I'll Still Use the Nima Sensor

There were new reports today from Gluten Free Watchdog regarding the Nima gluten sensor. Third party testing released from Nima showed that the gluten sensor is wrong much of the time.

There were false positives (times when the sensor showed gluten, when it was actually at 20 parts per million or less) about 8% of the time. This is an issue because you may think that something isn't safe to eat, when in fact it is. Twenty parts per million (or 20 ppm) or less is safe, per the FDA and medical research, for a person with Celiac disease.

There were false negatives (times when the test showed negative, when in fact it wasn't) about 20% of the time, with nearing 100% accuracy only when the levels of gluten neared 40 ppm. This is an issue because you may think something is safe, when in fact it isn't.

These things tend to scare people. In fact, they scare me a bit, but I still have the Nima sensor, and I plan to continue to use it. Here's why:

I feel like this technology is promising. It's a start. It isn't perfect. Even if it WAS perfect, 100% of the time, the piece of food you test could be fine, but three inches over on your plate could be something that was cross contaminated.

My hope is that this technology will improve. That it will inspire other companies to come up with similar (better, faster, cheaper) products. My hope is that it will one day be considered a medical device, complete with FDA approval and that insurance will cover it. 

For me, having a sensor that gets it 

right some of the time is better than 

not knowing all of the time.

I'm still fairly new to the Celiac game. It's scary, and my tests keep coming back in ways I'm not thrilled with (a.k.a. I feel like I'm not getting better). Add to that the fact that I have zero symptoms when I ingest gluten, and I'm flying blind. 

For me, having a sensor that gets it right some of the time is better than not knowing all of the time.  So for now, I'll continue to pay out of pocket for this technology. I'll take the risk. It's worth it for me.

Everything starts somewhere. With diabetes, insulin pumps used to be the size of a backpack. Blood sugar meters were large, inaccurate and took forever to come back with a reading. Constant glucose  monitoring systems were inaccurate, and painful. Technology improved. I want to believe that will happen with Celiac technology as well.

Gluten-free vs. Celiac-safe

Here's the thing about being diagnosed with Celiac disease in the height of the "gluten-free" craze: everyone think that everything is Celiac safe. I even thought "Yay! There are so many gluten free options for eating out!" What a great thing, right? 

I learned, very quickly, that wasn't true. Gluten-free food in a restaurant doesn't mean that it is celiac safe. Grilled chicken salads (one of my favorite thing at Wendy's, pre-diagnosis), are suddenly a no-no. Why? Because they cut that grilled chicken on the same surface that they cut the breaded chicken. So why not just tell them not to cut it? Perfect plan, right? Not so much. They also use the same tongs to pick up the grilled chicken that they use to pick up the breaded chicken.

So something that seems gluten free (apple pecan chicken salad), suddenly isn't Celiac safe.
This throws a wrench in a lot of plans for me.

Today, Papa John's Pizza released that they are now going to offer an "ancient grains" pizza that is gluten free. Hmmm.... this is interesting to me. They are only releasing it in certain cities, and Nashville happens to be one of them. So I went to the website and went to the FAQ section. They have a whole section regarding the new gluten-free crust! Good for them!

First I saw this:

Promising.... they don't make the crusts in store, so there is less chance of cross contamination! As a person with no gastro symptoms of celiac disease, I can't tell if I have been "glutened" so I am always trying to pay attention to things like obvious cross contamination.

But further down on the list, I saw this:


Bubble BURST. No chance of being able to eat this ridiculously overpriced, gluten-free, personal pan pizza. It would be nice, but I didn't get my hopes up. Now I'm waiting to hear from all the people around me say "Oh! Papa John's has a gluten-free pizza now!" And I get to go back to explaining the difference between gluten-free and Celiac safe.

*Full disclosure: I never ate a lot of pizza even before Celiac since it usually wreaks havoc on my blood sugars. But sometimes a girl just wants pizza.

A Weight Off My Shoulders

I'm currently planning my vacation this summer. This will be the first vacation since being diagnosed with celiac disease. I'm still learning what life is like with celiac. Some days it seems easy. Other days, it is more frustrating than you can possibly imagine.

Learning how to eat out in my town, learning how to shop again, learning how to cook again... it is all part of this new life I'm living.

Something I haven't done yet is take a vacation. Traveling outside my comfort zone. Thinking about it makes want to cry a little, even though I know that many people travel with no problems or issues.
This summer I am planning on attending the Children With Diabetes Friends For Life conference in Orlando. This will be my second year attending. Last year, it was such an amazing experience, I knew I wanted to go again.

This year is different. I go back with celiac disease AND diabetes. Because celiac is so common in people with diabetes and their family members, Friends for Life always has separate food for those with the "yellow" bracelets (green means diabetes, orange means family, yellow means celiac). They cater to this because it is a need.

This eases my mind so very much. Knowing that there will be food available and I won't have to ask questions or worry.... that is an amazing weight off my shoulders.

On top of that, this year's conference is being held at a Disney resort. Disney has a reputation for catering to those with dietary restrictions, including people with allergies or celiac. This is even better because the meals not provided by the conference will probably be at the resort or a close Disney related place. This is another weight off my shoulders.

Does it mean I can let my guard down? Not really. But it means a bit less worry when I ask for gluten-free. I did do a bit of research on gluten-free and celiac safe foods at Disney. It was nice to have even more reassurance that I will be able to eat something other than salad and gluten-free granola bars. Nearly every place at Disney parks, Disney resorts, and Disney Springs has gluten-free options, and even some completely gluten-free places. The best part? Dole Whip is gluten-free.

These are simple things that make me happy. Sometimes, you just have to look at the good side of things, and appreciate the little things to get through the day. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to another summer of friends, and understanding.

Life Goes On

Despite my celiac diagnosis, my life has to go on. So far, since I have gone gluten-free, I've only eaten out one time. Luckily, this restaurant had a gluten-free menu, so I didn't have to worry much about what I was going to eat.

Even finding things to eat in my house is sometimes difficult. I've already had a couple of nights where I have walked in my house and thought, "What the heck am I going to eat for dinner?!" I've been thinking about things like meal planning and left overs for lunches and stocking my pantry with non-gluten-y things.

Tomorrow, however, I head out for drinks with friends. To a restaurant that I have never been to and no nutritional information listed on the website. So I did it. I made "the call."
I had heard, from some online chatter, that this place has gluten-free hamburger buns. But I had questions regarding their waffle fries, and how their burgers are prepared.

I did all the things I've been told to do. I called around 3:30, when it is less busy. I asked to speak to a manager, who was very nice. I introduced myself and explained that I had celiac disease and was planning on coming to the establishment and that I had some questions. He was quite friendly and very knowledgeable. They do, in fact, have gluten free buns for their burgers. The waffle fries are out because they have a breaded onion and some breaded veggies that they fry in the same fryer. Mr. Manager answered a few other questions I had and I felt confident when I got off the phone with him.

Hopefully tomorrow will go smoothly and I will have no trouble with finding something I can have on the menu. As much as I HATE being the person who "bothers," I know I don't have a choice anymore. The choices I DO have are to stay at home and never eat out, or to do what has to be done to eat out without endangering my health. As much as I hate it, I WILL NOT let this disease (either disease) stop me from living my life.

It is going to make my life different. I'm going to be unsure and uncertain for a while. I'll mess up. I'll make mistakes. I'll learn new things. So even when my anxiety is at 1000% over what to eat and what to do, I'll keep on. I don't have another option. I won't stop living.

Two Journeys

My life has been revolving around celiac lately. The only way I can explain it is that I am doing my best to learn as much as possible about celiac and the gluten-free diet as I can before I meet with the GI doctor and start the gluten-free diet.

That being said, diabetes hasn't gone away. It's still here. All the time. Being a total pain in the rear. BUT, I feel like I'm starting a new journey. For many years now, I've been blogging (although inconsistently) about all the things that I deal with in regards to diabetes. All the things that concern me about diabetes.

Now my journey involves living with and coping with TWO chronic illnesses. Both of them invisible, yet such a big part of my life.

Tomorrow is my first appointment with my new gastroenterologist and dietitian. I start a journey of a confirmed diagnosis, learning to live without gluten, and learning to pay even more attention to every morsel of food that enters my mouth.

I have had my pity parties. At least the "pre-gluten-free" pity parties. For now, I'm done. Now, I start the new journey. The new part of my life. It doesn't mean I'll never be sad again. It doesn't mean I won't have pity parties again (can anyone say "diabetes burnout?"). But it does mean that I am going to tackle this, like I have diabetes.

I'll do the best I can. I'll hate it. I'll love the things it brings into my life. I'll hate the things that are no longer a part of my life. I'll have good days and bad days. I'll sometimes be sick because of celiac. Just like I'm sometimes sick because of diabetes.

But just like diabetes had never stopped me, I don't intend on letting celiac stop me either. I'm already out there, online. I'm searching and making contact with others. Perhaps I'll find an online community like the D-OC. A community that will help me get through on the bad days, and will make me laugh and smile on the every day. I'll learn tips and tricks. I'll learn new ways to cook, and to bake (my secret passion) and maybe I'll share those so someone else out there, who has been newly diagnosed with celiac disease, will see that their life isn't over.

This blog has been diabetes for so long. It will still be diabetes, it just might be a bit more celiac for a while. And then one day I'll find the happy medium, and I'll share both sides of my story in equal parts, so others can share with me.

Fear in Food

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I was 4 years old. I was old enough to understand what sugar was and at that time, PWD avoided all refined sugar. I knew to say "I can't eat that," when offered a cookie or punch or something like a cupcake or candy bar.

Soon those around me adapted and life moved on. On top of that, we advanced in the world of diabetes and we learned to carb count and bolus and I could have refined sugar. For 30 years my life has been about what I put in my mouth, what my blood sugar is, and how much insulin to take.

But food hasn't really be a scary thing to me. I live and grew up in the South. Everything centers around food. Someone has a baby: bring food. Someone has a birthday: bake a cake. Someone dies: take food to the family. Someone celebrates a life milestone... you got it: food.

Even just having people over to play cards or monopoly involves food in the South. You have snacks out and drinks. It's part of being a good host or hostess. Basically, we gather, we eat.

Suddenly my life has become scary. Food is scary. Eating out with friends is scary. Having a party at work or friends over for game night just became scary. At first I thought to myself, "I will just have to eat at home more and make my own stuff." Not something I was thrilled about, but something that could be done, nonetheless.

But then, as a person who is proactive about their health does, I started reading on the internet and came across some sites that have me scared of my own home. My own kitchen. The place that I have always felt like I was good and decent and could bake up some love.

This site (to be honest, I got off the site after reading for a while and couldn't tell you what it was) recommended a complete ditching of basically everything in your kitchen. Including non-stick pots and pans and wooden utensils. It also recommended throwing out all condiments, deep cleaning your oven, and throwing all baking things (sugar, cornmeal, etc.) out as well and starting from scratch.
This terrifies me. Even my own kitchen isn't safe.

There is so much conflicting information out there on the internet. Some sites say to never eat at someone else's home. Some say to offer to help cook to be sure that food isn't cross contaminated. Some say, just talk with your host or hostess and explain. Which is true? Which is right?

There are the sites that say you should explain to your server when you eat out, IF you eat out. Some say you should insist on speaking with a manager or the chef directly. Some say to avoid eating out if at all possible. Then there's the fear of cross contamination of something as simple as a salad!! How?? Apparently if they mix a salad in the same bowl as a salad that had another dressing or croutons, there could be a chance for cross contamination.

Again, when do I stop being afraid of food? Currently, I'm still consuming gluten as I wait for my first appointment with the GI doctor, but I'm already slightly terrified of food. Is this what it's like to be diagnosed with diabetes as an adult?? For those of you who have been diagnosed with celiac, are you afraid of food? Are you afraid to eat food at other peoples' homes? Or out at a restaurant with friends? Does this fear go away?

Today is a scary and uncertain day. Tomorrow will be better. I hope. For now, I'm going to do my best to be brave in the face of this scary moment and scary life change and hope that things get easier as they go along.

Cereal: The Devil's Food

“Hi. My name is Cara and I’m a cereal addict.”

I feel like I should be in some sort of a recovery program. Ever since I started monitoring my blood sugar super closely and got on an insulin pump, it became apparent that cereal was a TERRIBLE thing for me. Non-sugar cereals make my blood sugar crazy. The less sugar and more whole grains, the less crazy. But still crazy.

Sugar cereals make me so crazy that it’s scary. My blood sugars will rise quickly, sometimes as much at 150 points in half an hour, and stay up for HOURS, no matter how much insulin I take.

Because of the major issues I have with controlling my blood sugars when I eat cereal, I tend to stay away from it. I will indulge occasionally, but I just don’t do it because of all the horribleness that comes along with it. It’s just not worth it. Most of the time.

Sometimes I’ll get a box of rice crispies or cheerios and eat them. I LOVE them. I have to limit myself, but I do it. Recently I bought a box of rice crispies. When they were gone, I bought another box. When those were gone, I bought some corn flakes. (Are you seeing a pattern here yet?)

And then, on Friday, it happened: I found the small boxes ($1) of Cap N’ Crunch cereal on sale at the store. I refuse to buy a big box, but a small box… okay. I bought five boxes.

Saturday morning I had a bowl (translate: two large bowls) and bloused (I did a S.W.A.G. bolus; don’t know what that is? Click here where you can download a PDF of awesome d terms.), and went about my day. I knew I was going to spike. But I had plans to clean my house and figured it would help. But within a couple of hours I felt like crap. My CGMS said I was above 400 (it doesn’t give specific readings above 400, just an “above 400”). I checked and got this:

After having a mini-melt down, and suddenly understanding why I felt like throwing up (naseuea comes with high blood sugars sometimes), I gave an injection correction (I feel like that sounds lie something from School House Rocks!) and waited. Over the day I waited and bloused and waited and bloused. And tested and tested and tested. At one point I was somewhere between small and moderate ketones, but it didn’t last long (thankfully).

And it was nearly 12 hours later before I came down. And crashed at somewhere around 50. The blood sugar roller coaster is no fun, but in my earlier mentioned melt-down, I also did this:

Yes, you see that right. That’s a garbage bag. With every box of cereal in my house in it. In full disclosure, I still have the bag, but only cause I’ve not been to take off my trash yet. Oh, and pay no attention to my bare feet in the picture. :)

Honestly, I have a feeling I went from being sort of on the “no cereal” bandwagon, to falling off completely. And in order to get back on, I’m giving up cereal, cold-turkey. My problem is that I LOVE cereal. I can’t stop with one bowl. And I want to eat it ALL the time.

So much like a person addicted, I’m quitting. Cold-turkey. I won’t lie, I kind of want to go get that cereal bag. But I’m not going to do it. Until I can break myself of this horrible cereal eating habit, and learn to eat small amounts only occasionally, I’m done with the evil thing.

I think that a lot of times, we people with diabetes like to indulge. And it’s OKAY. It’s not that I can’t have cereal. It’s that I don’t particularly want to deal with the fall-out that comes with it. And I understand that I don’t have enough self-control to make myself stop with one SMALL bowl of cereal. But sometimes, even though we know better, we do it anyway. Perhaps it’s diabetes burn-out, in a way. Perhaps it’s just a “normalcy” thing that we want. I don’t know.

But for now, I’m on the “no cereal” band wagon again. My name is Cara and I’m a cereal addict. It’s been four days since my last bowl.

*I did NOT write this to make light of those suffering from actual addiction issues. As a person who knows and loves several different people who are recovering (or still) addicts, I encourage anyone dealing with these issues to seek help.*

Sometimes It's Who You Know

Every so often I go get fast food for breakfast. I know, I know. It’s not healthy. It’s not good for me. It’s not always good on my blood sugars. BUT, I do it. And I’m guessing that you probably do as well. I live in the same town I grew up in. I left for a while and ended up back here for a job and haven’t been able to escape since (those of you that know me, know what I mean by that!).

There are some good things to living in a small town. One of them is having everyone know you. This is also a bad thing at times. But the occasion that I’m writing about today is a GOOD thing. I was headed through drive-thru at a local restaurant. I happened to have worked at the summer after I graduated high school. Up until a few weeks ago, it was the only place in town that had Diet Dr. Pepper. I LOVE Diet Dr. Pepper. More imporatanly, I love anything diet on tap (?) that’s not Diet Coke. Please forgive me you Coke lovers. But I love finding Diet Dr. Pepper. I order, every time, very clearly “A medium Diet Dr. Pepper, please.”

On this particular morning, I pulled around to the drive thru window and I knew the lady who waited on me. She’s the manager of this particular restaurant. She’s also the person who hired me when I worked there. And most importantly, she used to baby-sit me when I was little. Not too long after I was diagnosed with diabetes. She was in high school, I was in very early elementary school and she lived right down the road from my house. She would take the bus home and then walk down the street to my house and watch me until my mom or dad got home. Or she would 

come during the summer and stay with me when my parents both worked.

It wasn’t an all the time thing, but it was enough that I remember her very well from that time and I’ve always had a place in my heart for her, especially after she hired me when I was young and dumb. J The great thing about having her around that particular morning was that she started to hand me my drink out the window (she hadn’t taken my order) and before she even let go of it she said, “this is supposed to be diet, right?” “Yeah,” I said.

She looked over her shoulder and said to the other woman working, “This is supposed to be diet. Is it?” Of course, it wasn’t. And then the best thing ever happened. She said, “She’s got diabetes. This would mess her up for the rest of the day.” And then she got me a new, DIET drink.

Now the truth is, I would have checked the drink before I pulled away from the window. I would 

have caught the mistake. But I didn’t HAVE to. She did it for me. And cared enough to make sure it was right. So even though I may complain about my small town sometimes (okay, a LOT of times), it isn’t all bad. There are times it comes in down right handy when people know everything about you.

Even though I’m sure she’ll never read this, I thought I’d share this totally wonderful experience with you. Because I hope that there’s someone out there looking out for you as well. 

Diabetes and the Christmas Season

The Christmas season is upon us. There are so many things that come into play this time of year. Gift giving, card sending, baking, decorating, Christmas programs, family, travel, and a host of other things that, while not regulated to one time a year, rarely fall all at the same time of year.

It’s easy to let some things fall by the wayside when you’re dealing with all of these other things that seem to take precedence. One thing that seems to be an issue for many of us is caring for diabetes. I’ll be honest, after Diabetes Awareness month in November, being thrust directly into the Christmas season, I’m often burnt out this time of year. It’s understandable.

 

My work has a “December Days of Eating.” Really. That’s what we call it. Every work day of December that falls before Christmas, someone signs up to bring something to eat for the whole office. Most of the time it’s something terribly horrible for us all, but oh, so good. I have one co-worker that makes this amazing cheesy buttery French bread that I swear I look forward to all year long. Another loves to bring a cheese dip that includes sausage and salsa. Another is queen of desserts. I, myself, usually take something like cupcakes or cake.

I have Community Choir concerts, shopping for presents, addressing and mailing Christmas cards, dealing with family things (two Christmas dinners anyone?), and all the emotional baggage that comes with the holidays in general.

Add all of this together and I guess my question is, how do I keep things under some semblance of control? Anyone else have feelings like this? What do you do to keep yourself from going over the diabetes edge?

It seems like when Santa comes into camera view during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, my life goes insane until about the 3rd week of January. Help me (and whatever reader’s I may have) out. Give me some tips, or just share your own frustrations about this crazy time of year. I’ll thank you. I might even bake you a cupcake.

So Many Questions

I was talking with a colleague the other day who knows a young person with diabetes. According to my colleague, this young person (not an adult, but more than old enough to be making adult decisions in regards to health) wasn’t doing a good job with diabetes management, even using diabetes control (or lack of) to “hurt” the caregivers emotionally.

It was hard trying to explain to my co-worker how complicated having diabetes can be sometimes. Sure, all of my co-workers see me with my insulin pump. They see me bolus for food. They see me test. They hear my cgms beeps. They’ve seen me go low and have to suck down juice boxes. But short of the two co-workers that I know who have immediate family members with T1 diabetes, none of them grasp it completely.

When my colleague was talking with me all I could think to tell that person was to think about how hard it was to be a teenager. Add to that a less than ideal home life. And THEN add a chronic illness that requires thought for every little decision that you make. A teen who has a need for control (or even an adult, because I could be accused of this) in an out of control time will reach for the things that they CAN control. For some teens, this leads to things like eating disorders, problems with depression, cutting, and a host of other issues. For a young person with a chronic illness like diabetes, there is another thing you can control (or chose NOT to control, which in a sense is some sort of control).

I could tell I wasn’t quite getting through and I knew it. So I tried another approach. I’m going to share it with you here.

You get to work late. You skipped breakfast and instead grabbed a pack of vending machine crackers to munch on. For most people, that’s it. For a person with diabetes, there is so much more to that. I look at that pack of crackers and I think:

-  “What’s my blood sugar now?”
-  “How do I feel right now?”
-  “Do I have any insulin in my system right now?”
-  “How many carbs are in those crackers?”
-  “Am I going to be eating lunch early today?”
-  “Am I going to be eating lunch late today?”
-  “Do I have anything with me to treat a low, in case I miscalculate my insulin?”
-  “How much fat is in those crackers? (It affects digestion, which affects insulin and how/when you give it)”
-  “Am I planning on being ‘off schedule’ for my day?”
-  “Will I be more or less active than normal?”
-  “How much insulin am I going to give?”

These are just some of the questions that float around in my head on a regular basis. And that was just for one pack of crackers. Even though each of those thoughts might not be individual conscious thoughts every time, they’re there, floating around in the back of my mind. For a pack of crackers cause I’m hungry. Never mind if I’m thinking of taking a car trip somewhere, or going to exercise, or eating a meal that’s not something I’ve eaten before.

That’s a lot to take on. For an adult, let alone a young person. When I finished telling my college about that series of questions, you could see the shock. People don’t realize how complex this disease can be. While my example may be a little over the top to some, it’s true. Diabetes doesn’t take a break. Ever.

Guilty Pleasures

Before I was taking care of my diabetes the way I should. Before I had CGMS. Before I was testing 8-12 times a day (yes, there was a time before), I had a few foods that I loved to eat. Foods that I would later discover cause major issues with my blood sugar.

The two biggest ones are pizza and cold cereal. I used to eat cereal a couple of times a DAY when I was in college. And like most college (and high school) students, pizza was a several-times-a-week occurrence. Both are foods I loved.

But when I discovered that I have a horrible time with my blood sugars when I eat cereal or pizza, I began to cut down on them in my diet. With cereal, I have a nearly immediate spike in my blood sugar and it takes HOURS to get myself back in range. Sometimes a whole day! With pizza, I have a nearly immediate low and then around 3 to 4 hours later I spike and it lingers for many more hours.

I won't lie, I don't always say "no" to pizza and cereal. Sometimes, there's nothing like a slice or two of pizza for dinner, with a cold Diet Pepsi and a salad. And more often than not, I break down and buy a box of cereal. Cereal is probably the worst, cause I have a hard time not eating it when it's in my house. With pizza I can throw it out or, if I eat out, just not bring it home with me.


I always know that there are going to be blood sugar issues to deal with afterwards. But, sometimes I just have to have my guilty pleasure foods.

Do you have a food that you know messes with your blood sugar, but you go for it sometimes anyway?

Complicated Diabetes

When you have diabetes, there are times that everything feels more complicated. It's something that I, myself, try to hide from most people. Those living with or caring for people with diabetes know better. They know the truth.

A trip out of town requires more packing.

A job requires more questions (do I get paid time off, or sick days? What's the insurance coverage like? How much does it cost?).

Grocery shopping requires more items (juice boxes when there are no kids in my house? Yup. That'd be me.).

What's for dinner? (That could require a quick change in menu, depending on current blood sugars.)

A budget requires more planning (I have a whole section dedicated to medications and doctor's co-pays).

Going back to school full time? Probably never going to happen, unless I marry someone with fantastic health insurance (any takers??).

Sickness comes knocking? There's more than just waiting for it to be over. There's ketones and doctors and dehydration and things that a "normal" person would never think about.

And though I've not gotten there yet, even having a child requires more planning than a "normal" person would have to deal with.

In a lot of ways I feel like diabetes made me grow up much faster than I might have if I'd never been diagnosed with diabetes. I've always been seen as fairly responsible and in control of things. At times even been considered the "good kid" in my group of friends or my family. In fact, when I ran into my former pre-school teacher a few years ago, she told me that shortly after I was diagnosed (while I was in her class), I was already telling her what I could and couldn't eat. She said I knew, even then, what to do.

There have been many times I've wondered what I would have been like if I'd never been diagnosed with diabetes. It's a foreign concept to me. Would I have been irresponsible? Would I be a totally different person than I am now? Would I have joined the military? Would I have gone back to school already? Would I have picked a profession based on what I liked, and not on it's ability to provide me a stable income and health insurance? Would I already have children?

There are so many unanswered questions. None of which I'll probably ever know the answer, because for whatever reason, I WAS diagnosed with diabetes 26 years ago and I haven't really known life without diabetes.

I can appreciate the things that diabetes has brought into my life. I've met some of my best friends because of diabetes. None of them I would have met if we didn't share a busted pancreas. I've taken trips that I never would have taken, if it weren't for diabetes. I am unsure I would have entered the world of blogging if it weren't for diabetes. And twitter...that's laughable. I'd probably be one of those anti-twitter people, instead of having TWO accounts.

So, diabetes has made my life more complicated. That's a fact. But it's also taught me a lot of lessons about health, life, and friendship, and blessed me in more ways than I can count. Complications (not the health kind!), I can handle. Diabetes, I can deal with.

Diabetes Awareness - Myth #1

People with Diabetes Can't Eat Sugar

I have had diabetes since 1986. I was 4 years old. Things were so different at that time when it came to diabetes care. I believe that this time period (and the many years before it) were the reason that many people believe that people with diabetes can't have food or drink that contain refined sugar. At that time, the understanding of how foods effect blood sugar were very different than what they are now.

Here's where the myth busting comes in:

I CAN EAT SUGAR

Yup. You read that right. I have Type 1 diabetes. I take insulin to stay alive. And I CAN have sugar.

A healthy person eats all types of food. The foods that cause blood sugar to rise are foods that contain carbohydrates. There are other things that can cause blood sugar to rise, but I'm only addressing on myth at a time.

If you look on a food label, there are things broken down. Fat, Calories, Sodium, Carbohydrates. At a very basic level, foods that have carbohydrates are things like grains, fruits, and sugars. When a healthy person eats something with carbohydrates, their body produces insulin to turn the carbohydrates into energy for the body.

A person with diabetes either doesn't produce insulin, or the insulin is not used properly by the body. Because of this, people with diabetes have to take insulin (for those living with Type 1 or Type 2) or pills (for those living with Type 2) to help their body turn the carbohydrates into energy.

It is true that a person living with diabetes may chose to refrain from some types of carbohydrates in order to control their blood sugar levels easier, but overall, a person with diabetes can eat any type of carbohydrate as long as there is insulin (or other medication) to cover the body's need to turn the carb into energy.

A fact that many people that do not live with, or care for someone who lives with diabetes is that a regular sized snickers bar has 35 grams of carbs. There is right around that same amount of carbohydrates in two slices of regular loaf bread. Obviously, for anyone with or without diabetes, the bread is probably a healthier choice. But the fact remains, that I would give the same amount of insulin for either of these items.

I won't get into all the boring details, but some carbohydrates do digest and effect the blood sugar differently. And it's different for every person. I typically avoid pizza and cereal because I have a harder time covering these types of carbs with insulin. I have a friend who chooses to avoid pasta. I try to cut down on my rice intake.

Each person living with diabetes should eat in a healthy manner...as should the person who does not have diabetes. Sure, you shouldn't eat sweets all the time. No matter who you are. But don't look at a person living with diabetes and tell them that they shouldn't eat that cupcake. If treating yourself to a cupcake every once in a while is okay, let the person living with diabetes decide if it is a good time for them to treat themselves.

We'll make a deal with you: You don't tell us what to eat, and we won't tell you what to eat.

And now you know the truth: People living with diabetes CAN eat sweets!

No D Day

It's that time again. Since I've been horribly behind in posting about the thing that we aren't supposed to post about today, I figured now was as good a time as any to get back to blogging. :)

There are so many things that I love and so many things that I love to do that don't have anything in the world to do with that thing we won't mention. I couldn't decide if I wanted to talk about music, or theatre (check out my other blog HERE), or something else.

I finally decided that cakes were going to be the way to go. Many of you know that I am a hobby cake decorator. It's something I find fun (most of the time), and it's about the only thing that I am talented at that deals with art. Want me to draw you a picture? Ha. But if you want me to put a picture on a cake... I can do that. :D

Here are some of my recent "adventures." I hope you enjoy!

M-I-C-K-E-Y

It's been a while since I've done a cake post for you guys. I'm not really in the mood to write a d-related post today, so I thought I'd bring you some of my "sweeter" and happier posts by posting pictures from my godson's 3rd birthday party, including the cake I made him.

This cake was one of my favorites that I've ever gotten to do!

I love Mickey! No matter how much I complain about MM Clubhouse. :)

As for the theme... let's just say I've seen enough episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that I can hotdog dance with the best of 'em. :)

I didn't make these, but aren't they cute?? 

He was a little freaked out with everyone singing to him. :)

How Diabetes Care is Like Bacon

If that title didn't catch the attention of the D-OC, I give up. :) Most of you probably realize how crazy we are about bacon in the D-OC. Bacon and cupcakes. And sprinkles. And Sprinkles. Anyway, bacon is kind of a fantastical food. Add it to almost anything and it gets better.

Sunday morning I was cooking breakfast. I typically don't cook bacon because it's messy and makes my house smell like bacon for days, but I had family in town and I wanted to be a good host and decided to cook up some bacon. While I was standing there, I realized that I didn't know how my cousin liked his bacon. Bacon is a curious food. Some people like it crisp. Some like it burned. Some like it floppy. Some like it chewy. Some like it somewhere in between. Everyone likes their bacon differently. It's still bacon. It still serves the same purpose no matter how it's cooked. But everyone likes it cooked differently.

There I stood when the phrase "your diabetes may vary" popped into my head. :) And I immediately changed it to "your bacon may vary." And just like bacon, everyone's diabetes care is a little different. Every has food effect them differently. Everyone likes a different A1c. Each person has a different medicine or regimen that they take to care for their diabetes. Some people are comfortable when their blood sugar is 170. Others want it lower. Basically, it varies. You have to do what's comfortable for you and your health care provider.

Your diabetes care is different than mine. Just like I'm guessing your like your bacon cooked differently from mine. So, remember that "your diabetes may vary" just like "your bacon may vary." I think it's important to remember in a large community like ours. We have to cheer on and encourage, while remembering not to hold everyone to the same standards that we hold ourselves.

Maybe...

Maybe it's the cold winter weather and all the snow and rain. Maybe not. But my diet has gone to crap in the past several months. I used to be so good about limiting my fast food, and not eating pizza, and too much pasta or a lot of sugary foods. I did my best to eat fresh fruit and at least some veggies. But lately, all I've wanted is junk food.

Sweets, pizza, greasy foods. It's not that I haven't always loved them, I've just been better about controlling my urge to actually consume them all the freaking time! Not lately though. And my waistline feels it. I've gained weight. My insulin intake is up (partially from consuming more carbs, and partially from the crazy blood sugars that often go hand in hand with unhealthy foods). And I don't really feel good about myself right now.

I refuse to make my diet, exercise, or weight an New Year's resolution. I never keep those things anyway. :) But I do acknowledge my need to get back on track when it comes to my eating habits. And I'm going to start.

By no means will I give up all my junk food (I never do), but I am going to start making myself remember that I need to eat in moderation. Maybe then I can shed some of this weight, and eventually work my way back up to exercising again. We'll see...

Cake Suicide

Well, I don't have a picture of it. My roommate told me I should have taken a picture. And put google eyes on it. But the Snickerdoodle cake I was to make for my job's Thanksgiving meal decided that it wanted to commit suicide right before I finished. At 10:00 p.m. the night before I needed it.

Just imagine a cake, face down on the kitchen floor....I'm sure you can conjure up a mental picture.

It was my worst nightmare come true. The only positive is that it wasn't an important birthday or wedding cake.

R.I.P. Snickerdoodle cake. R.I.P.

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, there are a few words....

You know you live in the house with a diabetic when you see things like this:

More Sugary Treats

These were for a friend's Halloween themed baby shower. If you notice, the cupcake papers have candy corn on them... so of course the icing had to match. :)

This cake was made for a friend's church. They were celebrating Pastor Appreciation Day. I made the tiny fruit out of gumpaste. All the icing is buttercreme.

The verse written on the cake is Galatians 5:22-23, which talks about the fruit of the spirit.