Diabetes and Prom

Can I just start off by saying that I feel like every post, or almost every post, is titles "Diabetes and.... Whatever" ? Because I feel like they do. Anyway, this post may be helpful for some of you and for some of you, prom may have come and gone already. Either way, I hope this can help you this year or maybe last year. 😃 prom and diabetes can be an annoying combination. You have a  million and one things to carry and keep up with, you have to either give a shot in your dress(good luck 😝) or you get to find a way to hide your pump in your dress(tip for all you gals: tucking it away in your bra honestly usually works even though it's super weird. 😂) But, it's something you have to deal with and you definitely don't want to have problems that ruin your prom night.
First, be prepared. Make sure you have your meter and sugar tablets at least, and find some sort of balance between taking too much and taking too little.
Second, be sure to check. You don't have to check excessively, but at least check when you eat dinner or if you start feeling high or low so you can take care of yourself and have a safe, gun prom experience.
Third, make sure someone knows you're diabetic. Be that your date, or your friends, or a chaperone, just make sure someone knows. This is always important, but especially at an event like prom. If something should happen, though I hope it never does, someone needs to know so they can take care of you and avoid anything really bad happening.
Fourth, know how far is too far. Don't push your body to its limits. If you're tired, go home. Don't just push it off and press on through it. If you're feeling low, take a minute to check your blood sugar and take care if yourself. You're long term healthough ultimately more important than having to take a break from dancing or bowling or whatever or you're doing.
Lastly, just have fun! 😁 You only have one or two proms, and you don't want diabetes to get in the way of you having a good night. Be careful and cautious, but just don't forget to have fun!

Traveling with Diabetes

This weekend, I travelled to and spend a few days in Atlanta, Georgia for a choir trip. We did some shopping, went to Medieval Times, spent a day in Six Flags, and went to church where Dr. Charles Stanley preaches. Overall, it was a pretty good weekend, and other than a few blisters and a headache, I made it out without too many bumps or bruises. But, this trip reminded me of how annoying diabetes can be when traveling. You sit in the car for hours and your blood sugar goes up. You snack and forget to bolus and then your blood sugar goes up even more. You treat your blood sugar and then you our drop. It's a vicious cycle. 

I don't have any life changing tips, but I do have a few recommendations. First of all, check. Check before you eat, check a couple hours into the trip, check, check, check. 

Secondly, if you're at a theme park, or somewhere where you'll be walking a lot, don't bolus quite as much for food or lower your basal rate to help avoid lows. I did this at Six Flags, and it helped tremendously. I think I had one low. Maybe. 

Lastly, it goes without saying I think, but be prepared. Take extra supplies, batteries, sugar tablets, etc. Just take plenty of supplies and be prepared. 😃

Diabetes and Dating 😘😍👫💋💌❤️

First of all, I want to apologize for the abundance of emojis in the title, I got a little too excited. 😅 But, today we're talking about diabetes and dating!!!! Yay!!!!
Diabetes and dating can be complicated, but it doesn't have to be. For me, diabetes has never been a huge deal in relationships, but that's not always going to be the case. I think there are three or so factors that determine how tricky or not diabetes is going to be in a relationship.
1. How long you've been diabetic
Some of you probably think I'm crazy and that this doesn't matter, but I believe it does. The longer you've been diabetic, the more comfortable you become with the disease. I've been diabetic since I was eight years old, so by now, I'm pretty comfortable dealing with the disease, both in private and in front of others. But, if you're newly diagnosed, you're probably still figuring the disease out yourself and so sharing it with others may be awkward, but not impossible.
2. How long you've known the person you're dating
If you're friends with the person you're dating first, like I always have been, they're probably going to find out you're diabetic while you're still friend and will go into the relationship knowing you're diabetic and accepting that part of you. But, if you haven't known the person you're dating for very long, they may not know you're diabetic before you start dating, which is totally okay, but it just means you'll have to tell them at some point and let them decide if they're going to accept that part of you or not. (And of they don't accept you in spite of you're diabetes, they're probably not worth it anyway. 💁)
3. Their willingness to learn about diabetes and help you manage it.
If you're dating a guy or a girl, you're probably going to be around them a lot. And if you're around them a lot, they're probably going to need to learn about diabetes and what they need to look out for. For example, my boyfriend Michael has always been super accepting and supportive of me and my diabetes and he's learned how to tell if my blood sugar is too high or too low, and if he thinks I'm not where I should be blood sugar wise, he'll ask me if I'm feeling okay and will suggest that I check my blood sugar to make sure I'm okay. He carries sugar tablets with him for me whenever we're out together, and if something goes wrong with my pump, he's always willing to help me fix it and does. I tell you guys all this to tell you guys that if you're dating someone and they're really someone you should be dating, they'll take the time to learn about diabetes and how to take care of you(and I wanted to brag about Michael a little bit, if I'm being completely honest. 😝)

Strong Patient 💥

If you read my last post, then you know that I went to the endocrinologist yesterday. Normally, those appointments are less than fun... way less than fun. By yesterday was different. My doctor made the comment, "That was fun!" and while I don't know that I would say that it was fun, I left feeling strong and happy. The title for this post comes from the sticker( yes, my doctor gave me a sticker even though I'm almost 18. 😝) that my doctor slipped on my chair while I was using the restroom. It was a sticker that had Superman on it and said "Strong Patient." And even though it's just a sticker, this thing has made me pretty dang happy. I carried it around most of the day yesterday and admittedly got a little upset when I couldn't find it to take a picture of it to put in this blog. What is it about this sticker that I'm so attached to and proud of? The fact that it's an affirmation of my hard work and effort. As humans, I think we all like to be told we're doing a good job and that someone is proud of us. It's just human nature. And as a diabetic, we like to be told, we sometimes NEED to be told, that we're doing a good job and that someone is proud of us. We deal with a super hard disease every single day and that gets very tiring. When someone tells us we're doing a good job, or that we're strong, sometimes we shake it off and deny it, saying, "No, I'm really not." but, honestly, sometimes we need to hear that. We're not asking for people to worship us or idolize us for taking care of ourselves, but sometimes, we just need a pat on the back or an encouraging word. So, if you haven't heard it lately, you're a strong patient. You're taking care of yourself, you're keeping yourself alive, and you're doing a great job and I'm proud of you. 👍

Diabetes Update

Diabetes requires lots of extra doctors visits that normal people don't have to go to. Along with yearly check ups with my normal physician, I see my eye doctor every year(rather than every couple of years like most people), I see my endocrinologist every three months(4 times a year), and my cde(certified diabetes educator) every three months as well. So, saying I stay healthy and don't get sick and need to go to the doctor for other reasons, I go to the doctor about 10 times a year. That's a lot. I mention this because yesterday I went to see my endocrinologist for my routine check up, and unlike my previous appointments this year, it actually went really well, which was a surprising change. 😄 My A1c went down from 8.7 to 7.2(which is a healthy A1c for a diabetic) in three months, which is soooo much better than it had been in quite some time. I'd been stuck in the 8 point range for a while now, so being in the healthy range was kind of unexpected but nonetheless nice. Although my parents, grandparents, and endocrinologist were quick to credit my lower A1c and better checking habits to my boyfriend Michael, who has been very, very helpful and supportive about my diabetes and has helped me by reminding me to check when I forget and making sure I give myself insulin when I eat, I think I deserve some credit too. Going from checking maybe once a day to checking 3-4 times a day hasn't been easy, especially since I've just been really tired of diabetes and everything that comes with it. With that being said, I'm not at all trying to discredit Michael or say that he hasn't helped, because he most definitely has. Michael not only reminds me to take care if myself, but he also makes me want to take care of myself and has motivated me to want to be healthy.   I want to be healthy so I can be around for him for a long, long time and because of that, I'm trying more now. Michael has come into my life and not only captured my heart, but also become my motivation to try my best every day to be healthy, and I'll always be grateful for him. 💕

I CAN eat that!

As a diabetic, you probably hear, "Can you eat that?" "Can you eat sugar?" "So, what can you eat?" and other similar questions quite frequently. Unless you live with the disease or know people who do, you probably don't know much about diabetes or how it works, and that's okay. But, if you don't know about diabetes, please, please, PLEASE don't ask us stupid questions. Most of the ads and programs on television about diabetes are about Type 2 Diabetes, which is completely different from Type 1 Diabetes. In Type 1 Diabetes, the immune system attacks and kills the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and your body stops producing insulin completely because it has no way to do so. In Type 2 Diabetes, your body just doesn't make enough insulin or you body cannot use the insulin properly(known as insulin resistance.) Admittedly, I don't know much about Type 2 Diabetes because I don't live with it and deal with it on a daily basis, and if the information I just gave on Type 2 is incorrect or false, please correct it and forgive me. I am in no way trying to misrepresent that disease because I know how frustrating that can be, and to the best of my knowledge, that information is correct, but if I'm wrong, please correct me. :)
Although you'll get questions about food frequently, those aren't the only ones you'll hear. You'll also probably hear, "Does that hurt?" "How often do you have to do that?" "Will you have to do this for the rest of your life?" And, although these questions may annoy you and you may want to scream, "Yes, of course it hurts! It's a needle going into my body!" It's probably best to refrain from doing so. People ask questions because they don't know, not to be annoying, and the best way to handle questions, no matter how tired we are of hearing them, is to answer them sincerely. People want to know what we go through and how they can help, and the only way they'll know is if we take the time to answer their questions.

Diabetes and the Movies

I don't know if this happens to everyone or to just me, but every time I go to see a movie I end up going low during it. And, let me tell ya, it's super annoying. Most people get to just sit there and enjoy the movie (or wonder why your mother is making you sit through Into the Woods if you're like the guy we saw after our movie last night :p) and then there's me, sitting through it happily until I start going low and then I just wish the movie would be over so I could check and take care of my low blood sugar so I could feel better.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all trying to complain and make any one who isn't  diabetic or who doesn't deal with lows during the movies feel bad for me. This post merely came from wanting to know if there are other diabetics who go to the movies and go low on a consistent basis, or if I'm just crazy... I might just be crazy, but who knows. :P