Blood in canula and bent?

I was getting ready to go to the doctors the other day and I disconnected my pump for no more than a minute. I went to put it back on and it would not connect again. Ok so I wait a few minutes and try again. Nope, still won't go back on. Wait AGAIN, for a few more minutes. Nada.

So..at this point I have to go to the doctors so I left it off.

I get home and I've only been disconnected for...oh...maybe 2 hours? Maybe a little more.

Still can't get it on. So...I take my site out and what do I find? The canulla was filled with blood AND it was bent. It was the first time that it has ever been bent and the second time that it has been filled with blood. I have no idea why it was like that, but I'm just glad that I figured it out.

Why, Why, Why?

It seems that whenever I go on any kind of vacation without my parents something happens and I wind up forgetting something or I don't have something with me.
Example:
I went down the shore (to the beach) with my friend, her mom and my soon-to-be college roomate (friends friend).
Anyway...I get there and I go to check my blood sugars andd what do I find? I only have SIX strips in that vial. Not to worry, I have more, right? WRONG!!!
I totally forgot to bring extras with me. I rememberd to bring extras of everything else though, didn't I?
I don't know how I forgot them...they are SO important.
So I called my mom and told her what happened and you know what I told her?
I said to her "Mom, don't worry. I have enough to check once a day while I'm down here." I was there for 5 days. I know, I know. Not the smartest thing on my part.
So she and my dad drive 2 1/5 hours in rush hour traffic to drop off my test strips and drive all the way home. She did that for me last summer when my blood sugars went up to almost 500 and they had to put me on Humalog.
So suffice to say...I really love my mom and I don't know what I would do without her.
Oh...and don't forget to make sure that you have enough diabetes supplies when going on vacation!

I finally ordered new supplies

So I went onto the medtronic store online and I was looking at my oder history.
I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY SUPPLIES SINCE FEBRUARY!!!!! SO I ordered supplies and I have it so they will send me reminders to order my supplies. I REALLY thought I had signed up for the automatic refill thing. Apparently not. I was talking to my dad about it and he said no, we didn't. I could of swore that we did, but I guess I was wrong *shrugs*.
Oh well. I'm just glad that I will be getting new supplies. I think, however, I will have to go back on shots for a few days, as I think it said it taked 12-14 days to ship and I only have 4 resevoirs and nfusion sets left. It won't be so bad. As long as I have my supplies before I go on vacations, as I really don't want to be on shots while on vacation. Especially not while I'm 10 hours away from home. And especially not when we are going to an amusment park. I would SO rather be on my pump. So here is to fingers crossed that I recieve my pump before I leave on August 9th!

10 hour car ride + diabetes= ?

I'm going to be taking a ten our car ride to Tennessee, with my family, to visit my sister. Not only are we going to TN, but we are going to Dollywood and things like that.
I've never been to Tennessee before and I've never taken a 10 hour car ride either.
What does that mean for my diabetes? What will I need to take? I'm going to be gone for 4 or 5 days.
Let's start a list, shall we?
-insulin (well..duh!) I only have 1 vial of Humalog but I will bring some Lantus pens too as well?
-syringes (just in cast)
-infusion sets (4?)
-resevoirs (4?)
-meter (maybe bring an extra meter also?)
-extra test strips and lancets (not that I change lancets often)
-glucose tabs/some kind of sugary food
-maybe some PB crackers? Soda?

I don't know what else...Help please?

I'm running out of supplies fast

This crazy recall is really screwing everything up. I signed up for that automatic supplies refill thing through medtronic and I should be getting more supplies soon. I haven't gotten ANY supplies in months. I can't remember the last time.
I barely have any strips left, I have one box of resevoirs left, one box of infusion sets that isn't lot 8 (they sent it to me last week) ect. And they are not even full boxes. So I'm probably down to 6 infusion sets AND resevoirs. I change both every 3 (ok, more like 4) days. I'm really running out of supplies. And pretty fast.

I DO have a back up meter and test strips that my grandparents gave me for an Accu Check Aviva. I don't want to go back to shots but if I don't get my supplies soon that is going to wing up happening.
They will last me MAYBE 2 weeks. I really don't want to go back to shots but I will if I need to.I mean, really, what choice would I have? I have plenty of syringes, and I have about 4 extra lantus pens.

Hopefully I will be getting my supplies soon. Maybe I will just call Medtronic and see if they are sending my supplies? Sound like a good idea?

Nick Jonas speaks in front of Congress

Somehow I missed seeing this video, but I saw it today on tudiabetes.com
I really liked what Nick had to say and he is, imo, a very good public speaker. We need more people like Nick Jonas speaking out for diabetes. All I can say is GO NICK!!!! :D
http://tudiabetes.com/video/nick-jon...ks-in-congress

I've come a long way since I was diagnoesd!

My freshman year in High school started out really good. I was a bit nervous to start, because I didn't really know anyone. But...like I said it started out good.
Until October/November came around.
So it's October/November and I'm sitting in second peoiod, Algebra, and my hands start shaking really badly. Oddly enough, it never occured to me to ask to go to the nurse. I called my mom after school and I told her what had happened to me.
"Mom, something weird happened today. I was sitting in 2nd period and my hands started to shake so bad that I couldn't even use my calculator."

"Did you go to the nurse?" she asked me.

"To be honest, it never even occured to me."

Fast forward a week or so and I'm sitting in third period. In all my classes when I'm taking notes I ALWAYS write the date on the page. For the life if me I couldn't remember the date. I remember just staring at the board and doing absolutely nothing. I don't know if you asked me my name if I could have told you what it was. I was SO confused. Somehow I made it to my next class, French, and I STILL couldn't concentrate right. Somehow I made it to lunch (about 11:15 or so). After I ate I felt fine.
Again after school I called my mom and told her about what had happened.

One of the woman she takes care of at work has Type 1 and has for 50+ years.
She was telling Shel what happened and what was going on and Shell said "Anne, it sounds like it could be diabetes. You should really check her sugars."

So my mom borrowed an extra meter and bought one home. She checked me 2 hours after I finished eating dinner (I think that I had some kind of meat, mashed potatoes, some veggies and some coca cola). Two hours later and my sugar was 264. About an hour after that I was 285. She checked me first thing the next morning and I was 119.
"Is that high?" I asked her.
"It's on the high end of normal." she told me.
She decided to wait until Thanksgiving was over before she took me to see the ped.
"Dr, I think that Kiersten has diabetes. She's been having all these weird signs and symptoms. We borrowed a meter from someone and she was 285."
Needless to say, he didn't believe us. He did something about it anyway.
"How long has it been since you ate?" he asked me. I told him 3 hours.
He sent my for more blood work. I went on a Thursday morning, in early December because I had off from school.
He called my and my mom back on Tuesday night, right after we started eating dinner.
"Kiersten has an appointment tomorrow morning with Dr D. at 8:45."
So I emailed my friend Rachael from school, saying that I would not be in school tomorrow and that it looked like I had diabetes and had to go to the hospital the next morning.
So, we get there the next morning anf Dr. D sends me down to the lab to have me tested for antibodies and they came back negitive. So, he doesn't know what is going on either. He said that it didn't look like type 1, but I didn't fit the criteria for type 2 either. I mean, I was 14 years old and 98 lbs. It just didn't fit.
So they give me a meter for home and one for school. At that point, I was just watching what I ate. That was on December 14, 2005.
Right after the New Year, I started on prandin. I hated it. I was on that until April. He took me off that and put back on it.
In September of 2006 (my 3rd app, with Dr D) he tells me that my sugars are good and that I didn't have diabetes. I saw the nutritionist and she said that I had MODY (maturity onset diabetes of the young). Well, that threw me for a loop. Here I was almost a year later and I suddenly didn't have diabetes? yeah right. He continued to see me anyway. Nothing much really changed, except my sugars started to continuely rise, slowly. Things didn't really changed until January of 2008. I was put on Lantus. At first I was on 3 units. Then it when down to 1.5 units. It eventually went up ALOT. At that point my sugars were pretty horrible. I was going high every day. Into the 300's.
I had an appointment with Dr. D in June of '08 and he once again took me off prandin because "We have more than doubled the dose in the last few months and it is doing nothing for you. Let's see what happpens when you are only on the lantus. Call us of you go over 400. We don't want you that high, but we will not put you on Humalog until you go that high"
I went on vacation about a month later and my sugars were terrible. 300's ALL DAY LONG!!! I was on 25 units of Lantus at that point. Told you it went up fast!
I went on another mini vacation for 3 days with my aunt, uncle, nan and my brother. Again, sugars were terrible. Since I wan't on humalog, I didn't bring it with us.
It was the day before we were leaving.I had woken up at 185, which was the highest I had ever waken up at before. Me, my aunt, uncle and nan went out to brealfast/lunch. I had a diet soda, an omlet, hashbowns and toast.
(Before we left I had a packet of instant hot ceral). So we are out at the resturant and I check my blood sugars and...311? Oh great. Blah. So we eat and we go back to the hotel. I'm sitting outside our room and I check my sugars 2 hours after I ate. Put the blood in and wait 5,4,3,2,1...421?!?!?? I had NEVER been that high before.I call my mom in a panic. She said she would call Dr. D. They told me wait an hour and check again. I was 483 at that point. That was at about 2 PM. This was the horrible part. I didn't have my cell phone on me, my uncle's cell ran out of minutes and I had to find a pay phone on the boardwalk, that actually worked. so we finally found one.
I called my mom and now I was calling her back. "Kier, they want you to check for ketones. If you have ketones you have to go to the hospital."
Thankfully they were negitive.
So my mom and dad drive and pick me up. It was a 2 hour drive. We stop to get something to eat and my sugars were 311. It was about 7pm then.
So I gave myself 3 units of humalog. I was on a sliding scale at first. 2 hours after I finished I was 401. Blah. I check again before bed and I was 421. grrr not a good blood sugar day. The next morning I was 176. Not great.
So Dr D. wanted to see me so I went and saw him. After figuring that a sliding scale didn't work, they gave me an insulin to carb ratio. And insulin pens. Cool, I didn't have to use syringes any more. I was finally tested for MODY and the results came back negitive. So, yes I do call myself type 1.
I saw Dr. D again in late October/ early November. "Dr, I want an insulin pump." I was really suprised that he agreed. I really wanted an animas Ping, but my insurance covered a minimed 100%, so I wasn't arguing, especially since MM was my second choice.
I started pumping insulin on Saturday November 21, 2008 and I have been loving it every since. Going on the pump has been the smartest decision I have ever made.
I do have to say thoughm that if it was not for the CWD forum (childrenwithdiabets.com) especially the CWD teens, I would be totally lost and clueless. They are such amazing people and they have made me come a long way. So, specail thanks to Malyssa, Rae, Emily, Emma, Kayla and if I forgot someone I'm sorry.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July and awsome blood sugars ;)

I don't know how you spent your 4th of July but my 2 sisters, nieces and nephew, brother-in-law and myself went out to Friendly's for dinner and then we went and saw fireworks.

So...before dinner my sugars were 210. Oh great. High to begin with and I'm eating high fat food most likely. So..I had a cheese burger club- cheese burger on toast plus french fries. My dinner also came with ice cream.

So...I put 210 in my pump and 40 carbs. I figured I would correct later if need be, you know?

So 2 hours after I finish eating dinner I'm....138? Awsome!!! That was at 9:00. I'm tired so I go to bed at 12:00 and I decide to check my sugars again and...205 :( That's what fat can do for you I'm afraid. I was doing so well too. I figure it could be a whole lot high though. SO I'm going ti take it for what it is. Sometimes I can drop really fast at night so I didn't correct and I woke up at a beautiful 94. After breakfast I was 173, that was after going out to breakfast with my niece and older sister, so my day is looking great so far.

And a belated Happy 4th of July to everyone. I hope that everyone had a great day. I know that I did.

Wow...my A1C is a LOT better because of pumping

I got my A1C result today in the mail. We always have them send us a copy, just so we have them.
Anyway I reach in the envelope and see.......6.1?!?!?!?!? OMG...IT IS REALLY 6.1 :D
I just can't believe it. I'm so happy and proud of myself. I knew I could do it and I have. My last A1C was 7.6 (I'm pretty sure it was).
I LOVE LOVE LOVE my insulin pump.

I've been waiting for someone to comment about my pump

So I have now been pumping for 7 months and I love it. I have been waiting for somone to comment on it though.
But it did yesterday. I was in Acme with my sister and she is at the register paying when I push the cart up to the bagging area. There is an employee there, well, bagging the food ;)
So the woman looks at me and says "Can I ask you a question. Is that an insulin pump."

"Yes, it is." I tell her.

"How long have you had diabetes?" she asks

"Three and a half years."

"How old were you diagnosed?"

I respond "I was 14."

So she says "my daughter has diabetes. She is 10 years old and she was 6 when she was diagnosed. She uses an Animas pump. Have you ever thought about using an omnipod?"

"I know what it is but I really have no interest in it for some reason."
She goes back to a different line (she moved to my line to talk to me).
So I'm getting ready to leave the store and she sees me.

She says "Can I ask you one more question. Where do you keep your meter when you go out? We are having problems with that and where we keep it."

'I usually keep my meter in my pocketbook. I don't have it with me right now because I didn't think that I would be gone real long."

"Sorry for the questions. Have a good summer and stay healthy!" She told me.

It was nice to finally have someone comment on it and be able to talk about it with someone who knows what it is and what it does.

Correcting but won't come down

So today was father's day and we went to my grandparents for dinner. We had hot roastbeef sandwiches, homeade macaroni salad, and chicken. I wasn't hungry and I barely ate anything (almost nothing) so I didn't give myself insulin for dinner. Afterwards I had a tiny slice of pound cake.
Two hours after dinner I was 227. Not too too bad, I guess. That was at 6:30. So i corrected with 1.8 units. At about 10:30 I was laying in my bed and watching a movie and feeling pretty terrible. I thought I might be low so I checked my blood sugars again and I was...214?!?!?!? So i gave myself 1.5 units correction AGAIN.
I don't know where that number came from, to be honest. It has been over four hours since I last ate and I corrected. So I don't know why I'm still high. I will check again in about an hour I guess to make sure that I'm coming down.
I don't often get the "I-hate-diabetes-really-bad" feeling but right now I am.
Diabetes sucks presently. Grrr :(

I'm going to be living at college. What does that mean for my diabetes?

I will be living in a dorm room. The thought kind of makes me nervous (only a tiny bit nervous though) but mostly excited. I think I have already found a roomate. We will most likely be meeting tomorrow which is cool. We have a bunch in common (I'm 5'0 and she is 4'9) which is cool. Her dad was diabetic also, so we also have something in common.
She just seems like a really nice person. I can't wait to go away. Of course I will miss my family but I'm read to start being an adult now, you know? I hope that I will love college and I think that I will.
I just wonder what college will mean for my diabetes. I don't have my schedule yet and it can be mighty conflicting. My endo only sees diabetes patients on Wednesdays. Now my campus is no where near my endo's office, although no more than an hour away. So not all THAT far. I just don't know how college and diabetes will work out, ya know? Words of wisdom? PLEASE???? :D

Anyone take Diabetes pictures? I did!

I now have an account at flickr and my pictures on there are about diabetes. I think that you can capture some good pictures about diabetes and I believe that pictures are a great way to educate people about this disease. Being as Diabetes is sometimes called the "silent disease" pictures are a great way to show what this disease is all about,you know?

If you want to check out my flickr account the link is here or http://www.flickr.com/photos/36362756@N04/page1/

Hope that you like it.

My toe is infected again...What to do?

I finally told my mom tonight that my foot was infected. It's been a couple of weeks since it has been. I think I have an ingrown tonail. Again. I was supposed to go to the podiatrist (sp?) but I never did. I'm kind of scared to, to be honest. I don't wan't to go. But my foot REALLY hurts. I've been soaking it everyday, usually more than once, in epsom salts. I asked my mom to call the doctor and see if she will call me in some medicine. I really hope that she doesn't want to see me. Becuase I really don't want to see her. Anyways, please pray that my toe gets better and stays better.

Today is my 18th birthday....What does that mean for my diabetes?

Today is my 18th birthday. I STILL can't believe it. Not at all. I keep saying to myself "You are 18." or "Now you are an adult." (That one is a weird thought!). Wow. I'm really 18. I've been saying things like this to myself ALL day. It has been a good day today.
Anyways it is kind of scary being 18 and thinking about diabetes. If I don't go to college I lose insurance. Let me tell you that I'm going to college, although just the local community college right now. Diabetes is definitely a motivator (sp?), that is for sure.
Being 18 means that I probably have to start doing more diabetes stuff on my own. For instance, don't drive--will my mom still drive me to the endo's? My mom can't switch endo's only I can do that now (not that I want to, mind you). It's just hitting me that I have to be more responsible. But I don't feel 18. Certainly not like an adult (I'm only legally an adult-I still feel like a kid ;)
Anyways my mom has a roast cooking for me and there is a cake waiting with my name on it--literally this time. So I wish everybody a nice day and awsome blood sugars :D

It's almost prom time...where to put the pump while wearing a dress

So I have got a little dilema. What am I supposed to do with my insulin pump during prom?Where am I supposed to put it? I did not wear one last year for my junior prom so I don't really know to be honest. I have yet to wear a dress since getting my pump (2 months already). So...where do YOU wear your pump while wearing a dress? I went bra-less last year so I can't attach it to that. Prom dresses don't have pockets. It I cliped it to my panties they would probably fall down. I'm thinking about just not wearing it to prom because I go low more easily on the pump than I did when I was on MDI. I will probably just suspend it. I guess I don't have to worry about it right this second- prom isn't until the end of April. So what did/you do? Help please?!?!?!?!?