Author Archives: StephenS

Hello… I’m Stephen. I live in Baltimore, Maryland, USA with The Great Spousal Unit, Maureen. I’ve been living with Type 1 Diabetes since January 1991. I’ve been a pump user since April 2010, and I’m currently wearing the Animas Vibe pump. Also wearing the Dexcom G5 continuous glucose monitor.

I found the Diabetes Online Community in the summer/fall of 2011, and that discovery has changed my life. I started this blog in April 2012, and since then, my diabetes advocacy has continued to grow. Among other achievements, I’ve attended and spoken up at FDA workshops and participated in clinical trials.

I’ve been thrilled to serve as a facilitator for the Diabetes UnConference. And I’ve been honored to volunteer for Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition. You should Google both of those.

I’m currently serving as a member of the State of Maryland’s Advisory Council on Health and Wellness, where I am co-chair of the Diabetes committee. In addition, I’m part of the 2018 Reader Panel at Diabetes Forecast magazine.

I’m always searching for the perfect balance between the highs and lows of my blood glucose level and my life… always searching for the Happy Medium.

Anything you’d like to share? Please let me know… I’d love to hear from you.

Almost Bachelorhood

February 21, 2013 – 10:00 am

The Great Spousal Unit is staying overnight with a client’s pet this week. And The Live-In Niece has been away for most of this week too. That means almost bachelorhood for me. The good part, where you can eat what you want, watch what you want on the tele… not the bad, lonely part. As long as they don’t stay away too long.

It’s nice generally, because absence sometimes does make the heart grow fonder, and because it’s nice to have a break once in a while, even though we’ve been together for almost 20 years.

But there’s no denying the fact that it means I’m alone all the time. Not a big deal… I was on my own for the first two years or so with this disease. But what does it mean to be on your own when you’re usually not? It means two things.

First, it means the obvious: Getting through the night without my BG going low. I can’t say that I do anything that’s way out of the norm. Except that I try to go to bed with a higher BG than normal. So instead of say, going to bed at 150-160 mg/dL, I’m going to bed at around 170-180 mg/dL. The flip side of that safety measure is that I’m usually higher in the morning than I would like (138 mg/dL this morning). And of course, there’s no guarantee that my body’s metabolism wouldn’t kick in harder during my sleep and cause me to go low anyway. But it’s something I know I can do. I can’t bring myself to set the alarm for the middle of the night so I can check how I’m doing. If you’re doing that, I admire and respect your vigilance.

Second, it means that I have to acknowledge the fact that I sometimes rely on my spouse too much to help me through those hypoglycemic moments. And it’s not even those moments when it happens—What Maureen does really well is making sure that I have everything I need to fight off a low wherever, and whenever, it happens. She lets me know that “Hey, you do ______ when you’re going low. Watch out for that.” It’s the general feeling of “someone’s got your back”. It’s a quality that’s incalculable, and I’m lucky to have it.

So even though I have my dog and my second dog (also known as my cat), I’m reminded this week of what it’s really like to be alone and managing the diabetes. And I’m reminded how lucky I am that it’s not the norm.

How about you? Any strategies for when you’re away from your significant other? How does it make you feel?
 
 
 

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Watch out demon.

February 19, 2013 – 10:49 am

I’m looking for it. Looking for that demon. The one lurking out there somewhere, ready to strike when I least expect it. I have to constantly be on my guard to keep the demon at bay.

There’s a semi-predictable arc to my exercise regimens. I start out easy, just trying to get used to working out again, trying to get my stamina to a higher level, trying to burn a few calories. That usually takes a couple of weeks to a month.

Then I’ll start to kick it in a little. I’ll get to the gym or out on the road a little more frequently. At the same time, I’ll ramp up the intensity or my workouts… a lot.

It’s usually during this time that the demon comes out from the depths of wherever the demon lives. The demon takes the form of a super-quick, super-low hypoglycemia event. One of those bad ones. The kind where you pass out, or nearly pass out, and sometimes someone has to call 911 for you.

The demon rears its ugly head around two weeks or so into this more intense workout regimen. The low happens so fast that one minute, I’m walking, or I’m on the phone, or I’m cleaning the house, and the next minute I’m on the floor. Almost that fast. Without warning. Sound familiar?

The worst part is, this demon-low thing sometimes makes me back off on the workout routine. Once or twice it has even made me give up on the workout routine entirely. I know that if I’m going to accomplish my goals and participate in the events I have planned this year, I’ve got to get through this stage and keep on going. Even if I do experience an awful low again.

And guess what? Over the weekend, I hit the two week mark in this more intense workout stage. So now I’ve got to be more vigilant. I’ll probably be checking the BGs a little more often. I may even give in to a mid-afternoon snack, despite the fact that I’m never hungry in the middle of the afternoon. Am I willing to work on the high side of my glucose just to keep the demon at bay? No… because the demon doesn’t care if you’re generally high for two or three weeks before coming down into a good range. When you hit that range, it will be waiting to strike. So I would just be putting off confronting the demon for a little while.

But I’m armed with a few new tools to help me now, and a lot more information. I read your blogs people, and I pay attention to what works for you and how you try to keep the demon out of your own lives. I read from experts in the field, be they a blogger or a medical professional.

I’m hoping that this kind of information gathering and vigilance will make things different this time. To be honest, I’m ready to punch the demon in its face this time. And even if the demon gets out, I will do my best to remain mentally strong enough to not let it bother me too much. Let’s face it… sometimes, the real victory is in getting up and starting again after you’ve been knocked down.

So watch out demon… you will not get the better of me this time.
 
 
 

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Yay Co-Workers!

February 18, 2013 – 9:54 am

From time to time, I’ve alluded to the fact that there’s been a somewhat tenuous relationship between my work and my diabetes over the years. In the early years of living with this disease, there weren’t really any issues. If diabetes got in the way at all, it was due to my A1Cs being high more than anything else. I might have been a little more sluggish during those times, but I was still able to function at a pretty high level.

Since those first few years, I’ve had an on and off, good and bad relationship between work and diabetes. At times, things were difficult. Tensions were occasionally strained.

So, what’s my point? Where am I going with all of this?

Over the weekend, I celebrated my 15 year anniversary at the company where I work. I thought about it a little in the last month or so. Whenever someone hits a milestone anniversary, the department gets together and does a thank you, gives a plaque, and then you go back to work. That’s great, but five minutes of feel-good doesn’t always wash away things that bother you for five years or more.

The good news is that in the last couple years, things have seemed to thaw a bit in this relationship. I don’t know exactly when things changed, although I think I know, and at any rate, I’m glad they’ve changed. I’d like to think that I’m a bit less sensitive these days too, and that helps.

Still, I felt a little… nervous about reaching this milestone at work. Kind of like some old demons were left that I couldn’t get rid of. So how do I take this thing that feels so uncomfortable, and turn it into something that feels good? The thought gnawed at me for a few weeks.

Then it hit me. Blue Fridays. Since my anniversary was on a Sunday, I would ask everyone to wear blue on the Friday before. I would also ask them to make a donation to the Diabetes Community Advocacy Foundation. You know… the organization behind the Diabetes Social Media Advocacy website, the DSMA Live and DSMA en Vivo podcasts, and the weekly #DSMA Twitter chat. I took the idea to my bosses, and they were all for it. Instantly. So I sent an e-mail to my colleagues in Baltimore, New York, and Connecticut, and marked it on my calendar.

The Baltimore crew. I'm in the back ( I thought I was tall)

The Baltimore crew. I’m in the back ( I thought I was tall)

When I got into work, and later as I watched people arrive, I would look around and see a sea of blue. To think that my co-workers would care enough to do this for me… it almost made me break down and cry. A co-worker shared with me that they were recently diagnosed with Type 2, and they were appreciative of an effort to elicit support for those who have to live with diabetes. That almost made me cry. Not everyone who donated online told me how much they contributed. But what I know of the contributions puts the total dollar amount into the hundreds.

That’s my work anniversary and Blue Fridays story. I never really thought about what marrying these two ideas would really mean. It went beyond what I could have imagined. I’m so glad we were able to do this. And I’m so grateful for the people I work with, who made my cause their cause for a day. Today, I feel really lucky to be part of their team.
 
 
 

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Recipes! Things you can do with shrimp.

February 15, 2013 – 11:19 am

Spare_A_Rose_1
 
 
Man, it’s been so long since I’ve done a recipe here. So how ’bout a 2 for 1? Two recipes from the same pound of shrimp that we picked up this past weekend. I wrote this last Sunday, but haven’t had a chance to post it until today. First up, last Saturday’s dinner. Please excuse my wrinkly placemat:

DSC00577

This was really easy. Actually, both of these recipes were easy. First, I got a pound of shrimp. I peeled them and threw them in a bowl with the following:

– 3/4 cup of Ken’s Caesar salad dressing

– 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

– 1 teaspoon garlic powder

– 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Also, I got together:

– 1 small tomato

– 2 tablespoons butter

– 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Put everything except the tomato, butter, and cilantro in a bowl. Mix it all up and let it sit for about half an hour. When you’re just about ready, get a nonstick pan hot on a medium-high flame on the stove. Pop the shrimp in there for about a minute and a half or two minutes. Turn the shrimp over and cook on the other side for about a minute or later, until the shrimp is pink on both sides. Don’t overcook them– that’s when they become rubbery and tough. Take the shrimp out of the pan and put it on a plate or in a bowl.

Once you’ve taken the shrimp out of the pan, slice up your tomato into about 8 or 10 pieces, and put the tomato and the butter into the pan. What you’re doing at this point is taking the liquid that’s left and cooking it down to concentrate the flavors. Cook everything down for about 2 or 3 minutes and then pour it out on top of the shrimp. Then take the chopped cilantro and sprinkle it over the top. We added the shrimp to a little garlic butter rice.

Carbohydrate count: 46 grams (all from the rice)
 
 
We wound up with some shrimp and rice left over, and I used both to help make a shrimp salad for last Sunday’s lunch.

I chopped up the shrimp and put it into a bowl with the rice (that’s right– I used rice in shrimp salad). I also took some cole slaw mix from a bag and threw about a handful of that in there. I chopped up a green onion and put that in there too. Then I plopped in a heaping tablespoon of mayo and a heaping tablespoon of horseradish hummus, and mixed it all up. I put it on toast that was lightly covered with garlic butter. Add a slice of tomato, and it turned out very tasty:

DSC00581

Carbohydrate count: 36 grams

It is very nice when you can make something so delicious one night, and use it in another delicious context for lunch the next day. Hope you get the chance to dine on something as fantastic very soon.

Carb counts are estimates only. Check with a registered dietician to find out what a healthy carb count is for you.
 
 
 

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Make your Valentine’s Day meaningful – #sparearose

February 13, 2013 – 12:13 pm

Spare_A_Rose_1

It’s official… I’m the last Diabetes blogger to post on this subject. But just in case you haven’t read about this yet, let me lay the groundwork for you. Because this is very important.

A number of Super Diaheroes (including Kelly Close, Manny Hernandez, Bennet Dunlap, Kerri Sparling, and Jeff Hitchcock) got together with Johnson and Johnson on an initiative to use social media to make a difference… right now.

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. It’s a time when a lot of roses are given. Usually a dozen at a time. What we’re asking is that you buy one less rose this Valentine’s Day and share the value of that flower with a child with diabetes in the developing world.

How do you do that? You donate the value of that one rose to the Life for a Child program under the auspices of the International Diabetes Foundation. According to the IDF:

“Donations to the IDF Life for a Child Programme are carefully directed to key areas of diabetes care and management so that established paediatric diabetes centres and associations can provide the best possible care, given local circumstances, to all children and youth with diabetes in developing countries.”

What that means is that in places where diabetes has previously been a death sentence for a child, kids are provided with insulin; meters, test strips, and lancets; diabetes education; and even diabetes training for local medical staff.

So please, join the Diabetes Online Community by showing your support to the Life for a Child program. Click on the banner above or click on this link to make your donation: http://bit.ly/SpareRoseSaveChild

Give ’til it hurts, people. Because this is important. Lives are at stake. You can help to save lives today by making a donation… Tweeting about the initiative using the hashtag #sparearose… and if you haven’t already, blog about it too. For all the details, go to the Diabetes Advocates website: http://diabetesadvocates.org/c/spare-a-rose-save-a-child/
 
 
 

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