Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Voodoo Remedies: Reverse Diabetes In 3 Weeks?!!!


There are a lot of wacky goofy weirdoes out there that think that curing a chronic disease like diabetes is all in your mind and if you just will it then you will get well. Or maybe, this one was a good laugh, soak okra over night and drink the water the next morning, and your blood sugar will be normal, but yet you must stay away from all sugar and sweets??? Huh?!  

What brought on my sudden urge to write about this topic? This morning I received a spam email at work that read as follows.

 

- - Diabetes News Today - -

By: Doctor Robert O.Young, MS. D Sc., PhD.

How You Can Now Permanently-Reverse Your Diabetes.

 If you or someone you know is a diabetic, you obviously understand the day to day challenge of dealing with this condition. It is extremely frustrating that over the years there hasn't been much progress with fighting this condition.
Most of the 7-million+ people currently struggling with diabetes, simply put, do not try to do anything about it other than take their medication & prick themselves with sharp needles day in, & day out, year after year.
Fortunately, there FINALLY is a new and very exciting simple way to overcome your diabetes.
This brand new little-known but 100% scientifically-proven way to ERASE your diabetes for good. As an added benefit, this can be easily accomplished in only THREE SHORT weeks.
Simply Go Here Right Now to Find Out How You Can ERASE Your Diabetes, for GOOD: Website that I’ve omitted from this post in case there is a virus attached.

 
Really?! Reverse diabetes? I can ERASE it?!!! Boo Ya!!! Wait...Type 2 right because you know type 1  is the really bad kind and nothing can be done about that. (Insert severe sarcasm here)
 Since I didn’t want to take the chance and cause a virus to eat away at my computer I decide to Google Dr. Young and see what I could find out about this must be loony so called doctor. First thing I pulled up was this really long blog hating on the dude and talking about how Young was finally arrested and arraigned on criminal charges. Nice! So I get sent spam mail that claims I can reverse my diabetes in 3 weeks and this being claimed by a guy who is now under arrest? Hmmm….Still interested to read what hogwash Young is claiming I kept searching on Google to see if I could find anything. I came across a testimonial on Young's personal blog from a “patient” that was praising his miracle program and then scrolling through his blog list I found a posting titled “Reversing Type 1 Diabetes” which wasn’t much but led to Young’s site for Miracle Living. It’s basically you pay for a book and he tells you how to treat a butt load of diseases by diet. Okay dude,  really? There might be some great tips in there (I doubt it), I mean if it was a diabetic cookbook I might be interested. There are avocados, (one of my food LOVES!!!), ginger and broccoli, sprouts, poc choi and all kinds of yummy healthy things pictured on the cover of the book. Sadly none of them will “cure” or “reverse” diabetes. It’s sad to think that people buy into this crap! I’m all for eating healthy! I pack  more veggies in recipes than what they usually call for. As a matter of fact I found a recipe for black bean soup that I’m going to try over the week end and I’m so totally stoked to try it out! If it turns out well I’ll share it. J Anyway, total side note there! Before I end this posting, I have to mention just because the name really amuses me, QuackWatch another site that had quite a bit to say about “Dr.” Young. I think I’ll keep taking my insulin thank you very much and if I choose to eat okra one of these days it will probably be in a southern cooking restaurant and not soaked in water over night. Just sayn….
 
 
 
 
 

Friday, February 21, 2014

DSMA Blog Carnival: What’s Your Definition of an Advocate?


DSMA Blog Carnival: What’s Your Definition of an Advocate?


Advocacy, what does it look like?

 To me, advocacy looks like education. Educating people who just don’t know, that was one of the main reasons I started this blog in the first place, so that people could get a glimpse into what life is like as a Type 1 diabetic. There is a lot of hoopla going on right now among the diabetes online community about a section in the Washington Post by Miss Manners and her answer to a question that was asked of her regarding etiquette when checking ones blood sugar and giving injections in public. I personally don’t know why on God’s green earth anyone would feel the need to ask her this in the first place, but whatever.  If you would like to read it, you can find it towards the very end of the article, it’s the very last Q&A.
Although I strongly disagree and at first it did make me angry, I then started to wonder if I would have been the same way back in the day before my diagnosis. I don’t know that I would have had such extreme thoughts as hers, but I am  somewhat of a germaphobe so I can kinda see my past self being grossed out by someone doing what I have to do multiple times on a daily basis now. This is where I believe a type of advocacy kicks in. Advocacy looks different to everyone, and there are so many different ways to be an advocate, just like everyone has different God given talents and gifts, I believe that those are used in advocacy as well. I’m not a leader, I’m not a public speaker, I’m not going to have hundreds of people reading my blog probably ever. What I can do is when people ask questions, or make statements or situations appear as in the Ms. Manners column I can educate those people as to why thoughts like Miss Manner’s response are completely unrealistic. If I am for example on an air plane or even in a movie theater I am not going to go to the restroom to do a finger stick or give an injection, that’s just not a real life situation. I can’t wait for turbulence to stop, the seat belt light to go off or keep getting up during a movie in the theater to take care of a stubborn high blood sugar or to be sure that my CGM is really correct with a low reading. If I wait for when it’s “convenient” to excuse myself to go to the restroom or away from prying eyes it very well could be too late. If that was the case, what would be worse, me pricking my finger for a small drop of blood to come out and place it on a test strip, ooorrrrr… If I’m low and I can’t feel it but I’m waiting to excuse myself to make sure and I keep dropping and drop too low before I am able to check and then I go into a seizure where my eyes roll into the back of my head and I’m drooling, biting my tongue and or lips and wetting myself would that be better? Or, if I don’t pass out or go into a seizure but start to get nutty, like do something crazy like stand up in the middle of wherever I am at and start crying hysterically or stripping followed by dancing in my undies, that wouldn’t be too polite now would it? People just don’t know what the repercussions are short or long term if we don’t treat ourselves right away. Although I have never had any of the above situations happen, it is quite possible if I don’t take action in a timely manner. See what I did there?  I just threw in a little educational tid bit, my sort of advocacy. We have to step up and educate people and let them know the correct information, because as all of us in the D.O.C. know, most info that those who are not affected by T1D in any way just have the misinformation to go off of that is in the media, or even from well meaning yet misinformed medical professionals, or from so and so who had a great so and so or best friend that had this or that happen or just ate this or did that and they were okay. Advocacy takes all sorts of forms, but mine is either social media like this blog or Face Book or just answering questions or stares. I'm okay with being just a little peon in this giant pool of people in the world, and even if it's not public speaking or book writing or anything huge, just a little correct information given and accepted will go a long way.


“This post is my February entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival.  If you’d like to participate too, or read other’s blog posts you can get all of the information at http://diabetescaf.org/2014/02/february-dsma-blog-carnival-3/


Saturday, February 8, 2014

Just A Typical Saturday

Doesn't matter what I do for some reason Saturday's are always high and then I crash.  I eat a bit of a different breakfast on Saturdays but even if I eat my week day norm that doesn't help.  This morning I set a temp basal rate of 40% and thought I'd be good.  As you can see I was wrong.  I've never worked out before at close to 300 but decided to give a correction bolus and do my normal routine. Yup, this happened.  From 300 to below 100 in less than an hour.  I felt gross.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Silent But Deadly, Spare A Rose Save Child





Silent and deadly, that is diabetes.


Morbid, I know, but true. Cancer gets so much attention and so many people do fund raisers and awareness because it’s a disease that people see. There is the well known Komen foundation,  people change the color of their Facebook profile picture for cancer awareness, there is Cancer awareness day, there are pink ribbons, high schools have pink games for football and the like, and the list goes on and on. I’m not saying that any of this is bad, I get it it. I’ve had family affected by cancer, friends and their loved ones, I’ve done the Komen walk myself. I’ve seen too many people die of that disease way too early and it breaks my heart. I hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it.


With all that being said………Diabetes, not so much. Yes, there are the great organizations like JDRF and American Diabetes Association, that have fund raisers and walks. However Diabetes does not get the research funding that other diseases receive. How often does anyone really see much in the news about awareness or fund raising for research for a cure for  diabetes? Specifically Type 1? Outside of the diabetes online community, you don’t see people wearing blue ribbons, or wearing blue for Blue Friday, or changing their Facebook profiles pictures to blue or the blue circle that symbolizes awareness. Yet, this Type 1 diabetes needs to be seen for what it is as well, deadly.


Although it is “manageable”, that term is somewhat frustrating. I mean, yes, I’m thankful that I am able to “manage” things on my own on a daily basis, otherwise I can’t even imagine what life would be like. Before insulin and even once insulin was available and barbaric  glass needles were used, before test strips,  meters and pumps it was pretty much a death sentence. It was, in my opinion just as bad as or even worse than cancer. Depending on how soon after symptoms would show and a diagnosis was given, death was sure to follow within a years time. A few years before the discovery and production of insulin those that were more well off would spend their last days in a clinic like facility given a very special diet of very few carbs, and a certain amount of fats in order to try and prolong their lives. But they weren’t living much of a life. Living with no energy, and pretty much malnourished there was not the luxury of being able to “self manage”. This disease is still a death sentence for children all across the world in most other countries due to the fact that all the tools, supplies and much needed insulin is not available to them and their parents.

Silent and deadly….

 I can’t think of another disease that a person comes as close to death on almost a daily basis as type 1. BG lows are close to death. That reality has hit closer to home in the last few months after reading about several deaths over the past year of people with T1D that have passed away because of a BG crash. Reading those blogs and articles is what prompted me to get a Dexcom CGM. Reading these stories is what has made me realize how close it comes. One thing I honestly have to say that I hate to hear people tell me is, “But you take really good care of yourself, you have tight control.” I hate that term, because I bet some of those people that I read about had tight control, (and I use that term loosely because tight control pretty much just means keeping BGs out of the high numbers a lot), they took care of themselves. It doesn’t matter how well your control is, how much you take care of yourself, a low can happen for no good reason, and a lot of times, the better control a person has the more often they will have BG lows. That in turn can cause hypoglycemia unawareness. That is a terrifying thing for all of us with T1D, even if we haven’t developed it, feeling  hypoglycemia a scary feeling. Sometimes it is absolutely terrifying. I have lows more often than I care to admit. Yes having a CGM has helped a lot, but sometimes a low comes on too quickly for a CGM to catch. Or, for instance you are busy and in the shower or something and not paying as close attention to the receive as you would if say you are sitting on the couch watching TV. There was one night recently, I was in the shower and Lexie (this is my name for my Dexcom), starting screaming at me. I was getting out of the shower anyway and I have a jar of glucose tabs that I keep within arms reach of the shower just in case. I remember downing four tabs and went about my after shower routine. But then things got scary. I started to sweat, feel the foggy dizziness and confusion, overly emotional wanting to crumple into a ball and cry because I was scared. I walked out of the bathroom, grabbed juice and went and sat on the couch in just my bath towel next to Brad. That’s not normal, he knew right away by how I was acting and the look on my face and in my eyes not to mess with me. He just held me and I tried not to turn hysterical. This is a good example of being close to deaths door. I really don’t remember what number I got down to, I don’t remember much else than what I have told here about that low.

Insulin, such a life saving beautiful thing. It is what we as T1Ds need to survive, but it in turn is deadly. Too much through an injection or insulin pump, a miscalculation of carbs, or packing with the wrong carb count is deadly. Insulin is what I need to survive, but then in the same breath is what has brought me to awful hypoglycemia as I talked about above after the shower. It’s such a life saving/life threatening drug.

Type 1 is silent and invisible, unless you are around a person enough to see the signs of the “sickness”, you will miss it. Because people don’t see the ins and outs of living with this and don’t see us as “sick” no one really gives it a second thought. If a person with T1 passes out from a low and ends up in the hospital, people think it’s that persons fault, not the disease itself. If someone has any sort of health related problem, it must be their fault because they didn’t take care of themselves, they don’t blame the diabetes. It’s the diabetes, not a person’s fault. Yes, taking care of myself will help my chances, will give me greater odds of living a healthier life, but that doesn’t mean that diabetes won’t take over no matter how hard I fight it.

So what can you do to help? I mentioned earlier about children in other countries not having access to the things here in the states that I am so fortunate to be able to have. Valentine’s Day is coming up in a week and a half, and the Spare a Rose, Save a Child initiative is going on. Check out this link Spare A Rose, Save A Child to find out all the details of how you can help give a month of life to child with diabetes in another country who otherwise will not have that chance. Just the price of one rose is enough to give a child a month of life saving supplies.


If you are interested in other information regarding projects for helping children with diabetes in third world countries or info regarding organization here in the states that are helping Type 1s  or research being done for a cure below are some links. Check them out!


Spare a Rose, Save A Child: http://www.p4dc.com/spare-a-rose/

Insulin For Life: http://www.ifl-usa.org/

JDRF: http://jdrf.org/


American Diabetes Association: http://www.diabetes.org/