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Packing


Yeah, I don't think this would work!

Can I just share with you how much I hate packing?

First there's the pre-packing, which involves writing a list, doing uber amounts of laundry, visiting my pharmacy a million times, and zip locking all my clothes into see through zipper bags of various sizes so:

1. I can see where things are
3. I worry about bedbugs & zip locking your clothes is supposed to help
3. Airport security won't make a total mess of my jam packed purple suitcase!

My diabetes supplies takes up more room that they have a right too, and I always pack more than I need regarding said diabetes supplies.

I have a thing about my feet NEVER touching a hotel room floor (no matter the hotel) so I end up bringing a ridiculous amount of white footie socks!

I'm always concerned about my feet being comfortable so I always bring at least 3 pairs of shoes!

I'm always worried about the weather so even if the forecast calls for sun - I bring at least one sweater, plus the plane's ventilating system tends to freeze me out 1/2 way through the trip!

I always bring extra clothes because I'm all about options!

And all I can say is this girl needs options!

AM I the only PWD who has travel idiosyncrasies?

Now, what's with all the packing? I'm leaving for LA bright and early tomorrow morning on a 7:30 am flight (which means getting up at 4.a.m) leaving for the Airport by 5!

I'll be attending the 2011 Medtronic Diabetes Advocate Forum on Friday, April 1st and I'm excited! I'm looking forward to attending; participating,g and watching the conference through others eyes, while learning more than a thing or two in the process!

You can follow the conference on Friday, April 1st on twitter - The hashtag is: #MedtronicDAF

More on this the Forum to follow!

FYI: If you have any questions re: leave them on Friday's post and I'll pass them along!

Disclosure: As I've mentioned in a previous post, Medtronic paid me as an independent contractor to do some consulting with them re: Forum. Medtronic is also paying my expenses (and others attending) including; travel, hotel, meals, etc to attend said Forum.
Medtronic is NOT paying me to write about this event, nor did they tell me what I can or cannot write about this event.

My thoughts, I will of course be sharing with you are my own and from my own diabetesalicious brain~

Posted by Mr. Boy at 12.20, Add Comment
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I Can't Drive 65

I Can't Drive 65
So Friday was JUST ONE OF THOSE BLOOD SUGAR DAYS.

IT started with a 3 a.m low. One of those cold sweat, lip numbing, stomach dropping, wake you up out of bed lows. My blood sugar was 36 and I was shaking like a leaf in the wind.
I drank two (maybe three?) 5 ounce glasses of cranberry juice and tried to wait patiently for my numbers to go up, and finally at 3:50 I was able to go back to bed.

Cut to 7:15, when I wake with a blood sugar of 246-LOVELY.

I bloused accordingly, poured my coffee & jumped in the shower.

I felt tired and overwhelmed-It was a travel day for work and high numbers and road trips just don’t mix!


AND NEITHER DOES DRIVING AND LOW BLOOD SUGARS.

@ 8:30 I was 166 and bloused for 15 grams of carbs to cover my Ezekiel Bread toast and cream cheese, enjoyed it immensely and went about my work.

Now here’s where things get kind of screwy - I’ll let my Twitter tweets tell the story.

Diabetesalic: prepping for the road & which I didn't have 2. SO tired on so many levels. Need wind in my sails& a song in my heart - any suggestions? 9:34 AM Mar 27th from web

Diabetesalic: meant wish I didn't have to - this is what happens when your tired type & have are treating a blood sugar of 51 9:35 AM Mar 27th from web

Diabetesalic: "have are treating???" OK -Typing while low ='s MORETIC a.ka. Moron Diabetic Move 9:36 AM Mar 27th from web

Diabetesalic: Seriously Diabetes, I need u 2 listen to me& maintain good numbers 2 day. No lows or highs on the road 2day-not a good day for it -Agreed?! 10:25 AM Mar 27th from web

Diabetesalic: SERIOUSLY DIABETES –What’s w/the 65 blood sugr??? u were like 51 an hr ago - Can't drive at 65 no matter what the damn signs say. 11:19 AM Mar 27th from web

I needed to leave at Noon for my appts and had literally been treating the lows all morning,

Left the house at Noon with a number of 100. I lowered my basal rate to 0.75 and ate 2 Reese’s Peanut Butter cups in the car.

1:15 Arrived at my first appointment and my number was 123.

2:30 MY next appointment was at 2:45 and I arrived 15 minutes early. My blood sugar was 101. Had a juice box and a Coconut Larabar (SO GOOD btw) and was good for another 2 hours, which was good because I would be there for at least 2 hrs. I also created a temp basal rate of 0.50 for those 2 hrs…just in case.

5:30 Appointment ran over because I seriously think God likes toying with me sometimes. Checked my sugar (AGAIN) before I jumped in the car and it was 106, could feel myself heading south. Ate a Fuji apple & 5 (maybe 8?) chocolate Reese's mini eggs I’d snagged from my friends son's birthday party and was 136 when I arrived home @ 7pm.


IT was a CRAZY numbers day, BUT I got through it – So yeah know….I got that going for me!

PS My numbers were normal from the moment I stepped in the door Friday night and continued all weekend. Go figure?
Posted by Mr. Boy at 11.13, Add Comment
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Organizationally Challenged

Organizationally Challenged

I’m trying to become more organized in my life- and that’s not easy for me- it really isn’t - AND IT NEVER HAS BEEN.

But as this life continues to get busier and the stress levels continue to fluctuate (and tax season is like, next week) I need to get my crap together!

I haven't reached hoarder proportions and I'm not dirty.

Howard Hughes I’m not. You won’t see me walking around using Kleenex boxes as shoes or instructing my friends to use 15 tissues when opening the front door to my domicile.

I’m clean, and I like being clean. I clean my bathroom every Saturday, I’m a firm believer in closing the lid on my saline solution and putting the cap back on my toothpaste when I’m done –some might even say I’m a bit militant when it comes to those things.

I’m a laundry technician (I really like doing laundry and am quite Type A when it comes to temperature settings,) and I have a thing about washing hands. Now there’s a STRONG possibility that the washing hands thing is related to testing my blood sugars. BUT I also think dirty hands are gross- unless you’re gardening or working with your hands at the moment.

I need to develop some organizational expertise when it comes to my immediate surroundings.

So I’m taking the time to pitch, purge, sort, file and discard. Some days I get a lot accomplished, and other days (nights during the week) I barely scratch the organizational surface.

What does this have to do with diabetes? Well, in my quest for a firmer grasp on efficiency, I’ve found and noticed a few things related to life with diabetes.

  1. Going through old handbags that I plan to donate to Goodwill, I’ve found spare infusion sets and unused lancets
  2. Speaking of lancets, even though I stopped ordering lancets with my testing supplies 2 years ago- I have 17 boxes of unopened lancets (each containing 100 lancets for a total of 1700 lancets) at my disposal. Anyone need a box?
  3. I found an extra box containing 250 test strips in the back of my closet that are still a few months shy of their expiration date. How the hell did I miss not having them? Those vials of strips have moved to the front of my test strip drawer. Yes, yours truly has a desk drawer that is completely filled with testing supplies including lancets and test strips in chronological order according to expiration date. For an organizationally challenged person- I have my good moments~
  4. On the inside, side portion of my bedroom closet I have two shelves out of 6 ( they resemble cubbyholes) for my pump supplies. This works well in theory, but I still have 2 boxes of infusion sets on my bureau. I need to get in the habit of keeping ALL said pump supplies in their designated cubbyholes.
  5. I have an insane amount of shoes in my closets- and I can’t bear to part with a single pair- even the ones that kill my feet or aren’t deep enough for my customized orthotics.

So does anyone have any organizational issues or suggestions?

Your issues and or advice don't have to be diabetes related, but on the flip side, it absolutely can be.

BOTTOM LINE: I’m open to any and all suggestions and will take extreme comfort in knowing that I’m not the only person out there who suffers from a chronic lack (inconsistency might be a better descriptive) of organization.

Posted by Mr. Boy at 08.53, Add Comment
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