Halloween, my birthday, candy tempations, my daughters first Halloween.....

Today has many labels for me.

1. My birthday
2. Halloween candy torturous temptations
3. My daughters first Halloween
4. Carb carbs carbs
5. Finishing up an awesome project
6. Discount codes for you, yeah YOU reading this!  =D

Halloween can still be fun when you are Diabetic.  It just takes a lot more work and strength to not eat a bunch of junk. 

Its my birthday, I am a year older and another year without any Diabetic related complications.  This is such an awesome accomplishment!  I try my hardest to keep my disease in check and I am so proud to say that so far I have kept away any complications.

My daughters first Halloween is today, she is still a baby but its an exciting first milestone.  I am so excited to show people her costume! 

Last night I performed a bathroom surgery on my foot (Mollys term) and got a stupid ingrown toe nail out of my toe.  Bad toe nail.  I dont know why my toe nail has to misbehave.  I had a few fellow Diabetics tell me I should probably see a podiatrist.  I am not stoked about that.  Just thinking about them cutting part of my nail off makes me want to puke.  Yeah I can darn near dig to china in my foot and many other things I shouldn't have done but cutting my nail off, yuck, makes me want to puke.  Weird right?  So far my feet are ok, but what if in the future I dont feel that nail growing into my toe, yeah that would result in some major problems.  So I suppose I should go to the foot doctor.  Yeesh.

Today I put the finishing touches on some AWESOME EXCITING upcoming news I have to share with you all.  No, I am not pregnant! LOL!

I am so freakin excited about this news, I am very nearly ready to burst at the seems to tell you all.

I got a couple more discount codes from companies to help you all save money.  I am all about helping other Diabetics.  There are too many of us out there that still need help and it really bothers me.

I would love to go to school to become a CDE, but that is so not happening.  I really love my current job working with my dad.  

I talked to the owner of PortaPocket ™, she is awesome and is going to write something up about her company for me to share with you all.  I am getting some of her stuff to try and tell you all about since you know I love to wear my pump and dexcom reciever on my ankle.  Dude I need my pockets to use as pockets and my bra to use as well, my bra.  So other options are a must for me!

Ok so that is enough rambling for one day.

Leave me a comment or two, would ya.  Yeah I am still begging. 

Diabetes etiquette

http://bloodpressureanswered.com/diabetes-etiquette-for-people-who-dont-have-diabetes/

Check out this article. We are not alone in how we feel.

Decoding Halloween

Hope this helps all of you who eat Halloween candy!! We all know the torture!

To my best friend Lyndsay

Totally non diabetes related post, sorry. Lyndsay thanks for the card! You are the best friend a person could ever have!  I figured Id post it on here and you would see it! You did use the correct address. LOL!

Pump/CGM gear and accessory websites with discounts!

Hey just a quick note.  Did you guys see the tab I have for pump and CGM gear and accessories?

I have contacted a few of these companies and gotten discount codes for the readers of my blog.

Check them out!

http://typeonediabeticwarrior.blogspot.com/p/buy-pumpcgm-gear.html

I am still getting a few from other companies, one coming from Porta Pocket soon!! 

Juice and arsenic

Do those of you who drink apple or grape juice when you are low wonder about how much arsenic you are drinking?

I was wondering this today.

I am also wondering if the large amount of apple juice I have ingested in my 13 years of being Diabetic if I should have my blood checked?  Probably way over thinking this but I am just throwing it out there.  Juicy Juice sources its juice from over seas.  This one says its from Chile and sometimes it is Argentina.  Those are the two I think I have seen.

I drink at least 8-10 of these a week and during a weekend house cleaning or yard work or getting my yard ready for Spring/Fall I probably drink 10 in one day.

What do you think?

 

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/nutrition/arsenic-in-juice 

ACA Subsidy Calculator

What it feels like to be Diabetic

• Doctor appointments
• Lab tests
• Poking my finger at least 10 times a day
• People asking if poking my finger hurts
• It hurts to poke my finger, DUH, its a needle poking my finger, poke yours once
• Some days are great and some are just crap and there is no rhyme or reason to it
• Knowing that some night this disease could kill me
• Fear of dying from Diabetes and not seeing my baby grow up
• Fear of dying from Diabetes and leaving my husband alone to raise our child
• Fear of dying period
• Being bombarded by things and people who think they know how to cure type 1
• Medical bills on top of medical bills that will never stop, ever
• Arguing with pharmacies to use my test stip discount card so I can actually save some money
• Calling my insurance company all the time
• Picking up prescriptions every month
• Worry about future complications
• Fear of future complications
• Family members freaking out when you don't answer the phone
• Family members worrying about me
• Knowing my body isn't healthy and never will be
• Knowing the cure for my disease hasn't happened in over 90 years and isn't coming soon
• Doing things I know will cause my blood sugar to crash, then I have to eat SUGAR
• Eating foods I know will cause my blood sugar to spike
• Eating foods I know people will look at me all crazy like because they THINK I "cannot" eat that
• Seeing the judgement of me on people's faces
• Hearing the judgmental whispers from people
• Knowing no one else gets it unless they have it
• Feeling alone and secluded from normal people
• Feeling like an outcast
• Feeling like no one really cares you are Diabetic
• I dont want to be Diabetic anymore
• It's hard, its a never ending battle
• Diabetes wears me out
• Some days I just want to quit, throw in the damn towel and get a break
• Never getting a break from Diabetes
• I hate knowing my blood sugar is dropping and having a sleeping baby on me and not wanting to move and wake her up, but I have to or I could pass out
• Knowing my Diabetes does limit me sometimes and sometimes I miss out on things because of it and others don't understand
• I can't just jump in my car and go somewhere without planning everything out
• I can't just do anything without making sure I have enough supplies
• I hate that this disease limits me
• I hate that going for a dang walk makes my blood sugar crash
• I hate that doing anything fun or that I enjoy makes my blood sugar drop
• I am sick of low blood sugar
• I am sick of high blood sugar
• I am sick of my blood sugar being on my mind 24/7
• I am sick of trying to figure out how many carbs I am eating
• I am sick of being sick
• I am sick waiting for that ever so elusive cure
• ☑ I just want to be normal 

My life revolves around this bottle

The penalty for not buying health care with the ACA.

Check this chart out to find out if you owe a "fine" if you don't buy health insurance!
http://kff.org/infographic/the-requirement-to-buy-coverage-under-the-affordable-care-act/

Again the calculator to figure out your premium
 http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/ 

Also remember in some state Medicare is expanding coverage to cover people who fall below income limits but are still required to buy health insurance.  

Reason number 1,000,000 I love my Dexcom

Reason number 1,000,000 to love my dexcom cgm.

I just checked my blood sugar because my sensor failed earlier (it was over two weeks old) and I am 78 and had no clue I was going low or near being low.

Bad blood sugar bad. Why wont it just behave?

Oh wait, I have type 1 Diabetes thats why.

:-)

Somebody over estimated their carbs earlier out of pure laziness.

Who the heck wants to freakin weigh or measure out every dang bite of food they eat anyway. Every time. Every meal. Every day.

I got a long freakn way to go, hopefully at least another 50 years or more.

I need to do the math for how many more meals that is.

54,750 more meals that I have to calculate the carbs for if I live to 83 for three meals a day.

Wow.

What about Diabetes advocacy?

http://www.diabetes24-7.com/?p=1747%3Dtrue

This article makes a good point. A diabetes blogger almost passed out behind the President because she was dehydrated but no one asked her about being Diabetic and pregnant or how difficult it is.

I too am so thankful for the new health care reform. I am not slapped with a huge premium because of my diabetes. My premium at my job went down $7,000 SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS, did you read that? Yeah insane.

My husband and daughter will be getting a plan from the new exchange system because we qualify for tax credits on it.

I am anxious to use it when my insurance agent says to give it a shot, after the bugs are fixed.

Covering all people with pre exsisting conditions is fabulous, for those of us with chronic long time incurable diseases.

Diabetes is not a cheap adventure.

This article was well written and I love how low blood sugar was explained.

Did you know that insulin was created just a short 90 years ago?

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/90-years-ago-today-two-canadians-won-the-nobel-prize-for-discovering-insuli

October 25, 1923 The two Canadians who invented insulin won the nobel peace prize for creating insulin. If I was born 100 years ago I wouldnt be alive today at 32 years old. Diabetes is treatable with insulin but not curable.  Its a lifelong battle against your blood sugar and preventing complications like kidney failure, loss of feeling in your feet and loss or partial loss of eye sight because of poor control of blood sugar. My pancreas doesnt work and never will again without a real cure, I keep hoping and praying I will see one in my lifetime, if it wont help me at least prevent it in future generations. So they too dont have to suffer.

Baby induced low, again.

Rocking/jiggling my daughter to sleep and I go low. Never fails. I never know when she will hit the point of I need a nap NOW so I cant prepare ahead of time and even if I could it wouldnt matter. I still go low. Eating another freakn glucose tablet. Blech.

I am so sick of lows.

Anyone with crazy physical activity sensitivity please share any tips that work for you please. I have tried everything. I have just decided this is how my life is going to be until I no longer have to hold or carry or rock a baby. I love it but hate the blasted lows.

Thank God for my amazing husband. If he wasnt as helpful and hands on as he is I would be so lost.

When will we get a faster insulin with less tail end? So when I set a temp basal and need it to work asap, it actually will.

Come on Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk get on that would you? Or somebody?

Did you know that some glucometers can test if your soda/pop is diet or not?

If your meter will cooperate, if it is diet it will say lo or error.  If it is not diet it will register a blood sugar reading.  Just a little tid bit of information I know some people are not aware of. 


Leave me a comment if this has helped you!  I still feel like I am talking to a wall, I would love to hear from some of you!  OK I am begging.  PLEEEEZE.  =D  

Why pumping insulin makes my life easier

So I know a lot or most people out there with Type 1 Diabetes are still taking multiple daily injections (mdi) which is great if it works for you, but it doesn't work for me and I will tell you why.

• Insulin sensitivity.  I have it, and a lot of it.  I get up and go outside to take car pictures or decide on the spur of the moment to clean my house like a maniac (yes I am known to do that, just ask my husband) and no matter what my blood sugar drops.  If I have time to plan this sort of thing ahead of time and set a temp basal on my pump (temporarily decrease the amount of insulin I get from the pump, basal is background insulin or what long acting insulin would do (lantus, levemir)) my blood sugar isn't as volatile.   Taking mdi shots does not coincide with my life.  Me and long acting insulin do not agree because I am a very active person and never sit still for more than a few minutes.  
• Taking shots in general.  My skin or something just doesnt like it.  I look like a druggie, every time and every place I took a shot I would get a giant bruise and I dont bruise easily, ever.  I once, ok several times, have whacked either my leg, arm or head on something, because I am oh so graceful, and never get a bruise.  I mean it will hurt so bad I have to sit down or I will pass out or puke and nothing, not one mark.  The other day I tripped up my front steps and smacked my shin on our wood front steps, yep almost puked and not one mark from it.  
• Figuring out what dose of insulin to take.  Yeah I wont lie, I had no carb ratios, correction factors, sensitivity factors, none of it, my worthless previous Endo was a JOKE.  I didnt even know that stuff existed and even if I did there was no way in heck I would be able to figure out or memorize the things my pump has already set in it.  It is so much faster and easier and more accurate to use a pump.  For me.
• Charting/logging/graphing.  Yeah never did that either.  Now I dont have to, my pump has it in its memory.  LOVE that feature.
• Remembering how much insulin you took or how many carbs you ate the meal before.  Yeah this doesn't happen on shots either, or at least for me it didn't.  I can look in my pump history and whalaa there it is!
• THE one bad thing about pumping is that ignorant people assume that your Diabetes MUST BE BAD because you are on a pump.  This is the number one thing that drives me insane. 
• Female hormonal swings and blood sugar control do not play well together.  Being on a pump makes this issue easier to deal with because I can just change profile settings on my t:slim pump so during certain times of the month I can get more or less insulin with just a quick profile change.  
• I dont have to get out any needles or insulin containers so less people stare at me.  I do not miss the stares from people.  I always took my insulin sitting where ever I was eating, because I never felt it was necessary for me to take it somewhere else because of other peoples issues.  So I got a lot of stares.  People stare if you do anything weird or abnormal so I was sort of use to it, but now that I am on the pump I don't get that at all anymore.  I had to take shots one day when my last MM pump failed and people stared, I hated it and it brought back all my old memories of the staring.  It made me feel sick to my stomach, so I am glad I don't deal with that anymore.   If you are reading this and not Diabetic yourself, next time you see someone taking insulin, please don't stare at them. 
• Pumping insulin has made me a better Diabetic.  I am more vigilant about my disease and my pump even tells me if I missed a meal time bolus (bolus is to cover carbs, like fast acting insulin for shots (humalog, novolog) so then I think, duh take your insulin!
• Pumping is 100% fast acting insulin, you no longer take any long acting insulin at all.  This is the number one reason that when an infusion set fails, it sucks, your blood sugar shoots up very quickly.  So for me wearing an infusion set that cannot fail without your knowledge is important, I wear 45 degree sets so I can see the cannula going into my skin.  90 degree sets can fail and not be in your skin and you dont know it until your bg is sky high because you cannot see the cannula going into your skin.

So that mostly sums up why pumping is better for me vs injections. My t:slim pump is amazing and I love it, the ease of use is phenomenal and unbeaten by any other pump maker out there, in my opinion.  This is just my personal experience, as you all know, everyone's Diabetes is completely different than someone else's.  No two Diabetics are the same which is why the nature of this disease can be so complicated and difficult.


Dont forget to leave me some comments!  =D

Tandem Diabetes Care t:slim insulin pump vs. Medtronic Minimed insulin pump

This post has been really popular so I thought I would reblog it and make some updates.

I recently got an email from my blog asking for my pros and cons between my new pump and my previous MM pump.  I had the older paradigm pump and not the new Revel, so my comparison may not be as up to date as others. (this review was written by me on 10/24/2013 originally and I do not work for MM or Tandem.  If you read the about me page, you will see that I sell cars. --in response to a rude commenter who cannot even leave their name and I will not publish your comments.)


A good chart to look at can be found here:  http://www.diabetesnet.com/diabetes-technology/insulin-pumps/current-pumps/pump-comparison   Those are the specifications and facts.

This is my personal experiences with each pump.

Last night my bg was awesome!

Just had to share my overnight dexcom graph because it was awesome!  I wasnt really up to 150, I did a spot check finger stick and I was 120.   My over nights have been stinking to high heaven lately but I am working on it. 

Low blood sugar, how I loathe you.

Freezing my legs off taking car pics outside this morning, its currently 39 degrees!! Brrrr I for sure could NOT handle an outdoor winter job unless I was so overdressed that I probably couldnt move. Sitting in a warm truck now waiting for my blood sugar to come back up. 25% of my normal insulin levels are still too much for me when I am outside. Jeesh I dont think I will ever figure out my crazy insulin sensivitiy. Almost 13 years of being Diabetic and I still cannot figure out how to keep my bg up when I am doing anything physical. Taking car pics is just too much for my diabetes to handle I guess. Eating my 5th glucose tablet of the morning currently.

Thats my wonderful dexcom graph showing my breakfast spike and now crash from being outside.

The cost of insulin is going up? When will we get a cheaper generic?

An article I just read on Insulin Nation.  How and why do these companies think or need to keep increasing the cost of our insulin?  Why do we not have a generic yet?

I want to know the answer to these questions, does anyone out there have the answer?

WALMART
Novolin^®/ReliOn^® Human Insulin
Novolin^®/ReliOn^® is human insulin that works to lower your blood sugar (glucose). Novolin^®/ReliOn^® is manufactured for Walmart by Novo Nordisk, the world's leader in insulin production.
The Novolin®/ReliOn^® line includes the following types of insulin:
• Novolin^® N (NPH human insulin [rDNA origin] isophane suspension)
• Novolin^® R U-100 (regular insulin human injection, USP [rDNA origin])
• Novolin^® 70/30 (70% human insulin isophane suspension, 30% human insulin injection [rDNA origin])

Novolin^®/ReliOn^® Human Insulin - $24.88

Any change in insulin should be made cautiously and only under the supervision of a doctor.
Novolin^® is a registered trademark of Novo Nordisk.


So NOVO NORDISK, if you can make a cheaper version of those products for Walmart, why not NOVOLOG?

Why can't Lilly jump on the band wagon and make cheaper Humalog?  

Anyone have the reason for this?

http://insulinnation.com/insulin-costs-spike-upward-will-generics-help/

The two biggest insulin manufacturers have been raising prices on their products, according to a recent Bloomberg article.

Sanofi increased the prices of its insulin products by 10% to 15% percent, the second price increase in a year. Novo Nordisk, it’s main rival, increased the cost of its insulin offerings 8% to 10% in the second quarter, and analysts believe Novo’s price hikes aren’t over for 2013. It’s unclear from published reports whether those price hikes were directly passed on by pharmacies to consumers, although diabetes bloggers recently have been voicing concerns online about higher prices for insulin.

The price spikes come in sharp contrast to an expected 72% decline in the reimbursement rate for some mail-order diabetes care products, due to a new Medicare competitive bidding process instituted by the government, as previously reported in Insulin Nation.  That slash in the reimbursement rate is expected to drive down the prices for many basic necessities in diabetes care products.

In conference calls, officials with the drug companies reported that they were able to raise insulin prices because of a 1% to 2% drop in global spending on pharmaceuticals, according to the Bloomberg report. That spending drop allows more space in insurers’ budgets to absorb higher insulin prices.

Insulin costs are a huge burden for many people with diabetes throughout the developed world, and remain out of reach for many in developing countries, according to a 2010 Health Action International report. The price of insulin can vary wildly according to where you live, the report says. A one-day survey of insulin prices found 10 ml of insulin may cost from $1.55 a vial in Iran to $76.69 in Austria. Drug companies often offer discounts in developing countries, but the cost of insulin is still prohibitive for many people with diabetes in these countries.

It’s believed that, even in the face of rising profits, the major insulin manufacturers are aware that the development of generic insulin brands soon will cause a downward pressure on prices. In February, Mylan Inc. announced it would oversee the marketing efforts of generic insulin for Biocon, India’s largest biotechnology company, according to an Associated Press report.

Diabetes Vaccine?

Any of you read about this yesterday?  http://www.medicaldaily.com/diabetes-vaccine-breakthrough-finnish-doctors-discover-virus-causes-disease-pinpoint-5-strains

Diabetes Vaccine Breakthrough: Finnish Doctors Discover Virus That Causes Disease, Pinpoint 5 Strains For Vaccine Production

 

My Facebook Challenge for each of you!

I challenge everyone on Facebook who is Diabetic to change their profile and cover photo to one of the images on the World Diabetes Day facebook page!  November is Diabetes Awareness Month, who will you make more aware of your disease?


Will you take the challenge?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Diabetes-Day/67935817021

Photos:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Diabetes-Day/67935817021?id=67935817021&sk=photos_stream

I changed my pictures, will you change yours?

https://www.facebook.com/MeganDiabeticWarrior 


Send me a comment if you changed yours as well!

World Diabetes Day NOVEMBER 14th!

What will YOU do? TAKE THE PLEDGE and let the world know. Together we CAN stop Diabetes

Have you had a chance to take the pledge? 

http://www.stopdiabetes.com/

Why do some teachers and schools make life for their diabetic students so difficult?

So I know some schools may have certain policies on why their students have to go to a nurses office to get food for lows or check their blood sugars but this rule really should only apply to young kids who need help.

I have heard too many stories about someones child being denied the ability to manage their own Diabetes. This is really quite a ruckus.  I hear of students having to get the ADA involved and go through all these crazy hoops. I understand those rules are there for a reason, but what about the people who don't know or don't told about the extra steps they can take. What about the child that is so low that they have a seizure in class because they didn't realize they were so low until it was too late to be excused from class?   What if that teacher hasn't been trained to give glucagon, and that glucagon is in the nurses office and she isn't in her office and the room is locked?  What happens then?  Do the parent sue the school for denying their child to have fast and easy access to correct lows? What happens if that child had recently been given glucagon so therefore it doesn't work because the child doesn't have any stored up glycogen in their liver?  The child could have probably take corrective matters faster if they had some fast acting sugar with them. 

When I was diagnosed I was a freshman in college. Some of my teachers gave me a hard time about it. I was 18 years old?! They still gave me a load of crap over it. I mean jeeze, I was just diagnosed, I was very upset about it all and they didn't care about my feelings. They only cared that I may cause a very small disturbance, its not like Diabetes was a disturbance to my entire life or anything. I told them I may need to check my bg in class or eat some glucose tablets or fruit snacks or something. Some teachers didnt care, some made it seem like I was asking for their left kidney. 

I guess what I am trying to get across is that teachers and schools need to be more sensitive towards their diabetic students and realize that Diabetes is a bigger inconvenience to us than it is to them. This disease is a very demanding disease, sometimes walking to a nurses office is just out of the question. Frankly if the student is fully capable of managing their diabetes they should be allowed to.  

If you are a teacher and have a diabetic child in your class, YOU need to learn how to take corrective matters so your student doesn't pass out.  If your school doesn't allow the child to carry anything to eat then you should take it upon yourself to talk to the child's parents and learn about what you should do.  I do not have a diabetic child and I pray to God everyday that she doesn't have to know what its like to be one, but if she ever did have to deal with this I can guarantee I would not allow any school or teacher to pick on my kid or deny her the ability to carry fast acting sugar on herself or carry her own glucometer.  

Teachers and schools who deny any child or student these rights or try to make them feel like they are a burden, should be ashamed of themselves, granted that they are able to manage their own Diabetes. 

Thank God for Dexcom deserves a sentence in itself.  Every insurance company should cover the Dexcom for any type 1 child.  I feel like my Dexcom is the window into my body as to what my Diabetes is doing, moment by moment. 

At least some schools are allowing students to self manage.  Read about it here:  http://www.stopdiabetes.com/advocacy-center/?loc=stopd-nav

Who am I, why am I here, what is my goal?

 Read the whole page with some pictures here:  http://typeonediabeticwarrior.blogspot.com/p/why-am-i-here-on-blogger.html

My name is Megan, I am a type 1 Diabetic.  I'm here to share my life with Type 1 Diabetes while using a t:slim insulin pump (former Medtronic wearer and I am never looking back) and Dexcom glucose sensor. I am married to my wonderful husband and work full time as a Finance and Internet Manager at our family car dealership. We have an amazing daughter, two Boxers and five insane cats.  (I took in strays ok, I know I am crazy)  =D

Being on my pump and Dexcom has not only made my life easier in general but it has made my life at my JOB easier.  Going outside and taking pictures of cars and showing them to customers is a very on the spot kind of thing, I dont have time to set a temp basal 30 minutes before I have to get up and do something.  So my Dexcom has become my lifeline, I need to know when my blood glucose starts to drop because I drop FAST and sometimes so fast I don't notice until I am at 40.  I am extremely sensitive to physical activity, so much so that I hate it.  My Dexcom and pump have also made becoming a parent 1 million times easier.  I could not have gone through pregnancy without my pump and Dexcom.  My Dexcom helps me take better care of my daughter, because I need to be there for her and I need to know if my blood sugar is crashing.  Now, not when I am so low that I can't function.  I cannot imagine my life without my pump and Dexcom.  

I am a self proclaimed Diabetes Advocate, I have made one of my goals in life to help other people with Diabetes.  I like to try to help point people to the right medical team, show them resources online, show them about discount programs, or whatever it may be.  Nothing bothers more than to hear that someone is struggling to control their diabetes and their general practitioner doesn't seem to have any ideas of how to help them.  Its 2013 not 1950 and yet it seems a lot of us with type 1 are getting the same level of care as 1950. I want to yell from the rooftops that there are better options out there now, go get them!  

If you are a Diabetic yourself please join the Diabetic Warrior Facebook group that I started. I started this group mainly because all of the other groups were open groups and anyone in the world could read the things we post, our most private and stressful Diabetic moments. Some of them let anyone in, including spammers and people who were just being nosey.  I didn't like that, so I started a new group.   

https://www.facebook.com/groups/diabeticwarriors/

  
A good Endocrinologist and a good Certified Diabetes Educator will make your life so much easier, better and more educated! My CDE Calli is the most amazing person I know in the Diabetes field along with my amazing Endo Dr, Iverson! 

Calli helped me to save my life in 2008 by putting me on the pump and she pretty much held my hand thru the whole process and talked me into it. She is a former medtronic rep and knew the minimed pump inside and out and had my settings nailed down in a very short time period. My brother was on the pump before me so he cleared the path towards it. My control was day and night on the pump and I will NEVER look back to injections. I also tried the medtronic cgm sensor a few times and it was the worst experience in my life. The pain was more than i could bear on a day to day basis. The taping down process was horrible and it just grossed me out. I called Dexcom to send a rep out so I could try it and Tim Palmer met me at my cde's office and he put one on me, the first one failed.  I felt defeated, I actually cried.  Tim came back out and put a new one on me and if was 100% success and I said ok lets go to war with my insurance to get it covered. I had my endo and cde write letters and I wrote an 8 page letter to my case manager with my former health ins company. They read it all and she called me to tell me I was approved.  She said it was the most paperwork she had ever seen. It took me 5 months to get it approved and the day she called me to tell me I was approved I cried! 

The turning point for me was the week I had two lows in the 20s at night. It was two too many close calls, I didn't want to die in my sleep. Dexcom helped me to actually sleep at night without fear or worry.  I have been on Dexcom since December 2011. 

It's just the little things that some people just don't know about, if we all gather more information and share it with each other, hopefully we can help some Diabetic somewhere. 

You can contact Molly McElwee Malloy CDE, yourself on twitter at @mollymacT1D and she can help you find a CDE in your area! Molly is being very generous by offering to help everyone with Diabetes to find good quality care!

World Diabetes Day is coming up! What are you going to do to make the world more aware of Diabetes?

Copied from:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-Diabetes-Day/67935817021

World Diabetes Day is an official United Nation’s World Health Day. It is celebrated every year on November 14. The date was chosen because it marks the birthday of Frederick Banting, who, along with Charles Best, is credited with the discovery of insulin in 1921. World Diabetes Day is represented by a blue circle logo. The blue circle is the global symbol of diabetes and signifies the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes pandemic.

World Diabetes Day was created by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1991, in response to concern over the escalating incidence of diabetes around the world. The International Diabetes Federation leads the World Diabetes Day campaign – produces the annual and biannual themes, runs the global website, creates all the materials and drives the global outreach.

The theme for 2009-13 is Education and Prevention. Recent themes were Diabetes and Obesity (2004), Diabetes and Foot Care (2005), Diabetes in the Disadvantaged and the Vulnerable (2006) and Diabetes in Children and Adolescents(2007-2008).

Through its Unite for Diabetes campaign, IDF led the push for a UN Resolution on diabetes. On December 20, 2006, that goal was realized when the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed Resolution 61/225, which designates the existing World Diabetes Day as a United Nations world day, to be observed every year beginning in 2007.

World Diabetes Day is a global event. It brings together millions of people in over 160 countries to raise awareness of diabetes, including children and adults affected by diabetes, healthcare professionals, healthcare decision-makers and the media. Numerous local and national events are organized by the member associations of the International Diabetes Federation and by other associations and organizations, healthcare professionals, healthcare authorities, and individuals with an interest in diabetes. World Diabetes Day unites the global diabetes community to produce a powerful voice for diabetes awareness.

Diabetes organizations and individuals worldwide establish a range of activities tailored to a variety of target audiences. Activities organized every year include such things as: lighting of global monuments, buildings and individual homes in blue on November 14, formation of blue circles around the world, global diabetes walks and rides, a WDD car in the Baja 1000 race, WDD motorcycle, press conferences, in-school activities, sports activities, frisbee events, free screenings for diabetes and its complications, workshops and exhibitions, and geocaching. 

Politics and news

Jeesh this whole controversy over a mom of three kids posting a pic in a bikini is a waste of time, energy and real news. I thought we lived in the land of the free?!  WHO cares if she posted a pic of herself, good Lord it is so dumb.  There are MUCH more important things to talk about!
What about the people who cant afford their medication because of the high costs?

What about the people who cant afford the new govt health care plan premiums that are suppose to be affordable?

What about the Diabetics who are not taking their insulin because they cant afford it, they dont qualify for any help and they cant afford the "everyone is covered" new health care system.

Yeah its a great system but there are still people who cant afford it?!

Come ON NEWS CHANNELS, lets talk about some REAL NEWS!!  The news in this country is all stupid, nonsense.

I saw on tv the other day they were talking about a womans dog that got lost in an airport, yeah that really REALLY sucks but do we have to talk about it for 60 minutes?

Arent there people in other countries starving, people in THIS COUNTRY starving?

Women and children in other countries being hunted down and raped and murdered? 

I am so sick of the"news" that I dont even want to watch it!  Half of it is one sided, they dont even talk to real people and politicians are all so fake they dont even know it!

SERIOUSLY!  Lets show the real news so us REAL people who know just how bad it is can get some publicity and get the lazy politicians to really get something done!

GET MY INSULIN COVERED AT 100%

GET MY TEST STRIPS COVERED AT 100%

I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT THESE THINGS!

BIRTH CONTROL IS COVERED 100% FOR WOMEN SO WHY THE HECK AREN'T MY DIABETIC SUPPLIES

I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT MY DIABETIC SUPPLIES, I CAN LIVE WITHOUT BIRTH CONTROL FOR GOD SAKE!!!!

ALL DIABETICS NEED THEIR SUPPLIES COVERED AT 100% SERIOUSLY!  GET ON THE BALL POLITICIANS!!

Test Strip Discount Programs and Free Insulin Programs

This info is at the top of my blog on the tabs, but I know it isnt viewable in the mobile version of blogs.


Bayer: http://www.bayercontour.com/Meter-and-Test-Strip-Savings/Contour-Choice-Savings

Freestyle: https://www.myfreestyle.com/freestyle-promise.html

Accu-Chek: https://www.accu-chek.com/us/customer-care/patient-assistance-program.html

Accu-Chek: https://www.accu-chekconnect.com/connect/index.html

If you know of more please tell me and I will add them here!

It seems like not many people know about these programs to help the uninsured get their insulin.  You have to meet income guidelines but I wanted to be sure you all know about them!

Free Humalog:  http://www.lillytruassist.com/Pages/AboutLillyCares.aspx

Free Lantus:  http://www.lantus.com/hcp/paying-for-lantus/patient-assistance-programs.aspx

Free Novolog & Levemir: https://www.novonordiskpap.com/Forms/Diabetes%20PAP%20Fax%20On%20Demand%20Application-%20English.pdf

A website to look up all help for medication:  http://www.needymeds.org/

Some exciting news!!

So in the next few days I have some really AWESOME news to share but I have to wait just a few more days and then I can tell you all, whoever you are, since none of you will leave me any comments.  :-( I am not feeling the love my dear readers, please let me know who you are and if I am helping any of you?

Diabetic Burnout...I feel it knocking on my door

I am having one of those months.  I am sick and freakin tired of being Diabetic.  I am sick of my blood sugar swings.   I am sick of being so sensitive to insulin that taking my daughter to the doctor by myself warranted eating glucose tablets, I am sick of glucose tablets, because I had to carry her.  Its stupid, I hate it. I am so sick of low blood sugars that its driving me insane.  I have tweaked my t:slim pump settings and I have got them all pretty darn nailed down, but then you throw in a side of life and WHAM I get hit with my Dexcom alarming, you are dropping, you are low, you are REALLY LOW 55!!  Glucose tablets, juice boxes, crackers, all those extra calories that I really didnt plan on eating that day, well there goes the waistline.  So during meal times I barely eat anything for the  most part because if I did eat a normal sized meal I would gain weight because of all those extra calories for lows.

I think I might be having a Dexcom info overload.  Watching my bg spike after every meal is really starting to drive me nuts.  I watch it go up and then come down and sometimes the down part takes to long so I get mad and then I override my pump correction and then I go low.  JEESH.  Well if I dont override it I will just sit higher than I want to be after a meal but then I cause a low no. matter. what!   If I just didnt have to eat my blood sugars would be perfect all day everyday, but then I would die from starvation.  Maybe I do need to start eating super low carb, but that food is so gosh darn boring, I may die from boredom and not only that, but family gatherings and going out to eat become torture for my will power.  

Where is that darn cure! 

I do know that I could not survive without my Dexcom and t:slim insulin pump.  Shots and long acting insulin are just not my friends.

The new health care law explained or how I understand it

So this is how I understand the new health care laws as explained by our agent.

If your employer offers you health insurance and pays more than 50% you are not eligible for tax credits if you buy a plan from the www.healthcare.gov website

If your employer offers health care to your spouse or family and pays part of the premium you are not eligible for tax credits.  If they do not offer to cover any of the premium they are eligible for the tax credits.

Deductibles and co-pays now all must go towards your out of pocket max.

Income guidelines are based on family size and family modified adjusted gross income (MAGI).  Figures from my agent:

• $11490 - $45960 for Individuals
• $15510 - $62040 for a family of 2
• $19530 - $78120 for a family of 3
• $23550 - $94200 for a family of 4
• $27570 - $110280 for a family of 5
• $31950 - $126360 for a family of 6
• $36610 - $142440 for a family of 7
• $39630 - $158520 for a family of 8
• The lower your income within these ranges, the more you will save
• You can use this calculator to figure your savings: http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
• Figure our your MAGI here: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/healthcare/MAGI_summary13.pdf

I hope this helps someone!  If it has helped you, please leave me a comment, comments are what keeps me blogging, otherwise I kind of feel like I am talking to a wall.  =D

Guest blog post from Trish a 36 year Diabetic Warrior

Trish is a member of my Diabetic Warrior facebook group and has okay-ed me to share with you her post today. 

36 years ago today, was a Monday, at the age of 8, I woke up from a coma, weighing only 38 pounds.

For nearly 2 weeks before, my mom had been calling the doctor's office, telling them how sick I was and how much weight I was losing. I was vomiting several times a day, so they told her that I had a virus and that they couldn't do anything, it had to run it's course. They told her to just give me ginger ale and see if I could keep it down. I remember HAVING to go to school because my mom was in cosmetology school at time, because she desperately needed a job to support us. At the time, my grand~parents were helping her out. So I HAD to go to school. I just wanted to die feeling that sick!!! Every time I ate, I vomited. I mean EVERY TIME!!!!!! I was tired, weak, sore, my throat hurt from the vomiting. I had no muscle or fat left on my body, and my mom had no medical insurance for us.

That Friday, they told mom to call the office on Tuesday, if I was still sick so that they could try to squeeze me in. (Monday they were off for Columbus Day.) Well, Monday, my grandparents stopped by and my grandpop begged my mom to let him take her and I to the ER. He told her that grandmom would stay home with Noah. So off to the hospital they went. At one point, someone came out of the ER and told my mom that they had no idea what was wrong and that I may have a rare form of meningitis. They said that I may not pull through. So mom prayed. She thanked God for allowing her to have me and thanked him for the 8 years that we had together. She was all alone. Grandpop had to go back to our house to get grandmom and Noah and take them to their house.

Right around that time, I went into cardiac arrest. My heart stopped. I was dead. YOLO does not apply to me. So there were two doctors taking care of my "code". One doing the defibrillator and one bagging me. The one bagging me smelled the ketoacidosis on my breath. It's a very sweet smelling apple-ish kind of smell. He asked if anyone had run a glucose level and they said that they hadn't as they were prepping me for a spinal tap. So he asked them to add a blood glucose level to the blood they had already drawn. After I was resuscitated and alive again, they got the results back. My sugar was 985. They generally like to see the sugars run between 80-120. So yeah, mine was kinda high.

So many things have happened over the years in the care for diabetics. Unfortunately the ONLY upgrade that I have available to me since my diagnosis is a glucometer. It sucks having no insurance. It sucks having your young children finding you in a coma and having to call 911. It sucks having people that know nothing about diabetes ask you if you should be eating something. It sucks having to do math calculations every time you want to eat, exercise, drink, be intimate, or just take a nap. For example, oh....I took both insulins at blah time, so I'll peak at blah time, so as long as I eat at blah time, I'll be able to take a nap because this disease exhausts me. Oh, but if I do lay down, did I eat enough so that I won't drop and not wake up? Should I eat extra, just in case, but if I eat extra, I may wake up high and feel like crap. Yeah...it's like that every minute of every day in my brain, so if you're babbling on about some non-significant BS about how you couldn't find the perfect bag to match your shoes, or you're complaining that life sucks so bad, think about living like this every day of your life. And don't think that I'm not fascinated by your story about how you couldn't find a pair of matching shoelaces, but I may be processing whether or not I'll pass out because of my insulin schedule versus my hormone schedule this month.

It's a daily struggle. I know I try to act all cool about it, but as I'm aging, it is taking it's affect on me. This is a tough time of year for me, my body always goes into a funk. And right now, I've got a fridge that has water seeping out of it because a leak/blockage got created when our water was shut down for maintenance the other day. I have no one to help me pull out the fridge, clean everything up, and try to fix the problem, but oh, I've got people texting me their issues and how I have to fix everything for them.

So before you look down your nose at me or judge me for being weird, maybe you can think, oh, that's just her way of handling the crap the life has thrown at her. That's her outlet....oh.....and I'll let that weirdness slide as I've never been a T1D for 36 years, so I have no idea what happens in a diabetic's brain.

So diabetes can suck it!!! Here's another year that diabetes didn't get to kill me. — feeling determined.

Just another reason to love a T:slim insulin pump

Changing my settings (bolus, basal, sensitivity, target bg, time slot).

 It is as easy as:





1. Tap/select options

2.Tap My Pump










3.Tap Personal Profiles

4. Tap whatever profile you want to change

 5. Tap Edit

6. Tap the top box to change the settings





 

7.  Select the time period you want to change or you can also add a time slot here

8.Select whatever field you want to change and tap save twice and you are DONE!  No more going back and forth to a million different screens, this is so awesome!

My current Dexcom has been on for 28 days, yes I said 28 days!

Ok so the Dexcom is only FDA approved for 7 days, so PLEASE do not take my experiences for things you should do or try.

My current sensor has been on for 28 days, and it is STILL ACCURATE!!

INSANE!

That is just insane, it is so freakin amazing that it is insane!  The Opsite flexifix is barely hanging onto me but the fact that it is still there is shocking.  I will try to get a pic later on before I rip it off.  The flopping tape is starting to drive me a bit cooky.  I just left it on to see just how far I could stretch it.

This sensor has caught numerous lows, one at 3 AM this morning, last night after vacuuming, and many other times.  My dexcom is my lifeline.  I cannot live without this thing, ever, ever again in my life!

Some people ask how I can carry another stupid diabetic device, but you know as dumb as it sounds the trade off is worth the hassle and it wont be a hassle forever (the tslim and dexcom combo pump IS COMING along with Animas).  I cant live without this data, for the days I might have it off for one day, I dont check my blood sugar, I totally forget.  My dexcom keeps me vigilant and on task and I need that thing to scream at me when I am high or low so I can take corrective measures!

So if you are Diabetic yourself and need something to keep you on track and not have a person sitting there judging you by 4 or 5 finger sticks a day, GET A DEXCOM!!!  It shows the whole picture, you just dont know what you are missing when you only poke your finger a few times a day!

People who tell me they only check their blood sugar once or twice a day make me cringe.  You could be doing so much damage and not know it because two finger sticks is not showing you half the picture. 

One of my uncles and one of my cousins' got a Dexcom after my praising and preaching about its awesomeness and they love it too!  If either of you are reading this, leave a comment and share your life changing experience with the Dexcom!  PLEASE!

Here are the pics of my old sensor that I took off last night! Its barely being held on, but I still had to pull it off.  28 days old!  Insane!

My health insurance PREMIUMS WENT DOWN!!!!!!

I don't want anyone to get all political on me, but I do want to say thank you to Obama for the new health insurance standards! 

As a type 1 Diabetic who use to get ROBBED on their premium because of it, my premium is going DOWN $7,153.44 per year for 2014!  It went from $11,865.84 down to $4,712.40  I am STUNNED!  Not only that, co-pays and deductibles all go TOWARDS your out of pocket max, my out of pocket max is now down to $3,000 and I will meet that in no time at all!

NOW just to wait for the exchanges to get straightened out and get my husband and daughter on it and look at buying some dental and vision insurance for the two of us!

According to the plan my work decided on:

Humalog insulin will be $10.00/month!!!

Novalog insulin will be $50/month...this sucks but I am on Humalog so thats good

If I stay on my Bayer meter I will pay $10.00/month for test strips!!

Verio IQ strips are $100/month...yeah not going to use those HOLY MOSES!!

Freestyle Lite test strips will be $100/month...dang it.

It appears some things are good for medication coverage if you are Diabetic and some things REALLY SUCK, BUT the premium is much lower so its a little less painful. 

If you are BCBS of IL you can look at your own medications at:
http://www.bcbsil.com/member/rx_drugs.html

As a side note, if we didnt qualify for tax credits on the exchange the premiums would be very expensive for a private policy.   The policy they currently have, doubled, and would be completely out of the affordable range. 

Opening the mail was a huge mistake today.

If you have gotten a new year health ins info pack in the mail, dont open it. Its really bad news. The policy we bought for my husband and daughter has doubled. The policy premium is now $600.00 per month with a $4500 deductible and $12,000 out of pocket max. So together if my premium didnt go to shit it would be 900/mo. Yeah completely out of the affordable range, so we are going to have to go on the exchange system for them. I am so horrified. I pray to god my premium hasnt doubled and my deductible of 1500 doesnt have to go up. For the first time in my life I am really really worried we will not be able to afford health insurance. With 900/mo I could buy a freaking huge @ss house and get out of my rinky dinky 1100 sq ft home, I am so freakin mad. We better qualify for subsidies is all I can say or Im writing Obama a letter.

Free insulin for the uninsured

It looks like my page about free insulin has been viewed quite a few times, so hopefully it is helping some of you.  I wanted to make a post about it so it would be easier to locate, especially if you are on your cell phone the pages section on the right side does not show up.  

Let me know if this helped you out in some way!

http://typeonediabeticwarrior.blogspot.com/p/diabetic-resources.html

What a 45 degree insulin pump infusion set it all about, for those of you who may still be afraid of them.

 45 degree set silhouette/Mimimed comfort short/Animas&Tslim

This what the needle looks like after you pull it out after insertion

Picture to show you the size, but not all of it goes into your skin.










This is what the set that I took off looks like with the insertion needle in it.









This is showing how the needle looks inside the cannula

The end of the tubing that you click into the set

Its almost clicked in here







Now all the way clicked in










Now its all the way clicked together and before I put the infusion set iv3000 around the tape.






After putting infusion set iv3000 down

   


This is what happens when you leave your set on too many days, this is after 5 days of wear, but the redness will go away shortly for me.  It just looks terrible at first. I do not recommend anyone wear their sets for more than 3 days.




So these infusion sets horrified me for many many months when I had to switch. Sticking the seemingly giant needle into my body would make me turn into a disaster zone.  I would try sometimes 30-50 times in one place and have to stop every time because of anxiety and pain and then I would be dripping blood, EVERYWHERE.  It was crazy.  I do still sweat like a mad man when I change my sets but I am able to put the pain aside and get the set in/on.  For me, these sets are amazing and way way better than any 90 degree set.  You can see if the set is in, there is no guessing and you can set the angle of insertion and if insulin decides to start coming back out the insertion spot you can usually see it.  Being a thinner person, these sets are wonderful because the 90 degree sets would stab me whenever the heck they felt like it. The pain the MM quicksets caused me was crazy, I was near giving the pump up and going back to shots.  Now I am onto another pump company  TANDEM DIABETES and so far my tslim pump is freaking amazing, so much easier and faster to use.  These sets can be intimidating and scary for many people but if you are looking for something besides a 90 degree set for whatever reason, I cannot recommend these enough.  I have much more real estate for sets open up using these sets.  PLEASE PLEASE do not use your stomach all the time, I have terrible scar tissue from 8 years of taking shots on my stomach that will never go away on its own.  Use your sides, side of your hip, side of your butt, your lower back, your legs, arms, where ever you can pinch and inch you can shove a set in!  Well, for me some places are WAY too painful so I don't use all the areas I should be able to.  Arms and legs for me are really painful so I don't use them much.  I am going to try some other places on my arms this winter to hopefully give my other areas a good 4 or so month break, I hope. Fingers crossed.

TWENTY ONE days with the same Dexcom sensor and this is what it looks like.

The edges are starting to peel away but they can be trimmed down and more put over the short edge.  Smith and Nephew Opsite Flexifix I LOVE YOU! 

To see how I put this crazy stuff check out my other blog post.  

http://typeonediabeticwarrior.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-i-tape-down-my-dexcom-to-get-more.html