Awesome Friends.

I miss my friends. They are really awesome and almost none of them live anywhere close to me. But, over Valentine's weekend, I am going to visit a friend in the D.C. area. I won't have much time, but I know there are some fellow bloggers out in that area, so if you want to get together for coffee or whatever, let me know. It might work out and it might not, but I'm always up for meeting fellow bloggers.

BTW, I don't drink coffee. But what else do you "get together' over? I mean really? :D

Why I blog.

I stumbled upon the diabetes OC nearly 3 years ago. I was searching for answers. I wanted an insulin pump. I wasn't sure what I was doing. I had questions. I felt alone. I knew no other type 1 diabetics (that I could talk to anyway). Basically, my diabetes life was in the process of crashing completely.

Then I ran across and article that Kerri wrote for dLife. She was near my age, she was funny and had an amazing was with words. From there I found her blog, and her blogroll.

I discovered that there were others out there who had diabetes too! They had bad days. They had good days. They got frustrated. They fell in love. They lived their lives. Suddenly, I wasn't alone.

I read blogs for nearly a year. I got my pump in May of 2006. On April 12, 2007, I posted my first blog post. I didn't really know what I was doing. Who of us does at first? But I posted. I only got 1 comment. From Scott K. Johnson. That first comment is thrilling.

Now I am coming up on my third anniversary (or blogoversary, as it may be known). I know many blogger. I may have never met you. But I count you among my friends. Just check my blog roll on the right! There are many more, and I try to update as I can, but the ones listed are amazing as it is.

I have found TuDiabetes.com.

The OC introduced me to Twitter.

I have more passwords than I care to mention.

But my life has been drastically improved by blogging and knowing other bloggers.

"So," you ask, "Why do you blog?"

I blog because I need a connection. I blog to help other people. I blog for my sanity. I blog because I love feeling like I am a part of something great. I blog because you guys are part of my family.

I DO NOT blog to make money. I never have. I would love for someone to pay me to do this, but I do it anyway. Because the money isn't a reason. It's something much bigger than that.

Yesterday a Tweet was sent out that referred me to this article. What I read chilled my heart. The title of the article: How the Health Blogosphere was Scammed.

I was nearly one of the scammed. I got the e-mail from Dr. Rutledge. I e-mailed him back, asking for clarification on what "featuring" my blog included. Instead of an answer, I got an e-mail back from a Victoria Ho asking for my blog address. I never replied.

Less than 2 weeks later, this all comes to light.

I have many of my family in the D-OC that were scammed. Their blogs were posted on this site. People who have other chronic illnesses and professionals who blog were also scammed.

Now that Wellsphere has been sold, that money that they earned will, more than likely, never be given to the people who rightly deserve it. The bloggers who's content made the site what it is.

Even though I never jumped on board with Wellsphere, I feel violated. When I post a blog, it is MY property. I put the work into it. It may not be great work, but it is MINE. I don't mine people asking to link back to me. But to have my work reproduced by some company that then thinks they can earn money from what I have written is disturbing.

There are many people in the blogosphere who have written professionally, freelancing and otherwise. I am not one of them. But they deserve to be paid for what Wellsphere made a profit from. To have your work sold for profit, and to never be informed is darkness in it's finest form. It's pure evil.

I hope that there is something done legally to be sure that no one else profits from these works.

Most people don't know this (although they do now), but I hope to someday be a published author. Maybe that's why this bothers me so badly.

So, to all of you who were violated in such a way, I am truly sorry. Let it make all of us smarter in our decision making. Let us have learned a valuable lesson, if nothing else comes from this debacle.

TMI Post....Gentlemen beware!

Okay ladies, I have a question for you: how does birth control effect your diabetes? Mainly your blood sugars?
I have a good reason for asking this question. I had been on birth control for a little over a year now. My blood sugars generally run okay. My A1c for the past 3 times has been 6.3, 6.3 and 6.6 (darn Thanksgiving & Christmas!).
For the past several months (maybe longer....I don't keep the best records) I have been fighting horrible high blood sugars. Super highs at night and spikes that never used to happen. My insulin intake in the past year went from staying between 40-47 units a day, to being consistently over 50 units per day.
About 2 weeks ago, I did some major changing in my basal and bolus rates. I thought this might help me out in controlling some of my crazy swings in my blood sugar readings. It began to get somewhat better, but still, not perfect. Then, a week ago, I stopped taking my birth control pills (no worries, they were for regulatory purposes only). Basically, I am a slacker and my prescription lapsed. Since there was no real purpose for them anyway, I just quit taking them.
Suddenly, my blood sugars have improved dramatically. For the past 8 days, my blood sugar average in tests, and on my sensor, are averaging 115. My daily insulin intake hasn't been above 48 units.
Because of the lapse in time between changing all of my basal rates and stopping taking my birth control, the only thing I can figure out is that the dramatic change in my blood sugars is from the absence of the birth control.
I want to know what the experience is with you ladies. Have you noticed a change in your blood sugar ranges when on and off birth control? Have you heard that birth control can effect your blood sugars?
I want to know if I am alone in this one. It's kind of creepy.

The Biggest Loser...and Fit4D

Well, as some of you may know, Landileigh, over at Landileigh's Little World, has decided to start a group for some of us. Biggest Loser D-Style. I joined up. I am intent on dropping a few pounds. I just need a little support.

So if you think you might want to join us (it's a support group, NOT a diet!), go check out the post.

Also, as some of you know, I won one of the Grand Prizes on Diabetes Mine, which was a 2 month introductory membership to Fit4D. I have been in contact with them, and have finished most of the paperwork. Currently, I am working on getting a week's worth of food diaries/blood sugar logs/and daily steps taken together for them, so I can send it in and we can get this thing started. I'm excited, but I keep terrible logs (okay, truth be known, I don't keep them at ALL), so this is a little difficult for me.

So this whole Biggest Loser thing and the Fit4D are coming together at a really good time. Hopefully the support and encouragement will get me in a good place and get me on the right track.

Molly Version 2.0

Okay, I realized how horrible my first Molly was. This one isn't much better, but it makes me feel better anyway. :)

So meet Molly Moretic-Version 2.0

In Response....

To the comment Scott left on yesterday's post, may I introduce

Mark Moretic...Space Cadet Diabetic.

I hope you enjoy him, Scott. Then you don't have to worry about walking around with a girl on your shirt. :P

Moretic Diabetic

Well, it seems like my last post struck a chord with the blogosphere. Apparently, I'm not the only diabetic that has some totally moronic moments. There are even some parents of diabetic children who are having these moments too!

Kelly, over at Diabetesaliciousness, picked right up on it, and has founded the "club" that we all talked about in the comments section of my post. And we are all members! :)

Lynnea joined us, as she explained in her most recent post.

I have to say, that the blogosphere rose to the occasion, once again, and made me feel like a human. You guys made me feel like a normal person. And you made me feel like I wasn't alone.

That is priceless.

So, I suggest you go over and check out Kelly's post. She is a total comic, once again. Thanks, Kelly, for making a comic twist on something that could otherwise, be very depressing. You rock!

By the way, I think Molly Moretic-Space Cadet Diabetic, is my new best friend! This is my very sad Microsoft Paint version on Molly. I challenge you all to come up with a better one. PLEASE!!!! This one sucks. :D

I'm a moron....

No. Really I am. Don't believe me? Well, here are two "I'm a moron" moments that I've had in the last two weeks....

New Year's Eve. I spent the night by myself, hanging out and watching the ball fall on TV, while designing a cake that I wanted to make over the long weekend. It was already my third day, and I should have changed my pump site that morning. I knew I was low on insulin. I'd already had the beep for the 12.5 units remaining. This meant I'd have to do a site change before I went to bed. I don't like to do a site change at night, but even if I gave bolus insulin with a syringe, I still wouldn't have enough basal to make it through til morning.

I had resigned myself to a nighttime change.

Well, I don't typically stay up much past 11:00. I love my sleep. So I was already tired. The ball dropped and I was watching the after shows when I decided to take my BG. I was in the low 200s. I knew I needed a correction bolus. I used my bolus wizard and gave a bolus.

About twenty minutes later I nearly had a stroke! It just hit me out of nowhere: YOU DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH INSULIN IN YOUR RESERVOIRS TO BOLUS, MORON!

I looked down, and sure enough, for the first time since I started pumping, I had run my pump dry. Instead of a number in the spot that says "units left", it was "---".

Thus, I am a moron. I quickly did a site change and did a 3 a.m. wake up to check and correct another high. But, I couldn't believe I had actually run my pump dry! Wow.

Fast forward to Monday of this week. I had been fighting lows all night. I woke up that morning with a blood sugar of 75. I didn't correct, but instead turned my pump off and got ready for work. I also changed my CGMS sensor that morning. So I was essentially flying blind at that point. I tested before I left for work and was 79. I drove straight to McDonald's (yes, I know that's bad for me!) and got biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Usually, this spikes me to the high 100's, low 200's, so I figured that would keep me in the mid 100's on a morning that was already starting out on the lower side.

I got to work, and as I am carrying in my stuff, I get a "lost sensor" alarm from my CGMS. Basically, it was going to be a long morning. I reset my sensor and ate breakfast. It was a very busy morning at work, compounded by 3 more "lost sensor" alarms (sometimes it can take half a day to get it to "take", but I am too cheap to take it out and do another sensor). At 11:00 I realize that I am dying of thirst.

And then the light bulb came on. YOU FORGOT TO BOLUS FOR BREAKFAST, MORON! I looked at my pump, and sure enough, the last bolus was at 9 pm the day before. I checked my blood sugar: 369. Correction bolus, 7 units.

I spent the rest of the day, correcting and eating only jello, cheese, and almonds (basically, the lowest carb I could).

I mean, it's not like I haven't been a diabetic for 23 years. It's not like I don't KNOW that I have to give insulin when I eat. But I forgot.

So, you see, my lovely friends in the Diabetes OC.

I am a MORON!

Nuff said.

A Borrowed Meme!

Borrowed from Allison

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog - Yeah? I mean, that's what you're reading, right???

2. Slept under the stars. - I grew up in TN....you figure it out. :P

3. Played in a band


4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower


6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain - How high of a mountain are we talking? I mean, I grew up on a mountain. And I've hiked.)

9. Held a praying mantis


10. Sang a solo (in the shower)

11. Bungee jumped


12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.


14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. -cake decorating, scrapbooking, blogging (yeah, it's an art!)

15. Adopted a child.


16. Had food poisoning.

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty-the first time I was there, I was on a time limit (high school senior trip-we had 3o minutes and the wait was 4 hours) and the second time I was there it was not too long after 9-11, so no one was allowed up.

18. Grown your own vegetables.


19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train.


21. Had a pillow fight.

22. Hitch hiked.


23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. -cut me some slack. I was immature and in college and it was only once.

24. Built a snow fort


25. Held a lamb.

26. Gone skinny dipping. I was 12. :P Never again!


27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice


29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.


31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise


33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors


35. Seen an Amish community We just have Mennonites around here. I think I spelled that right.

36. Taught yourself a new language.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person


39. Gone rock climbing.

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David


41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt


43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.

44. Visited Africa


45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.

46. Been transported in an ambulance -isn't that a prerequisite w/ diabetes?

47. Had your portrait painted. - I had it drawn one time...


48. Gone deep sea fishing.

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person


50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling


52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud.


54. Gone to a drive-in theater.

55. Been in a movie


56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class


59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen - I served Christmas dinner at a place where homeless people come one time. It wasn't an actual soup kitchen.

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching.

63. Gotten flowers for no reason


64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving


66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check


68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy


70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial - I've been several times. It's really cool.

71. Eaten Caviar


72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square -Not enough times for me. :P It's crowded, but soooo cool!

74. Toured the Everglades


75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London

77. Broken a bone -the day before I turned 18 I tripped on the sidewalk running into the library. Which tells you what a complete nerd I am. I fractured my arm.


78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person


80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican


82. Bought a brand new car.

83. Walked in Jerusalem


84. Had your picture in the newspaper. - If you've ever heard that song, by Miranda Lambert "Everybody Dies Famous In A Small Town". I grew up in a small town. I've been in the newspaper several times.

85. Read the entire Bible. -I need to work on this!

86. Visited the White House -I don't think the outside counts, does it? If it does, then I have. If not, then yeah, I wanna go.


87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating -a fish. But that's it.

88. Had chickenpox.

89. Saved someone’s life.


90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous.

92. Joined a book club


93. Lost a loved one.

94. Had a baby.


95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake


97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone.


99. Been stung by a bee

The Year Begins...

I realized, just a few minutes ago, that we are nearly a week into the New Year and I haven't posted a thing. Time to get back on the posting bandwagon. :P
My New Year's Eve was pretty boring and perfectly perfect all at the same time. I stayed at home by myself and watched the ball fall and spent some time on the Internet. I stayed up way too late, but had a great time at it and ended up sleeping in on New Year's Day until nearly 9:00. Which for me, is pretty late.
The rest of the weekend passed in boring, normal fashion. Posting didn't occur to me because there was nothing very exciting to post about.
I did, however, get all of my paperwork filled out for fit4D. I faxed it all in today, and am hoping to hear from them in the next couple of days. I am super excited after speaking with one of the people from fit4D. She made me feel super special and actually listened to what I had to say. The first consultation couldn't take place until I got all of my paperwork in. Now that is done, so I wait. :)
I'll keep you guys updated at it goes.
Have a great rest of your week all you dbloggers.