I can BREATHE!

I've dabbled in going gluten-free for quite some time. I know I needed to get serious about it - gluten has obviously slowed me down for years. Nothing major though, otherwise I would have done this properly a long time ago!

It's been obvious to me for a while now that eating foods that contain gluten leaves me with stuffed up sinuses. However, I knew I could get away with a little bit, so my diet was adjusted slightly - limited gluten. Just one piece of bread a day, and maybe some baking or whatever if I felt like it. I also didn't care about the little things - like malt added to stuff, or anything that had wheat as an afterthought.

4 days now I've gone without any obvious gluten at all. NO bread, no baking, nothing that contains anything other than a trace of the stuff. I've even bought a gluten-free bread to have with my new gluten-free marmite and baked a great (if I do say so myself) GF chocolate cake (my own recipe, and I'm very proud *puffs out chest*) and finally found GF cereal that I can crunch up for making my chocolate afghan biscuits. *drool*I so should have done this a long time ago! I can breathe! My sinuses are so clear it's fantastic. And I feel more awake, which is a real surprise seeing as I've had hardly any sleep all week (and urr, it's 3:29am, guess I'm not getting much sleep tonight either). I'm full of energy, I can think better, I just feel... light. Light and free.

Who'd have thunk it?

Well, me, actually, coz I've known I've needed this for years. Funny how we come up with all sorts of excuses to avoid things ("I can start this properly next week", "Gluten doesn't *really* effect me, it's all in my head", "I'm ok so long as I limit it", "this gluten-free thing is just a silly fad", etc)

Sure it's a bummer being gluten intolerant - but as usual, that's nothing compared to going on for years never knowing what the problem is.

And all this in only 4 gluten-free days. Fan-bloomin-tastic :)

Purrrrrfect

I get up in the morning to find the dishes done.
He's quiet, he's polite, and he's offering to keep an eye on kiddo if I want to go out.
He's planning to move the rest of the firewood this weekend.
He takes off his shoes at the door and walks quietly
He's glad that we recycle and compost and he wants to help in the garden.
No wacky-backy or alcohol!

I've found the perfect boarder.

...it only took three months! *gasp*

Three months of advertising, living on almost nothing, freaking out at any wastage lest we can't afford the basics next week, stressing over the idea that we'd have to move if no one turned up, meeting some odd potential boarders (and hating turning them down, scared I wouldn't find anyone better).

WOOHOOO! It's over!

I haven't even told him about my diabetes yet - which I really must do, in case something goes stupidly wrong. To date I've never had a big bad hypo, or any hypo that I couldn't control, but I hate to assume it'll always be that way. So, I'll have to spit it out eventually. (If he hasn't already noticed the insulin & glucagon in the fridge!)

I've never had a problem telling people about diabetes (well, those who need to know and are likely to understand). But it was only a few weeks ago that I had another guy lined up to be our boarder. This one was only *slightly* weird compared to the others (and even that was only because he wore a bright and holey hand-knitted jumper and looked like he hadn't combed his hair in a week or so)... so I said yes. He was keen - very keen, he loved the room! I was so relieved that it would all be over.

We sat and discussed dates and all the fiddly little details. We even discussed my diabetes and my son's ADHD... which I had no problem with, but apparently he did. I sent him a txt the next day. He replied that he was no longer interested.

Totally his problem if he has an issue with diabetes or ADHD. I know that. But it didn't stop me feeling a little wound up for a few days.

Speaking of purrrrrfect... check out how much my babies have grown up. 4 months old now! They've grown so much

Taco (look at those eyes!)

Rigatoni (begging for a belly rub)

Pumpkin (loves to steal my hot water bottle as soon as I put it down)

A packet of barbecue flavoured rice crackers.

Me. A cold night. A game of Spira-Defense. A packet of barbecue flavoured rice crackers.
A high carb snack - yes, but since I'm only having a few, and it adds up to less than 20g carb, I'm not bothered.
Lets see... 21g carb per serving, 4 servings in a pack, so if I have less than a quarter of a pack I'm having less than 21g carb, right?
In which case, the 3u I take to cover it should be just a little bit too much, especially as I started at 5.3 (nice!), right?

Sooooo why is it that I end up over 10mmol a couple of hours after eating these, having already taken a 1u correction dose?

You'd think - well ok, I'd think - that eating so little carb, and overdoing the insulin (even if it is only by about half a unit) and starting at a great place, AND jabbing early to give the insulin a head start - that's about perfect, isn't it? Should end up on the low side and then - yay - I could enjoy 1 or 2 squares of yummy caramello chocolate before bed.

But alas... no choccy for me tonight. (Everybody say awww)

So, does the packet lie?
Are rice cracker carbs different to other carbs (!)
Did I get my dose wrong, run out of insulin in the pen, inject an air bubble, or maybe miss my leg and inject my chair?!?! Nope.

When something so simple goes wrong once I can understand it - there's always a reason, even if I don't know what it is - no worries, move along, fuhgeddaboutit. But when the same thing happens with the same snack two nights in a row there's something weird going on. I have learnt already that rice crackers are pretty evil to my blood sugars, but surely they can't be THAT evil? The only other explanation I can think of is that the packet is lying about how much carb is involved. But then, it admits to being 84% carb and you really can't get much higher than that without eating pure sugar. Even if it was a little bit higher, the difference would be small when it came to my dosing, especially when eating such a small amount.

So this leaves me confused... here I am trying to be a good girl and have *ahem* healthier snacks (as in gluten free, not low carb, obviously) and it just aint working. I think I'll go back to nuts & apples... and chocolate ;)

Does anyone else have trouble with rice crackers? Or is there some other food that gets you confuzzled?

Reason number 157 NOT to do the housework:

The washing basket is needed for more important things.

A good find, and a favour to ask you...

Have you ever had an insulin pen that STINKS? Stale horrible old insulin - phhoooeey! Well my favourite pen, my Novopen demi, somehow got itself into that state even though it's my newest pen - probably only about a year old - and even though I cleaned it fairly regularly. (Twice a year is regular! It might not be often enough, but it sure is regular! Yes I know I said I've only owned it a year. So I've cleaned it twice. Tell me you've cleaned yours more, go on, lie to me!).

*ahem*

A few months ago I started pulling it apart to clean it every few days, I just couldn't get rid of that pong.

I soaked it in dishwashing liquid, I sat it in boiling hot water, I left it all sitting open for days with no cartridge in it in the hope that fresh air would help. I stared at it and willed it to de-stink itself, but nothing worked.

So I started using my old novopen (not a demi) and ohh it was nice to be away from that horrid stink, but I very much missed my half units and soon learnt that for me good control NEEDS half units. And so I had to go back to stinky-pen. Ugh.

It almost smelled fresh again by the time I put a new insulin cartridge in - but right when I thought things were going good I made the move of putting my nose right up to the lid. PHHHHOOARR! *holds nose*. This will never do!

So I got desperate. When I couldn't find the email for my diabetes ed nurse (to beg for a new pen), I thought I may as well try everything I can think of. I was about to try soaking it in bleach, spraying it with kitchen cleaner, burying it in the sand or whatever other plan I could invent.

But then I found The Answer: Simple-as. Soak it in hot water with a little white vinegar added.

Simple things are always the best :) For a few hours I had a pen with a whiff of vinegar, but that faded fast. And now I have a fresh smelling, fresh looking, fresh feeling (Ohh, there's a commercial in that lol) Demi pen. YAY. I can go back to being embarrassed of injecting holes in myself in front of people, instead of being embarrassed of the smell that wafts out when I pull that little beasty out of my portable pancreas.

Such a small thing, but such a big sigh of relief!


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And on another note... I have a favour to ask of the diabetes O.C:

*flutters eyelashes*

Now, Darrrrlinks, could you possibly, please, perhaps, have a look at all the links you have going on the sides of your blogs or blog roll pages, and kill off some dead ones / update the changed ones?

Coz M here is a chronic blog surfer and loves to just go through from one blog to the next using another person's links. But as time passes it's getting harder & harder to do because there are so many messages that say "this blog page doesn't exist" and so many sites that haven't had a fresh post since February 1912... I keep hitting dead ends!

*pulls the puppy dog eyed begging look*

Please, favourite bloggers in the whole wide world, could you do that for me?

*big cheesy grin* I'll luv ya forever-n-ever, really :D

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On yet another note - I owe you all a post on the failure that was my Diabetes Education dinner in honour of Type 1 diabetes day. I *tried* to raise my voice. But... Ears have to be turned on for that to work with any success. *sigh*. More on that some other day when I'm over the emotional side of it! (It seems that 2 weeks is NOT enough time to lose the disgust you have for your own family's lack of interest & knowledge).

Hurumph.
.

Pretty piccies

We've had some of the most gorgeous sunsets in the last few weeks - here's some photos I took tonight (and if you click you end up on my Picasa page with plenty more local sunset pics - it seems I'm now a sunset-o-holic!)

..

Take a moment... watch this... what a woman.

Had to share this video with you... it's amazing. This woman, a brain scientist (Neuroanatomist) analyses her own stroke as it happens. She tells us what it's like, and what she learnt from it. She tells a fabulous story.

Regardless of your interest in brains / strokes / videos or whatever, I'd recommend taking a few minutes out of your day for this one. She's fantastic.


...
Well, they give you all the tools to embed the video but it doesn't seem to work... if it doesn't load for you, watch direct on the site at Ted.com
There's some sort of scripting issue that doesn't like firefox. I wouldn't normally tell you this, but (*choke*) it's worth running up IE for this.

A day in the life of a Type 1 Diabetic - my raised voice

Most readers here know just what it's like to be a type 1 diabetic. But in the spirit of Raise Your Voice day, I'm doing 'A day in the life of M'

3am: wake up desperate for the toilet, which always means I'm low. Test when I return: 2.4mmol (43 mg/dl). Icky. Eat a couple of Mentos in bed and fall asleep feeling totally trashed. Mentos are great for lows - they work really fast so I always use them if I'm under 3mmol or any time I need a fast BG rise.

8am: wake up again, with fuzzy teeth. I gave up brushing my teeth after overnight munchies a long time ago, but it always feels gross in the morning! No wonder diabetics are known to have tooth problems :p BG steady at 8mmol now - a little high but that's what late night lolly munching does to ya. Take a little insulin, fall back to sleep coz I'm still trashed from last night's low.

9.30: wake up yet again! This time, properly. Test: 4.7mmol (perfect!). Take Lantus (my background insulin, it has nothing to do with what I eat or drink). Take my morning Novorapid (fast acting insulin to cover meals), enough to cover the fact that my blood sugar rises in the morning until I eat, and enough to cover breakfast too. Stumble around the house feeling half asleep for a while.

10am: Having finished my first cup of tea for the day I start making eggs on toast. For some reason I always make something like eggs on days when I eat late... maybe it makes me feel better to call it brunch so I don't feel like such a lazy-arse :p Breakfast goes down the hatch and I'm still struggling to wake up. Late night plus overnight low = rough morning.

noon: Test: 4.1, just a little too low to be going on with, so I have a little bite of chocolate cake to avoid the impending low. Yummmmm.

1pm: Don't really feel like lunch, so just keeping an eye on my blood sugar to make sure I'm not dropping any lower. Turns out I get another bite of cake (just a teeny bit!) which takes the place of lunch, which is just fine with me today :)

3pm: Going out so need to test before driving. 5.7 - perfect. Will be wandering around the supermarket later which always drops me a little, so I make a mental note to sneak a lolly from my handbag while I'm there.

5.30: Arrive home with groceries, test: 3.9 guess who forgot to munch that lolly in the shop. I pinch the tiniest bit of icing from that cake (3.9 isn't even really low, just don't want to get lower) and start making tea. Wont do my usual trick of injecting 10 or more minutes early tonight, because I'll end up low before I even get to start eating.

6.10: Tucker time. Being around food when I have a lowish blood sugar tends to make me make bad decisions, so we have a huge pile of chips with our fried chicken (Baked, actually, with a yummy gluten free coating that I made up on the spot) and salad. Hmmm. A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do ;) Chips are normally one of the foods I have to limit, they're too high in carb so they're hard to match with insulin. But tonight, I don't care :)

8.30: Test at 7.2, surprised it's not higher. Have to watch closely though because of the faster action of chips. (Oven baked chips, so they don't even have the high fat content to slow down digestion & BG spikes). Mental note to test again in 30 - 60 minutes to make sure I don't drop too far or end up going UP again!

9.15 test at 6mmol. Can't complain. Shouldn't drop much lower than that, if at all. Take my 2nd injection of Lantus. It's a 24 hour insulin but I take it twice a day with a 12 hour gap, it just provides a smoother background level and never leaves me without. Also means that I still have half a dose to help out if I forget my Lantus or take it a bit late.

10pm: Watching a movie, and a gal needs her movie munchies. I get through a small bowl of munchos (tomato flavoured chip sort of things). More high carb munching, tut tut. Matched with insulin of course but it's so hard to find the correct dose for stuff like that.

Midnight... Consider going to bed but I'm addicted to reading other diabetics blogs, so I'll just stay up a few more minutes... lol Test: 12.2mmol. Dammit. Chippies are never good. Take another couple of units but not too much as there's still some active insulin from the last injection.

1am: test & BED

So now you know just how disorganised my day can be lol. This was an easy day too... no exercise to speak of which would always lower my blood sugar. And apart from the evening munchies I had really good numbers - If only it could be like that every day! However it was also a high carb day, and I wasn't paying as much attention to my meals as I would normally do.

Diabetes is a full time job. However it really only takes a few minutes of my day to inject & test. It's what's goes on behind the scenes that makes it a full time job... In my mind I'm doing an almost constant blood sugar check. Any time the idea of food comes up I need to mentally weigh it and figure out how many carbs are in there as well as reading packets and sorting it out as properly as I can. I've lost some spontaneity in my life because I have to test before I go out, test while I'm out, and test before I leave. I may have to put off going out if I'm low or high. I may have to eat salad while everyone else is having a pig out. Or I may need sweets when no one else is eating.

The thing that worries me the most is other people's opinions about diabetes. (stupid eh - why should I care? but I do...), I suspect that most of the time it's not them at all, but my own idea of what they're thinking. Often I get paranoid that people think I brought my diabetes on myself. I think sometimes they see me eating sugary foods and think I'm such a bad diabetic. They might see that I'm a bit overweight and wonder if I can cure myself by losing some weight.

I am my own manual pancreas, and it's a bitch - so if you see me eating sweets, I'm just doing my job as a pancreas, trying to balance that blood sugar. Same again if you see me taking an extra injection or avoiding all the foods that you're trying to offer me. It's not easy being an important organ and personally I'd prefer it if my pancreas woke up and took its job back. Mr Pancreas did it so much better than I ever could!

I proudly stand behind T1 diabetes awareness, and Raise Your Voice - we type 1s need to spread the word a little, so we can hopefully find some understanding the world. The message I most want out there: Type 1 is an auto-immune disease. Years ago, something triggered an attack on my insulin producing cells, and now I just don't produce insulin. My diet did not cause it. It's not curable with weight loss or pills or anything else. I did not bring it on myself.

I wish the truth was out there for type 2s too - but today is type 1 day, and my main aim is to separate the types and help educate a few people.

[note... it's actually the day after T1 awareness day here in NZ, but because it's still the 14th in the U.S I can get away with this... right? Dammit I have to stop using this excuse lol)

I can talk about it in forums, I can natter away with strangers, I've even educated my great-aunt. But the tricky part is still to come - dinner with my family, all arranged as a Type 1 awareness dinner. I have to educate the people closest to me about my diabetes. Eeeeek!