Monday, September 13, 2010
Diabetes Meme
This is a link in a chain of blogs started by Kerri Sparling of Six Until Me.
What type of diabetes do you have:
I have the bad kind. No, seriously I've got type 1 diabetes.
This question can rightly be seen as either vitally important or totally irrelevant.
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are both terrible diseases that have some things in common but are also extremely different from each other.
When we lump them together it's a little like lumping together muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis.
When were you diagnosed:
I don't know the exact date, but it was in the fall of 1974.
What's your current blood sugar:
119.
What kind of meter do you use:
OneTouch UltraMini.
How many times a day do you test your blood sugar:
Usually 8 to 10 times, but depending on things that might be going on, like some kind of problem with an infusion site or some athletic activity, it could be over 15 times.
What's a "high" number for you:
It depends on context, insulin on board, if I'm about to do something like go for a run...
I will do a correction bolus for 130 if I haven't had a bolus recently, but shortly after a meal and a bolus, I will only think about whether or not to correct if I'm over 190.
Sometimes I go by both the number on the meter and by "feel."
What's do you consider "low":
This also depends on context, but I don't like to be under 90 ever. I wouldn't call it a "low blood sugar" or "hypoglycemia" unless I was under 75, but I would eat something.
What's your favorite low blood sugar reaction treater:
I love having an excuse to slurp down a juice box, but I always carry glucose tablets because they're so convenient, 40 grams of carbohydrate in a tube of ten tablets.
Describe your dream endo:
She would look like Halle Berry and be able to cure type 1 diabetes. Maybe it is Halle Berry.
I want my endo to listen to me and respect my opinions, and to stay up on the treatments even more than I do. Someone who understands my life would be good. A type 1 diabetic marathon running endocrinologist would be good.
What's your biggest diabetes achievement:
I'm not even sure what a "diabetes achievement" is. If there is an achievement, is it a diabetic achievement just because I have diabetes?
I got on the cover of Diabetes Forecast once.
I once ran 10 marathon or longer races in one year. I know faster type 1 diabetics. I know at least one type 1 diabetic who has run more marathons than I have. But I'm not sure whether there is another type 1 diabetic who has run 10 marathons and ultra marathons in a year. (8 marathons, 2 50Ks.)
What's your biggest diabetes-related fear:
Not waking up tomorrow morning.
Who's on your support team:
InsulInDependence, Triabetes, Glucomotive, DESA, Team Diabetes and Coach Dave, the DOC, Sue, my kids, my brothers, my parents, Penny, Rusty, East Valley Runners, Sole Sports Running, any friends not already mentioned...
Oh yeah, and my endo.
Do you think there will be a cure in your lifetime:
No, I don't think so. As many others have said, I've been told that a cure is only a few years away ever since I was diagnosed, in my case, 36 years ago.
I'm planning to get a Medic Alert tattoo, something I won't need if I'm ever cured.
But that's just what I think, and it's not an excuse for not working for the cure.
What is a "cure" to you:
A cure means not requiring any medicine or devices to keep my blood sugar in a normal range. It means being like I was before I had diabetes.
Oh, and this.
The most annoying thing people say to you about your diabetes is:
I'm not easily annoyed. It doesn't happen often, but the most annoying thing is when someone who doesn't know what it's like starts to talk about how easy the disease is to manage with all of the technology, like pumps and meters.
Oh, yeah. The most annoying thing is when insurance companies want to tell you that some technology that's been available for over a dozen years is "experimental," or that you want too many test strips, or insulin, or that you can't have this because your blood sugar management isn't good enough, or that because your blood sugar management isn't bad enough.
Basically, anything an insurance company says about your health care, any excuse for a short-sighted, unhealthy decision, is the most annoying thing people say.
And anything that Dr. Oz says.
What is the most common misconception about diabetes:
It's hard to pick one, but it's probably still the idea that there is only one kind of diabetes, that it's all pretty much the same thing.
If you could say one thing to your pancreas, what would it be:
I don't blame my pancreas. I blame my immune system. The pancreas is the victim in all this. I would ask my pancreas to keep fighting, but I would tell my immune system to wise up.
.
What type of diabetes do you have:
I have the bad kind. No, seriously I've got type 1 diabetes.
This question can rightly be seen as either vitally important or totally irrelevant.
Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are both terrible diseases that have some things in common but are also extremely different from each other.
When we lump them together it's a little like lumping together muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis.
When were you diagnosed:
I don't know the exact date, but it was in the fall of 1974.
What's your current blood sugar:
119.
What kind of meter do you use:
OneTouch UltraMini.
How many times a day do you test your blood sugar:
Usually 8 to 10 times, but depending on things that might be going on, like some kind of problem with an infusion site or some athletic activity, it could be over 15 times.
What's a "high" number for you:
It depends on context, insulin on board, if I'm about to do something like go for a run...
I will do a correction bolus for 130 if I haven't had a bolus recently, but shortly after a meal and a bolus, I will only think about whether or not to correct if I'm over 190.
Sometimes I go by both the number on the meter and by "feel."
What's do you consider "low":
This also depends on context, but I don't like to be under 90 ever. I wouldn't call it a "low blood sugar" or "hypoglycemia" unless I was under 75, but I would eat something.
What's your favorite low blood sugar reaction treater:
I love having an excuse to slurp down a juice box, but I always carry glucose tablets because they're so convenient, 40 grams of carbohydrate in a tube of ten tablets.
Describe your dream endo:
She would look like Halle Berry and be able to cure type 1 diabetes. Maybe it is Halle Berry.
I want my endo to listen to me and respect my opinions, and to stay up on the treatments even more than I do. Someone who understands my life would be good. A type 1 diabetic marathon running endocrinologist would be good.
What's your biggest diabetes achievement:
I'm not even sure what a "diabetes achievement" is. If there is an achievement, is it a diabetic achievement just because I have diabetes?
I got on the cover of Diabetes Forecast once.
I once ran 10 marathon or longer races in one year. I know faster type 1 diabetics. I know at least one type 1 diabetic who has run more marathons than I have. But I'm not sure whether there is another type 1 diabetic who has run 10 marathons and ultra marathons in a year. (8 marathons, 2 50Ks.)
What's your biggest diabetes-related fear:
Not waking up tomorrow morning.
Who's on your support team:
InsulInDependence, Triabetes, Glucomotive, DESA, Team Diabetes and Coach Dave, the DOC, Sue, my kids, my brothers, my parents, Penny, Rusty, East Valley Runners, Sole Sports Running, any friends not already mentioned...
Oh yeah, and my endo.
Do you think there will be a cure in your lifetime:
No, I don't think so. As many others have said, I've been told that a cure is only a few years away ever since I was diagnosed, in my case, 36 years ago.
I'm planning to get a Medic Alert tattoo, something I won't need if I'm ever cured.
But that's just what I think, and it's not an excuse for not working for the cure.
What is a "cure" to you:
A cure means not requiring any medicine or devices to keep my blood sugar in a normal range. It means being like I was before I had diabetes.
Oh, and this.
The most annoying thing people say to you about your diabetes is:
I'm not easily annoyed. It doesn't happen often, but the most annoying thing is when someone who doesn't know what it's like starts to talk about how easy the disease is to manage with all of the technology, like pumps and meters.
Oh, yeah. The most annoying thing is when insurance companies want to tell you that some technology that's been available for over a dozen years is "experimental," or that you want too many test strips, or insulin, or that you can't have this because your blood sugar management isn't good enough, or that because your blood sugar management isn't bad enough.
Basically, anything an insurance company says about your health care, any excuse for a short-sighted, unhealthy decision, is the most annoying thing people say.
And anything that Dr. Oz says.
What is the most common misconception about diabetes:
It's hard to pick one, but it's probably still the idea that there is only one kind of diabetes, that it's all pretty much the same thing.
If you could say one thing to your pancreas, what would it be:
I don't blame my pancreas. I blame my immune system. The pancreas is the victim in all this. I would ask my pancreas to keep fighting, but I would tell my immune system to wise up.
.
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1 comment:
I love this post Jerry. So many people don't understand the difference between type 1 and type 2. I always think "I should start a website to begin the conversation about changing the names". They really should have different names, not type 1 and type 2.
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