Murphy's Law All Tricked Out, Diabetes Style - Had Worn Me Out

Diabetes requires the patience of a saint, and the tenacity and persistence of a woman speaking on the floor of the Senate. 

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This weekend a series of diabetes related events occurred that annoyed the crap out of me.

On Friday afternoon my new (as in two hours old,) omnipod’s Occlusion Alarm went off while I was out to lunch. 

Lucky for me: 

1. I was eating a low carb lunch of eggs and sausage
2. I had a spare pod in my bag. 
3. I siphoned out the insulin from the faulty pod and injected it into my spare. And yes, I know you’re not supposed to do that, but the insulin had only been in the faulty pod for two hours and I wasn’t wasting it!

At this point, my bg was 320 and it took a few hours to go down. 

I had a high blood sugar headache, did an injection correction when I walked in the door, and drank copious amounts of water. Finally, what went up did indeed go down. 

And I was effing glad it was Friday. 

Over the weekend my nose was all sorts of stuffed up and my throat was scratchy. 

 My bgs were slightly elevated and on Saturday I ran a temp basal rate of !0%, which helped keep my numbers in check. I was run down,  I knew it, and did my best to stop the sick in its tracks. 

I stuck around the house all weekend and practiced self care - I ate healthy, slept late, and drank lots of water. 

On Sunday morning I was feeling better, put in a new pod on my arm - so far so good. 

Then a few hours later I went to my local Starbucks, where upon exiting my car, I smacked my bottom lip hard with my driver side door because my depth perception clearly sucks and now my bottom lip is all fat and bruised - and not in anyway, phat. 
But back to Starbucks. Right after I ordered my decaf cappuccino, and exactly 2 hours and 20 minutes after I ate lunch and out of the blue - my bg dropped to 58. So yeah, GOOD TIMES. 

Cut to last night I decided to deep condition my hair with sesame oil (not the cooking kind,) and head to bed early. 

If you’ve ever conditioned your hair with sesame or any other oil, you know it’s not pretty. 

Your hair is slicked with oil and I was glad no-one could see me in all my greasy glory. 

But I digress. 

Right before bed, I noticed that my Omnipod PDM’s power bar was at half-mast. 

And I was like: No big deal, I’ll put in new batteries. I ALWAYS HAVE EXTRA PUMP BATTERIES. 

Except this time when I looked in the desk drawer I keep batteries in - there were no AAA batteries to be found. 

I told myself that they were probably in my toiletry case. 

I’d gone away on Thanksgiving and I remembered tossing an unopened four-pack of pump batteries in there. I opened up my toiletry bag and found everything but the 4-pack of AAA batteries. 

Then I looked in my backpack, leather work bag, and two different handbags I’d recently used. 

NOPE.

I looked in my kitchen junk drawer and under my couch for that freaking 4-pack of AAA batteries. NADA. 

I took a deep breath, switched out my PJ’s for jeans and a sweater; covered my sesame oil-slicked head with and old ski hat, put on lip gloss, grabbed my keys and headed outside. 

I jumped in my car and drove to my local Rite-Aid - which had always been opened 24 hours. 

Unfortunately when I arrived I learned that that was no longer the case. Rite-Aid was closed.

There was a WAWA close by and I headed there. 

Sidebar: For those of you who don’t live in the Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, and parts of Florida and DC, WAWA is awesome. 

But WAWA was not any shade of awesome this time -  as in my local WAWA doesn’t carry batteries. 

WTF, WAWA?! 

And that would be when a very kind and observant WAWA worker saw that the look on my face when I asked her about batteries, and told me that there was a new 24-hour Rite-Aid less than 5 miles away. 

I thanked her and was happy I didn’t have to drive 10 miles to the closest all night CVS. 

10 minutes later I pulled in the parking lot and purchased an 8 pack of AAA batteries. 

18 minutes later I was home. 

New batteries in my Omnipod PDM, 2 spares in my diabetes bag, and the rest placed gingerly in the desk drawer where I keep spare batteries and other such necessities. 

Murphy's Law, all tricked out and diabetes style had worn me out - and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was asleep. 

Diabetes In The Wild At The Harvest Moon Party~

Friday night I received an invite via text to a Saturday night Harvest Moon party, promising good people, good fun, and a beautiful view of the moon.

Sidebar: Tonight (September 24th,) is the official Harvest Moon for the Americas - but it’s pouring buckets in my neck of the woods so I’m not sure I’ll see it. 

But I digress. 

Cut to Saturday night. I drove over to the party, parked my car and with pumpkin bread in hand, walked through the front door and into the kitchen - where I was immediately greeted with hugs and by people I haven’t seen in ages, while simultaneously being introduced to new faces. 

Thanks to kismet, I had two “diabetes in the wild,” encounters with two kick-ass women with personal and professional connections to diabetes. 

"Diabetes in the wild," encounter number one occurred outside on the deck - where my friend was talking to a young woman. I didn't know anyone out and the deck and felt like a dork. My friend motioned for me to come over. I did, he introduced us and mentioned that I wrote a Diabetes Blog. 

Turns out she was a grade school teacher who had a student with t1. 

She told me how she’d become aware of all things diabetes related and was learning more everyday. 

We talked about growing up with diabetes, she asked me about my low and high blood sugar tells and I told her.

Two weeks into the school year and this woman knew a lot about t1 and clearly wanted to learn more. Quite frankly, I WAS IMPRESSED. 

And IMO, her t1 student was lucky to have her as both a teacher and a friend. 

I gave Teacher Lady a few resources including CWD and Coco The Monkey.  

HELLO KISMET. As soon as I mentioned Coco, I remembered that I had a set of Coco books in my trunk. 

Sidebar: I was going to give the books to a local t1, but she already had them - so the books had been living in my trunk for a month.

I went out to my car; searched my trunk and found the Coco books, went back inside and handed them over. Teacher Lady couldn't wait to check them out over the weekend and then read them to her class!  

We exchanged numbers and I told her to keep in touch.

Later on in the evening, when I was bolusing via my Omnipod PDM for some crazy delicious autumn leaf sugar cookies, Teacher Lady walked over and said to me on the sly: You good? 

I told her I was and we both laughed. Girlfriend had my back and didn’t blink twice about me bolusing for cookies.

The second “diabetes in the wild” moment occurred later on in the kitchen, when I met a mom of a t1. dMama's daughter was now a mother herself and had lived with diabetes for over 3 decades. 

Like magnets to steal, we started talking about all things diabetes related. 

We discussed surviving the Diabetes Dark Ages, and dMama told me that the very first glucose meter her daughter ever used cost over a thousand dollars and wasn’t covered by insurance.

And I could totally relate. 

We discussed scar tissue, diabetes idiosyncrasies, the cost of insulin, and everything in between. We talked about diabetes challenges - back in the diabetes dark ages and ones we struggle with in real time.

I told dMama about the Diabetes Online Community and peer support and gave her some links and info I thought her and her daughter would find helpful. 

Once again I found myself exchanging contact information with someone who “got it.” 

As I put the key in the ignition, I looked up at the moon, partially hidden by deep purple and navy night clouds, and thought about how we are all connected - and how once again, diabetes proves it. 

The amazing kick-ass women I’d met both live near me, each with personal and professional connections to diabetes, and I’d never met either one of them until now - even though we shared mutual friends. 

Bottom Line: The universe is big, the world is smaller than we think - the world of diabetes - even smaller. The moon is magic, the universe knows what it’s doing - and we are meant to meet exactly when we do. 

Low Blood Sugar Haze, With Coffee And Lemonade.

Lows are sneaky. YES, I always keep juice boxes/glucose tabs by my bed. 
Sometimes I run out of juice boxes. This would be one of those times.
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I woke up in the middle of the night a few weeks back with a "LOW, low."

Bolted upright; stumbled out of bed, through the hallway and into the kitchen. 

I immediately flipped on the light and turned on the coffee maker ( I always pre-fill both the coffee filter and water the night before,) because in my low blood sugar haze, 
I thought it was time to get up — which it was - at least as far as diabetes was concerned.

Then straight to the fridge. Open door, grab/open lemonade, gulping it down and crazy fast. Acutely aware of the desperate “glug, glug, glug, glug," that only those of us who have tried to raise a low bg quick and by drinking juice lightening fast, understand. 

BRAIN FREEZE from drinking cold lemonade too fast. 

Pour more into a 4 ounce glass from my cupboard, filling and draining twice.

“EAT 15, WAIT 15, EAT 15 WAIT 15,” plays on repeat in my head. 

The glucose meter flashes the number 52 on the screen. 

And that would be the exact moment when I smelled coffee and heard a faint hiss. 
OK, more like an extended drip. 

The coffee maker was indeed making coffee. 

I shook my head, turnoff hissing coffee maker, and wonder out loud if I’d have to toss the grounds. 

Maybe I could just… you know… turn it back on in a few hours... starting it right back up and where it left off. 

Like I do when my blood sugar drops. I stop and put "Kelly in real time" on pause, stop what I’m doing and treat… until I can switch back on… hopefully within few minutes later and right where I’d left off. 

Sitting on my kitchen bar-stool, I glare at my coffee maker and snarl: WELL THAT WAS A WEIRD NEW MOVE. 

And that "weird new move," really fucking bothered me.

It bothered me that I’d thought it was morning — which of course.. it technically it was — and it bugged the hell out of me that I thought it was 6:40 in the morning when it was actually 
4 am.

Sidebar: I can see the street lamp from my bedroom window when I get out of bed at night - I'm thinking that might have added to the whole, "me thinking it was morning," thing. 

It bothered me that I’d just wasted 3 tablespoons of Starbucks Breakfast Blend - that shit’s not cheap. 

It bothered me that I had a 9 a.m. breakfast meeting and needed to be at my best and would most likely be dealing with a low blood sugar hangover when my alarm went off in a few hours. 

The whole thing bothered me. I live by myself - I'm my go-to person for low blood sugars.  
I don't wear a CGM. 
  

I kept staring at the coffee maker until I thought I'd burn a hole through it. 

20 minutes later and starting to feeling human again. Blood sugar is 65. 
Heading in the right direction and feeling better. I grab the bottle of lemonade off the counter, taking one last, long, gulp. 
Put the cap back on tight (but still allowing for quick access,) and take meter and lemonade back to my room. 

I stretch out on my bed, turning over on my right side and place the bottle carefully on the floor. I run my left arm over the side of and reach my arm out into the dark - my hand brushes the neck of the bottle. 

I let out a sigh. If needed, safety is within arms reach and at my fingertips.

15 minutes and one last check. #Bgnow 82.

I don't remember falling asleep.

But I do remember waking up. It sucked. 

6:40 a.m. The church bell sounding alarm on my iPhone blares.
I hit mute and spy the bottle of lemonade on the floor... next to my bed... exactly where I’d left it. 

Back in the kitchen, flip open the top the coffee maker and stare down the filter. 

Yeah, there was no way I could “just turn it back on.” 

Dump the contents and start from scratch and adding a much needed extra cup. 

While it's brewing I check - blood sugar is 224. 
I give myself a combo correction/extended coffee bolus and utter: That number could have been worse. 
And in the quiet part of my brain I share with no one - I whisper internally: Actually, the whole thing could have been worse. 

I run my hands through my hair and spend a few minutes thinking about CGMs, while waiting for the coffee maker to do its thing. 

I make a cup of coffee and it is gone in 3 gulps. 
I pour another and head towards the shower. 

I arrive at my 9 a.m. breakfast on-time. I am my charming self. 

No Joke: I FUCKING SPARKLED. 

Because that’s what people with diabetes do — we fucking sparkle through the muck- we do our best and we make it look easy — most of the time and even when it isn’t.

Because we are tenacious, we are tired, and we don’t have a choice.

And at the end of that long day, I go to bed early because I need to sleep.  

Diabetes & A 49 Blood Sugar That Sneaks Up Like A Bitch Ninja

It was a morning of trying to plow through, 
taking notes for an article I'm working on, two deadlines looming on the calendar, and doing my best to stop the Graham Cassidy insanity from happening. 
Focusing on getting shit accomplished. 
And out of nowhere, I suddenly felt shaky and tingly all rolled into one. 
I was sweaty and hungry and I didn't feel so steady on my feet. 
Diabetes had snuck up on me like a bitch Ninja and I was dropping fast. 
Status: Threat level Hot Mess, with a blood sugar of 49. 
I grabbed a juice-box, sucked it down, and immediately sucked down a second.
10 minutes went by and I ate 7 Swedish fish from the movie size box in my computer bag. 
The box of Swedish Fish I bought for 99 cents and on sale last week - and I don't even know why I'm mentioning that, but I am. 
Sidebar: Swedish Fish are now much smaller than they used to be. WEIRD. 
5 minutes earlier I was sitting at my computer and everything was fine.

Now? Not so much. 
I did my best not to overeat - easier said then done.
I watched the clock and tried my best to wait before treating again.   
20 minutes later my blood sugar was 95 and I let out a deep breath.
I fiddled with the InstaMessage App for a few, (see above pic,) and 15 minutes later I checked my blood sugar again. 
I was 142. 
A small correction bolus was given - what had gone dangerously low, was now on its way towards the cheap seats. 
Current Status: Blood sugar is172 with 1 unit of IOB. 
Pod PDM suggests I give myself a 0.30 correction. 
For now I'm holding off. 
Back to work - but a quick blog post because this is life with diabetes - and I continue to plow through. 

Diabetes Emoji

Do you think that diabetes is trying to tell me 

that it wants its own official Diabetes emoji/emojis?  

No joke and this is NOT photoshop guys. 

THIS is what I saw when I looked down at my fingers 

after I checking my blood sugar this morning (it was 111😁.) 

FTR, that's my blood, not a Sharpie drawn smiley face~

Pretty damn trippy! 

Bed Time & High Blood Sugar Restlessness

After three days of beautiful blood sugars that didn’t go above 190, the streak was broken last night at 10 pm and was followed by a few hours of the tune, "Tossin And Turnin," blaring through my head, literally and figuratively. 
FTR: I love the "Animal House" Soundtrack. 
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I couldn’t wait to go to bed last night, I was exhausted and I knew that once my head hit the pillow - I’d be out like a light. 

Except that’s not what happened at all. 
I tried to sleep, I really did, but I kept tossing and turning so much that the lyrics from the song,‘Tossin And Turnin’ by Bobby Lewis kept going through my head, which made me even more wide awake because it's such a catchy tune and I can't help but start to sing it whenever I think of it... but I digress. 
I had an idea of what the problem was, but I needed to confirm it. 
I turned on the light, grabbed my meter from the nightstand, did a check and was 266. 
Just what I thought - I’d done a site change at 10 pm because of two challenging blood sugars (253 and 270) in a row after 3 days of truly beautiful numbers and an itchy site that was only 30 hours old. 

 Ok, so this is weird but it's also good: In the last couple of years I've noticed that when I go to bed feeling super exhausted, but then feel super restless, wide awake and can’t fall asleep once I'm in bed, there’s a good chance it’s because my blood sugar is going north.  Which is really strange because you'd think I'd be all types of sluggish, like I am when my blood sugar is elevated during the day or when I wake up with a high Bg - But that hasn't been the case when it happens at bedtime.

Sidebar: I ALWAYS get a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach & right near my bellybutton if I feel my blood sugar begins to head south before bed - it will keep me up for obvious reasons if I ignore it - Never fails. 

Before changing out the new site I had to make sure that it was the infusion site the was the culprit. I did a correction bolus and waited 40 minutes, during which time I was still feeling restless and wide awake as I sat on my couch and scrolled down my FaceBook feed. When I tested again I was 263.  
Yep, it was definitely the site. I changed it out & committed to waiting another 40 minutes. 
But 20 minutes in, I started feeling tired. It was almost 2 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, of course I was tired - Hell, I should have been asleep! 
But in my gut I knew I’d nailed the culprit. Nailed it or not though, it was 1:59 a.m. and I was spent. 
Finally, at 2:17 I checked again and my blood sugar was 221 - I made a beeline for my bed and this time, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. 
I woke up five hours later with a 150 bg and a slight, (but not as terrible as it could have been,) high blood sugar hangover.

SO long story longer: I’m incredibly grateful that my body still gives me recognizable signs after 37 years of living with diabetes - but I know the signs aren't full proof or permanent.  

I live alone, I don’t have a CGM and I need to consider getting one for a multitude of reasons. If I'd had a cgm last night, I would have been able to spot that the arrows up trend and I probably would gotten more than 5 hours of sleep. 

Also, I'm really curious, am I the only one who gets uber restless and can’t fall asleep if my blood sugar begins to head super north at bedtime? 

We're all different and your diabetes may vary, but what unusual idiosyncrasies/signs does your body give you when it comes to diabetes? 

Diabetes Weirdness: The Sinus Infection Edition

Ok, here’s something weird. I have a big old sinus infection. 

But that’s not the weird part, that’s the annoying part - especially since I’ll be sitting on a plane tomorrow for 6 hours tomorrow. But.... I digress. 
No, the weird part is that my blood sugars have been great this week. 
Not perfect, because my pancreas is of course still broken. But my numbers have been pretty damn good none the less.
And I’ll take those numbers and I’m grateful for them, but it’s strange because Thursday night through Sunday I felt crappy and more than slightly whiney,  but my numbers were not. 
Were the “blood sugars behaving nicely” a result of me being less hungry because I was coming down with something? 
Were my #bgnows influenced by the fact that for the last 3 weeks (and sans the past couple days) I’ve been diligently walking or riding my bike at least 5 times a day? 
Sidebar: Thank you #bigbluetest!
Are the behaving blood sugars hormonal? 
Ladies, I know you catch my drift re: how friendly our blood sugars can be just before we get our periods, 
Gentlemen: Deal with it. Periods, period and PMS talk happen. Learn from the conversation - And bring me some chocolate.   

So yeah, I was a bit thrown off by the sinus infection  at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, when it announced it’s presence with a raging earache and a ridiculous amount of post nasal dripage, because while I had a scratchy throat and felt really tired, my blood sugar numbers didn’t clue me into the fact that an infection was brewing in my sinus cavities.
I actually woke up low on Sunday morning - and that was with me dialing back a temporary basal rate of 50% for four hours, just before I hit the hay.  

Since I’ve committed my thoughts to the blog and made them public, there’s a big fat chance my numbers might decide to eff with me just because they can. 
As we know, Murphy's Law gets all tricked out, diabetes style and happens.
But for now I’m grateful for the good numbers, the antibiotics and the fact that I’m feeling better and have packed 1/2 my suitcase as of last night. 

I'm a little weird and I'm OK with that. And so apparently so is diabetes~

168

168 - According to Google it’s the number directly after 167 and directly before 168, which of course is a given. 

It's also a leap year that began on a Thursday of the Julian Calendar, (and not to be confused with the ever popular Julienne Salad,) a calendar started by Julius Caesar in 46 BC; a bus route to Kent in Washington state, a short film, the number of hours in a week and part of a time management book title currently available on Amazon - And those are just the top of the Google 168 iceberg. 

168 represents a lot of the stuff too, including the blood sugar number I seem to be stuck to these last few days. 
Even with numerous site changes and temporary basal rate started last night, 168 seems to be the go to number of my body these past couple of days.  
 It’s annoying for sure & it makes me feel slightly decafey to boot, but it could be worse - So I’ll increase my temp basal rate again and keep on keep on keeping on. 
Hey, maybe I’ll even play the lottery with the number 168, or a series of numbers that equal 168, or the square root of 168, which happens to be 12.9614813968157
Diabetesalicious minds want to know: Did you ever “get stuck” on a blood sugar number/a series of blood sugar numbers for a few days? 
And if so did it make you a little nuts in the head - Because being stalked by 168 is annoying the crap out of me!