Name That Pump!

Okay, after persuasion from Daniel (his mom is over at Danieldoo), I have decided my pump needs a name. I know Amylia's is Gil. Daniel's is Zack (or Zach, I can't remember). Now mine needs one.

But I am coming up empty. So here's what I've decided to do: I want suggestions. Give me your best shot (pun intended!). After a few days, I will pick my favorites and make a poll on my site and let you, my readers, decide my pump's new name.

My only suggestion so far: Arnold (as in "I want to pump you up!") :D

So you see why I need help. Take pity on me and save my poor pump from a horrible name.

Friday Night Lights...and Diabetes

Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Vivian, from over at Danieldoo. We live about 2 hours apart and had never met. Last night, my former high school played her daughter's high school at football. The game was in their town, but I gathered up a friend to go with me, and I knew I would know other people that came down from home to watch the game.

Vivian and I agreed on a place to meet and she told me Daniel was excited to meet me (and I, him!).

When I got there, I'll admit, I was nervous. You just never know how you are going to get along with new people. But I'll tell you there was not a thing to worry about. I got to meet Vivian, her husband, and all three of her children. They are truly wonderful people. We found out lots of fun facts, like her younger kids go to an elementary school where I used to teach.

Sadly, we didn't really get to sit together as I was sitting in my purple and gold on the visitor's side and they were sitting on the home side. But I did join them at half time for a little while, but we decided I should probably go back to the visitor's side when my team made a touch down and I started cheering for them. Let's just say there were people sitting around giving me some strange looks! :D

This was the first blogger meeting for me and for Vivian. It was nice to be able to see (in person) one of the people who has been supporting me online for over a year now.

I look so forward to meeting more of you in time. If any of you are ever in Tennessee, let me know!

Here are some of the pictures we took:

Vivian, Sarah, and Daniel

Daniel and I and our pumps

Vivian and I

On the diabetes note: I hung out steady in the low 100s all night long...until the game was over. Then I promptly shot up to over 200 and had to bolus while driving down the interstate. Fun, fun, fun.

Teaching Diabetes 101

My teacher of the graduate class I am taking has Type 2. I've never hidden my diabetes so they all know. When I got to class this week, I was obviously not feeling well.
Blood sugar check rang in at 368. My teacher about had a meltdown wanting to know if she could get me anything. I told her I was fine, I would just take some insulin and go get some water.
I came back and sat next to a fellow student. After I bolused, she says to me, "So, if your blood sugar's high, why did you take insulin? Doesn't insulin bring your blood sugar up?"

Insert Diabetes 101 lesson.
:)

The Biggest Loser

Tonight was the season premier of The Biggest Loser. I have watched the show occasionally in the past and enjoyed it.

I am overweight. According to the BMI, I am obese. That disturbs me. It always has. I wasn't always overweight. As a child, up until I hit puberty, I was average for my height. Then, around the time I was 14 or 15, I hit puberty (I was a late bloomer) and I went from taking 2 shots per day to taking 4 shots per day. Increased insulin intake makes for weight gain, which we all know. But puberty often leads to weight gain in girls. So I've never really known what to attribute it to.

I never really let my weight bother me too badly. But when I went on my insulin pump, I lost almost 20 pounds in the first year. This was from the decrease in insulin, along with some small changes in eating habits due to my cholesterol and my blood sugar levels.

That made me feel really good. I didn't really have to work for that weight loss.

But then I leveled out. I have wanted to keep loosing, but I have NO desire to exercise. I joined the gym for a while, but quit going. I have never been an athletic person. I never wanted to play sports. In fact, I was just plain BAD at any type of sports, so I never even bothered trying.

When I was going to the gym, my blood sugars did such crazy things that it wasn't worth getting it figured out. I was either running up my blood sugars, to keep from going low during the work out, or I was going low and consuming as many calories as I burned in juice boxes to bring myself back up.

It was frustrating and I hated it. So I quit.

Tonight, while watching the Biggest Loser, it made me want to do something. I just don't know what. I don't know how to start.

My nutritionist and I met a few months ago. She advised me to consume 1300 calories a day to loose weight (that's with no extra exercise). I have done that some days, but most of the time I end up eating more.

How do you do it? How do you make yourself keep going? How do you count your calories?

I have spend the better part of my diabetic life counting carbs. Do I HAVE to count something else??

What is your motivation to keep going? Do you have someone to encourage you to go, even when you don't want to?

Please, lend me your tips. I need help.

A Busy Week

I've been absent from the online community for almost 2 weeks now. Life has certainly come at me fast and furious.

I had a wedding cake to make last weekend, which took a massive amount of time and ended up taking my whole weekend up. On that Saturday morning, my step-dad lost his father.

I ended up taking a day off work to be with my family and attend the funeral on Tuesday.

Then, while I was in the funeral Tuesday, I received a text message from a dear friend of mine, letting me know she had lost her grandfather. I had spent a lot of time with her family, so I knew her grandfather and thought very highly of him. He was an honest, hard working, Christian man who always put others before himself.

I ended up taking a day and a half off work to go be with her and her family during the visitation and funeral. It was out of town, so I had to travel and spend the night.

Then, Friday was the birthday of a friend of mine's son. He's the light of my life and makes me smile every time I see him. I also made his birthday cake for his party on Saturday. He wanted a Mater cake (from the Disney movie, Cars).

So, as you can see, I am completely surrounded by LIFE. Marriages, deaths, birthdays. I am hoping that life slows a little for me in this next week.

On the diabetes note, today was a completely CRAZY day. I had a 41 after lunch. I ate some candy corn because I was out of juice and I was at work (okay, it was a lot of candy corn). Well, a few hours later my blood sugar was 368!!! I am still trying to get it back down in range. I skipped dinner and am feeling pretty lousy.

Note to self: take more juice boxes and glucose tabs to work.

A New Friend

I was pretty much the only diabetic I knew growing up. There was one person who was an adult and her daughter, who was much younger than me who I knew that were Type 1. I, essentially, was on my own. Until I discovered the Diabetes OC, I knew very few Type 1's. We are a minority in a minority.

I had some friends when I was in high school who were siblings. They didn't go to high school with me, but we all attended church together. I haven't kept in touch with them as well as I wish I had done in the past, but I still see them from time to time and I see their mother more often, since I live in the same town as her.

But, ah, the wonders of My Space. :) I have found all three siblings again, online, and keep in touch with them some that way. The youngest of the siblings is in the Air Force. He married a girl who is a Type 1. I found out about her and her diabetes from their mother. I never contacted her on My Space (she also has a page) because I thought it might be weird to be all, "Hey! I was friends with your husband in high school and I'm a diabetic too!"

But, she contacted me one day. They were coming stateside (they are in Germany now) for a visit and she wanted me to make a cake for a party they were having. During the course of our correspondence, I brought up the diabetes. And like I have found many times before, there was an instant bond.

We chatted over the weeks in between her first contacting me and them finally coming to Tennessee.

When we met, it was like I'd always known her. They have a beautiful baby girl and another boy that is due in a few months. I admire her. Plus, I can ask her all kinds of questions in case I ever decide to have a baby. :)

We shared stories and ideas and things that only another diabetic can understand. We found things in common, like we both want peanut butter when we are low. And our lips go numb when we are low.

Flat out, she's just cool. And she's someone who can understand and know exactly what I am living through, just like the rest of you on the OC. And I got to meet her face-to-face.

I look forward to meeting other people with diabetes. I like being able to be "just like everyone else".

So thanks, Angel! You were so much fun to meet. And meeting you makes me feel less alone in this puzzle of life we call diabetes.