Tag Archives: diabetes

April DSMA Blog Carnival – Spring Exercise.

April 23, 2013 – 10:55 am

This month’s DSMA Blog Carnival gets us thinking about spring (here in North America anyway), and our workout routines as the weather changes.

Does the sunshine and warmth of Spring urge you to change up your exercise routine? If you don’t have an exercise routine, does it inspire you to start exercising? And if it’s not Spring in your corner of the world, what season are you heading into and how does it impact your fitness routine?

Last question first: It is Spring in my corner of the world, finally, and I’m looking forward to ramping up my workout routine in a big way. There are a couple of reasons for that.

To begin with, the obvious: The weather gets warmer and the days get longer. That means there is more time available for me to actually get outside and get some exercise in. These are the times when I’m looking for an hour here or an hour there to hop on my bike and go down the road a little. Plus, the warm weather just makes me feel better. I crave the warm sunshine on my back (or my front) while I head off to places I haven’t been for nearly six months.

Second, Spring usually begins the last major push for me to get in shape for various events I’m competing in this year. I’ve got a 55 mile ride scheduled in May, a triathlon (swim, bike, and run) in June, a 5K run in July, and a 65 mile bike ride scheduled for September. As I’ve gotten older, my goals for these events has diminished somewhat. But I’m still well aware that if I’m going to get in the best shape possible for any of these events, I will have to make an extra effort now. Now that the weather is warmer, I can get outside the confines of the gym and that always makes me feel better. When it comes to meeting your fitness goals, variety is always a good thing.

Those are definitely two reasons why I’ll be doing more now that Spring has finally arrived here in the USA. In addition to that, there are always tasks in the yard that require my attention at this time of year. Preparing and planting the vegetable garden, mowing the grass, or just walking the dog more often are always high on the list of priorities when weather permits. So even if I weren’t training for something, I’d be putting in the extra effort anyway just taking care of the regular things at this time of year.

Whatever the reasons, I hope that spring brings a renewed sense of hope and confidence that you can do whatever it takes to maximize your fitness routine this spring!

This post is my April entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2013/april-dsma-blog-carnival-3/
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in DSMA Blog Carnival | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)

I fell out of bed.

April 22, 2013 – 9:32 am

A little bit before 3 o’clock this morning, I fell out of bed.

Hypoglycemia, of course.

I slept through all of the CGM alarms (set to “Attentive”). Maureen was unable to revive me, and she called 911. For the first time ever, I was completely unconscious through the entire episode, until I woke up with 5 Emergency Medical Technicians holding me down after injecting glucose into my IV.

It was, unquestionably, the most severe hypoglycemic event of my life.

Sometimes, I struggle to find words to describe how lonely it can be living with diabetes.

Today, I’ll explain it this way: A little before 3:00 a.m., I experienced a severe hypoglycemic reaction. After being revived by EMTs and spending another 45 minutes or so recovering, I climbed into bed to sleep for a little over an hour. Then I woke up, shaved, took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast, made my lunch, brushed my teeth, and dragged myself into work, even though my head is pounding and I’m so tired I can barely hold my head up.

I rode on a train with hundreds of other people who had no idea why I sat there with my eyes closed and my head in my hands for twenty minutes.

I’m working in the middle of a city of over 600,000 people who have no awareness of what I experienced last night. Even if they did, most of them would not truly understand what it was like.

And I can’t escape the surreal feeling that right now, I sit at a desk in the middle of 15 colleagues who are blissfully unaware of the fact that a few hours ago, I nearly lost my life.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Lows | Also tagged | Comments (9)

Like these links.

April 19, 2013 – 9:49 am

I know I haven’t had much to say this week. I’ve been sick with that nasty chest cold that’s sweeping the east coast this month, so I’ve been trying to lay low. Just not six feet under low. As such, I thought it would be nice to share some delicacies from other parts of the DOC (Diabetes Online Community).

I’m not linking today to the posts regarding renaming Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Although I have to admit to being in the “we’d still have to explain it anyway / let’s support everyone” group, my feeling is: Feel how you want to feel about it. If you want to say you have Pancreatic Distress Syndrome or something else instead of Type 1 or Type 2, then go ahead. And if you don’t like the idea of renaming what we have, I won’t try to convince you otherwise. We’re all entitled to our opinions. Whatever they are. No exceptions.

Now that that’s out of the way, try these on for size.
 
 
Kate’s Sweet Success has a very interesting recipe for… Black Bean Chocolate Cake. It got rave reviews in her household. Are you up for the challenge? Here’s the recipe:
http://kates-sweet-success.blogspot.com/2013/04/cool-beans.html
 
 
Over at Diabetes Mine, Mike Hoskins recently did a thorough review of diabetes social media summits that take place around the country. An interesting look from an insider’s point of view:
http://www.diabetesmine.com/2013/04/whats-next-for-diabetes-social-media-summits.html
 
 
Hallie Addington at The Princess and the Pump has the details of a wonderful interview her little one conducted with Madeline Trumble, who plays Mary Poppins in the Broadway Series touring production of the musical. Madeline is also Type 1. Can’t wait to find out how the meeting turns out:
http://www.theprincessandthepump.com/2013/04/a-spoonful-of-sugar-interview-with-t1.html
 
 
Finally, at ThePerfectD, you’ll find 17 Reasons for four hypoglycemic incidences in less than 18 hours the other day. Read this when you have enough personal space to laugh out loud:
http://theperfectd.com/2013/04/11/seventeen-reasons-for-having-four/
 
 
Hope your weekend is full of wonder and devoid of angst. Enjoy!
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Also tagged , , | Comments (1)

Almost Wordless Wednesday – It means a little more today.

April 17, 2013 – 9:42 am

I took the time to donate blood back in February. Late last week, I received this in the mail. Even though it’s pretty much a form letter, it still made me feel good.

Now, after the senseless tragedy in Boston, and the call for additional blood donors to help those who are still being treated, it means just a little bit more.

DSC00780

If you live in the USA, and you have diabetes, and you are, in the words of the American Red Cross, “well controlled on insulin or oral medications”, you may be eligible to donate blood. And I encourage you to consider doing so. You never know when it may be needed.

In addition to being Type 1, I’m Type O Positive. That may mean nothing to many, but may mean the world to others. Consider donating today.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Diabetes, Random Glucose | Also tagged , | Comments (5)

And so it begins.

April 15, 2013 – 10:19 am

Okay… my clinical trial is underway! This is the trial I wrote about around a month ago.

This past weekend, I received my notice and started wearing the Dexcom™ G4 provided to me for the study. The first week, I’ll be responding to a survey, but other than that, not much to report at this time. Except that insertion of the Dexcom™ was remarkably easy and nice. The receiver is easy to use. I’ll probably do some sort of product review later on. For now, I’m just saying… all CGMs should be like this.

Of course, I have to get used to having one more robot part attached to me around the clock. And I have to actually remember that said robot part is actually attached, so I don’t rip it out putting on my shirt or taking it off. But this is what I signed up for, so if I can just keep my eyes off of the receiver (‘cause I’m obsessive-compulsive like that), I’ll be okay.

More to come as the study continues.
 
 
Speaking of surveys, April over at Nerdy April’s Space Adventures (which is about the coolest blog name ever) is working on her grad school capstone project. The title of her project is… wait for it…

Evaluating the Feasibility and Safety of Type 1 Diabetic Astronauts.

Seriously, it sounds that good. I’ve been thinking about it all weekend. You should go and read about it. Thanks to Scott Johnson for the tweet that turned me on to this post.

Hope your week is blasting off to a high-flying start!
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Like these links | Also tagged , | Comments (5)