Diabetes Blues Clue~

Saturday Silliness via the diabetesaliciousness Facebook page & based on a diabetes reality~

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So can you spot the diabetes blues clue? 

This is Pancreas 1, The Islets Have Landed. I REPEAT: THE ISLETS HAVE LANDED. Over.

Sometimes I amuse myself~
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The other night I was on my way to pickup my latest takeout addiction, Mexican Chicken & Jalapeno Cesar Salad (SO DAMN TASTY and easy on the blood sugars that I've ordered it like 3 times in 8 days) and was  waiting for the light to turn green so I could walk across the street and pick up my much anticipated grub. 

And that would be when I noticed the lady standing next to me was staring at my insulin pump tubing that was dangling out around my waist. The pump was covered by my shirt, but the tubing was dangling and all loop, de loopy.

And above mentioned lady was really staring.... Like wanting to reach out and and yank out my tubing just to see what the hell it was connected to, type of staring.

And instead of starting a conversation about diabetes and insulin pumps like I normally would, I grabbed my insulin pump, ran my fingers up the tubing and put the pump up to my mouth and said: This is Pancreas 1, the Islets have landed. I repeat, THE ISLETS HAVE LANDED. Over. 

And then the light changed and said lady looked at me like I was completely crazy and high tailed it to the other side of the street faster than you can say: Islet of Langerhans. 

Yeah, I know it was wishful thinking and incredibly sarkalicious on my part, but I couldn't stop laughing!!

MISSING: FindMariRuddy.com

UPDATE: 6/13/13 @ 5:30 PM, EST

MARI HAS BEEN FOUND!

According to findmariruddy.com, Mari was found alive, but unconscious & her family is asking for privacy at this time. 

 http://www.findmariruddy.com will continue to update us on her status. 

Please send Mari and her family lots of love, prayers & healing vibes!!!

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They’ve set up FindMariRuddy.com and according to the website: “Mari was last seen at her apartment in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of Saint Paul, MN around 1 p.m. on 6/11/13. Mari Ruddy, Type 1 person with diabetes and founder of Team Wild Athletics and the ADA’s Red Rider program has been missing since Tuesday afternoon and her family and friends are very worried. 

Mari has type-1 diabetes and wears an insulin pump. Her phone and other belongings were found in her home. She left in her car, a dark green 2002 Honda Civic, Minnesota license plate #102-LNC,  with a bike rack on top and a red Namaste bumper sticker.

Mari’s family fear that she may try to harm herself and appreciate any help locals can provide in search efforts. She may have gone to a place with spiritual significance, beauty or seclusion. Please contact Mollee at 952-406-0081 to volunteer. You can also join the search effort by connecting with this Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/172257126284014/?notif_t=group_r2j

If you have any information please call the St. Paul police at 651-266-5612 until 2 p.m. PST or 651-266-5700 after 2 p.m. and on weekends. Reference case number: 13118370

And PLEASE SHARE through as many networks as you can. 

According to this article on TwinCities.com: St. Paul police have received a missing persons report about Ruddy, said Sgt. Paul Paulos, police spokesman. At this point, police don't regard her disappearance as suspicious, he said.

Personally, I think that Sgt. Paulos needs to get on the ball and search for Mari in ernest! I googled the Saint Paul Police Department and called them. I found out his direct line and left him a very detailed message as to why he needs to look for Mari.  And I suggest you do the same. Sargent Paulos’ direct line is: 651-266-5639. Call him and let him know your thoughts!

The Saint Paul Paul Police Department can be found on twitter @sppdPIO and on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stpaulpolice - Reach out to them and let them know that they need to find Mari! 

I was feeling helpless, so I reached to several law enforcement officers in my local area and one of them has some Twin Cities Law Enforcement contacts and he's reaching out to them to see if they can get more people on the search for Mari. I recommend that you reach out to police in your area and see if they can reach out across state lines on Mari’s behalf.

I interviewed Mari for this blog in October of 2009 and found her to be kind enthusiastic and funny - Mari is good people and like the entire diabetes online community, I’m really worried about her . 

Please share the above info and the FindMariRuddy.com website with everyone you know  - And send positive thoughts to Mari and her family! 

How Do You Ride Out Diabetes BitchFits Without Completely Flipping Your Diabetes Bitchswitch?

I worked out yesterday morning before work and had the numbers to prove it...... Until I changed my infusion site and put in in late afternoon when my numbers got higher than I liked. But my numbers were still craptastic, hovering in the 220s. And even after taking another 2 mile walk after work, I was still was... You guessed it, 220. 

Cut to this morning when I woke up at 225 and changed my infusion site yet again, followed by a fresh reservoir -  I was down to 8 units after all.  

And even after all of the above, my numbers remain wonky - Even after a 2 mile walk at lunch, I was 190 - though I felt lower. 

So has my insulin gone skunky? And if it has, that would totally suck because I just cracked opened a new bottle last week - And that has me worried about the other bottles of pancreas juice n my fridge. 

Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s the remnants of pharengitis, but if that was the case, I’d have crap numbers for days instead of just 24 hrs. 

Or maybe diabetes is acting like a first class bitch because it can. 

I can’t get upset, because that will lead to more crappy numbers - And diabetes would have the upper hand - EFF THAT.

No, I have ride out the diabetes bitchiness and go with the diabetes flow, which isn’t always easy, but is required none the less. 

Maybe I’ll  increase my insulin pump’s temporary basal rate by a few tenths of a unit after my 3 pm blood sugar check - And then again, maybe I won’t. 

So my question to you is: How do you ride out diabetes bitch fits without completely flipping your diabetes bitch switch? 
Sidebar: SAY THAT THREE TIMES FAST.

And for the record - I’m a huge fan of my Diabetes Bitchswitch - yours, too.

But with that being said, I don't want inflict my Diabetes Bitchswitch wrath on myself!  

It Is My Belief That Bill Cosby Is Wrong & Is Perpetuating Diabetes Myths

Take your pudding pop money and help educate the public on the diabetes facts, instead of perpetuatging diabetes myths

It is my belief that Bill Cosby is a hypocrite who loves the sound of his own voice, and it is my belief that Bill Cosby is wrong.   

And after reading his recent interview in the NY Post with reporter Stacey Brown re: Mayor Blumberg's heath crusade, I have no doubt you'll agree with me!

In his interview, Cosby states: Juvenile diabetes. Children are not being taken out of harm’s way. And there are many things that we also can do, but one is you don’t want your child consuming too much sugar. That is what the mayor tried to do with the sugar in the soft drinks.

It is my belief — my BELIEF in big letters — when people don’t make good choices, you can yell as loud as you want to at me about this is my body and I do what I want to do with my body, so OK yes you can. But now you are spreading it along generationally so that your daughter and grandchildren have it and everybody’s doing it. It becomes a term of apathy because people say my father had it, my aunt had it. People then ask you, “What your mother die of?” “Diabetes.” “Grandmother?” “Diabetes.” These things don’t have to happen if you make the correct choice.

I have news for you, Bill. Diabetes is not a choice, in any shape or form. 

And as a skinny  8 year old kid who ate spinach every night with her dinner, I did not choose to have my pancreas crap out on me, nor did my parents poor the sugar down my throat to cause my type 1 diabetes, a.k.a., juvenile diabetes.

My own body destroyed the area in my pancreas that makes insulin. We, (my parents and I,) did nothing to cause it. And we didn't shrink back in a corner either - and we never sat quietly and "took it" when misinformed people such as yourself blamed us for diabetes.  

A choice is choosing to pitch JELLO Pudding Pops and Coke-A-Cola for years and years, and for great financial gain, and then years later blaming the public for their poor choices... that you helped create. 

So if you're going to preach to Bloomberg about diabetes, make the correct choice and get ALL your diabetes facts straight, instead of perpetuating diabetes myths and stereotypes.

And while you're at it, how about taking the millions you made from JELLO and Coke-A-Cola and give back to the community of which you speak. You say the public needs education, THEN EDUCATE THEM, by all means Bill - Instead of chastising them. 

Take your pudding and soda money and make the choice to contribute to marketing campaigns that educate the public the diabetes facts regarding type 1, type 1.5 and type 2 diabetes and while you're at it, take your Coke money and teach the public that diabetes does not equal fat, regardless of the type!

Perhaps you can create a program where you help provide the public access to Certified Diabetes Educators so they can become empowered and learn to make choices to benefit their health and their lives with diabetes. 

Why not call out companies who use High Fructose Corn Syrup in their products.... Companies like Coke and JELLO. I'm sure you know a few folks there.

A helpful choice would be to take your celebrity and push for a ban on High Fructose Syrup. 

A tremendous choice would be donating some of that pudding and soda money for a type 1 Diabetes Cure. 

You say that "you gotta have fight." Well, Bill, I do have fight, BOAT LOADS OF IT. 

Every single person living with diabetes and all it's types has to have fight in order to survive. 

We fight the public's misconceptions about our diseases every single day.

We fight our insurance companies for better coverage and better rates. 

We fight for our health and to live good lives, despite the fact that we are pancreatically challenged, metabolically frustrated, and continually judged by the public every single day of our lives with diabetes. 

And we fight when blowhards like you speak out of turn when it comes to our disease.

You want do the diabetes blame game, then be prepared to answer your millions of critics living with type1, type 1.5 and type 2 diabetes (and their amazing families) who live with the diabetes facts and realities every day. 

And as for you Stacy Brown & the NY Post: Do your jobs and fact check before you go to print!

And if you'd like to call the NY Post and tell them how you feel about Bill Cosby and his thoughts on diabetes and their shoddy fact checking, their number is: 212-930-8288 and you can email at letters@nypost.com

Have a Coke & a smile and get your diabetes facts straight!

Diabetes Weirdness: Ape Crazy Allergies & Blood Sugar Nirvana

Sorry I've been MIA the past few days, but things have been a bit nuts on this end - And on top of all the nuttiness, my allergies have been going ape sh*t crazy and have me coughing, sneezing, stuffed up, all sore throaty and sounding like a man, baby!!

But ironically, my blood sugars have been good - Like Blood Sugar Nirvana, good. 

Which of course I'm very grateful for but find interesting and a little perplexing none the less.

Sidebar: I realize that by writing that my blood sugars have been good and putting that fact out on the internetz, will almost certainly cause the Blood Sugar Nirvana to cease, but I digress. 

Maybe the copious amounts of Blood Sugar Nirvana have something to do with the fact that the only things I feel like eating are chicken/ Matzaball soup, Edy's Popsicles, red grapes and massive amounts of ginger tea and maybe coughing and sneezing actually are more of a workout than anyone ever thought - And if that's the case, I should have abs of steel by the end of the week ;)   

But the ape Sh*t allergies  and Blood Sugar Nirvana combo have me a little weirded out and wondering if my pancreas has been temporarily kick started by this year's pollen count.

Diabetes Weirdness, I think it might actually be a thing and I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered it as of late - And I'm not just talking about allergies, either. No... I'm talking diabetes weirdness in all dimensions. 

So.... Have you experienced Diabetes Weirdness or am I just weird.... or both?? 

Almost Wordless Wednesday 25 for 35: Lilly Diabetes Journey Award™ 25 Year Medal

I celebrated my 35th Diabetes Diaversary in October during Hurricane Sandy, and I finally got around to applying for my Lilly Diabetes Journey Award™25 Year Medal this past April.

I'd been meaning to apply since I found out about the Journey Awards last year, but honestly, I just never got around to it.  

 Anyway, about 6 weeks after sending in my paperwork (and after a work day that was most certainly a Monday in every sense of the word,) I came home and found a very official looking UPS Express envelope from Lilly at my door. 

And I was like: What's this??

And inside was: 

My 25 year Lilly Diabetes Journey Award Medal™. 
And receiving it made me feel great!

And it made me feel hope~

Along with the medal, was a letter of congratulations from John C. Lechleiter,Ph.D
Lilly's Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer,
which made me feel incredibly proud.  

A little acknowledgement & encouragement goes a hell of a long way when it comes to living with diabetes - As does a little diabetes bling ;)
And I look forward to receiving my 50 & 75 year medals!

If you've reached (or passed) your 25, 50, or 75 year mark of living with diabetes, and haven't applied for your Lilly Diabetes Journey Awards™Medal(s) yet, what the heck are you waiting for?? DO IT.
Click HERE and fill out your paperwork, ASAP!

You've worked hard and have lived with diabetes 24X7,365 days a year with no time off for vacations or good behavior!
 AND YOU'RE STILL HERE. 
Darn right you deserve a medal!!