foods that make you go hmmm

Have you ever noticed how certain food seems to mess with your blood sugar? You give yourself the correct dose and it doesn't matter. I don't know what it is, but those foods do not comply with the rules of your programmed ratio.

This happens when I eat certain granola bars, like Odwalla. No matter what, I always need a few more units because I always end up a little on the high side.

And it happens with chips. All I had for lunch was a tuna fish sandwich on wheat (26g) and Kettle Honey Dijon chips (30g for the bag). I'm feeling fine right now, but my sensor is showing me in the 250s and it's been 2 1/2 hours since I've eaten. So I check and my meter says I'm actually 290.

Shit. Not good. I should not be 290. Correction says 1.5 units.

That's like eating another 18g of carbs (for me). So where does this 18g of carbs come from? I know my ratio is right (or so I think) because it works fine with other foods. I've noticed I'm a little on the high side after lunch, which could be work stress...so maybe I just need more insulin, but 1.5 extra units? This always seems to happen with chips...even the "healthy" kind that don't have as a many carbs.

Do any of you (or your kids) have foods that throw a wrench in your ratio? And I'm not talking about eating a bunch of foods in a row...obviously it is a little more difficult to bolus when you eat several things with varying levels of carbs/fat/protein. I'm talking one food item that does serious damage...that makes you say, "really?" when you check your blood sugar 2 hours later.

I'm tempted to just not eat these foods, but maybe I should just be paying attention to them and bolus more since I know they will mess with me every time.

customer service makes all the difference

What's worse than having to deal with medical companies over the phone? Talking to people who sound like automated messages!

I got my monthly call today to confirm my diabetes supplies shipment. I thought I confirmed it a couple weeks ago, but I guess that one wasn't official enough. Yes, I have the same address and email. Yes, you can disclose info to my parents. Then it comes to discussing what's IN the shipment. She asked me how many boxes of lancets I have.

Me: "Oh, um, I have a lot. Maybe 10 boxes? I probably don't need any extras."

Her: "Do you switch out lancets every time you test?"

Me: "No...maybe every 2-3 times." This is a lie. I switch it out every day.

Her: "Ok, well when you do that, you're mixing old blood with new blood, so it does put you at risk for an infection."

Me: "Mmk." (Look lady, I know that. I don't need you to tell me.)

Her: How many test strips?

Me: "Oh, 2 boxes, I think." (This is a lie...I have 3. But I know how these things work. I'd rather not let on that I have extras.)

Her: "Ok, so we'll send you 5 boxes."

Me: "Wait, when I used to get a 3-month supply, I got 19. So shouldn't I be getting 6?"

Her: "Well, you shouldn't have been getting 19. You should have gotten 18."

Me: "I think they gave me an extra box to hold me over since sometimes the shipment took a week to get to me. But even still, that should be SIX boxes."

Her: "Well, I'm just going off of the amount you have left."

Me: (This is where I start to get a little annoyed) "My dr. wrote a prescription for me to get a certain amount, so I want that exact amount. I use my strips sparingly sometimes so I can have some backups, just in case."

Her: "Ok, well we'll give you 6 then." (Damn straight, you will!) "And that will go out June 27th."

Me: "Is there ANY way to send that out a little earlier? Sometimes it takes a week...and if it's over the weekend, then it takes even longer."

Her: "Well, you shouldn't be running out of any test strips." (I really didn't appreciate her tone here. Clearly, she didn't get it and didn't at least pretend to be on my side. Other people I've talked to there totally gave off the impression that they were on MY side, which I appreciate.)

Me: "Yeah, well, I just wanted to see..."

Her: "It's going out on a Monday, so hopefully you'll get it Friday."

Here's where I just give up and get off the phone. HOPEFULLY?! I have never gotten my shipment within 4 days. She even said..."expect it btwn 5-7 days." Hello?! This is why you guys USED to give me an extra box as a little buffer.

I had a feeling she was getting a little uppity with me, but I don't really care...I have a right to demand things when it comes to managing my health! I usually talk to such friendly and understanding people there, so it was strange for me to get this inflexible lady with a flat tone. I should let my mom talk to them...I swear, moms have the magic touch and make things happen a lot faster!

It's gettin' REAL

This has nothing to do with diabetes, but I wanted to share this because it is awesome! For any foodie out there (or anyone in the pacific NW really) you will appreciate this video.

On a diabetes-related note, I have got to be way better about my post-dinner/nighttime readings. They suck. I admire all the D-Moms who put so much work and effort into figuring out what's going on with their kids' blood sugar levels. It's time I put the same effort into myself!

This means...more logging. More paying attention to what I'm eating and how my blood sugar levels are affected. And more exercise. It's so basic, so why does it seem so hard sometimes?

one negative thought can lead to another

Last weekend, we celebrated my mom's bday with a family BBQ at my brother & sister-in-law's place. Even though I have moments where diabetes escapes my mind for a while, it is never gone for long. It is so present, so demanding. It affects my way of thinking. It pushes other thoughts out of my head, demanding that I only think about IT. And sometimes, it's hard to not let it take control. But it does and it overpowers me, leaving me with negative thoughts. Leaving me feeling annoyed, jealous and angry at the unfairness of it all.

What were these moments that made me go to the dark place?

Playing with my nephew. My nephew is 18 months. He is happy. He is adorable. And he's busy! He's at that stage where he doesn't really want to be picked up and held anymore--he wants to be down on the ground, walking quickly and exploring. I learned this very quickly as I chased after him. He is persistent. Enter diabetes-related thoughts...man, I'm already exhausted! How am I ever going to have a baby? What if I'm having a low while my busy toddler is running around? How will I manage?

Cut to us eating our delicious grilled hamburgers. Inner monologue again...Well, I never eat a burger so I'm going to enjoy this. In fact, I can't remember the last burger I had--all I eat are veggie burgers or salmon burgers. I will just SWAG this and correct later if need be.

Hour later...dessert. More monologue. Well, when is the last time you had cake? And it's gluten-free, so that's good. I will just have a few bites of cake. Oh, and some ice cream. Everyone else is eating dessert--I want to eat dessert too. I'll just guess at the carbs. Look at everyone eating their cake and ice cream. THEY don't have to worry about everything they just ate. They're not even THINKING about the food and the havoc it'll wreak on their blood sugars. They're so lucky. How did I wind up with type 1? It's not fair. I want my freedom back.

As I watch my brother let my nephew have a couple small pieces of the chocolate cake part...they're so lucky not having to figure out how much insulin he needs. Yes, he's busy, but he's not a busy baby with type 1. (This is where my mind flashes to the D-Mom blogs...how do they do it?)

Afterwards...I am stuffed. Sensor is showing me around 200 which isn't bad. But then there's the fat...oh, the fat. This is what keeps me high for hours. And I feel sort of shitty for having consumed things I don't normally eat. Yes, it seems worth it at the time, but later it never seems worth it, especially when I wonder how long it will take for my blood sugar to FINALLY come down. When it does, I'm relieved and I can go to sleep. Until the next day...

it takes a few tries, but eventually the truth comes out!

So, a few posts ago, I blogged about my medical company sending me the wrong number of test strips. I find that the more calls you make, the more information you find out. I don't know why everything can't be figured out during the first call, but I guess that's the way it goes. So, eventually, I find out that it isn't my medical company who made the mistake. The reason I've only been getting 5 boxes at a time (instead of 6 or 7) is because of my endo. My ENDO made the error. They should have the correct info on my file, right? Guess not!

Every year, my endo has to fill out paperwork and "renew" my prescriptions for the medical company. The nice lady on the phone told me that someone in her office probably filled it out and the endo signed off without checking. And because she has so many of these to complete, mistakes like this happen. Well, my endo signed the paperwork so that I would get the amount of test strips I used to get--not the amount I currently get and have been getting for the last 6 months or more. GRRR. So I call and make sure my endo's office knows they will be getting paperwork from my medical company requesting to increase my prescription from 7x a day to 10x a day.

I know that sounds like a lot, BUT I don't always test that much AND it is nice to have a backup supply. And really, I think it is extremely easy to test that often and sometimes it is completely valid. If you test before every meal, that is at least 3-4 times a day already. Let's say you get a crazy high--test again to double check. Maybe you get a crazy low--well, you have to test again to make sure it comes up. Maybe it doesn't come up--test again. Maybe you're sick--test again. What if you work out a lot and your blood sugars drop easily? Test once mid-workout, then test again post-workout (especially before getting in a car). Maybe you got an "error" message and need another test. There are SO many things like that, so I have to laugh when people on the other line make subtle gasping noises when I tell them my prescription is for 10x a day. Really, I want to say to those people, come back to me when you have type 1 diabetes! I've also had to explain to them that I sometimes go through dizzy/low blood pressure phases, so sometimes I test to make sure I'm not low. But really, I shouldn't have to explain myself!

wedding day!

My blood sugar #s might have played nice for my friend's bachelorette party, but they were not so nice after the wedding. It was mostly my fault though...I didn't calculate right. And I may have done that thing where I eat without thinking, like when I tossed back several of those mint candies. I used to LOVE those when I was younger, so those combined with a couple bites of cake are what made my numbers spike up to 300 later that night. I'm always amazed that even the smallest indulgence or just a few missed carbs can do that. I try not to worry about what that level does to my body, but I can't help but think about it, even for just a few seconds.

Besides that annoying # later, I had fun at my friend's wedding, which I guess is what matters most. And it was also sunny and beautiful, so that made for a happy weekend. I've noticed once those warm summer nights start, I want frozen yogurt and gelato, which is not the best craving for me to have. I ended up getting frozen yogurt with my roommate and was pleasantly surprised when a couple hours later I was 200...not toooo bad. And after a small correction, I was within a normal range a couple hours later. I know they say you can eat whatever you want when on an insulin pump, but I don't think I should be making a habit out of eating ice cream every week. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's not necessarily about diabetes, but it is about knowing what is good and healthy for my body so that I feel well overall.

Enjoying a glass of wine before the ceremony.

Before the wedding--on the bridge with the bf.