Timing is everything

My very first Wordless Wednesday image

Last Saturday morning, I dipped into my reserves of Silhouette sets and stuck one in my right hip, because I would be playing hockey in a few hours and didn’t think a metal Sure-T needle¹ would be particularly comfortable.  I also stuck a CGM sensor in my left hip because my shoulder pads would have surely abused it on my arm.

So, on Wednesday night, faced with a Low Reservoir alert and an itchy midsection, I decided it was time to change both².  (It’s rare that they both get changed on the same schedule, by the way!)

But on Saturday, I’ll be going to my sister-in-law’s house for her baby-shower/barbecue/pool party, and I’m not particularly keen on having my D-stuff visible when I’m wearing nothing but swim trunks.  My sister-in-law is a doctor, as are most of her friends who will be there, so I’m sure many who see it would understand, but I’m still more comfortable keeping them private.

Angelman, diabetes, and self-worth

Recently, I’ve made a few references to my brother, who has Angelman Syndrome. He is a full-grown adult but is incapable of the most mundane of tasks.  But most of the time he is happy, for he is not capable of understanding that he has certain limitations (or so we believe).  He will never understand what a teacher he’s been to myself and my whole whole family, but his mere presence is an inspiration – a lesson on priorities and what is so important in life.  I’ve been meaning to write a bit more about him in a context that is relevant to this blog.  This thought process keeps keeps taking me back to something I wrote earlier.

Last year, a member of TuDiabetes (whose name I will not include in this post) posted a message titled “Guilt.”  This short but powerful message really struck a chord with me, and still resonates in my head to this day:

I feel guilty that I am alive and continue to be a burden to the people I love. They all deserve so much better.
I truly believe the world would be a better place without me.
Diabetes and all the side effects render me a useless waste of space.

–A TuDiabetes.org member

Wordless Wednesday: Sugar-free sugar, Part II

How does the version with “half the calories” of the pure-sugar version qualify as Sugar-Free? That must be some serious rounding-error.

NEW AT 7-Eleven: Sugar-Free Slurpees! With 50% of the calories of the sugary Slurpee!

Mot*@ &%$#r

Getting the proper lighting wasn’t a priority at the time, but I assure you it doesn’t say “Votor Error”

If you use a Medtronic pump, the words “Motor Error” can be quite upsetting.  Obscene, actually.  So when I woke up on Sunday morning, forgive me if I was taken aback when I saw those words flashed upon my insulin pump. I’d seen those words on a pump screen before in pictures, but never in real life.

Pennsylvania welcomes you, and your ketoacidosis

When I was young, naive, and newly diagnosed, I was riding in the car with my father when I spotted a license plate that was not like the others where I lived.  It looked something like this:

“Oh look, Daddy, Pennsylvania is The Ketone State!”.