when I need help, I seek medical advice). It really bugged me that he thought he could "take care of it".
Anyway.. those are my ramblings. If you read it, awesome, if not, I don't blame you :)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Diabetic Etiquette
1. IT DOES HURT. Stabbing yourself with needles and pricking fingers to test blood sugars always hurts. Sure, callouses develop, but making yourself bleed never feels "good". There's no really "getting used to it". So don't ask me. IT DOES.
2. YOU COULD DO IT IF YOU HAD TO. If I had a dime every time someone said "I could never give myself shots, put in a pump, only eat eggs for breakfast, poke my fingers 10+ times a day..." then I would be a rich women. Bottom line: YOU WOULD DO IT IF IT KEPT YOU ALIVE.
3. I CAN EAT SUGAR. This is a generational idea about diabetes. In the olden days, they didn't have the drugs or testing devices that they have now. Today, with type I diabetes I can eat basically whatever I want, as long as I shoot up with the right amount of insulin and TEST TEST TEST!
4. I DON'T MIND TALKING ABOUT IT, BUT IF YOU'RE SUPER CURIOUS WIKI IT OR ASK YOUR DOCTOR. Feel free to ask me questions about it. I'm not ashamed of it, it's not embarrassing like a YEAST INFECTION. But REMEMBER I'm not an expert. I know about diabetes and I explain it to people all the time. I can tell you the symptoms and the "gist" of it. Sometimes I get my facts mixed up, I'm not a doctor. I was diagnosed when I was 13 and the "crash course" they gave me at the hospital was a million years ago. Since then I have done research and asked questions for myself, but again, I'm no endocrinologist.
5. I AM GENERALLY A NICE PERSON, IF I'M ORNERY, I MAY BE LOW. Forgive me for my lows. They suck. A real symptom of low blood sugar is ornery-ness. Even dear old Mr. R forgets that sometimes.
6. THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME FOOD WHEN I'M LOW. I try to be prepared and have an emergency granola bar, or bits of candy in case of low blood sugar. But when I've already eaten the emergency carbs and have ANOTHER LOW, I've had to lower my pride and ask others for food. It's embarrassing, but thank you for having some and saving me from passing out.
7. NOT ALL DIABETICS ARE OVERWEIGHT. Type II diabetes is GENERALLY the type of diabetes that overweight people have, but there are always exceptions. Skinny people can have type I or type II diabetes. Diabetes can't always "go away" I will forever and always have it.
HELPFUL LINGO:
LOW= needs sugar (if a diabetic is passes out, this is likely the case DON'T GIVE THEM A SHOT OF INSULIN).
HIGH= needs insulin (usually a diabetic can feel highs, then tests, and adjusts insulin accordingly).
BLACK THING= what I refer to my glucose meter as. It is black. It's a thing. Every meter I've ever had has been black.
PUMP= Kind of like an I.V. or an external pancreas. I have one. It's not a cell phone or a beeper. I have to change it every 3-4 days, and it's not permanent.
2. YOU COULD DO IT IF YOU HAD TO. If I had a dime every time someone said "I could never give myself shots, put in a pump, only eat eggs for breakfast, poke my fingers 10+ times a day..." then I would be a rich women. Bottom line: YOU WOULD DO IT IF IT KEPT YOU ALIVE.
3. I CAN EAT SUGAR. This is a generational idea about diabetes. In the olden days, they didn't have the drugs or testing devices that they have now. Today, with type I diabetes I can eat basically whatever I want, as long as I shoot up with the right amount of insulin and TEST TEST TEST!
4. I DON'T MIND TALKING ABOUT IT, BUT IF YOU'RE SUPER CURIOUS WIKI IT OR ASK YOUR DOCTOR. Feel free to ask me questions about it. I'm not ashamed of it, it's not embarrassing like a YEAST INFECTION. But REMEMBER I'm not an expert. I know about diabetes and I explain it to people all the time. I can tell you the symptoms and the "gist" of it. Sometimes I get my facts mixed up, I'm not a doctor. I was diagnosed when I was 13 and the "crash course" they gave me at the hospital was a million years ago. Since then I have done research and asked questions for myself, but again, I'm no endocrinologist.
5. I AM GENERALLY A NICE PERSON, IF I'M ORNERY, I MAY BE LOW. Forgive me for my lows. They suck. A real symptom of low blood sugar is ornery-ness. Even dear old Mr. R forgets that sometimes.
6. THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME FOOD WHEN I'M LOW. I try to be prepared and have an emergency granola bar, or bits of candy in case of low blood sugar. But when I've already eaten the emergency carbs and have ANOTHER LOW, I've had to lower my pride and ask others for food. It's embarrassing, but thank you for having some and saving me from passing out.
7. NOT ALL DIABETICS ARE OVERWEIGHT. Type II diabetes is GENERALLY the type of diabetes that overweight people have, but there are always exceptions. Skinny people can have type I or type II diabetes. Diabetes can't always "go away" I will forever and always have it.
HELPFUL LINGO:
LOW= needs sugar (if a diabetic is passes out, this is likely the case DON'T GIVE THEM A SHOT OF INSULIN).
HIGH= needs insulin (usually a diabetic can feel highs, then tests, and adjusts insulin accordingly).
BLACK THING= what I refer to my glucose meter as. It is black. It's a thing. Every meter I've ever had has been black.
PUMP= Kind of like an I.V. or an external pancreas. I have one. It's not a cell phone or a beeper. I have to change it every 3-4 days, and it's not permanent.
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