recent random ones

These are for you, uncle Stuart. Hope they are new ones!

He's got it!

Today I had a break through with one of my students. He is from Korea and has only been in the United States for about five months. Sometimes I really wonder if his English is improving at all. He understands a lot about what is going on. I have no doubt about that. He gets along well with the other students and is actually probably my class clown. However, I just really worry about his reading and writing. He has a difficult time reading anything and his pronunciation is awful. I wonder if he even understands anything about what he's reading. He takes lots of notes although his handwriting is barely legible. I wonder if he even knows what he is writing or if he is simply copying and is only gaining the handwriting practice.
However, today was the big break-through.
We were doing our literacy rotations this morning when he was looking bored and wanted to come read with me. So, I let him. Sometimes you just have to give in. Boy, was I glad I did so today. He sat down and began reading a book we were studying about the colonies. The students had a comprehension packet they were all working on. He asked me for help so I had him read a little to me, then helped him answer the matching question. Then I read a little and stopped where the answers were in the text and had him answer the questions when we were done with that segment. Then he (all on his own) began reading out loud and finding the answers and recording them. His pronunciation is still very bad, but he is understanding what he is reading enough to do grade-level work without much help! I was so excited! I'm not sure why the light bulb went off today, and maybe it's been there for a while now, but I couldn't be more thrilled and excited for him.
It is moments like these that made me want to become a teacher, and make me glad that I became one!

Diabetes Check -Up

I saw my diabetes specialist today. The news was pretty good. My weight has remained the same in the last 4 months and my blood presure was great. My HbA1c was at a 7.1, up from 6.8 at my last visit. He did say though, that I am still in good control and that I'll just need to monitor my sugars a little more closely. He reminded me about writing down glucose levels which is something I used to be very faithful at, but haven't done in over 2 years.

One topic of discussion that came up was the continuous glucose monitor (CGM). This is a device which is fairly new to the public market that monitors glucose levels continuously- hence the name. So, this means it is taking a reading subscutaneously (under the skin) without a finger prick. But, this does not eliminate the need for blood testing because this must still be done about 3 times a day to calibrate the monitor.


The crappiest thing about this though, is that insurance is not covering the monitoring at all yet, so it is very expensive. The monitors range from $300-$1,000 and every three days a $35 site has to be changed. You can see how quickly this could add up. However, it would not necessarily have to be worn all of the time. I guess it would ideally be worn for a 2 week period to study out trends in glucose readings and would not need to be worn again for a few weeks or months. Some people use them to help themselves recognize hypogylcemia (lows) so they might need to wear it on a more regular basis.

Minimed CGM
Dexcom CGM

Anyway, I've also been thinking about upgrading my pump to one with some of the latest features. My pump is currently out of warranty but working fine. As soon as it breaks though, I'd have to buy a new pump. I am not sure what kind of coverage I have on my new insurance, but my last pump cost us $1,000 after insurance. Pretty good for 5 years of 24/7 use. I'd also like to get a glucometer that "talks" to my pump so I'd probably go with the Cosmo or the Minimed.

Mini Med pump and corresponding glucometer
Cosmo pump and attached glucometer

Lots of money in the diabetes industry.

Car Show

This is the third year we've been to the Utah International Auto Expo at the South Towne Expo Center. We've enjoyed seeing all of the new cars each year. I like to look at the concept cars, although I didn't take any pictures of them. We also have a fun time looking at and sitting inside of the cars you know you'll never be able to own. Ryan had a blast this year running around and playing with the steering wheels.
The Lexus LS 460 GL. This is the car that can park its self. There were constantly people in all four seats of this car. The girl doing the demo pointed out some awesome features like the shiatsu massage in the back seat.
One of the Mustang timeline display
another old mustang
Colin inside of the Camaro


Colin inside of the Lexus
One thing we noticed while sitting inside was how quiet everything was. The glove compartment, the door switches, nothing made a noise.
Ryan was running around enjoying himself

Me & Ryan in the Malibu Maxx SS. I love this car!

Colin in the Dodge Nitro.

Me in the Ford Escape
The Mustang GT

All chrome Ford

A Day in the Life of a Type 1 Diabetic

The following is a series of posts I've created to document one day in my life with diabetes. I hope that you will find them interesting. I’ve enjoyed putting this together and I want to thank my husband, Colin for helping me take these pictures throughout the day. Diabetes is such a huge part of my life, and I guess I just want to share some images and words with you so that you can maybe realize the impact that it has on me each day. I was diagnosed with diabetes in April of 2001, nearly 6 years ago. It has been a struggle at times, and at other times it has been a blessing. I think I’ve become more aware of my eating and exercising habits because of the disease. I’ve also probably become a little more stressed out and perhaps more obsessive-compulsive about other aspects of my life because diabetes is something that is so difficult to control. I am not mad that I have diabetes, but some days I wish I could take a diabetes vacation. The star of most of the images that will follow is my mini med 508. I love my insulin pump and would suggest all type 1 diabetics get the pump. Anyway, I could talk about diabetes all day, but I’ll just let the blog do it for me. I hope you will enjoy it, and I hope that you’ll leave a comment telling me what you thing about it. Also, if you know someone who may like to read this, please feel free to forward them the link.

Thanks!

Jen

The first thing I do each morning is take out my meter and test my blood sugar. This sort of sets the tone for my day, but I try not to let it bother me if I am off. There was a time when all of my morning tests were very high. I had the dawn phenomenon, but the pump has helped me cure this, and I wake up with much more regular or normal blood sugars.
I have to gently squeeze my finger to get the blood to come out. My hands are shaky and taking pictures is difficult so I know my reading will be low.

I put the drop of blood in the top of the test strip and it will read my blood sugar in 5 seconds time.


Normal blood sugar levels are between 80 and 120 points. This is the amount of glucose in miligrams per deciliter. Low blood sugars, like this one, are the absolute worst part about having diabetes. I hate the way they feel. To explain it to a non-diabetic, would be hard, but I guess if you have ever gone without food for an extended period of time, and you get toward the end where you feel weak, shaky, confused, and tired, it's like that for me. I can't think straight, I get angry, my hands shake, sometimes my tounge goes numb... lots of symptoms can happen. Some people pass-out, others act like they are drunk. This is 2 cups of fruit loops, about 56 grams of carbohydrates. I take 1 unit of insulin for every 7 carbohydrate gram. Because my blood sugar is low, I can take one less unit to help bring my sugar back into normal range.

To give myself a dose of insulin or bolus for a meal, I have to push the select button. I then have three different types of bolusing optioions, I choose normal then dial up the amount of necessary insulin.
9.0 units for breakfast.

Taking off the pump for my shower. I just leave it on the counter and re-connect as soon as I am done bathing.

Lunch

My lunch may seem like an ordeal to you, but this is so normal for me. I'm very used to it.

my meter in it's case. It holds (as you can see below) the meter, the lancet delivery device, the test strips, and whatever I want to put in that little mesh side pocket, usually more lancets and alchohol srtips.
The "tester" as I call it, open and ready to use needs a new lancet and bottle of test strips. The official name is glucometer. Mine is the One Touch Ultra and I love it.

lancet delivery device with cap off, old lancet inside has to be taken out and properly disposed of
empty lancet delivery device, needs a new lancet
new lancet
Lancet delivery device is ready for pokings.

finger prick, left hand ring finger.

milk finger to get blood drop and apply to strip for reading, then wait 5 seconds


PB&J, 2 slices of bread 15 carbs each, 2 Tbs PB= 0 carbs 2 Tbs Jelly 8 carbs. Total 38 carbs.

Deliver 2 units to bring my high blood sugar down, and 5 for the sandwich, the total bolus is 7.0 units. I so rarely deliver in smaller increments than a whole unit, but my pump delivers tenths of units if I need it to, or tell it to.

After bolusing for lunch, I get a "low volume" alarm on my pump. There are only about 30 units left so I'll most likely have to change my site today.

exercise and snack

Ryan and I do some Dance Dance Revolution to get some exercise for the day. This wasn't a great session of exercise, but exercise is an important part of diabetes care. This is probably where I can use the most improvement. I just don't do it enough. I find it difficult to fit into my schedule of being a full-time teacher and mother.

A high reading is not what I was expecting, which is why you should always "test, not guess" as they say on dLife. So, I'll take 3 units to bring my blood sugar down to normal range. I take 1:33 for lowering blood sugars above 100. This means, for every 33 points above 100, I have to take 1 unit of insulin to lower it the 33 points. I usually don't take any extra unless my bg is over 160.
excellent reading!
1 regular sized bannana (small) about 20 carbs.
Don't forget to bolus, even if it is just a snack. I can usually tell though if I don't need to bolus for a snack, which can happen like before exercise or if I feel like my sugar is dropping.

dinner and evening snack- okay dessert

Testing on my left hand index finger for dinner.

a normal reading. I will not have to take any extra insulin at this meal, only that needed to "cover" the carbs.
Half of a Cafe Rio grilled chicken salad with rice, pinto beans, tortilla strips, lettuice, tortilla, tomato, and creamy tomatillo dressing. I'd guess about 50 carbs so I took 7.0 units of insulin to cover this meal.
2 oatmeal cookies, about 35 carbs.

Deliver bolus of 5.0 units