Never ignore your DEXCOM! NEVER EVER EVER!

Never ignore your Dexcom!

So on Saturday I decided it would be a good idea to ignore my Dexcom because I thought it was going wonky on me and we were watching a movie and it was close to two weeks old.  YES that is a HORRIBLE spike in my blood sugar on that graph right there, and YES, I am an idiot and ignored it for too long!  I gave several correction doses after I realized I was going high and figured they would work, they always do.  NOT on Saturday!  I finally got up and looked at my infusion set...alas, it was leaking insulin.  I have NEVER had a set go bad in this way in 4 years, ever.  This was the first time.  So I put a new set in and then corrected with a syringe and well you guessed it, I crashed SUPER hard and had to drink about 4 or 6 (I lost count how many I drank because my bg was in the 40's) 15 carb juice boxes to counteract the correction that finally kicked in.

 Diabetes I HATE YOU! Go crawl under a rock and never come out!  There that should do it right?

Dexcom why must you poke me?

Anyone else wear a Dexcom and get poked occasionally by it?  I swear I am the only dang person this happens to.  I am completely unable to wear Dex on my arm because it goes straight into muscle and that hurts like the dickens and the legs I am too chicken to even think about.  I cant even wear my pump there without incredible pain by day two.  So my Dex is always on my sides and if I even think about trying it in a place with not a lot of fat it just pokes the living crap out of me.  I swear it is poking my peritoneal wall or my abdominal wall or something?!   All I know is that it hurts and if I leave it on, it actually becomes sore to the point I want to rip it off!  I am on week 2 of this sensor and it is starting to hurt.  As if Diabetes isnt enough already, the crap I wear to control it hurts me.  Annnd now my blood sugar is dropping to the point where I feel like I am falling out of this damn roller coaster and if I dont intervene at this point I will be below 70 in 5-10 minutes.  Awesome.  I have to get my daughter and get groceries.  Even more awesome.  I HATE low blood sugars!

Through all of this I still would not give my Dexcom up for anything.  I'd cut my arm off first.

My Road ID/Medic Alert

Click here to go to Road ID

Who needs ID?
ID should be as common and important as putting on a seat belt when getting into a car, or strapping on a bike helmet to go for a ride. Identification is important for people of all ages. If you are a runner, cyclist, jogger, walker, hiker, climber, skater, skier, boarder, or someone who doesn't spend all of their time on the couch, then we encourage you to wear ID. Kids need ID too as they rarely have ID when they go out for a bike ride or walk to school.

Here are some stats for you: Each year over 450,000 of us are taken to hospitals unconscious and without ID. Year after year, over 122,000 runners, walkers, and cyclists are hit by cars. Thousands more suffer blackouts, concussions, heart attacks, heat strokes and other serious accidents. The National Safe Kids Campaign estimates that "every day, 39,000 children are injured seriously enough to require medical attention."

"Not having ID while participating in outdoor activities is a serious risk — a risk that we no longer have to take. We shudder to think that we could be lying in a hospital and the medical staff would not know who to contact or even who we are — simply because we did not have ID. In the event of an accident, we want our family to be contacted immediately. We want them to be at our side as quickly as possible. We want to ensure that we receive proper medical treatment. We encourage everyone to wear ID and stop taking chances." - Edward Wimmer & Mike Wimmer, Owners

Are Road IDs guaranteed?
Of course! We even offer a "real" guarantee - you know, like companies used to offer. If you are not satisfied with your order for any reason, you can return it for a full refund or exchange. Additionally, our stainless steel ID carries a lifetime guarantee. That's right, if you are tough enough to wear out our stainless steel, laser engraved Road ID, we will replace it at no charge. We challenge you to destroy them (through natural wear - gunshots and hand grenades don't count).
NOTE: Our lifetime guarantee applies to the stainless steel ID plate only. The bands and straps that they are attached to are not covered for life. We do, however, offer low-cost replacement bands and straps for all of our IDs.

(copied from Road ID's website)


All of the above is extremely important to all of us with Diabetes!  It could be a life or death matter! 

 
Click here to go to Road ID

Road Id's with interchangable colored bands. These are the slim bands.

If you need ideas of what to have on your band, my band has

• my name / date of birth
• T1 Diabetic Insulin Pump
• Husbands name, cell phone with Husband after it
• My moms name, cell phone number, Mother
• My dad's name, cell phone, Father
• Yes, I am 32 years old and I have my mom and dad's contact info on my band.....they gotta be able to contact one of them in an emergency. =D

Warning: put your sunglasses on before looking at this.

My husband said that my post showing alternative way to wear your diabetic junk made my legs look humongous, so in light of that subject I actually have chicken legs so I dont want you all to think otherwise.  So put your shades on because this office worker has some really pale legs!   HAHAHA! Yes that's a stapler next to my leg to show you that I don't have humongous legs!  I am in my office at work, and yes I am wasting company time.  Good thing I work for my Dad! 

t:slim pump and the only issue that is bugging me

The alarms, they suck.  Tandem Diabetes Care you REALLY need to fix that.  The alarms will only vibrate or beep once and then it will beep or vibrate again however minutes later.  The singular beeping or vibrating doesnt cut it.  The vibration is completely worthless, its barely noticeable.  I can HEAR my Dexcom vibrate a mile away, I can not only NOT hear my pump vibrate but I cant FEEL it either.  When you plug the thing in to charge it, it beeps twice and vibrates twice, THIS IS WHAT I NEED THE ALARMS and REMINDERS TO DO!! PLEEEEEEEZE!  I use the 2 hour post meal BG reminder and the missed meal bolus reminder and I NEED TO HEAR THOSE!  Oh and another issue, you cant turn the 2 hour reminder off for certain meals, its just on all the time and after every single bolus you take, you get a post 2 hour reminder.  That kinda sucks too.  Oh well.


Other than that I LOVE MY T:SLIM PUMP!! LOVE. IT. The set changes are different but not really all that big of a deal. Also I have no idea what setting is different or what is causing this but MY BLOOD SUGARS HAVE GOTTEN BETTER?! What....you say, yes, they have gotten better.  Maybe it the way the insulin is dosed or the way they figure active insulin or something, I dont care, my blood glucose readings are improving.  Maybe its the stupid (I say stupid because it seems like such a simple thing, but I LOVE it) calculator on the bolus screen...God knows I dont do math for crap in my head and even adding it up on my phone, I forget sometimes because I have a baby screaming at me.  MAYBE its the fact that I can add up everything on the screen and then shut the screen off while I am still deciding if I am going to eat all the food and then it reminds me that I left off without doing anything and in that moment I remember, DUH take your insulin even though your 6 month old baby is in the middle of a melt down! 

I love my pump TANDEM DIABETES CARE, but fix the DOG GONE ALARMS!!! 






I would love to read your comments!

My Diabetic Dog

So I haven't really talked much about my Diabetic Boxer Levi, my 12 year old furkid mostly because it is so very difficult for me to even speak about.  Levi, the most loving, gentle, caring, kid loving, lap dog wanna be Boxer you will ever meet.  This dog is amazing and amazes me still every day at the ripe old age of 12.  Levi has had many obstacles in life and me and him have tackled them all alone until I met my husband Ray in 2007.  Levi was 6 at the time and we had tackled skin allergy issues from hell, losing my previous Boxer Kassie at age 12.5 and gaining a new Boxer Roxy in 2006.  Levi was there through Kassie's Cancer and grand maul seizures, he was there watching and caring for me.  He and I both cried together after Kassie had to be put to sleep after having Cancer for a year.  Levi has been one of the best two Boxers I have ever had.  I am struggling through writing this at this point as I have tears in my eyes.

In 2009 Levi had a very traumatic seizure and actually stopped breathing on our 80 mph drive to the vet's office.  Luckily my husband can keep brain function during moments like these and he whacked Levi in the chest to get him to breath again.  It was horrible, he was white as a sheet the whole way there.  My awesome vet met me at the office and we rushed him in, got him on oxygen and a shot to dilate his blood vessels.  He made it through all of that in one piece. Thanks to God.  So I decided, against my husbands/then Fiance's wishes, to take him to Aurora to have his heart and brain checked out.  $3500 later and a huge credit card bill Levi was ok, and diagnosed with Epilepsy.  He has been on anti-convulsants since because every time we think he can come off them he has a seizure.  We have since learned to not let him run around like a wild animal outside as it can bring them on.

Fast forward to 2013 and I notice Levi is drinking a TON of water and one morning there was what appeared to be, thick gooey syrup on the kitchen floor.  It was pee and pee full of sugar.  Levi was Diabetic.  His blood sugar was near 500 at the vet that morning.  This was in March, one month after my daughter was born, and my hormones still a disaster from pregnancy.  I am so glad that I have Diabetes so I know what to do with my dog, in some ways.  Not in some ways because it is so different.  He is on Novolin N and they digest their food so much slower than we do. It has been nothing but a nightmare to control and now he is losing weight.  I am feeding him extra calories in the form of cottage cheese because most other things spike his blood sugar.  My big white guy is falling apart fast and right before my eyes.  I know dogs dont live forever and I now know the end is usually  not very much fun at all.  It scares me in some way even more because I know how hard of a time I am having managing him and I am Diabetic, what is going to happen to me when I am older if I have to be put into a nursing home?  I hate that my dog has this but I am doing the best job I can.  Levi doesnt deserve to go this way but then I sit back and think of all the amazing people I know or met that had to go in such a much worse way.  This dog loves my daughter more than I knew an animal could love a child.  He is protective of her, he sits by her, he lays by her, he whines when she is crying because he wants her to be ok, he followed my every move when I was pregnant and now he follows her every move and wants to watch over her constantly.  I ask God every day to let this dog live long enough to be able to run and play outside with her, because I know he wants to do that more than anything in the world.  I didnt know a dog could love a baby as much as he loves my daugther.


I guess I just wish it didn't have to be that way, the good people and animals shouldnt have to have such a crappy end to their lives.  They should get to be happy, healthy, live a long life and die peacefully.  I don't think any of my questions will be answered until I can ask God himself.

Tell your family you love them and be kind to them.  You dont know when your last day will be and if you died tomorrow would you be leaving your family with a bunch of guilt or questions?  I love my family all dearly and I tell them because I want to be sure they all know.  Too many young people dying around me lately, its got me all freaked out and worried.

Levi and Roxy

 

Levi

Waiting for my blood sugar to make up its mind. So annoying.

So Im sitting here in my bed, I want to go to sleep as Im exhausted. Instead I have to stay awake and wait for my blood sugar to decide if it wants to keep crashing or if its going to stay the same or its going to rise. Stupid, I hate it, Im tired, I want to sleep. Every single person and animal in my house is asleep but me. Dexcom was showing arrow angled down, now its arrow angled upward and I have no idea why. Again, stupid. Where is that damn artificial/bionic/dual pumping pancreas thing already? Son of a ***** I am so sick and tired of doing the job of an organ that decided to go on vacation. I want a vacation from managing this beast. Some day I just want to win this battle and be done. Life mixed in with all its craziness makes managing this disease so difficult at times. I just want to be a normal mom, not one that has to find her husband or lay her baby down to go get a freakin juice box, or one that has to go inside to get a freakin juice box, or quit doing whatever activity that requires physical exertion and get a freakin juice box. I am SO SICK OF JUICE BOXES AND FRUIT SNACKS AND GLUCOE TABLETS!!!! I mean I cant even walk around and hold my baby because it makes my blood sugar crash no matter what I try. Yeah I can set a temp basal but the insulin I got 2-4 hours ago is still actively kicking diabetes in the arse so itll cause me to go low. I want a more rapid insulin with less active time. I want an insulin that works in 15 minutes and is outta my system in 30 minutes, that would give so much more freedom for those of us who are so sensitive to it. Don't get me wrong pumping has made my life so much easier but Im ready for even more easy.  I. Am. So. Sick. Of. Diabetes. So sick of it and yet I have so many many many more years of fighting it, looking forward seems like mount Everest, I want to instead see the hill in my back yard, I really wish these scientist would hurry up...they say 4-6 more years before the pump that self regulates you. I'm hoping and praying for it, its all we have to look forward to as type 1 diabetics.

Son of a ***** that hurts and why are you staring at me?!

Yep just got out of a customers car and WHAM my infusion set stabbed me in the butt (I have it on the side of my butt/hip area)! I HATE that more than anything.  Haven't checked yet to see if I am bleeding because then I will have to pull the set.  Dammit.  I will have to pull it anyway because now it hurts and I am mad. Its so hard not to jump and scream AHHHH OUCH ***** OUCH ****** OUCH and grab the side of my butt in those moments!  I would actually use a lot more profanity but I am trying not to swear in this blog to keep it family friendly!  Stupid infusion sets. 

This moment also reminds me of the day I was driving on the way from rehearsal dinner for my cousins wedding and my leg infusion set stabbed me in the leg. So when we got out to the parking lot I jumped back out of the truck, pulled my pants down, in a public parking lot mind you and ripped my pump site out. Yep a whole lotta strangers got to see my underwear that day! Along with my aunt and my cousin! These moments brought to you by Diabetes and its ability to ruin a persons modesty!  Afterall Diabetes and modesty just don't go along together and I am not about to go to a bathroom, EVER to take a shot, when I was on shots. 

Totally off course here.  I actually was once employed by a retail department store for a short stint and the other employees had an issue with me taking my insulin, so the I was told to take it in the other break room and THEN I was told I had to sit or stand in the CORNER to take my insulin because I was making OTHER people uncomfortable!  REALLY how comfortable do you think Diabetes makes me feel?   They actually ACTUALLY suggested that I take my insulin in the BATHROOM where people go PEE and POOP!  You want me to stab myself with a needle in the same place people go POOP!?  Really?  Yeah that crap so did not happen nor did it fly with me! 

HELLO people with working pancreases, DIABETES MAKE US UNCOMFORTABLE TOO at  times! So don't stare, don't point, dont ask if we are shooting up drugs, don't assume we are shooting up drugs, and if you really want to know what we are doing ask if we are Diabetic, don't just stare like we have a third eye or three arms or something really crazy.  I have even asked people before if I have a third eye that I didnt know about.  Being on a pump makes my life somewhat easier and less stressful because less people stare. 

Pros and Cons of my new t:slim pump...so far

Pros:

•  Bolusing is so much easier with the built in calculator that you can add up carbs on, yes you can add up carbs on this pump! Also when you are bolusing you can decide if you want the pump to give you a correction or not.
• The ease of setting a delayed bolus/dual wave or square wave...the way you can select it on the menu is great.  I am going to use this when to counteract the fact that this pump doesnt subract insulin unless you are below 70.  So if I am say, 75-80 I will start eating and then delay my blous for 15 minutes for the full 100% of the dose.  
• The ease of charging this pump everyday for me is a non issue.  I take a shower every morning, so when I unhook it, I just plug it in when I set it on the window ledge of the window in my bathroom.  Why do I use such a strange location you ask?  Well you see I have these awesome cats that like to be acrobats and when these awesome cats decide to jump up on the bathroom counter they typically knock all things down.  So my $6000 medical device is just not safe there AND one of these awesome cats has also in the past CHEWED THROUGH my pump tubing.  Yeah that moment in my life was not awesome, I happened to be pregnant and napping on the couch.  I found it before it became a huge disaster.  So the pump rests up high on the window ledge safe from my acrobatic cats and their chewing abilities!  I have gone to work without my pump once, but since then I check every single day before walking out the door.  I have a checklist I say in my head: phone, wallet, keys, dexcom, pump, glucometer case, glucose tabs, my lunch and jug with ice cubes in it (I drink a ton of water at work).  
•  The so far awesome reps and customer support.  My territory rep and CDE rep from Tandem are great and can answer all my questions!  I have met both of them..Nathan and Lisa you guys are great!  (I am still trying to get one of them to leave a dang comment on my blog, jeesh its like pulling teeth)  I was down to 75% battery and in 15 minutes it was at 100%, not a big deal at all!  You can also charge the pump while you wear it, say on your way to work in your car!
• The screen lock, you have to tap three circles in a row to unlock it AND if you tap anywhere you are not suppose to three times it shuts the screen off and locks. 
• Quick bolus is a neat feature.  You set it up and when you hold the top button and push it so many times you can take a bolus without looking at the pump.  So if you have your pump somewhere where you dont want to take it out of you can do this through your clothing.
• Entering your blood sugar is so easy, you just tap the numbers and boom, done, NO MORE SCROLLING!  
• Entering carbs is so easy as well, you tap the numbers, again NO MORE SCROLLING!
• I love the sleekness of this pump, the ease of reading the screen and just having it in color is nice as well. I dont feel like I am using a pump made 20 years ago anymore.

Cons:

•  The vibrate mode is much too weak, I dont feel it at all.  I feel my dexcom and my cell phone with no issues...the pumps vibrate mode stinks.
• The beep and or vibrate only goes off once at a time.  This stinks.  My MM pump would vibrate or beep three times in a row I think.  This is what my brain needs to realize, hey you, yeah you attached to me here down in your pocket, I am beeping and trying to get your attention.  It will keep going off but in a loud environment I would never hear it and maybe after it vibrates a bunch of times my brain will realize it. 
• The bolus calibration only subtracts insulin if you are below 70...you can counteract this feature but it should be based on whatever you want it to be at.  I am super sensitive to insulin so when I am 70-85ish I need to subtract. (crap my bloodsugar is low now, dang it)
• They need a slimmer lower profile clip, all the freebies I got are awesome but for me they stick out a little more than I am use to.  I will adjust though in time. 
• Cartridge changing and filling the tubing takes a little bit longer but its nothing you cant adjust to.  The tandem CDE, Lisa, suggested filling the cartridge and then letting it start priming the tubing and then change your set out while you wait for it.  I am going to try this technique for sure.  I have yet to change my stuff out since I am on day THREE only! 
• It kind of stinks there is no linked meter but I would prefer the linked DEXCOM over that any day so I guess I can let them off the hook on that one because not carrying the receiver for my Dex would be SWEEET! The Vibe overseas doesnt have a linked meter either so its not like they would be the only one on the market without it.

Thats all I can think of for now. I will keep you all posted if anything else pops into my brain.

I would love to read your comments!

Alternative ways to wear your pump and cgm.

The days I wear long pants I sometimes wear my pump and cgm on my ankles. Today I did both on my ankles. Its actually a freeing feeling not having these things in my pockets. Granted it looks like I am wearing home monitoring devices, but it works! On my right leg I have my t:slim pump in a spiband in a baby sock for padding and on my left leg I have my dexcom in an ipod arm band inside my tallygear case for padding. Call me wierd, call me crazy...it works....I want to get an armband from myabetic.com eventually, but right now I cant even afford a $34.95 diabetic accessory.  So for those of you looking for alternative ways to wear/carry this stuff...there ya go! I know lot of women wear their pump in their bras, but I cant stand it. Ive tried that and in the warm months here it makes me sweat and I dont dare risk water damage from sweat. Im a sweaty monster in the midwest summers we have! In the colder months when I wear two pairs of socks the spiband doesnt work, its too tight...so an adjustable ipod band is better for that and i have the large spiband and my ankles are very small. The ipod arm bands also work right below the knee on the inside of my leg. I hope this helps one of you!

NewsFlash: FDA Responds to StripSafely Campaign

http://www.diabetesmine.com/2013/08/fda-responds-to-stripsafely-campaign.html#more-79878


About DANG TIME!

Just wanted to say thanks....

Totally unrelated to Diabetes in general, but my blog has gotten over 500 views in 20 days.  That is awesome to me and thank you to all of you who are following me and reading and hopefully someone is learning something out there.  Feel free to leave me some comments if something I say has helped you or given you new information or whatever.  It helps me to keep blogging, knowing I am actually accomplishing my goal. 

Some symptoms of a not so good endo, in my experience.....

So after being a Type 1 Diabetic for pretty much 13 years I have a few endos under my belt. The first one who diagnosed me was pretty good but I had nothing to compare him to because he only saw me a few times mostly because it was a 2 hr drive to see him. The second endo was ok I guess but her nurse practitioner drove me nuts. The third one was horrible, plain and simple. I shouldve figured it out sooner but sadly I did not. He would come into the room, talk to me in his nearly impossible to understand accent and ask me how things were going. He never once asked for my meter, any charting, nor offered any training or help managing my diabetes. He was near retirement and pretty much just didnt give a rats banana anymore. He never yelled at me for my a1c's that were most obviously too high or asked what my carb ratios were, or my correction factors or bg targets...nothing, none of it. After a few years of seeing the other patients in the waiting room's health deteriorate I decided to start looking into better treatments. I also met my husband and my bro was on a pump, so I decided I wanted a pump. So the six month battle with my insurance began and my three times cell phone bill overage was included in that battle, no extra charge, except to my wallet! So I finally got my pump after going on a trial one with my local cde, and as previously stated, life saving awesome person! So we had all the settings figured out anf well guess what? My idiots endos cde decided to change a bunch of them, so the following week was of course, full of lows. Barf, not fun. Then I decided I needed a new endo. The fourth endo was great, she was awesome. Of course she moved away. The fifth one that replaced her, ok-ish then not ok. I decided in December 2011 that I wanted a cgm. So I tried the MM CGM and it was terrible!! The pain was insanity! Then I heard of Dexcom on a facebook diabetic support group. So I called then, got my area rep to come out and he put a sensor on me. The first one failed. I cried, a lot.  I thought for sure this wasnt going to work either and I was screwed. Keeping in mind I needed a Dexcom because of three very scary night time lows in the 20's! Si he came back out and did a new sensor on me and it worked! I was sold. Again, another 5 month long battle with my health insurance ensued. Five months, jeesh....just give me my sensor. In my approval paperwork I wrote my ins a 7 page letter as to why I needed them to approve my request. I WON! I cried again to the case manager at my previous health insurance. I didnt think I would win, as they didnt approve many cgms then still. All of this of course did not happen because of this endo. This endos office said "they dont do dexcom" my reply in my brain said wt*@#%%&*&%$@@ do you mean, you dont do dexcom?! Flabbergasted didnt begin to explain how I felt!  They claimed they didnt do it because they didnt have anyone trained and Dexcom has since told me they offered to train them numerous times.  So in other words if the mm cgm hurts you, you have to deal with it and get it anyway.w So I had to go to yet another new endo to get the RX and all the medical necessity paperwork done. Jeesh what a racket, right? Just to get the care I felt I deserved!? So then after all the dexcom stuff was done my endo tells me I have to have an a1c of 5.0% for six months before trying to have a baby?! Seriously, for real, those words came out of his newly graduated from medical school's mouth! Ugh I wanted to puke. I asked him when he could move into my house to help me achieve that stupid 5.0% number! I said that it would be impossible for me to do that without crazy lows and dropping all carbs out of my diet. He didnt care. He said I had to do that to avoid all complication that diabetes can cause on pregnancy. Frustration didnt even describe my feeling of being let down again, by another endo. So I switched endos again. My current endo is a god send. He is amazing. Best endo ever and the pump reps even tell me that as well, that he is more up to date and willing to learn than most endos. He has a genuine concern for his pstients and wants the best for them. All Endos should be this way, really, why arent they?!
So ask yourself, does your endo really care about you, if your current treatment plan isnt working are they trying to find one that does, do they offer to look st your meter or upload your pump or meter for you, its 2013 they sure as hell should!  Are the patients in the waiting room all starting to fall apart and is it because the endo stinks? Does your endo lose your paperwork when you request to get a medical necessity letter because you need more test strips, is your endo hesitant to put you on a glucose sensor or pump if you really want one and have done your research or even a trial pump?.... All questions I just didnt ask myself for many years, years I cannot unwind or undo, dont wait...keep searching for that endo that makes your life with a chronic disease just a tad bit better!  Good Endos are amazing, mine even calls me HIMSELF! OMG. Number one way to let a patient know you actually care about them, call them yourself.

Health Care Reform Subsidy Calculator

To get an idea of what Premium Assistance for Coverage in Exchanges
may or may not do for you check this out: http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

I dont know how any of you feel about this program, but so far figuring it out for my household my health insurance premiums would be so much cheaper.   I need something related to my health care costs to be cheaper and anything cheaper than the $7860/yr in premium I am paying now and the $3500 in deductible.....I am really hoping and praying for some part of this health care reform to help those of us with pre-exsisting chronic diseases to be covered.

I am officially wearing my t:slim insulin pump!!!! YAY!

So I am trained and all settings are correct and this new pump is now attached to me and my old Medtronic Minimed pump is sitting in my purse awaiting its final trip home and into a box and put on my "medical junk" shelf in my house. 

Now I have to figure out if the battle to get a new meter is worth it or not.  I am on a Bayer meter which is not supported by the t:connect program since they dont seem to want to play nice with Tandem since they currently have the meter that links to the MM pump. My insurance requires me to fight for my test strips every year if I want more than 150 strips (sooooo stupid) and so if I switched I am guessing I would have to go through more hoops, I am sick of hoops, I just want what I need to be covered.  Period. Im thinking of maybe trying to get a free Freestyle Lite from my Endo at my next appt and see if that will work out, I am a former Lite lover and to see what copay level they are at and get back on the Freestyle Promise program to get discounted strips after my copay.  Not  having a linked meter is kind of a bummer but the Animas Vibe over seas does not have a linked meter because they are already linked with Dexcom over there.....so whenever the new linked t:slim/dexcom combo comes out it will probably be less of an issue.  I guess if I have to choose meter or Dexcom being linked, I choose Dexcom all day long.  It would be really awesome if both could be linked, but hey I am asking a lot I guess.

The available settings on this pump seem much more extensive than my MM pump and it is more customizable.  I like all the available accessories (which I got a ton free) and the quick bolus feature is flippin awesome! 

Today is Day 1. of me fighting back the monster a little bit harder...having a 6 month old baby makes you become a bit of a warrior weakling. Taking my first meal bolus ever on a t:slim right now!


(Nathan, I really waited until training to start my pump, see I can follow directions sometimes, ask Lisa!)

Why did I decide to start pumping insulin?....

I have been asked many many times why I started on insulin pump therapy. There are a few reasons actually.
First and foremost meeting my now husband made me decide to take better care of myself and actually have the drive to fight my disease back. My husband is my best friend and after meeting him and falling in love I decided I wanted to stick around and spend my life with him and hopefully have a child or two. To grow old with him and enjoy all of lifes moments ahead of us. He is a very brave man to get involved with a person with a lifelong chronic disease.

Meeting my CDE Calli McClain and finding out all this information that I was never given as a t1 diabetic was revolutionary to me. I had been failed, miserably, by the medical field. No endo had mentioned to me carb ratios, correction factors, different daytime carb ratios, none of that! I want diagnosed in 1950!!!! I was diagnosed in 2000!!! Insane! Calli was also a major turning point in my life and her drive to help me succeed instilled a drive inside me to take the reigns. Calli, again, you are awesome and deserve so much more than me telling you that, all the time!!! Our small rural community has NO IDEA how lucky we are to have a person like her around!

My family. I love my family, my parents and my younger brothers. Knowing my grandpa that I loved dearly died at such a young age from diabetes complications and smoking, I do not want to go down his path. I wish he could've had the tools I have to use so he could still be here today. I will use any and all tools available to me to control this damn disease. My brothers, both on insulin pumps now and t1 diabetics. I worry about them, non freaking stop but I feel a bit better knowing they are on pumps and knowing my brother that lives alone is on a cgm. I pray every single day for them to be safe and ok. I love my brothers dearly even though I was the worst older sister EVER, I still cant believe they even speak to me today.

My daughter. I am on an insulin pump and cgm because I want to be here for her as long as God allows me to be, not as long as Diabetes allows me to be. I want to see my grandkids if she chooses to have any. I want to see her grow up and be there for everything.

So for the years I was not on an insulin pump I did the best I could to control my disease with the tools I had and the crappy endos that were suppose to be helping me control my disease. I wish someone would have said a lot earlier to me, hey maybe you should see if there is a better way for you to be controlling your diabetes. I would have listened, because for a long time I had no idea there were better ways.

My brother for being the first to go on a pump. I was in a bad place in my life when he started pumping but after I got out of that situation I noticed he had a lot better handle on things. Crappy life situations=crappy diabetes care, because well, you just don't care about yourself anymore.
My husband and Calli pretty much saved my life in one way or another.

So yes, I went on a pump for myself but many people in my life playing an important role in giving me the push I needed to make that first step.

Tomorrow I will start my second pump ever in my 13 years of having type one diabetes. Am I excited? Excited doesn't even begin to describe how I feel.  A pump is like a four year marriage to a medical device, I don't take it lightly and I have been researching what pump to go to next since the end of last year....I am a very slow decision maker.

(Sorry for any typos, I am on a stupid touch screen smart phone, Ill fix them tomorrow) =D

Three critical times to check your blood sugar

Copied from: Diabetic Connect

At the doctor's office and in any magazine, people with diabetes are often encouraged to check their blood sugars before meals. But in reality, this is only one of the very important times of day to check your blood sugar in order to assess how your body is handling the food you eat and your medication doses.

If you're working hard on improving your A1C results and overall blood sugar control, here are three times of day you'll definitely want to make a priority for testing:

1. Fasting blood sugar

Waking up with a high blood sugar can actually imply that your blood sugar was high throughout the entire night! That means that for 8 hours of the past 24 hours, your blood sugar was consistently high, which will inevitably increase your A1C. Having high blood sugars for that many hours will also inevitably zap your morning energy and enthusiasm for the day, and can easily lead to developing ketones, putting you at severe risk for dehydration and other complications of diabetic-ketoacidosis.
Get your morning number down to a healthy range by talking to your doctor about adjusting your medications and taking a closer look at what you're eating during the last few hours before you go to bed.

2. Post-meal blood sugar

Sure, the number on the meter before we eat is important, but what about what happens after we eat? Especially for those taking insulin, this number can show if you had too much or too little insulin with your meal. For those not taking insulin, this number implies how well your body is simply able to handle the carbohydrate load in the food you're eating. If your blood sugar is consistently high after eating, you can work with your healthcare team to reduce the carbohydrates in your diet and/or increase your medication doses to support your body's needs.
Don't wait! You'll feel so much better after meals if you can get a handle on that post-meal blood sugar.

3. Before bed

Well, we already discussed the importance of waking up with an in-range number in order to prevent spending 8 or so hours with a high blood sugar, but that really starts with where you're at before your head hits the pillow. If you are consistently not eating enough during the day, for example, and you're starving by the time you get home, you're likely to overeat and have a really difficult time keep your blood sugar in-range after dinner.
Another example of high blood sugars before bed is if you're eating a high-carb dinner and a dessert. In order to reduce your carbs and support your blood sugar goals, try having one or the other: carbs at dinner and no dessert OR fewer carbs at dinner and a small dessert. Not only will you sleep better with an in-range blood sugar, you'll feel better when you wake up!



Diabetic Connect

Nathan from Tandem Diabetes, YOU ARE AWESOME!

So I got my "care package" from Nathan the territory manager for my area from Tandem Diabetes and it felt like freaking CHRISTMAS getting all this awesome stuff for my NEW T SLIM insulin pump that I get to start TOMORROW!!!   I asked for a few things from him and this is what he sent me!!  I had it sent to my work, so that is why this picture is on my desk.

• Five screen covers
• Three USB cables
• Two wall power adapters
• Two car usb power adapters
• One t:pack
• One t:case ( it is big but I must say it will be nice to have in the car to hold all spare parts, glucose, fruit snacks, test strips, lancets, infusion sets, tapes, wipes, alcohol wipes, the kitchen sink, print out of current pump settings, and not have to carry that crap on me all the time)
• Eight t:clips
• Two cartridge removal thingies
• One box of barrier wipes
• One t:slim user guide

I'm pretty sure that Medtronic would NEVER NEVER send me this much stuff and let alone at no cost. This is so far my best experience working with a different and new pump company...lets hope it continues and so far from what I hear in the Facebook Tslim group they are doing everything they can to accommodate people who have had any issues with their pumps .THIS is what those of us battling this disease NEED, awesome customer service.  None of us have time to deal with bull crap from a company that we paid thousands of dollars (granted my insurance paid 100% for mine) for a piece of equipment that basically holds our LIVES in its little mechanical hand.

TOMORROW I start the new pump and then THEN I will be able to let you know what it is really like.  So far just setting it up, it was awesome so many more options and settings and alarms.  Anyone with Diabetes knows how important reminders are and alarms....we all ALL forget to take our insulin from time to time because that's life, its busy non stop.  I have a 6 month old baby, two dogs, five cats (three were rescued from starvation on my street and yes I am crazy I know my brothers lovingly refer to me as the crazy cat lady and my husband just calls me crazy), a 100+ year old house, my 1971 Dodge Dart Swinger that needs constant care, and a spouse in my life.  My house/life is a ZOO and I LOVE IT and wouldnt have it any other way!

You best be leaving me a comment Nathan!  =D 

T Slim Pump came in the mail FRIDAY! 08-16-2013

My NEW T Slim pump came Friday and I am waiting for training on Wednesday with Lisa Nichter on Wednesday!  I am pretty sure I have all my settings loaded from my Medtronic Minimed 522 onto my new pump but we will be sure on Wednesday and I will let you all know how I like it.  Letting it just lay in my house has been TORTURE to say the least, but I am trying to be a good patient and wait like they have asked me to.  Come on Wednesday!



To check out my new pump go here: www.tandemdiabetescare.com

They have some pretty cool new accessories: http://www.tandemdiabetescare.com/Products/Accessories/

As always my life revolves around my Dexcom:  www.dexcom.com

The 25 Most Awkward Times To Be A Type 1 Diabetic...shared

This article is awesome and oh so true!



The 25 Most Awkward Times To Be A Type 1 Diabetic

Christmas in August!!!!

This is what you call CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST when you are diabetic!!!!

1. BRAND NEW T SLIM INSULIN PUMP
2. ONE BOX of FOUR DEXCOM SENSORS
3. ONE BOX of FOUR DEXCOM SENSORS
4. ONE BOX of FOUR DEXCOM SENSORS
5. Price Paid: NOTHING, NADA, ZILCH, ZERO!
6. Those 12 sensors are only suppose to last me three months but they will last me 6 months and then October I will order three more boxes which will last another 6 months, then in December I will order three more boxes which will last me 6 more months, so YEAH as long as they dont go to crap because they will expire I will be see for 1.5 years!!!!
7. Meeting your out of pocket max for insurance does has SOME benefits I must say!
8. Then in December I will get another new Dexcom G4 receiver and transmitter at NO COST!  So in this moment I will say I LOVE MY HEALTH INSURANCE!!  These are the moments that outweigh the moments that I hate diabetes, the moments I hate my insurance premium and deductible, hate checking my blood sugar, hate night time lows..yeah in this moment I feel pretty much AWESOME! Im not like really saying I am awesome, but I feel AWESOME about my Diabetes and my ability to hold it by the reigns.

So now I will call the Tandem Diabetes CDE and get myself trained!  STOKED to get in this new pump!!! 

Im pretty sure I hit the Diabetes Lottery JACKPOT!

So after obtaining a small fortune in medical bills from having a baby months ago and meeting my deductible and out of pocket max, I am covered at 100% for the REST OF THE YEAR!  Yeah I could do a back flip I am so excited, well if I could do a back flip without killing myself or landing on my head!  So I ordered 3 months of Dexcom sensors, my new T Slim insulin pump, supplies, tapes, you name it, I ORDERED IT! I have figured I will probably get about $8-10,000 dollars worth of Pump and Sensor related items for the rest of the year, that's full price figures not what I would actually end up paying! That is AWESOME!!  For the first time in my Diabetic life I can say that I LOVE MY HEALTH INSURANCE company for the most part...we just wont talk about the insanely high monthly premium I pay or the whopping big bills I still have!

Where to get an awesome Medic Alert ID!

I have one of these and so far I love it and it's cheap and I am a no frills kind of girl and I hate jewelery that is constantly yanking my arm hair out! I work on cars, renovate my house, garden and am all around really hard on my hands, so something like this has worked out well for me because I dont worry about breaking it or it falling off and I lose it! Wearing one of these could save your life.  I have several colored bands and they are very inexpensive and there is no reason to not wear one everyday of your life!

Click the link for this website on the side of my blog!!


Who needs ID?
ID should be as common and important as putting on a seat belt when getting into a car, or strapping on a bike helmet to go for a ride. Identification is important for people of all ages. If you are a runner, cyclist, jogger, walker, hiker, climber, skater, skier, boarder, or someone who doesn't spend all of their time on the couch, then we encourage you to wear ID. Kids need ID too as they rarely have ID when they go out for a bike ride or walk to school.
Here are some stats for you: Each year over 450,000 of us are taken to hospitals unconscious and without ID. Year after year, over 122,000 runners, walkers, and cyclists are hit by cars. Thousands more suffer blackouts, concussions, heart attacks, heat strokes and other serious accidents. The National Safe Kids Campaign estimates that "every day, 39,000 children are injured seriously enough to require medical attention."

These are great for people with medical conditions as well!

Are Road IDs guaranteed?
Of course! We even offer a "real" guarantee - you know, like companies used to offer. If you are not satisfied with your order for any reason, you can return it for a full refund or exchange. Additionally, our stainless steel ID carries a lifetime guarantee. That's right, if you are tough enough to wear out our stainless steel, laser engraved Road ID, we will replace it at no charge. We challenge you to destroy them (through natural wear - gunshots and hand grenades don't count).
NOTE: Our lifetime guarantee applies to the stainless steel ID plate only. The bands and straps that they are attached to are not covered for life. We do, however, offer low-cost replacement bands and straps for all of our IDs.

21 days with the same Dexcom sensor

So I just wanted to say my current G4 Dexcom Sensor has been on for 21 days and it is still going strong!  Dexcom continuous glucose sensor you are AMAZING!  I LOVE DEXCOM! 

You wanna trade me your big cell phone for all my crap? The real truth about living with Diabetes.

• A funny thing occurred to me today as I have heard a few say things like this lately.  "I dont carry my cell phone on me because it is too big and too much of a hassle"  I wish I was only carrying my cell phone.  I carry my cell phone, Dexcom receiver and insulin pump and my purse because I have to  have my testing strips, glucometer, lancer, spare lancets, spare pump supplies, my currently open bottle of insulin, alcohol wipes, pump batteries, and glucose tablets.  Yep I'd trade it all in for the biggest clunkiest cell phone out there.
• 
  
• My insulin pump is attached to me 24/7 except for when showering and my dexcom sensor is on my body 24/7 reading my blood glucose levels. Do I love that I am able to wear all these awesome and hellatiously expensive technology, yes and no.  I dont love it really, I hate having this stuff on me all the time, but it's helping me live a longer life with less complications so I deal with it.  The days I switch out my sensor and pump at the same time and have nothing stuck to me feel alien, I dont know what life is like without all this crap anymore.  I love the feeling at the same time, I feel free from diabetes for just a few minutes. I love what the pump does for me, I love what my glucose sensor does for me but I hate having to wear it. I hate the stares and the people looking at me like some sort of freak.  I am not freak, I am a type 1 diabetic that wears a pump, I can tell you that much and I am using the latest technology to control my disease.  We are not meant to do the work our pancreas does and it's impossible to be perfect at it. 
• 
  
• Again, NEVER say to a person wearing a pump, OH you must HAVE IT REALLY BAD?!  Your Diabetes is so bad you need a pump, what the freaking heck?!  Also when people say to me, you had it bad when you were younger didnt you?  What does that mean?  Do you say to people who have lost weight and then gained it back, oh you were skinny but now you are fat again?  NO, it's cruel, rude and just not necessary to say, it hurts a persons soul or at least it does mine.  I may put of a brave face and humor your mean comment but inside it hurts me.  Diabetes is never good, its always destroying my body no matter what.  Fluctuations in a person's blood sugar does damage, so unless I eat like a rabbit 24/7 my blood sugar is going to go up and down with food, I would like to see you eat like a rabbit 24/7!  So in short I choose to wear a pump because I WANT to live as long as I can without crazy complications later on in my life and I WANT to use the best tools I can because if I had some other disease would I be using technology that was available 20 years ago vs using the latest and greatest?  Come on, its an easy answer. I WANT to be here for my daughter as long as possible and as long as God has planned for me. I DON'T WANT Diabetes to cut my life short or make the last years of my life a miserable disaster.
•  
• I am saying all of this for the other Diabetics that are too afraid to stick up for themselves, too afraid to ruffle anyone's feathers, too afraid of the response they will get.  Being a Diabetic is a scary thing and no one wants to have to fight that lifelong fight, but we are not given a choice.  We can choose the tools we use and the foods we eat, but we are all human, sometimes we want to eat that horribly unhealthy junk you get to eat all the time with no remorse.  So please DON'T ask, should you be eating that?  It's more like you should ask yourself, should you be eating that ALL the time?  I am eating it once in a great while! I will suffer the consequences for several hours after eating that (milkshake or candy bar or whatever sugar or carb laden food) while you go about your merry way and feel perfectly fine while I sit and feel a bit or a lot guilty or get a headache or stomachache from the blood sugar spike again while you go on your merry way and feel perfectly peachy keen.
• 
  
• Diabetes is scary, it scares all Diabetics to some aspect even if they don't say it or show it. It scares us because some night if we don't wake up because of a low blood sugar and someone isn't there to give us glucagon or they don't wake up easily to hear us having a seizure, we can go into a coma or even die.  Its scary.  My husband cannot take a night shift job, ever, because I don't want to die.  I am 32 years old, I don't want a low blood sugar to take my life of all things.  Its scary because the idea of complications from this disease later in life are very real. I have seen Diabetics missing legs, feet, toes, blind, in dialysis, have horrible leg and foot pain, have an ulcer or broken bone for YEARS, it scares me and it's a very real fear.
• 
  
• Keep these things in mind, for anyone out there reading this that is not Diabetic.  We are people too with real feelings that can get hurt and our Diabetes is ALWAYS on our minds, we never forget about it, we cannot forget about it.  We have to be mindful of it every single minute, we cannot put on the cruise control and if we do we are in a whole other world of trouble. Diabetes is not a disability, its an ability to live life a little bit differently and hopefully a little bit more healthy since we have to watch every bite we eat.  With the tools available to us today we can do a pretty good job kicking Diabetes in the butt, but it's still not a perfect system and not everyone has the ability to afford the latest tools out there.  I wont even talk about the inflated costs of Diabetes care in this country right now.  Anway that's how I feel and I think a lot of other Diabetics feel from talking to many of them on facebook Diabetic groups.  You are not alone, I am not alone there are many people out there in support groups ready to help you if you need.  Before Facebook and the Diabetic groups I thought I was alone and no one understood.  Now I feel much better about my Diabetes because of the support and because of this support I have learned to DEMAND better care and demand my insurance to cover a pump for me, cover a glucose sensor for me, cover my 300 test strips a month, and find health care providers that actually give a CRAP about ME and not my insurance footing the bill!  So if you need help or support, join a group online, it will help you by leaps and bounds if you reach out and ask for it! 

Epic eat the fridge low brought to you by my sponsor diabetes

Eat the fridge low. Awesome. I ate about 20 crackers, drank a juice box, tried some chocolate and it tasted like poo, some easter candy whoppers mini egg things, yeah easter candy you heard right, some black olives and then my bro brought me and my husbands caramel apples from the fair and I inhaled it. Now to wait for the hellatious spike. Ahhh Diabetes, its moments like this that make me hate you. The moments that make my brain think that if I dont eat all things with carbs I will die. Not really carbs that make sense but crazy wierd craving carbs. I mean black olives really, wierd. I ate them and they tasted even better than normal thanks to the stupid crazy low. Im just glad it happened now while Im awake and I didnt get drenched in sweat like I just ran 10 miles. So now my stomach feels like crud. Yippee! Stupid eat the fridge lows. Side note, I only caught this low because of my Dexcom!  I LOVE YOU DEXCOM!!

OMG I just found out my insurance APROVED THE T SLIM PUMP FROM TANDEM DIABETES! HELL YEAH!

OH MY GOSH I just got word that the T Slim insulin pump from Tandem Diabetes was approved by my insurance at 100% since I have met all of my $1500 deductible and $2000 out of pocket max for the year!!! Can I get a HELL YEAH!? (well except for the fact that I still owe $5000 in medical bills, not so hell yeah on that note)  I am so freaking excited, I think I might jump for joy! I dont owe a freaking dime for this $6990 piece of medical equipment, omg this is so awesome!  Normally I would pay 20% which would have potentially been $1338.00!!!  JACKPOT!  Just gotta find out how much supplies are going to kill me now......waiting to find out and I am cringing. 

McDonalds, I love you but I hate you!

So I will just go ahead and rat myself out, I just ate a 106 carb lunch from McDonalds!! HOLY CRAP! Yep, thats right I just couldnt stand the way my bird food lunch sounded today. We will see how terrible the aftermath is after experimenting with a dual wave bolus for the stupid french fries. Fries kill me every time without fail so thats why I hardly ever get fast food or fries but today my will power went on vacation.  So of course now my stomach is mad at me for the abundance of fat that I just ate, but it tasted so good dagnabit! We wont even talk about what my Dexcom says right now.  You gotta live a little bit though.  I dont want to be 70 years old and look back and say now why the hell didn't I ever eat any stupid fast food while I could or while my stomach could handle it.  Our local county fair is this week so I guess you could say I was giving my stomach a warning for the onslaught of crappy, fat loaded, carb loaded junk I will be eating!  Hey, its a once a year thing! I sure hope one of the stands has good elephant ears this year, gosh darn those things are good!

Keeping my good ole Dexcom on for 14+ days

So I am in a lot of Diabetic support groups on facebook.  I am there to help get ideas and share ideas but I get that not EVERYONE in the planet is on facebook.  Battling a chronic disease for your entire life every single day, sometimes you need some support from others going through the same problems. 

Anway I know a lot of Dexcom users out there have a lot of problems getting the Dexcom to stay on.  For me, pretty much nothing will stick to me and if it's sticky enough to stick to me I get a hellatious rash.  Rashes SUCK from diabetic related items that are stuck to you for several days.  Skintac wipes work great, but if I don't want to itch like a dog with fleas I cannot use it.

After several trials and errors I have finally found a process that works, for me.  On the days  I need a new sensor I am sure to take a shower first and scrub the dead skin off the area I plan to use, which for me so far the only places that work comfortably are my sides and or love handle areas. I get out all my supplies and wipe my sides down with at least 2 alcohol wipes.  I wipe down the transmitter and get out my smith and nephew opsite flexifix that my insurance covers from Edgepark Medical (which by the way after 14 days it rips every spec of hair clean off, so that's your forewarning and no it doesn't feel good, but its not as bad after a shower).  I have a pattern that I have made to go around the outside of the transmitter and over the build in tape/adhesive.  They basically look like two big letter C's.  I will post pics when I change my sensor out on Wednesday (if it fails, I am on day 19 right now).  So I have my husband (who is a Dexcom pro now) put the sensor on me, since I cant bend like a pretzel to do it myself and then he also applies the tape for me.  I put this tape on from day one, or by the end of day one it is falling off.  I have also started putting a long skinny rectangular piece over top and across the transmitter to make sure it stay on and because I am known to get this stupid thing stuck in the back of chairs with slots.  Hey Dexcom people, Gen5 needs to lay flatter to the skin, OK?  This protruding thing sucks, the SevenPlus was better, by a LOT in this aspect!

All in all though the G4 Dexcom is awesome, the accuracy is better, the reliability is MUCH better and the range is just awesome.  If I had to choose between being on a pump or a CGM, I would choose the CGM without a doubt.  I have taken short little breaks from the Dexcom and hated every single day it was off.  I loved not having it on me but hated not knowing what my Diabetes was in the process of doing, crashing, rising or staying steady. 

Home renovations do not agree with being a diabetic warrior

Working on our house, having a super SUPER crabby baby and managing a supid disease just do not get along. Today I was on a permanent roller coaster ride and it was not fun. First Im high, so I correct, then Im low then I dont have time to drink a juice box because as soon as I lay my crabby baby down or sit her down she screams bloody murder. Jeesh. Then I cant eat lunch because Im still too high. Blood sugar comes back down so hey now I can eat lunch oh wait no I cant crabby baby is asleep on me and if I move she will scream again. Ugh.

I just want to hit the off switch for diabetes and have a normal weekend where every moment doesnt revolve around my blood sugar plus the five million other things in life. I am so dang sensitive to insulin just doing simple little things makes me crash. Its so aggrivating. I need a better faster insulin that doesnt linger in my system as long as humalog. Would you scientist hurry up with that already. I drink at least, at LEAST, 8 small 15 carb juicy juice boxes in about 4-5 days. I should be ceo of that company by now, Ive bought so much stupid juice. A person can only stomach so many glucose tablets in one day. Yuck. Where is my vacation from diabetes? Ive put enough time in for at least a good three weeks off, that and I want a pension too. Oh wait diabetes isnt a paying job. Darn it, who signed me up for this position?

Pregnancy and Diabetes and how Dexcom made it possible....I have a 6 month old baby!

Since starting my other blog, which I have now moved here, I have had a baby!  I cant really give any moment by moment blogs about it since I am no longer pregnant but I can tell you that it is possible and with the right team and support system anyone can do it!  It was actually a lot easier for me than I expected it to and my insulin needs didn't really jump up that high but I tried to eat a normal amount of carbs for me and not indulge in many of my cravings and that was HARD to do but it can be done!  I had my Dexcom CGM and my MM pump throughout the whole thing and without my Dexcom attached to me there is no way I could've done as good of a job as I did.  My Dexcom is my LIFELINE without it I would feel like you chopped my arm off.  Dexcom is such a priceless tool in my Diabetes toolbag.  It not only saves my life when I am low and do not know it but it also helps me to pick out better more diabetic friendly foods.  I cant lie to my Dexcom about what I ate, it is reflected on the graph.  Dexcom keeps me responsible for my Diabetes and reminds me, hey there buddy I am watching your every move, dont try to fool me, you can't.  So if you go ahead and eat that KING SIZE candy bar, I will know it and I will scream at you with two arrows pointing straight up and I will beep at you to tell you, hey whatever you just ate, yeah that probably wasn't a good decision  because now I am going to cuss at you and beep and vibrate to remind you how dumb of a decision that was!  Then I am going to tell on you to your Endo and he is going to see that crazy insane blood sugar spike. Yep, Dexcom keeps me responsible for my disease.  So do I and did I avoid any carb loaded sugar infested foods while pregnant and even now today, you bet your butt I do! 

I got to see the AWESOME new T Slim insulin pump from Tandem Diabetes, here is what I think...

So yesterday I met with the Tandem Diabetes territory manager Nathan Reese and got to see the T Slim pump.  One word describes this pump, AWESOME! I have been a Minimed pumper for four years and dont really have all that many complaints about it or their customer service.  I am just ready to give my business to a pump company that is on the leading edge of Diabetes technology.  I currently wear a Dexcom CGM and cant say enough praises about it so I wanted a pump company that was working with Dexcom for a combined pump.  It's in FDA and they hope for it to come out in a year.  Im not holding my breath but it is an awesome thing to look forward to.  New and exciting treatments and devices are really all that we have to look forward to as a Type 1 Diabetic with a pancreas that decided to take a permanent vacation!

So here is what I think is awesome about their pump, keeping in mind I only got to play with it for about 2 hours and dont OWN one myself.  Yet (I just sent the fax to work on getting it).

• The menus are awesome, very easy to navigate and easy to change settings.  To change your bolus/basal/carb ratio/BG targets/sensitivity/EVERYTHING for one time period is on in one area, no going back and forth a million times to different menus.  You can also set up various profiles, for say the weekends, or to correlate with your mentrual cycle (if your a woman you get this hellatious craziness) or if you workout on certain days, its just awesome.
• The fact that they are working with Dexcom for a pump that gets the readings vs carrying the separate device is in itself, AWESOME!
• You can upload several different brands of meters onto their program and your doctor can log in and see your uploads from your meter and your pump.
• The reservoir is a LOT different and will take some adjusting but it is a bit better because if there happens to be a pump failure, it wont accidentally dump all of its insulin in your body, which would 100% gaurantee a trip to the ER.  For myself personally, if I loaded that sucker up with 300 units it would last me about 10 days if I let it and so yeah 300 unit would kill me in a flash! SCARY! I have had one of my 6-10 Minimed pumps (yeah I had it replaced that many times and I never dropped it as they accused me of) I was priming the tubing and stopped holding the act button to stop the priming and yeah it didnt stop priming.  That was scary! They actually flew a pump to me that night, that was pretty awesome though! Gotta give MM props for that!
• The bolus speed is the same at the MM pump, for me this is great because boluses sometimes burn as it is, I could NOT  handle a faster bolus speed.
• Correction doses are given before your meal bolus, say your high and it wants to give you 10 units for your meal and 3 for the high, it will give the 3 first say if you set an extended bolus. (I think I have that right)
• So far that is all I can think of but after I get it, I will let you know how I feel using it!