May 2011 - Page 2 of 3 - Lauren Nygard Photography

Diabetes Blog Week 2011 – Day 5

Posted May 13, 2011 In Diabetes, Personal

Good morning friends and welcome to Day 5 of Diabetes Blog Week 2011! Today’s topic is Awesome Things. Here’s the prompt from Karen:

Awesome things – Friday 5/13: In February the #dsma blog carnival challenged us to write about the most awesome thing we’d done DESPITE diabetes. Today let’s put a twist on that topic and focus on the good things diabetes has brought us. What awesome thing have you (or your child) done BECAUSE of diabetes? After all, like my blog header says, life with diabetes isn’t all bad!

This one was a little hard for me. Besides the obvious (meeting all the awesome diabetics across the internet AND being on TV as a kid because my mom was so heavily involved* with the local JDRF chapter) I think my most awesome thing is pretty abstract. Basically, I think diabetes has taught me to appreciate what I have and to not dwell on what I don’t. In other words, there are a lot of things I could complain about, but I choose not to. Why? Complaining doesn’t help. Sure, I complain about my bloodsugar being too high, but, at the end of the day, it’s what I do that makes a difference. And I translate that thought to other aspects of my life. Here’s an example.

This morning, I woke up and the electricity was out. (Note to Norfolk: Was that some sort of sick Friday the 13th joke?) If you know me in real life, you know that I get up pretty early. How early? Well, earlier than the sun on most days (including today). You can imagine the frustration when I started thinking about everything I needed to do before I left so that I could get to work on time. And then I realized that I wouldn’t even be able to make coffee! YIKES! So, instead of fretting and complaining to my tweeps about it (yes, the thought crossed my mind) I thought about how awesome it is that I wake up and CAN see on most days. As most of you know, diabetes retinopathy affects many diabetics and, well, let’s just say that, in my 22 years (and counting!) of being a type 1 diabetic, I haven’t always been in the best control. ;) Then my entire morning routine became more of an adventure! I was thinking, “hmm, what can I do without any lights?” I must say the dark shower was pretty relaxing! Putting contacts in my eyeballs in the dark? Not something I’d choose to do.

The funny thing was that, I was stressing the whole time that I’d be late to work. Especially since I needed to stop for coffee on the way in! As it turns out, I got to work early today. And I don’t mean like the standard 5-10 minutes early. I was a whole 30 minutes** early! Makes me wonder what else I could remove from my morning routine…

Want more awesome? Check out what other Diabetes Blog Week participants are saying about their awesome here!

xoxo,

Lauren

*When I said “so heavily involved,” what I really meant was “practically started.” Yeah, that was before the internets and the D-OC, and she did her part to create community among diabetics in South Central Texas. She’s awesome. :)

**Yay! Time to blog! ;)

Diabetes, Personal

Diabetes Blog Week 2011 – Day 4

Posted May 12, 2011 In Diabetes, Personal

Howdy! We’ve passed hump-day and now we’re on to Day 4 of Diabetes Blog Week 2011! Today’s topic is Ten things I hate about you, Diabetes. Here’s the description from Karen:

Ten things I hate about you, Diabetes – Thursday 5/12: Having a positive attitude is important… but let’s face it, diabetes isn’t all sunshine and roses (or glitter and unicorns, for that matter). So today let’s vent by listing ten things about diabetes that we hate. Make them funny, make them sarcastic, make them serious, make them anything you want them to be!!

Here’s my list, in no particular order:

My gut. Years and years of insulin injections and now years of pump infusion sites have left my abdomen in a war-like state. Red, puffy, spotty, sometimes purply, always plump, filled with scar tissue build-up. I’ve been self-conscious about this area for as long as I can remember. You might get to see it in Saturday’s post. We’ll see how brave I’m feeling…
D-police. You know who you are.
The feeling you get when you just know your bloodsugar is dropping, but you’re in the middle of something really important and can’t properly address it at the time. Usually followed by cold sweat, shaking, and inability to pay attention. (Stephanie and I chatted about this briefly during the DSMA chat last night.)
I’m cheating a little. I don’t really hate this one, but I did when I was in 3rd grade! In 3rd grade, our teacher had us make fingerprints and put them up on the wall all over the classroom. When my mom came by class, I challenged her to guess which ones were mine! She scanned the walls and went straight to the ones that were mine! I was SO confused until I realized it was because you could see all the little holes in my finger pads from checking my bloodsugar. But, the funny thing was, I hadn’t even noticed them before!
Being attached. To my pump, CGM, glucometer… whatever. I dislike always having to carry something with me.
The constant ups and downs (a.k.a. glucoaster).
The fear of the unknown.
The fact that others worry about me and feel the need to check in on me. I don’t mind the checking in part, but I wish they didn’t have to do it.
Getting low right after I’ve finished eating! Don’t you know that I don’t want to shove more food into my face?!?
The lack of cure. I was diagnosed when I was 4, so I don’t remember not having diabetes. I think it has made it easier for me to deal with it, but wouldn’t it be nice to know what’d it’d be like to NOT have to check my bloodsugar multiple times a day and be constantly attached to a piece of hardware that keeps me alive? I sure as hell think so. We were told that a cure was “right around the corner” when I was diagnosed. That was 1988!!

That’s my list! To see what other Diabetes Blog Week participants have come up with, check out the link list here!

xoxo,

Lauren

p.s. Don’t forget it’s my birthday month! If you feel so inclined, please donate to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation instead of sending gifts. :)

p.p.s. My friend Maria also reminded me that author Brenda Novak is currently hosting her annual online auction for diabetes research. All proceeds will go to the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami to help find a cure! Please check it out and bid here! The auction opened on May 1 and ends on May 31.

Diabetes, Personal

Diabetes Blog Week 2011 – Day 3

Posted May 11, 2011 In Diabetes, Personal

Welcome back for Day 3 of Diabetes Blog Week 2011! Today’s topic is Diabetes Bloopers. Here’s the description from Karen:

Diabetes bloopers – Wednesday 5/11: Whether you or your loved one are newly diagnosed or have been dealing with diabetes for a while, you probably realize that things can (and will) go wrong. But sometimes the things that go wrong aren’t stressful – instead sometimes they are downright funny! Go ahead and share your Diabetes Blooper – your “I can’t believe I did that” moment – your big “D-oh” – and let’s all have a good laugh together!!

The thing is, I wrote about my favorite Diabetes Blooper last year (I HATE THIS HAMBURGER!) and I haven’t really had many in my recent life. Er, I’m sure I’ve had them, but I can’t think of one right now. So I’m just going to share a diabetes memory instead. It’s pretty hilarious to me.

The summer after my 8th grade, I went to overnight camp for the first time! Mom packed up me and my brother for three weeks at Camp Sweeney and it was awesome. Like, really awesome. It was a whole camp full of diabetics and their syblings! Well, one of the cool things about Camp Sweeney is that they would sing popular songs, but change the lyrics so they’d be about diabetes. Instead of “Summer of ’69,” we’d sing about “Bloodsugar of 69” and, well, you get the idea. :) So, for whatever reason, one day in the high school cafeteria, I was talking to my best friend Madelyn about this. So, she, naturally, started busting out lyrics to “Diabetic’s Paradise” (you know, the diabetes version of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”). It was really awesome. I wish I remembered the lyrics because they were just phenomenal. ;)

Oh, and about the I HATE THIS HAMBURGER! thing. The awesome thing about that story is that hubby and I now use that phrase when we’re mad at something and we know it’s dumb. Like, if I’m struggling to open a jar pf pickles but the lid won’t budge, I scream “I HATE THIS HAMBURGER!” because, well, it’s funny. Sometimes we throw in the obligatory fist pound. It always lightens the mood!

I hope you’re having a great week! See you tomorrow!

xoxo,

Lauren

Diabetes, Personal

Diabetes Blog Week 2011 – Day 2

Posted May 10, 2011 In Diabetes, Personal

Welcome back for Day 2 of Diabetes Blog Week 2011! Today is Letter Writing Day! Here’s the description from Karen:

Letter writing day – Tuesday 5/10: In February the Wego Blog Carnival asked participants to write letters to their condition. You can write a letter to diabetes if you’d like, but we can also take it one step further. How about writing a letter to a fictional (or not so fictional) endocrinologist telling the doctor what you love (or not) about them. How about a letter to a pretend (or again, not so pretend) meter or pump company telling them of the device of your dreams? Maybe you’d like to write a letter to your child with diabetes. Or a letter from your adult self to the d-child you were. Whomever you choose as a recipient, today is the day to tell them what you are feeling.

So… Here goes!

To my friends:

I know you know that I have diabetes. I know I like to ignore it. I know you ignore it because you’re following my lead. The problem is, ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. Sometimes I just need to take a minute to take care of myself. Sometimes my head is spinning and I’m trying to take control of my downward-spiraling bloodsugar and I can’t think clearly enough to explain what’s happening. And so I run off and scarf everything in sight. That, my friends, you can ignore. :) Just give me 15 minutes or so and I’ll (usually) be ready to rock.

The truth is that I love when people ask me about diabetes or what’s involved in the care of a diabetic. I could talk about it for hours! I love explaining the differences between a Type 1 and a Type 2. (I’m a type 1 in case you didn’t know!) And, the more you know, the less I feel I have to explain when I might actually need help or need to be ignored. :) No questions are off limits with me. Here’s the short-n-sweet version:

My pancreas no longer produces insulin, so I have to take it. I could take multiple shots everyday, but I use an insulin pump instead. It’s attached to me like an IV: a needle is surrounded by thin, flexible tubing. I insert the needle and tubing into my skin and pull the needle out, so just the tubing remains. The pump is programmed to give me a little bit of insulin throughout the day, and I tell it to give me more when I eat. I have to refill the reservoir and change out the tubing every three days. The pump only gives me insulin. I still have to check my bloodsugar (at least) 4 times a day. I sometimes wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). It’s really cool! It checks my bloodsugar every 5 minutes and reports to my pump. It helps me stay in better control, since I have practically constant bloodsugar information at my disposal. And, speaking of control.. No, I am not in the best control. I’m not awful, though, either. There’s definitely room for improvement, and that’s just how diabetes is. No matter how hard I try to control it, it will always have a life on its own. It’s my job to try to outsmart it! Suffice to say, it’s complicated. Like, really complicated!

But there’s one thing. When I’m adjusting my pump, there’s no reason to make a “funny” comment about it. I know you think you’re hilarious (“oh yeah, *beep beep* just bump it up a little more so you can eat that!“) but, really, the comments are just annoying. And terribly insulting. When I eat, I have to tell my pump to cover the carbs I’m having… no matter how large or how small. So, see me eat an apple? I’ll be telling my pump. A cupcake? Same thing. So save yourself the effort and save yourself from looking like an idiot… Just let it go. Pretty please??

And a reminder: insulin is not a cure! If you are interested in funding research to cure diabetes (and make my day in the process!) please consider making a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. It is my birthday month after all! :)

love,

Lauren

Diabetes, Personal

Diabetes Blog Week 2011 – Day 1

Posted May 09, 2011 In Diabetes, Personal

Hello friends!

Welcome to the first installment of Diabetes Blog Week 2011! I know I don’t usually talk about diabetes or how having type 1 affects my daily life. But that’s exactly why I jumped at the chance to participate in Diabetes Blog Week last year, and again this year. It really is a big part of my life, and, although I would like to ignore it, I can’t. So, please bear with me for one week as I take some time to give you a little perspective. :)

Today’s topic is “Admiring our Differences.” Here’s the description from Karen:

Admiring our differences – Monday 5/9: We are all diabetes bloggers, but we come from many different perspectives. Last year, Diabetes Blog Week opened my eyes to all of the different kinds of blogs (and bloggers) out there – Type 1s, Type 2s, LADAs, parents of kids with diabetes, spouses of adults with diabetes and so on. Today let’s talk about how great it is to learn from the perspectives of those unlike us! Have you learned new things from your T2 friends? Are D-Parents your heroes? Do LADA blogs give you insight to another diagnosis story? Do T1s who’ve lived well with diabetes since childhood give you hope? Pick a type of blogger who is different from you and tell us why they inspire you – why you admire them – why it’s great that we are all the same but different!!

The truth is I am a bit of a d-blog stalker and read up on a lot of different diabetes blogs. But I LOVE reading the blogs of parents of diabetics. I get to learn all about diabetes from someone who doesn’t personally have the disease, but who is near and dear to someone who does.

It also helps me have a better understanding of what my parents went through when they were caring for me as a child with diabetes. I was diagnosed when I was 4 and don’t have many pre-diabetes memories (or ones that are distinguished by the fact that I wasn’t a diabetic yet). It wasn’t until I read Hallie‘s post, “The Scariest Night of My Life,” a week ago that I even started comprehending how my parents must’ve felt the numerous nights that my bloodsugar dropped. Or the one night when I was rushed to the ER after spending the day at Disneyland. I had been to the ER before, but, I wish diabetes didn’t follow us to Anaheim that year! My mom even developed a ranking system for ERs across the US. I think the Disneyland ER was pretty high up there, but Atlanta’s was WAY down on the bottom. (Stay away, y’all! :))

Additionally, reading the blogs of d-parents gives me lots of fun ideas that I wish I had thought of years ago! For example, Lorraine and Caleb created the cutest Christmas ornaments out of empty insulin bottles last December! (I’m saving all my bottles this year!)

So, thank you, d-moms and d-dads of the D-OC, for opening my eyes to the world of parenting a child with diabetes!

Stay tuned for Day 2 tomorrow!

xoxo,

Lauren

Diabetes, Personal