Day 4 - Quiz Show.

America's favorite quiz show has the right answer. As a Type 1 Diabetic, it is nice to see the distinction of the two types of diabetes on television. It is so frustrating when someone tries to tell you that you could have prevented your diabetes. There are so many myths about both types of diabetes. Thanks Jeopardy for helping to educate the public.
There is no cure for diabetes.
Yet.

You know how I feel about distinction! You should know I took this picture by simply pausing my cable TV. The perks of digital cable!

Day 3 Silent Illness

If you haven't checked it out yet, hop on over to the Diabetes 365 Flickr group.
You can't see my pictures unless you are signed in, I think this is because I am under 18. So I will post them here too.

Diabetes is a completely silent disease. There are few physical signs that a person is diabetic. Unless you witness us take an injection, spot our pumps, check our glucose, or are told that a person is diabetic, you would probably never notice. I think diabetics notice the little impacts that daily care takes on their bodies physically. For me I notice the multiple tiny scabs that have created callouses on the tips of my middle and ring fingers from daily glucose checks. From the top of my hand you wouldn't know, but turn them over and there is a sign. A sign that I am a diabetic, and that in order to care for myself I must check my blood glucose anywhere from 8 to 12 times a day.
There is no cure for diabetes. Yet.

P.S. Have you seen the new limited addition Animas pump!? I will not spoil it by posting a picture, but seriously I want one!

Foot Action!

Go Check Out The Diabetes 365 Project!

In case you don't have a flickr account here's my picture of the day & the little description:

For a diabetic, foot care is key. We have to be keep them clean, make sure we treat any type of problem that may occur, and worry about the slow healing problems that can be experienced. We also have to keep our blood glucose levels in good control to prevent complications like neuropathy.

A few bits and joining the project!

I have decided to join the Diabetes 365 Flickr Group Project.

Here is my first picture.

It symbolizes my last full week (Monday - Sunday) on injection therapy. As of next Friday I will be a pumper!

• I'm very curious about my pump start, Monday the 22nd. I know all doctor's do it differently, but I would love to hear about other pumper's experiences.
• I have been toying around with my pump to get familiar with it. I have watched almost all of the training videos on the Cozmo website.
• I have broken down 2 infusion sets just to see how everything really works.
  
• I am just ready for it all to start!!!
• I apologize for the absence I was busy getting ready to go away to Pennsylvania for my Grandfather's 80th birthday party! Which turned out perfectly. Here is a picture of a farm near their house.
  

• Now I'm off to do some school work, which I have definitely been slacking on. That will have to end soon, because this week I am being officially un-enrolled from my former school. No more safety net.
  
• These next few weeks are going to be full of new adventures, I hope you are ready for the ride!
  

So Sick.

I am so sick of the misinformation television provides to people who already know little or nothing about diabetes in general. Today as I sat down with my mom to watch an Oprah show about getting your kids to eat healthy, I was interested. By the end of the show I was just pissed. The part about the food was great. Then Dr. Oz comes out and starts talking about the fact that this generation will be the first generation to not out live their parents. He states obesity as the cause, then moves on to the fact that, "50% of Latino kids and 40% of Black kids will develop diabetes in their lifetime". Gee thanks Dr. Oz but what type of diabetes? Does the average American even know there are 2 types? I know he is talking about Type 2, but you don't get to a Type 2 with there being a Type 1 preceeding it. If you just say diabetes I know you aren't talking about me or the other 10% of diabetics who have Type 1, but the rest of America probably doesn't. When you tell America that "kids" are going to develop diabetes TELL THEM TYPE 2! I was a kid that developed diabetes, TYPE 1 DIABETES! My parents didn't feed me too much candy, fatty foods, cupcakes, junk food, or anything else you want to blame for diabetes (TYPE 2). I was a healthy kid who got sick, who got so thin not fat. So please do NOT group me in with that category of over eating American kids. Do NOT blame my parents for feeding me the wrong thing. Do NOT play the food police for me. I didn't do anything to cause this. Go learn about the TWO types of diabetes, before you open your mouth to tell me all the things that I can do to change this, to make it go away, to loose the weight, what could have been done to prevent it. Is it that hard to just say Type 1 or 2 Diabetes?

(I have already sent Oprah.com a few angry messages about this.)
(If you commented on my last 2 posts, my replies are in the comments of those posts.)

Happy Birthday Élise!

Élise is my big sister for those of you who don't know. Today she is turning 23. She asked me if I was going to write a post about her today. Like the one I wrote for my mom on her birthday. The thing is it never crossed my mind, I never really thought of her involvement with my diabetes the same way as my mom's. From what I can remember, she wasn't really involved in the beginning. I know she was there, but she was 11 when I was diagnosed. So I don't think she participated in the daily ins and outs. My memories of her involvement are vague. I remember she was at the hospital in her school uniform everyday after school. I know it must have been hard to witness my wild reactions to the shots when we came home. I can't even imagine how crazy I must have seemed or how scary it must have been. Once recently she mentioned to me that she was jealous of how much attention I received when I was younger. I don't blame her, I think it would suck to be the sibling of a diabetic kid. Diabetes is a selfish disease that can take away alot from the other members of the family. For our extended family type 1 diabetes was so novel, and I am sure Élise was left in the background for many years because of this. Eventually Élise became the only other person besides my mom, I would let give me shots. But it hasn't been until recently that I have even talked to her about diabetes regularly. She helped me through choosing a pump, read the booklets, looked at the pictures, and even explained to my mom why it had to be the Cozmo not the Animas. We have grown up so much over the years, and gone through many trying times together. I can't imagine any of this without her though, even if I don't remember the beginning. I love you Élise! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Ps. If you are lurking, de-lurk. I cannot get the little button to work so if you want to see it go here.

The man in brown!

Around 4 pm, the UPS truck pulled up for the second time today. (The first time he was bringing my dad's mail order prescriptions. Just imagine my disappointment.)

So I immediately opened the box to find all of this:

Then this:

And this:

But wait there's more! And more!


And more that I didn't take pictures of including the clip, case, cartridges, extra cleo infusion sets, and the actual pump on it's own. I am beyond excited. I am also really surprised at the size of the pump. Yes, I have seen some in person, but I have never held one in my hand. It's so cute! Oh and the new boy has a name, Orin. It means "little green one" (extremely literal) in Gaelic, or at least that's what wikipedia & babynamesworld.com say.