Diabetes memes

So theres a group on Facebook (Fac-e-book?) called Type 1 diabetes memes and for those of us with diabetes or those with close loved ones with diabetes it show the lighter side of this disease.

With those popular memes created frequently which never fail to disappoint - I mean quite frankly I find them hilarious!

Anyway I decided I would create on for myself after reading this ridiculous comment on a social forum relating to 'curing' diabetes.

Said comment from someone clearly with limited information on diabetes

So this is what I came up with: 

My Treatments

I apologise for the HUGE lack of posts on this blog. I mean I was going to do another video but I recorded it outside and all the sound was rubbish and I don't really have time right now to sit down and record another one due to being very busy.

So today I wanted to talk about what different things I use to either treat or help treat my diabetes. There are a whole multitude of different things I use because of the complicated disease this is. (This post may turn into 2 or more due to that!)

The Accu-chec mobile
BG meter

So the first thing that I use and can not even leave the house without (I am very attached to it - maybe too much!?) is my BG tester, I am currently using the Accu-chec mobile which is awesome as everything is all in one little machine that is just bigger than the size of a mobile phone. The Accu-chec mobile has a cartridge containing 50 tests in it as opposed to having a bottle of those pesky little strips, so it also means that strips that always get EVERYWHERE well just don't anymore. The tester also has a small cartridge of 6 finger pricks as opposed to having all those lancelets and lids that always seem to stray away from their holding pouch. I am lucky enough to currently have about 5 of these testers and so they are kept everywhere from beside my bed incase I'm low in the night to in my car incase I accidentally forget to take one out with me. Due to the fact they are everywhere I seem to do almost twice the number of tests that is recommended (I do around 10-12 a day!), I am not entirely sure whether this is a good thing but I always feel uneasy about not knowing where I am at with my BG level. Now if they could just combine this tester to use as a pump remote everything would be brilliant!

The animas 2020 Insulin pump

Moving on the second thing that is obviously very important in treatment of type one diabetes is that insulin stuff. I am currently using Apidra insulin in an animas 2020 pump which is working really well. When I was first diagnosed I was on two injections daily of a mix of insulin, I did this for about 6 years. Then once I was settled in secondary school I was moved over to a basal bolus system involving one injection of the  basal, long-acting insulin Lantus and three injections of the bolus, fast-acting insulin Humalog, this worked well for a few years but starting losing control of my diabetes slowly but surely and getting to the point as shown in previous blog posts where diabetes was stopping me doing things and ruining some important days. So around 6 months ago I started to think seriously about the idea of an insulin pump and mentioned it to my doctor, he told me it would be a good idea to go for it now whilst I'm still at the children's clinic. So I began carbohydrate counting and kept on at my nurse about how much we were struggling and about 2 months ago I was started on the pump with the new type of insulin. I have found that this was a brilliant decision as my life isn't the same day to day and so the flexibility the pump gives is just amazing! I mean I think someone would have to prise it out of my dead hands to take it away from me now!

I think that is a long enough post for now and I will carry on telling (typing?) you guys about how I treat my diabetes next time (maybe soon) including useful tools and apps I use on a day to day basis. I might also get around to recording another video soon so you can see my lovely face (?) at some point!

Danielle.

Video - This or That a response to Danica

I just uploaded a video to YouTube as a response to DiabeticDanica's original video so here it is:

Germany

I recently went to Munich in Germany... ON MY OWN!

A small sample of diabetes
paraphernalia I took with me. 

Well technically not on my own but it was a pretty big step as I flew without my parents.

I left the UK through Heathrow's new terminal 5 with a friend who has recently moved to Munich and had come back for a visit.

It was the first part of my trip that worried me the most, going through security at the airport. Even though I had done my research online to find out other peoples experiences of travelling with a pump, I was nervous! This may have been due to reading some experiences of those from the USA and their extremely strict controls on anything and everything even if its clearly medical stuff. However despite my worries everything was fine, on the way out I took the clip off my pump and no questions were asked of it. I did the same on the way home when with another friend and the woman just asked me to take my phone out of my pocket, I told her it was an insulin pump, she was fine about it and just notified the people the other side of the metal detector gate!
So the part I was most worried about went absolutely fine and I can tell anyone who hasn't yet flown with a pump and is due to go to the EU soon that it would be fine, there is no need to worry about flying and security!

This shows where I
clipped my pump.

Whilst I was in Germany we did quite a few things including bus tours around the city and swimming in lakes, a water park and a normal pool (We like swimming ALOT!). With all this swimming I had to figure out what to do with this brand new insulin pump. Well when I went to the lakes and the swimming pool, as my animas pump is waterproof I kept my it on and just reduced my basal by around 30% - 40% for a while. However, going to the water park was a different story, I didn't want to break it by forcing the water around it on the rough slides, I also didn't want it to get in the way, so I took it off whilst I was there. This mean't every hour I had to get out, do a test and bolus a little using the ezBG bolus feature on the pump. This worked fairly well with just one low as I was doing exercise and being the first time I had done this it was a bit of an experiment and I thought it went well and I can learn from the bits that didn't go so well!

Lederhosen and Dirndl

So generally Germany was AWSOME and was also well handled diabetes wise. Went spent a whole day at the BEST zoo I have ever been to! (Don't judge you are NEVER to old for going to the zoo!) We also saw some typical German things, such as actual people wearing lederhosen and dirndls which I am kicking myself for not getting a photo of but I can compensate with this one I found on the internet.

I am now planning to go back in February to go skiing which will be only the second time I go and obviously the first time with my pump so we will see how that goes!

Fantastic Mr. Pump!

So I am now on my pump... and it is AMAZING! Seriously, it is the best change I have made in a long time!

Cartridges which are now filling
my diabetes draw!

My blood sugars are sooo much better, I'm now seeing numbers around 6.0 mmol/l and 7.0 mmol/l instead of the 13.0, 15.0, and often even 18.0 mmol/l I was used to seeing before when I was on MDI's. Its so much easier to control and correct those unwanted highs, before when it would be say 11.0 mmol/l and climbing there would be no way that I could correct that because the more I injected the worse my sites got. I had (still have I guess) lipos on the tops of my thighs and my stomach, my endo thought this may be due to me reacting to zinc in the types of insulin I was using (humalog and lantus) so I have now changed to Apidra which also seems better as it works faster lasting just 3 hours as opposed tot he 5 hours that humalog lasts! It is also way easier to prevent lows when doing activities by using temporary basals, this also means I can eat when I want to rather than having to before activity!

Inset II which also litter my
diabetes draw except in blue!

There are loads of feature on the pump which are all pretty useful! The features that I find most useful and use most of all are:

• The ability to reduce and change basal easily for a limited amount of time such as a hour.
• The working out of bolus amounts - meaning less maths! (this is very useful when I'm half awake in the morning!)
• The reminders you can set for after you bolus to check your BG - this is useful to see how I:C ratios are working!

So the pump (which I have named Dory life the forgetful fish in 'Finding Nemo') is Brilliant and if you are unsure of what it can do and have the ability to give it a go do so, even if it is for a few months at least, I understand that usually it takes longer for the settings to be right for most people and I am doing very well in comparison but I would still say give it a go take the leap, if you don't like it then you can always give it back!

All the other type 1's

I never really thought about it before I discovered the DOC (Diabetes Online Community - always amuses me how its like the shortening for doctor because it is a bit like a community of doctors to help us out with the day to day things) but I have contact with quite a few Type 1 diabetics including a few around my age!

A gathering for JDRF's walk to
cure diabetes

There are two girls in my sixth form, one who is in my year and another in the year below me. This is pretty cool because I can complain about being high or low to the girl in my year who I'm pretty friendly with and she understands what I'm talking about and how it feels!
I also live on a street with two other diabetics, one who is the mother of some teenagers I used to play with when I was younger and the other a three year old girl who was diagnosed as a baby, its pretty inspirational to see her and her family handle such a young child with this disease.
One last person I know (well know of) is a family friend's brother, who was diagnosed as a child and is now the same age as my parents.

So overall I do know people with diabetes and I am lucky to do so as many people have no idea of the number that most likely surround them!

Lastly the countdown to my pump is now just 3 days which means just 3 (including tonight's) more doses of the stingy Lantus Woop Woop!

Insulin Pump

So, one of the main reasons for setting up this blog was because I had the possibility of getting an insulin pump in a month or so due to HORRIBLY out of control sugar levels that need to be reined in. This is becoming difficult on MDI even with changing almost everything possible so pump it is! :)

I know that getting a pump is not a final solution and a lot of work is needed but hopefully with all my efforts it will offer more control and flexibility for my lifestyle.
I now have a date for training and getting up and running on the pump next Wednesday! I'm excited now!

So what is an insulin pump?

The animas 2020 in blue!

I decided on an Animas pump mostly for the fact that its waterproof but also the way it works and all sorts of reason which appealed to me. So I'm getting a blue Animas 2020 insulin pump next Wednesday and hope it all goes well :) 

An insulin pump is an electronic device about the size of mobile (bit bigger?) that continually delivers insulin through a tube into the body with background rates that can be changed in accordance with activity or time of day. To give insulin for food the user programs in the insulin needed (in different ways on different pumps) to cover the meal. The user can administer corrections if the sugar level is high.

There are different companies which manufacture different pumps with different ways to set them and different ways of working so its up to the person on what they want to get from the pump as to which one they go for.