Thursday D Blog Post

Thursday 5/13 - To carb or not to carb. Today let’s blog about what we eat. And perhaps what we don’t eat. Some believe a low carb diet is important in diabetes management, while others believe carbs are fine as long as they are counted and bolused for. Which side of the fence do you fall on? What kind of things do you eat for meals and snacks? What foods do you deem bolus-worthy? What other foodie wisdom would you like to share?

I remember one time a few years ago where Annette and I tried to go on the Southbeach diet. This basically involved eating minimal amounts of carbs. This lasted for me for about two days. It just wasnt plausible. And I was starving all the time. I do notice a great change in my blood sugars when I cut back on carbs. They are usually more manageable esp since there will not be any blood sugar spikes later in the game thanks to the carbs. But thats where it ends. I will eat less pizza, eat less pasta, but to give it up completely is just not going to happen. I like these things and life is too short to give it all up. That being said carbs also help to get my blood sugars back up again when they get too low so in that sense they are an essential part of my diet. I think I fall on the side of the fence where I know they might mess up my blood sugars a little bit so I cut back on them, but definitely dont cut them out! I could never live w/out bread!

Wed D Blog Post

Wednesday 5/12 – Your Biggest Supporter. Sure, our diabetes care is ultimately up to us and us alone. But it’s important to have someone around to encourage you, cheer you, and even help you when you need it. Today it’s time to gush and brag about your biggest supporter. Is it your spouse or significant other? Your best friend, sibling, parent or child? Maybe it’s your endo or a great CDE? Or perhaps it’s another member of the D-OC who is always there for you? Go ahead, tell them just how much they mean to you!

I think I have two biggest supporters. My Dad has always been the go to person when it came to my diabetes care. I think the best thing he ever did was to not freak out over things. He never made me feel that I couldnt do something b/c of diabetes and never made me feel different than any other kid. Sure I drank diet coke and didnt have desserts with dinner, but that is how any healthy kid should eat anyway. I cannot remember one time where I felt bad about being diabetic and I owe that entirely to him. Besides the fact that he taught me to give my own shots and he used to do my shots all the time himself, with some help from Annette and my grandmas and aunt. And I have a remarkable A1C level right now and that is due to his education and guidance I got as a child.

My other biggest supporter is Mike. Who would have ever thought that I would find someone who would actually do my insulin pump injections for me? He is learning to load the insulin pump, he checks my blood sugar, and he gives me the pump injections. Besides that though he knows how I get when my blood sugars are low and knows what to do to help me. He never complains about it, at least not to me, and his support is never ending. He also takes one for the team and knows sometimes we cannot eat pasta or pizza, esp later in the day. Though it may bother him at times he doesnt make a big deal about it. He also has gotten me into running which I attribute to helping me get my latest A1C level down to a 5.6. Throw all those things together and I see a lifetime of support and help from him when it comes to my diabetes care and thats all I ever wanted.

Tues D Blog Post

Here is Tuesday's post, or what it was to be if I had done it on Tuesday:

Tuesday 5/11 – Making the low go. Tell us about your favorite way to treat a low. Juice? Glucose tabs? Secret candy stash? What’s your favorite thing to indulge in when you are low? What do you find brings your blood sugar up fast without spiking it too high?


My favorite way to treat a low is with orange juice and ginger ale. I like to mix it up so its half and half and its delicious. Sometimes I drink it just to drink it which probably isnt the best idea, but its good.

D blog week posts

For this week the diabetes blog community has posted 5 topics for each day. Being Wed I am obviously far behind but I thought Id give it a shot and try it.

For the first post the topic is:
Monday 5/10 - A day in the life . . . with diabetes. Take us through a quick rundown of an average day and all the ways in which diabetes touches it. Blood tests, site changes, high and low blood sugars, meal planning, anything that comes along. This can be a log of an actual day, or a fictional compilation of pieces from many days.

6:02 AM: woke up before the alarm...great. might as well test my blood sugar: 133, not too bad. go back to bed.

6:36 AM: alarm clock goes off, feel like testing blood sugar again: 117. okay good. go eat some cheerios and go over emails and watch the news.

7:10 AM: do some arm exercises in an attempt to have better arms for the wedding while watching the Today show. love that show.

7:57 AM: test blood sugar before leaving for work: 93, pretty good. get in the car for another long drive to work on 495. why do i live in maryland and work in virginia again?

8:45 AM: read some work emails, look at wedding blogs, call a patient.

10:16 AM: blood sugar feels low, check it: 65, grand, drink some white grape juice boxes that are excellent.

11:29 AM: feel sorta sick, wonder if it was something i ate. only had cheerios and juice so far today so cant be that. test blood sugar again: 146, nothing out of the ordinary there. call mike to tell him i dont feel well.

12:30 PM: attempt to eat lunch. and it turns out really well as its the leftover edamame and tomato pasta from the night before. guess i feel fine now.

1:31 PM: test blood sugar: 105

2:48 PM: this day is dragging so much at work, test blood sugar b/c i am bored: 98, eat a mini candy bar, b/c why not its there. dark milky ways arent that bad.

4:17 PM: thank god this day is almost over. feel like sushi for dinner. hopefully i can convince mike to go. blood sugar: 125

5:45 PM: Mike is on board for sushi, decide to walk to place in Bethesda. test blood sugar: 38. WHAT? that cant be right. test again: 56. talk to mike about how it sucks that theres such a difference in numbers b/c monitors are not 100% accurate. drink some orange juice and eat some bread and hummus, b/c its excellent. go to dinner, sushi is amazing. drink some wine b/c its happy hr and we like to splurge.

7:50 PM: test and its 149. not too bad. lay on the couch to watch tv.

8:49 PM: crap, monday night tv is so good, must test again before 24 so i am not interrupted: 179. uh oh going up, sushi is tough to control with blood sugars. give some insulin.

9:55 PM: test at the end of 24: 220. oh god. here we go with the sushi causing blood sugars to be insane. give more insulin.

10:32 PM: test again before bed to be safe: 208, dropping but not fast enough, give .2 units of insulin b/c theres already some in there!

5:45 AM: test again b/c I woke up, 127 back to normal and onto another day!

Pittsburgh Half Marathon

Jennifer
Bethesda, MD
Age: 28 Gender: F
Distance HALF MAR
Clock Time 2:28:36
Chip Time 2:24:34
Overall Place 4929 / 7575
Gender Place 2638 / 4634
Division Place 698 / 1135
Age Grade 45.5%
5 5Mi 54:53
7 2Mi 1:15:27
11Mi 2:01:20
Divtotal 113
Sextotal 4634
Pace 11:03


Wow! Thank God its over!! Of all three of the half marathons I have ever ran this one was by far the most difficult. Due to my lack of training and or motivation to do it Ill never know but I am just glad its over with and I did another one. I think from this point on Ill stick to races that are shorter than 13 miles. I have never had to walk in a race before and this one had me walking a lot, probably 9 times. I have never checked my blood sugar more than once and this one I did it three times. I have never ran a race in the rain before and this one had me running the whole time in the rain. It was torture and misery and yet crossing that finish line still feels as good as it always does.

1 day some hours to go.....

wow...no clue where this week has gone but now I am less than two days out from the race and super freaked out. It just isnt going well and I am losing any self esteem I had regarding running. I just hope I am wrong and when I get out there and see the crowds and the music that I am able to just keep going. I hope that I do well enough that I am proud of it all. I just dont want to screw it all up and be standing there like an idiot in front of the people who came to watch. We'll see how it goes. I also hope this quote is true b/c I am not feeling like much a runner. I havent ran nearly as much to get prepared for this race as I did with the other two and now all my facebook friends will get updates on how I am doing via my status updates. That could be neat, lets hope it is and not a travesty in the making.

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run."

John Bingham, running writer and speaker

5 days to go....

Ughh...this is going to be an interesting experience. I was to run 11 miles yesterday. When it was all said and done I probably ran 3 and walked 3. Not good when you have a half marathon in 5 days. Not good when the furthest you have ran to prepare for this race is 10 miles and that was 2 weeks ago. This race was supposed to be the race to trump the others and now it is becoming the race to see if I can survive. To say that I am dreading it would be an understatement. But there are people coming to watch and to back out now isnt really an option. If I can beat my Vegas time I would take that. I really have no clue how this is going to work. I have never not finished a race, I have never had to walk during a race, but this one could change it all. I keep thinking of a blog that Mark Remy had written for Runners World that said every good runner will experience a DNF (did not finish) in their lifetime and said that he had a few of them. Maybe Ill surprise myself and do well and then again maybe I wont.....At least Ill have some things to look at to entertain myself...