Lemonade Life

Saturday, December 31, 2005

Life is a Numbers Game

There are so many ways to recap This Year. I could do it by seasons. I could do it by months. I could do it by Important Events. Photos. Drawings. Music.

I did a rather nice Life ReCap in October. It's long and intense.

Here's a bullet-point wrap-up because I need to shower for The Party of the Year.

  • Got locked out of my apartment in January (- 3)
  • Started seeing Therapist #1 (+5)
  • Painfully ended a painful friendship with a non-boyfriend over a six week period (-20)
  • Moved out of my apartment and into the House in February (+2)
  • Met Annie in February (+20)
  • In March, painted a living room and helped redecorate the house of the Campus Crusade campus director and his family as a Surprise and Gift for their new baby.
  • Flew to Jaw-juh to meet my best friend/sister Ashleigh (+20)
  • Got trapped in a recording studio for 18 hours while Ashleigh and her gospel group tried miserably to record their album (-8)
  • Cut myself for the fourth, fifth and sixth time in April (-30)
  • Started seeing Therapist #2 (+8)
  • Completed a 100-page research project on Stem Cell Research for InfoHell (+10). Received a B+ on it (additional +5). Interviewed Dr. Doug Melton in My Shortest Interview Ever (additional +5)
  • Cried hysterically at the Senior Graduation Dessert in June (-5)
  • Got a job at McDonalds in July (-5)
  • Saw the fireworks display at Fort Vancouver, Vancouver, WA. (+5)
  • Started Lemonade Life (+20)
  • Stayed with my friend Kristen, her husband and 2 kids (daughter has diabetes) in Sisters, OR in July (+5). Watched my six-month old pump spew out dozens of units of Humalog as it chokes and dies (-15).
  • Kissed my Teenage Years good-bye (::blows kiss::) and entered the land of Twenty-somethings in August (zero points)
  • Landed an A1C score of 7.8 in August - my lowest A1C since graduating high school (+10)
  • Quit McDonalds in September (+5)
  • Flew to California in September:
    - saw my grandma (+5)
    - saw Gary (+5)
    - went to the CWD conference for almost free (+10)
    - got my nose pierced (+8 for hotness, -5 for pain)
    - went to Inland Invasion (+20 for hotness, -10 for fight with friend)
  • My Baby (Teen Talk)closes in September, when Diabetes Portal, Inc. shuts down (-580)
  • Started volunteering at Edison Elementry school (+6)
  • Saw The Lion King on Broadway for my parent's joint birthday bash (+15)
  • Wore my ballerina get-up to work on Halloween (+4) Saw my friend Andy as a giant banana (+8)
  • National D-Blog Day:
    - wrote a memorial for Dr. Hansen (+27)
    - Missed Dr. Hansen a lot (-20)
    - started the O.C. Official Website (+ 50)
  • Thanksgiving with my Family and Friends (+20)
  • Nickel Creek and Andrew Bird in Concert! (+ 15)
  • Having a low for 2 hours and getting a stomach cramp from drinking too much soda and eating M & Ms (-15)
  • Scored an A1C of 7.3 - my lowest since my freshman year in high school (+15)
  • CANDY HOUSES (+20)
  • Christmas! (+ 50)

    ____________
    Total: I'm pretty sure it's positive


  • Resolutions for 2006:

  • Be Happy
  • Be Loving
  • Be Curious

    Expect lots of Lemonade. And maybe some Strawberry Lemonade and Lemon Meringue Pies while I'm at it.

  • Hope you all have a safe, happy and lemonade-y 2006!

    Tuesday, December 27, 2005

    Christmas has come, and Christmas has gone...

    Sometimes I wish I was Jewish. I mean, we fuss and freak and panic over one single day (ok- two if you count christmas eve). At least with Hanukkah, you get 8. And latkes. I don't know. I suppose you could consider the period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas as 'Christmas,' what with the holiday movies and waving to Santa and the frat boys singing Christmas carols at Starbucks and candy houses and pretty lights at the Grotto.

    Ok. I think I feel better about Christmas. Except for the latkes...

    Highlights from this season's booty:
    - Clarissa Explains It All season 1 dvd
    - CD player
    - Madonna's "Confessions on a Dance Floor"
    - 17" flat-screen computer monitor
    - 4-piece set of luggage
    - money! which will be immediately deposited into the "Send Allison to Orlando Fund"

    Mumzie also gave me two gift cards, one for Claire's and one for Borders.

    I used the Borders one to buy This:

    Image hosted by Photobucket.com


    For those of you who aren't familiar with writer-slash-mother-of-Type 1-son, Martha O'Connor writes a wonderful blog about writing and raising her son, who was diagnosed with diabetes about a year and a half ago.

    Thursday, December 22, 2005

    My Childhood

    Fifteen years ago, the tradition began.

    It started out simply enough. A group of children, gathering around the dining room table covered with candy and neon-colored frosting. Fingers sticky with adhering M & M and Skittle borders, candy cane gates, the ice cream cone Christmas Tree. Giggling, munching.

    It grew as we grew up. Over 50 of us gather in my best friend Kayce's home now. Circling around the dining room table and the counter in the back room. Bowls of M & Ms and Skittles a plenty, now accompanied by gummy bears and Hershey's Kisses and Rolos galore. We've tried powdered sugar Christmas trees (covered with green frosting). Lifesaver wreaths. And, yes, a licorice Star of David (fixed above a blue front door).

    Diabetes... pshh. Never let diabetes get in the away of a childhood or a childhood relived. Besides, I think I finally caught on - landed at 176.

    But it isn't just about food. It's about Imagination. Laughing uncontrollably. Singing along to cheesy Christmas music. Posing for photos. Being a Child. Always and forever.

    Image hosted by Photobucket.com
    ....Mmmmm, tasty.

    Image hosted by Photobucket.com
    ....Pumps at the ready.

    Image hosted by Photobucket.com
    ....The finished product.

    Image hosted by Photobucket.com
    ....The one time of the year where it's okay to play with your food.

    Fifteen years and still going strong. When my college friends ask me what I'm doing for Christmas, I tell them, "Making candy houses." It is an Icon of my childhood.


    Image hosted by Photobucket.com

    Tuesday, December 20, 2005

    Why I Never Joined the Debate Team

    I can understand people disagreeing with me.

    I can understand people hating diabetes.

    I can understand people wanting this disease to disappear forever.

    I can understand the fear.

    I can understand the confusion.

    I can understand the frustration.

    I can understand the pain.

    What I cannot understand is why someone would be cruel as to call me a liar.

    Maybe I am taking this too personally. Maybe I am putting myself too far into the question. Maybe I interpreted the question differently.

    But honestly (and this is my fucking blog and I write my thoughts as I please), I have never felt my opinions more cut down, more dismissed and more attacked than I have in the past few days with this discussion.

    I am not crazy. Or maybe I am. But I am trying to find peace of mind.

    Some of you have been wonderful. You have laid out your thoughts respectfully and honestly, and I appreciate that. You don't need to agree with me on everything. I would hate to live in a world where everyone agreed with me. But I have heard people's opinions called "lies," "idiotic," and "irresponsible." To me, that is disgusting.

    I have worked very hard to come to terms with living with a chronic illness that will someday kill me. I have devoted my life to finding a cure and to helping those living with this disease. This disease HAS defined me, because I allowed it to shape my life's mission. I happen to think philanthropic endeavors are very worthy. But I have never felt more shot down in my life.

    You don't have to like my opinions, and I don't have to like yours. But we should at least have the decency to respect how a person copes with something as life-changing as diabetes. It is life-changing. Don't ever think you'd be the same person without diabetes, because you wouldn't. Maybe you think you'd be a better person without it. Fine. Maybe you think you're a better person with the disease. Fine.

    We don't know. We can't know and we won't know. We are living with this disease in the Here and Now. We need each other. We need each other like we need insulin. To Survive. To Thrive. But some of the comments from the past few days have made me very distrustful of people.

    Thankfully, I am a stubborn and outspoken woman, and I'm not going anywhere. So There.

    Call me a liar all you want. Anyone who calls me a liar or an idiot obviously doesn't know me. And I don't really care what people who don't know me think of me.

    Especially people who sign "Anonymous."

    Saturday, December 17, 2005

    One Road Divided

    Late-night thought rambles have made me sleep through more alarm clocks and miss more appointments and classes than I care to acknowledge. I had another one last night. Lying awake. Eyes glued to the ceiling or pursed shut begging for sleep. Mind forming beginnings and ends and middles of passionate speeches. Each roll-over tossing out a new revelation. A new declaration. A new epiphany.

    If you were given the chance to go back to before you were diagnosed and had two roads to take, one was the road that leads you up to the point you are at now with all that has come with diabetes and the other will lead you to a life without diabetes, which road would you take and why? - Gina's Blog

    I wrote that I would stay on this road. That I love my life enough that I wouldn't want to be a non-diabetic. But then Kerri pointed out that it isn't about whether or not we like our life or if we think this is a God or universal decree, but about whether or not we would choose diabetes.

    ---

    I am eight years old.

    I am sitting in an empty classroom. Multiplication tables are stapled to the wall. Posters of international children holding hands smile down on me. Colorful paintings are taped to the window.

    A man walks into the room. He is wearing a white coat and has a stethescope around his neck. He smiles and sits down. "Hello Allison."

    I am shy. I don't say anything.

    "I have a very important question." He hands me a piece of paper with the word Diabetes in 36-point font. Below is a list of symptoms and complications. There is a description of the day in the life of a diabetic. He opens a box and shows me a glucose meter and a syringe. He asks, "Allison, would you like to have diabetes, too?"

    Honestly, who in their right mind would say, "Oh yes, please sir, I'd love to have diabetes!"

    If I didn't already know this life, I would not choose the potential.

    ---

    However, as I thought more and more about this question, and thinking about all the different responses given (did you notice the ones with diabetes would keep while the ones without would not?), I thought, "The entire tone of this question makes it seem like a life with diabetes is horrible and a life without diabetes is not."

    Why else would you even contemplate not having diabetes? Obviously, there are a lot of things about diabetes that we don't like and we want to get rid of it. But by saying we want to go the "non-diabetic" route, we're saying that we believe a non-diabetic route is: safer, healthier, nicer, easier, funer.

    If you haven't noticed, there are quite a few non-diabetics who are crazy, messed-up, unhappy people. There are a quite a few diabetics who are crazy, messed-up, unhappy people. Life without diabetes is not necessarily a "better" life, and a life with diabetes is not necessarily a "harder" life. I think it all comes down to attitude, to cards drawn, to choices made, to faith.

    ---

    Joseph. Bailey. Brendon. Zach. Chris.

    Brett. Brenton. Amanda. Hollie. Sydney.

    Daniel. Clare. Kimberly. Kelsey. Nathan.

    Kerri. Amy. Gina. Wil. Gary.

    These are just a few of the people I know with diabetes.

    The first line is your children. The ones most precious.

    The second line is my children. The ones I used to babysit for. The ones I've watched grow up.

    The third line is my friends from camp. The ones who helped me survive high school and finding myself.

    The fourth line is you. The ones who will help me survive adulthood and everything that comes with it.

    ---

    Do I want these people to have diabetes? I don't know. I don't know because I don't know where the line is between taking away a disease and taking away a life. Life is full of challenges, of tears, of death, of hope, of courage, of bliss.

    If you removed one thing, if you removed diabetes, is that really going to solve all problems? Will that prevent us from ever bleeding? Of ever crying? Of ever accomplishing our goals? Of ever meeting new people? Of coures not. It still happens. It's life.

    This is Life. This is the only one we have. If when I was 8, I had been given the choice, I would not have chosen diabetes. But thank God it isn't a choice. Because who knows what kinds of lessons I would have missed out on? I don't know if I would have liked the other life more or if I would have liked it even less. I want to focus on this one. This is the one I'm on.

    This diabetes road is a hard one. But looking at the world, looking at people, and looking at God, I really can't see how another road is anything particularly better. I can understand why people don't want diabetes. I can understand why people want diabetes. I'm sure at some points we wish we never had it, and I'm sure at some points we almost love it. But I think everyone does that.

    This road is bumpy, and crazy, and messed up. But so are all of them.

    I wonder where this Road goes.

    Friday, December 16, 2005

    The Guardian: Minimed's Perspective

    On Thursday, I interviewed Kendall Cook, a Diabetes Management Consultant from Medtronic Minimed here in Portland, Oregon. He helps people who are looking to get on a pump work with their doctors and insurance companies, and he also trains patients, doctors and diabetes educators. I wanted to talk to him about Minimed pumps and what is so great about them for an upcoming article on Diabetes Teen Talk.

    We started to talk about the Guardian RT and I thought some of what Kendall said was really important and that I would share some of what I learned with all of you. Hopefully this will fill in some gaps.

    My first question was, obviously, when do we get the Guardian? Kendall said, "We don't know when we will market to the whole country. We are in a controlled market because we want to build knowledge. They are expensive, and there are no medical codes for the products. Everything is out of pocket." He said the trial that Print and others are to help "build a case for insurance companies" and to also help Medtronic Minimed work out some of the kinks in the system.

    "We are doing it in cities where we have good managed care [i.e. excellent doctors and health care systems], and there are sensor specialists in these cities," Kendall said. "It would be unethical [to give people the Guardian in Portland] because we don't know the technology yet."

    At this point, I thought of Sandra Miller and mentioned to Kendall that there was a mother I knew who wanted to put her son it. He simply shook his head.

    "Because there aren't any specialists in these other cities?" I asked.

    Kendall nodded. He said that the sensor technology was new and that a lot of the Medtronic Minimed employees were not yet familiar enough with the technology. The limited markets are designed to help establish a strong base of people who are experts with the Guardian and who can help those starting off. Until there are experts in all of the cities, like there are experts about pumps, it is very risky and, as Kendall said, "unethical." He added that it wasn't a good idea for people to use the technology unless they were "very competent with diabetes." As we have seen with Print, the technology is not perfect.

    "What everyone has to realize is that the sensors don't replace finger sticks," Kendall said. "You don't have to check as much, but at least two, probably 3-4 times a day."

    I asked for a better explanation as to how the sensor actually works and why, as Print has illustrated in detail on his blog, there are such vast differences between the meter and the Guardian.

    "Realize the difference between the sensor and the finger sticks and that they'll be different at the same time. It's a sensor value and it'll be different. The sensor takes a reading every 10 seconds and then every 5 minutes gives you an average."

    "So that's why the Guardian says you're 150 but your glucose meter says 120?" I asked.

    "Yes," Kendall said. He explained how values and trends are different. "If you have stable blood sugars - early morning or fasting - it'll be pretty close and accurate. If it's an hour after a meal, your blood sugars are going up and there's a lot of variability and it can be off."

    "It's not an end all be all. There's still a lot of work and we don't want to set false expectations. There's still a lot people need to learn. The Guardian is there to sense trends - falling low or going high rather than finding an exact value. Why am I not coming down? Or an alarm goes off and [you say] gosh, I don't even feel low, but you're falling. It keeps you above that dangerous level."

    "I love the idea of having an alarm go off at 80 or 200," I said, "before I even go low or high. You just avoid them completely."

    Kendall nodded, "It'll benefit everybody. But it'll be about teaching people."

    Kendall gave a wonderful analogy that I think really helps emphasize the Guardian's important qualities. Rather than making adjustments based off the Guardian's instant blood glucose readings (which you aren't supposed to do), he says, "It's like the difference between showing a movie clip and a photograph. It will help connect all the dots together."

    If you have any more questions about the Guardian, I can try to send them to Kendall and perhaps he can find out more specifics. It seemed the Minimed is really try to be safe and not giving people new technology without the proper training. Personally, I would not want to be handed something that could potentially kill me without having a very strong support team to help me work out the bugs. Hopefully the trial will help convince insurance companies to pay for the Guardian as soon as possible so that we will all be on it.

    Kendall also mentioned that within 12-18 months, a newly developed "sensor augmented" pump would be released, which is a Guardian/Paradigm pump combo. One piece of technology, but the sensor and the pump set inside of you.

    Medtronic Minimed's website has more information on this and other new technology.

    You can also visit Printcraft's blog on the Guardian RT.

    Winter Break: So Far

    Get a job (hopefully) I start work at the Discovery Channel store tomorrow.
    Finish Diabetes Teen Talk
    Do lots and lots of PR work for DTT and for the OC (seriously, why are we not on dLife's website?)
    Sleep Meh. The mattress sucks so my back hurts a lot. I'm always tired.
    Eat copious amounts of candy at the Candy House party (for the last 14 years, my friend Kayce's family has hosted a Candy House party where we decorate graham cracker houses with frosting and candy. More candy ends up in my stomach than on the house. I don't even try to keep my blood sugars under control while I'm there. A high is inevitable.
    Shop shop shop Well, a partial strike. I have finished shopping for Mother and Younger Brother, but Father's gift still alludes me.
    Write? Maybe?
    Read.
    NARNIA!!!!
    Go to the endo and get my latest A1C (ahhhh. Scary!) SEVEN POINT FREAKING THREE! Sweet heavens! 7.3 is the lowest I've ever been and it's only happened one other time in my life- and that was freshman year in high school. Six. Years. Ago.

    Also of note: Voting as commenced for the OC Blog Awards- CLICK ME!

    Monday, December 12, 2005

    Cyber-coffee anyone?

    Do any of you have AOL instant messanger or Yahoo! instant messsanger?

    As nice as blogs and message boards and even chatrooms are, I really like the one-on-one real-time conversations that IMs provide. Granted, it would be even nicer if we could start some kind of blog phone tree or address book, but I have a feeling the whole "stalker" aspect might throw people off.

    I have Gina's, and Kerri's and Dee's screennames, and it's been really cool chatting with them about random stuff that I don't necessarily want the entire world in on.

    At any rate, if you have AIM or Yahoo, let me know. Maybe we can chat. Grab a cup of cyber-coffee...

    Edit: Brilliant as I am, I forgot to post my own contact info. On AIM, you reach me with AMBlass (M for Michelle) and on Yahoo, it's allisonblass. However, while I'm in Portland, I only have access to AIM.

    Friday, December 09, 2005

    Fall 2005 Finals Week

    I'm ::gasp:: DONE!

    Hallelujah! Thank the Lord!

    ::collapses::

    I apologize for not posting much this week, but dead week and finals week nearly killed me (my poor feet can attest to that!).

    Would you like to hear a "OMG, Allison, I can't believe you did that!" story? Sure you do! So, Monday morning, my English final is at 8am. I wake up. At 8 am. I throw on clothes and grab my bag, which thankfully already has everything in it. But I can't find my slip-on Arizona flats. In my sleepy, panicked daze, I grab the next best thing- my $7 cranberry clogs. I run out the door.

    About a block later, I realize these shoes suck. I'm sliding all around in them, and I can't get a good enough grip to do anything but walk quickly. I require more speed. So, I decide to take them off. I sprint about a half block barefoot, before realizing this is even worse, and certainly more painful (and I swear I could hear the entire diabetic community yelling at me in unison "Put your shoes BACK ON!"). I slide the shoes on and keep going. Faster. Come on. Ow, this hurts. Keep going. It's only pain.

    I arrive, grab the test, unzip my bag and pull out the Green Books and begin taking the test. After about five minutes, I decide to slip the shoes off to give my feet a breather. The blisters are burning. After answering the first question, I glance down to see how badly the blisters have broken. Oh, they're broken alright... and my big toe is bleeding. Clearly not thinking straight (blood loss perhaps?), I continue taking the test. Afterwards, I head to the bathroom and clean off my feet. They're still sore and red, but not bleeding. I'm starving, and although I still haven't tested yet, I go with a friend to eat breakfast and then head back (slowly, oh so very slowly) to my house to test, get properly ready for school and study.

    I consider going to the Health Center, but I have ointment and band-aids. But I also have work at 4:30 and I know there is no way I can stand on my feet for 6 hours. Work wants a doctor's note if I'm not going to be able to come. So I walk (slowly, oh so very slowly) to the Health Center. I tell the receptionist I've hurt my foot. Mary Jean, the resident CDE, is with another patient but she sees me and I tell her what happened. "Oh, it's a good thing you came in then, especially with diabetes."

    The receptionist sends me back to another area to see the doctor. This guy has to be the funniest doctor I've ever met in my whole entire career as a patient. He asks me where I'm from, what my major is, the usual. He asks me what medication I'm on.

    When I tell him insulin and Symlin (to which he furrows his brow and writes "Similin"), he asks, "So, you're a Type 1 diabetic. How long?"

    "12 years."

    "Do you know what your last A1C was?"

    "7.8" I say. "I know, it's not that great."

    "Hey, the fact you know what an A1C is is impressive."

    Chuckle. "Yeah, I know."

    He takes a look at my feet. Nothing is broken. He asks me where it hurts and I say "right there," pointing to where the left pinky toe meets the rest of the foot, and of course, the blisters.

    "Well, good."

    "Good?"

    He tells me the fact that I can feel the pain is a good thing because it shows that I'm in good control and I haven't lost any sensations in my feet. "Can you feel this?" "Yes." "Can you feel that?' "Yeah."

    Which has lead me to the latest addition to "You know you're a diabetic when....": Your doctor is happy you can feel pain in your feet. Oh dear.

    "It's a good thing you came in to see me. Diabetics need to pay special attention to their feet." Right. Of course. That's why I'm here...

    I tell him I have work tonight and that I "kinda sorta don't want to go." He looks at me. "You just wanted me to give you a doctor's note, didn't you?"

    "Yes...." He laughs and shakes his head, writing me the note.

    "There. I wrote down 'secondary injury'. They'll look at that and run. Now, if it starts bleeding or filling with puss, you come back and see me." How's that for mental image?

    "Noted."

    So there was my exciting adventure of the week. My toe is healing quite nicely, but the blisters are still red and ugly. Lots and lots of antibiotic ointment has been used.

    In other news: My parents and brother are driving down tonight for the Nickel Creek concert. My dad is a huge fan and when I found out a bunch of my friend were going, I called and asked if he wanted to come down. Then he thought we should bring my mom. Who in turn though we should bring my brother. So now the whole fam is coming to Eugene and spending the night, and then back to Portland we go.

    So get this. My winter break starts official today (December 9). Guess when classes start? January 9. Yeah. I don't think the school administrators like us very much. They're trying to ditch us for a whole month.

    My big plans for the break:

    • Get a job (hopefully)
    • Finish Diabetes Teen Talk
    • Do lots and lots of PR work for DTT and for the OC (seriously, why are we not on dLife's website?)
    • Sleep
    • Eat copious amounts of candy at the Candy House party (for the last 14 years, my friend Kayce's family has hosted a Candy House party where we decorate graham cracker houses with frosting and candy. More candy ends up in my stomach than on the house. I don't even try to keep my blood sugars under control while I'm there. A high is inevitable.
    • Shop shop shop
    • Write? Maybe?
    • Read.
    • NARNIA!!!!
    • Go to the endo and get my latest A1C (ahhhh. Scary!)

    Oh, and hello to the new bloggers in the OC! Especially Bethany, Alex and Megan, my fellow college-bloggers! Yay! I'm not alone! ::waves::

    I'm adding all the blogs that have been piling up in my e-mail box to the OC right now.... Check 'em out!

    Forthcoming: Grades and Endocrinologist Report.

    Monday, December 05, 2005

    "It's because I'm still on my honeymoon," says an 8-year-old Allison

    One Touch II glucose meter: free (and it even comes with your very own chronic illness!)
    Box of graham crackers and Tang powdered juice: $8.99
    Waiting for a blood sugar reading: 45 seconds
    Wide-eyed expression on the secretary's face: priceless.

    I don't remember a whole lot about my honeymooning experience outside of this incident, which happened my first day back at school after my diagnosis. I believe mine lasted about eight months before we decided it faded enough that it was no longer affecting my blood sugars in any accountable way. I thought the honeymoon was cool because I hardly took any insulin and my blood sugars were almost always perfect! It was almost like not being sick! But then my insulin requirements suddenly jumped dramatically in a short period of time. Of course, we soon realized that was just one jump of many. My insulin requirements seemed to jump everytime I went to the doctor's. But this, of course, makes perfect sense. By the time I was in middle school, each time I visited the endo I was a quarter inch taller than the last, and thus my insulin-to-weight ratio required that my insulin go up. And up. And up some more. You think you're taking a lot of insulin now? Just you wait.

    Of course, this is different for adults. I imagine once your honeymoon ends, your insulin will peak and then stabilize around a typical TDD. Not that your basal rates and ratios won't change, but I can't imagine they will be severely dramatic (unless you get pregnant or something...). But you parents out there, don't hold your breath. The basal rates and ratios aren't going to stabilize for quite some time.

    I emailed my CDE about honeymoons and insulin changes over the weekend. He wrote back,

    "I can usually tell when someone's honeymoon is over when their fasting (wake-up) BGs are ever above 200. If their nighttime basal secretion can't get them down to normal by morning, the pancreas has, shall we say, kicked the bucket.

    Insulin requirements are FOREVER CHANGING! They tend to change less often after puberty and before the more advanced years kick in (age 25-50 approximately), but they can still change with variations in physical activity, diet, occupation, lifestyle, medications, other illnesses, environmental conditions, stress levels, etc, etc, etc. The wise among us roll with the changes. The morons keep doing the same things and expect different results."

    So there ya have it, folks.

    Friday, December 02, 2005

    We Interrupt This Broadcast For A Special Announcement:

    The Diabetes OC Proudly Presents....
    THE 1ST ANNUAL DIABETES OC BLOG CHOICE AWARDS!
    Honor your favorite blogs and bloggers with this coveted award!
    Nominations are taking place now. Go to the Diabetes OC Blog Awards Website for more information and for the nomination form.
    Nominations end Dec. 14. Voting begins Dec. 15.
    A very special Diabetes OC Awards Show will take place at the Talkfest chatroom on January 4.
    ---
    The idea of this awards show is to celebrate all the wonderful people who have opened up their lives for all of us to see and be a part of. I want everyone to be a part of this, so please visit the Diabetes OC Awards website and find out about the categories and to nominate your favorite blogs. It's really easy! After two weeks of taking nominations, I will post the ballot! And then we'll have a REAL (well, kind of real) awards show sponsered by Talkfest.
    Please post about this on your blog and please nominate, and of course, vote! We can't have a awards show without you!
    If you have any questions, please comment or email me at amblass@aol.com.