My beautiful Hawaii trip didn’t let me take a break from my type 1 diabetes this past week. Although the trip itself was fantastic, sugar-wise it was rough. And not just in the way of roller coaster sugar readings due to the five hour time difference. (Note to self: remember to change time on insulin pump and adjust basal rates accordingly before you get there…not three days in.)

There were a few embarrassing moments where the Omnipod insulin pump on my arm did not fit in while wearing a bikini or a cute strapless sun dress. I had a tiny freakout moment on the beach one day when I heard the hushed voices of “what the heck is on her arm?!” coming from other beach-goers behind me. Full on panic set in (I’m kinda prone to anxiety attacks) and I wanted to leave. I was so wanted to quit diabetes!! This panic attack was hard to recover from, even with the endless support of the hubs.  However, I slowly got over it until this photo was taken.

'Pod On The Beach

I had tweeted this pic out because I loved the view, the moment with Ty, and the cool capture using the Hipstamatic app. But in my mind, the unfortunate downside of this photo was the Omnipod on my arm that was staring right back at me annoying me and taunting me like it had done all day. And like a rush, the frustrations I had dealt with over the last few days with T1D got to me again. So in my tweet, I vented something along the lines of “cute photo with the exception of the ‘pod on my arm.”  In my mind, I figured I would just expose it up front, rather than worrying about the hushed whispers of 1,900 Twitter followers and 700 Facebook friends.

What surprised me the most was how supportive my non-D friends were in their comments. However, the “Diabetes Online Community” or DOC gave me a total different reaction.

I got comments from the DOC along the lines of “when did you decide not to be a diabetic anymore?” or “why do you care?” and I was called out on Twitter by members of the DOC stating things like “diabetes doesn’t define you.”  Uhh, let me be clear, I never said that “D” defined me.  It was a comment that I made that could have easily been replaced with “I wish I would have tied my hair back.”  Why the heck would people (of my own kind), who know and understand this disease because they live with it, not let me vent about it?

I will let this go, but seriously people… I thought we were in this together, where is the love?

It’s been a long time since I’ve talked about my struggles with type 1 diabetes on this blog.  No doubt if you’re part of the DOC (diabetes online community) that is part of my Twitter possee (Twosse?!) then you’re probably sick of hearing about real estate and wondering “are you ever gonna talk about your disease again?!”  Well, first let me say thank you for sticking it out with me. My career has been on a crazy, good ride and has kept me extremely busy lately. But as you know, my diabetes doesn’t quit and I’ve had my ups and downs.

First off in updating you, I’m kinda mad at my ‘pod right now. The Omnipod insulin pump has been great thus far with only a few minor kinks. (How there are kinks in a tubeless pump system, I don’t know, but there are.) However, most recently I’ve had some static issues with the pod and the personal diabetes manager a.k.a the PDM (the blood checker machine that runs the pod). Apparently static electricity build up causes the pump and PDM to quit working properly.  I can’t get any of it to stop the incessant beeping and it will not activate or deactivate any of the pods.

*deep sigh*

So I gave up and went back on shots for the time being.  Sure, I could solve the problem by calling customer service AGAIN, but I’m tired and don’t want to. *insert whining here*

Now I’m checking into a new pump as I really have my eye on that Solo insulin pump but it’s not out yet.  I will keep you posted.

And finally, I am sick of the lows.  I’m sick of eating.  I’m sick of crashing low at the most inconvenient times.  Skittles are the only thing that seem to save me.  And I’m pretty sure that the red skittles have more power than any of the other colors, but that’s just a theory brewing in my head.

Oh well, I press on. At least I have finally posted a long overdue d-blog.

JDRF Ozarks met with Congressman Roy Blunt today as part of JDRF’s Promise To Remember Me advocacy campaign.  We had 17 members show up at the Congressman’s office to discuss the issues affecting diabetes patients.

The meeting was somewhat quick, very much to the point, and we are thankful for the time we had to talk with Roy Blunt in Springfield, MO.  We accomplished our goals of asking him to vote for the Special Diabetes Program when it comes back up in congress for renewal and we also had a very in depth discussion about the current healthcare issues.  He seemed very interested in what we had to say, and he also indulged us in taking several pictures outside both before and after our meeting.

In all of the pictures, I am holding my coffee cup (security blanket?) like I am doing some sort of coffee commercial or endorsement.  I also did a really good job of spilling it down the front of myself just before the big meeting.  That wasn’t my only unglamorous, airhead moment that I had during the meeting.  Several of the families were talking about their insulin pumps and one little boy started explaining his Omnipod insulin pump and how it works.  He was all dressed up, so cute, and suddenly didn’t want to show off his Omnipod pump that was on his stomach to the congressman.  His mother, who I know quite well, looked at me as I was sitting right next to the congressman and said, “show him yours.”  Um…yeah…in an overwhelming surge of confidence (perhaps the coffee?), I hiked up my skirt to show off the Omnipod that was placed on my thigh.

Yes, I “bluntly” showed the congressman a little leg.  Nice.  And by nice, I mean embarassingly mortifying.  Luckily, I had met the congressman several times before.  Hopefully he didn’t walk away sarcastically mumbling about what a classy babe I am.

I have had a couple of meetings with Springfield’s Dexcom rep this week and I’m getting really excited about what they have planned for Springfield.

I have been Dexcomin’g it for approximately 15 weeks now.  My hemoglobin A1c dropped from a 9.4% to a 6.8% and shocked not only me, but my family and friends too.  I didn’t realize how bad I really had felt, blood sugar-wise. I have now become a firm believer that every diabetic should be on a continuous glucose monitor, they just don’t know it yet.  And most of the time, the medical staff doesn’t know it yet, either.  But that whole thought is a rabbit I will chase in another blog post.

The continuous glucose monitor is a new technology that has been on the market for a couple of years now.  There are other continuous glucose monitors (cgms) out there, however I personally prefer the Dexcom Seven Plus.  The reason being is that it is smaller and easier to wear than some other companies.  It’s about the size of two quarters laying side by side and is really flat.  Plus you don’t have to tape it down like some other cgm’s.  It works out nicely for me.

And Dexcom happens to be a company that is one of the front runners in this technology.  It works together with my insulin pump to manage my type 1 diabetes.  It is a sensor that is inserted into my skin (no, there is not a needle in me the whole time) and sticks to an area of my body that has some “pinch-a-ble” real estate.  Believe me, I have plenty of “pinch-a-ble” real estate and it’s not hard to find a spot, but I typically like to wear it on the back of my arm or on my lower back.

The sensor stays in place on my body for 7 days, reading the sugar levels of my interstitial fluid.  The great thing about the Dexcom is that it shows me the trends of which direction my blood sugar is going.  If it is on the rise, I can then bolus a small amount of insulin from my Omnipod insulin pump to cover the rising level.  It gives you a reading approximately every 5 minutes of where your blood sugar is, therefore checking it over 250 times per day.

You can set up your options on the Dexcom to alert you if you go above or below a certain number.  I set my high limit at 240 and my low limit at 80.  That way, when I receive a reading above or below those numbers, the Dex alerts me with a vibration notification first, then a beep (if I ignore it).  The object of the game is to stay between those lines of 80 and 240 (for me).  For some reason, I still find fascination in posting pictures of the Dexcom receiver when I have solid readings between the lines for several hours on end.  I then e-mail these pictures to my Mom to prove to her that I am taking care of myself.  But, again, I’m off on a tangent.

But back to what is being planned for Dexcom and Springfield.  I am teaming up with the Dexcom rep to help plan out a big event to put on in Springfield this fall.  It will be an awareness, informational and sign-you-up event.  And they plan to treat their consumers well (a.k.a. wine you and dine you most likely).  I don’t have all of the details, I just know that they will be bringing in patients, like me, to tell our story.  There will be healthcare and medical staff, and other families and patients that are interested in the product and just want to get to know more about it.  I don’t have all the specifics, but I will let you know as they get close.  Just know that Dexcom is putting it out there, and if you are affected by diabetes…you should take a look.

*Update 4-11-2010: Our regional Dexcom reps will be putting together an informational meeting/gathering in Springfield this summer.  I will post the details as soon as I know something.  I know that they also plan to update everyone on their involvement with the Artificial Pancreas Project (APP) which is sponsored by JDRF.