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.

Preparation.

June 8, 2012 – 9:30 am

Well, it’s finally time for the bike ride I’ve been training for. We leave today for Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The ride begins Saturday at 7:00 a.m. One hundred miles. Then, on Sunday, we do another fifty.

Side note: this is not a Tour de Cure or JDRF ride. I promised a friend that I would ride with her in this event a long time ago, before I even heard of Tour de Cure or the JDRF rides. And I just don’t have the extra cash to enter both. Next year though, I’ll do at least one of those, and hopefully both.

So here are a few snapshots of the preparation:

2 of everything, just in case. Plus another bag with all of my other supplies. The Quick Set box is great for carrying these things. Anyone else repurpose like this?

All of this plus more to keep away the lows this weekend.

I’ll be riding this Saturday and Sunday. It’s ready to go, thanks to my nephew, who checked everything out.

So while the rest of you are at JDRF conferences and ADA Scientific Sessions, I’ll be riding. But I’ll be back Sunday night ready to check out all of your posts and tweets. Enjoy!
 
 

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Like these links.

June 6, 2012 – 6:50 am

Yet another Hump Day is upon us… here are a few looks at some other d-bloggers with something to say:
 
 
It seems like Mike Hoskins over at Diabetes Mine has something insightful every week. This week, he’s talking about the delicate balance (my words) between being a blogger advocate and a blogger bloviator. And the delicate balance between using the power of the law to protect, and using that power as censorship. Interesting food for thought:
http://www.diabetesmine.com/2012/06/caveman-blogger-lawsuit-raises-important-censorship-questions.html
 
 
Scott Strange of Strangely Diabetic tells the tale of how he became an advocate. It’s not all pretty, but there’s some great points made here:
http://strangelydiabetic.com/2012/06/05/and-this-one-time-i-told-my-cde-youre-fired/
 
 
How ’bout a book review? Jess at Me and D has a review of an inspirational book she found in the clearance section at the bookstore. Inspiration– and Strength– can be found in the unlikeliest of places:
http://www.meanddblog.com/2012/06/finding-our-strength.html
 
 
Enjoy the rest of your week! Hope your week just gets shorter, and easier, from here on out.
 
 
 
 

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Timing the Change.

June 4, 2012 – 8:47 pm

This is shaping up to be a typical week for me. Only it isn’t. Sure, I have the typical work stuff, paying the bills, taking care of the dog and cat, etc., etc.

But there is one overriding thing invading my regular life this week. This weekend is the big ride that I’ve been training for most of this year. 150 miles over the weekend. 100 miles on Saturday, 50 miles on Sunday. It’s not a race, it’s just a ride. But let’s not kid ourselves. I’ll be trying to do as well as I can, at least for part of it.

Okay, let’s slow down. I have a lot to think about this week, and how fast I go is near the bottom of my list of priorities. One of the things I need to think about right now has to do with changing my infusion site. I’m nearing the end of the reservoir on my current set; I’ll need to change sometime in the next 12 hours or so.

At the same time, I know that I’ve been going about five days on each set. I know, that’s not within the FDA guidelines. I’ve talked about this before… I’m concerned about maintaining enough usable real estate on my body for as long as I can. One of the best ways I can think of to do that is to go longer on each infusion set & reservoir.

Anyway, here’s the rub: if I change tonight or tomorrow morning, and I go five days before changing, that puts me right in the middle of Saturday. And because my diabetes may vary, the middle of Saturday might be 10:00 p.m., or it might be 10:00 a.m. I do not want to have to change during my ride. So what do I do?

I think for tonight/tomorrow’s change I’ll have to fill the reservoir less so I’ll need to change on Thursday night or Friday morning. That way, I’ll be able to make my next change without the added pressure of the ride, and I should be able to keep that set in at least over the weekend. In addition, with the way I’m rotating my sites, I’ll be able to get that set in my leg, which has turned out to be a great place for when I’m on the bike. Way more comfortable than I had imagined it would be when I was strictly using my midsection.

How about you? Do you ever try to time out your changes so it will make things easier, or more comfortable, or for any other reason when you have something coming up? If so, let me know.

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Beautiful Weekend.

June 4, 2012 – 7:43 am

After a lot of rain Friday night, the weekend turned out to be fantastic weather-wise. All of us in the household (three of us) were very busy this weekend. Lots to do. The Great Spousal Unit had a few dog walks this weekend (that’s what she does at this point in her career), and The Live-In Niece was busy doing what 26-year olds do these days. I just know that I didn’t see her a lot until her and her boyfriend cooked for us on Sunday night (great, by the way).

For me, it was getting my pond in the back yard cleaned up again, which took a lot of time on Saturday afternoon. And preparing for the ride next weekend, including a last-minute replacement of my seat collar– the clamp that holds my seat stem in place. I was replacing the seat Saturday night, and I overtightened the clamp to the point that I broke the bolt. So I had to find a new one (that was actually the same size), and get it on and test it out on a ride. Which was way shorter than I wanted. But at this point, either I’m ready for the ride or I’m not. More on that later in the week.

Despite all of the madness, Maureen and I found a couple of hours on Sunday morning to go out to Fort McHenry for a breakfast picnic. Fort McHenry has to be one of the best picnic places on the east coast. It’s at least one of the best urban picnic spots on the east coast. Basically, if you want to visit the fort itself, you have to pay an entrance fee. But if you want to hang out anywhere on the property outside of the fort, it’s free of charge, every day. Lots of green space, right on the harbor as it opens up to the bigger part of the Chesapeake Bay. Anyway, it was a lovely time, with coffee, delicious fruit salad, and a small amount of yummy pastry. Best of all, my BGs stayed in line all day.

And we got to bring the dog along too! Like any dog, he loves going anywhere with new sights, smells, and dogs. Don’t believe me? Take a look:

All in all, a great way to recharge for the week ahead. Oh, and by the way, I did get a new seat collar, and it works fine holding my seat stem in place. I hope your weekend was great! Best of luck to you on the week ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

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Visit with My Endo.

June 1, 2012 – 7:27 am

Wednesday’s DSMA Chat was very timely this week. We all spoke of our feelings about, and tips and tricks surrounding, doctor visits. I had my quarterly visit with my endocrinologist yesterday. I always cringe when I read about someone’s bad medical care experiences: either a doctor who has no time for them, or someone who makes them feel like crap for yesterday’s issues, instead of helping them look toward solving the future. My endo is great. I had to go through three doctors to get to this point, but I’ve finally got a keeper. I mean someone who talks to you, who asks the right questions, who lets you ask questions, and then gets you to adjust what you’re doing rather than telling you to scrap your entire plan of attack for something that’s comfortable for them, or for something that big pharma is paying them for.

So on to the appointment, or as much as I can divulge of my appointment over the internet (tongue firmly in cheek).

First, the big number. I expected my A1c to go up this time. My last one was 6.3. It’s been going down steadily for over two years, so I figured the streak had to end sometime. And I haven’t exactly been on a starvation diet over the last three months. So imagine my shock when I found out that my latest A1c is: 5.9

WTF?

There has to be more to this story. I mean, I’m trying my best to take care of myself, but this is too good to be true. “Have you been having a lot of lows?” asks the doctor. Why, not more than usual, I say (what is usual anyway?). So we look at the Medtronic readout. The chart for the last two weeks tells me everything I need to know about where I need to focus, and why my A1c is good, but not a definitive snapshot of my glucose levels over the past three months:

I know it’s hard to read, so I embellished it with a couple of lines of my own, only to help point out where my trouble is. Right in the middle of the day! My okay to slightly high morning and evening readings over the last two weeks (with a couple of exceptions) were counter-balanced by almost universal lows around lunchtime. It made my average BG over the last two weeks: 106.

The page also suggests three things that I already knew about. One, I eat too many carbs at breakfast. Two, I eat too many carbs at lunch. Three, I eat too many carbs at dinner. Which suggests, without a look in the mirror, that I’m managing my glucose better than my waistline right now. Even though I’ve actually lost a few pounds. Good thing the lettuce will be ready in the garden soon. I have a feeling there will be a lot of salads in my future.

So what do we/I need to do going forward? As you can guess, I’ve already ratcheted down my morning basal a bit. And we talked about how to manage my 150 mile ride in a week and a half. I’ll have the pump on the whole time for this, which makes it different from any other event I’ve entered. I’ll use a temp basal of 50% of my normal rate during the ride, then 60% to 70% of normal for about four hours after. And the carb thing is my problem. Only one way to fix it, and we all know what that means.

Here’s hoping your next visit with a medical professional goes well. Feel free to tell me about it, good or bad, by leaving a comment below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Disclaimer
I have no medical training. If you consider anything written here as medical, legal, financial, or any other kind of advice, you’re out of your mind. Please speak to a learned professional before making any changes that might affect your health. Any of the original content found on this site is my property and should not be reproduced, copied, or otherwise used without the author’s expressed written consent.

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