Day 20 #HAWMC Travel Time

Day 20 #HAWMC asks us to share: "if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why? We also know traveling with a chronic illness can be challenging, so any tips for others that you can share would be great!"

Hmm...I've always said I would love to travel to England and stay long enough to pick up the accent. I've always had an obsession with British accents; hunky British men and I would be remiss if I didn't mention British history...maybe one day. Having three kids with chronic illness; two of which are T1D, makes travel dollars non-existent.

We DID manage to travel to Florida last year during Spring Break and that was the FIRST long distance travel we had done in seven years! Let me be clear about this. Our lack of travel wasn't due to D. That wasn't it at all. It was lack of funds, scheduling issues and it just wasn't a priority to "get away". But last year it was a priority. We needed the beach. So we went.

As some of our readers know, my son is a severe hemophiliac (aka bleeder). So I had one whole suitcase dedicated to diabetes and hemophilia. I was also armed with a list of hospitals in the area should anything happen. Best tip: pack for the worst case scenario. If you don't think it can happen to you while on vacation...guess what?! It WILL!! So pack *it*! Also be sure to carry your insurance cards, letters from the Doctor of medical condition and medical necessity and phone numbers to your Endo office. Look, travel is fun but it's stressful too. I don't just worry if I packed my toothbrush and my underwear...it's did I pack the life saving insulin and blood clotting factor for my kids!! People with chronic illness travel ALL the time so don't let that stop you. I'm suggesting with some planning you can have a fun, relaxing and prepared vacation!

Day 19 of WEGO Health #HAWMC - "What’s a lesson you learned the hard way?"

Today we are prompted to write about "What’s a lesson you learned the hard way? Tell us a time when you made a mistake and promised never to make that same mistake again."

I should and do know better. How did I let this happen? Sometimes unconditional love is not, it is just pure ignorance when I allowed my fear to get into the way. A hypocrite I am. I swore to myself I would always practice unconditional love, even if it is tough love. Fear should NEVER get in the way.

"Roughly half of women who've had gestational diabetes — the pregnancy kind — go on to develop full-fledged Type 2 diabetes in the months to years after their child's birth. Yet new research shows fewer than one in five of those women returns for a crucial diabetes test within six months of delivery. That's the first of the checkups they're supposed to have every few years to guard against diabetes' return, but no one knows how many do." 

"Women can have either Type 2 diabetes or the insulin-dependent Type 1 variety at the time they become pregnant. That's a separate issue, and those women are urged to have their diabetes tightly controlled to avoid a range of risks to baby and mother" - Source NBC News

My Daughter's first pregnancy came along with a diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes. No medication was given. It was thought that there was no diabetes after she delivered. Was she tested...nope, not that I am aware of.

She is now pregnant with our 6th Grandchild., and another diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes AND Type 2 diabetes. How was this diagnosed? There was an A1c (average blood glucose for 90 days) of 10.9%. To put that number into perspective, an A1c of 10.9 equates to an average daily Blood Glucose Level (BGL) of  300. For those whom may be reading this, an average of 300 is WAY to high. 

This was classified by her Doctor as a double diagnosis, of Gestational diabetes AND Type 2 Diabetes, and she was admitted into the Hospital to monitor her  BGL while beginning a regiment of both Fast acting and Long acting insulin's, and find those magic numbers and calculate dosage levels of injections (MDI).

As a self proclaimed Advocate for those affected by diabetes, I should not have allowed this to happen. I have lived the life as a Caregiver for more than twenty years, and an/Advocate for about six years. I failed in a terrible way. I never urged her to get tested after delivery. Truth be told, I was scared to urge her to get tested because I knew the outcome was 50/50 either way. I did not want to scare her into testing because as a Parent, I did not want to imply harm in any way. I screwed up.

All these things are and were WRONG on my part.

GUILTY as charged.

Girly Face...I love you and will guide you best I can throughout this pregnancy, while urging you to remember that those of us in the Diabetes Online Community (DOC) often say that "Your diabetes may vary, and it's just a number". You are already showing the signs of being able to control your diabetes destiny in a GREAT way.


Rock on Jennifer...

5 Challenges and 5 Victories...Day 18 #HAWMC

Today is 5 Challenges and 5 Victories of Diabetes.

CHALLENGES:

1. Keeping BG's in range
2. Exercising and the 6 hour delayed low and pre/during exercise spike
3. Living life with D along for the ride and NOT taking the wheel
4. Not obsessing over BG's and the shoulda/woulda/coulda
5. Insurance coverage/upkeep/supply ordering, etc.

VICTORIES:

1. Keeping BG's in range
2. Exercising and NOT seeing the 6 hour delayed low because we tried a different combination of things and we just happened to OWN it like a BOSS!! (at least for one night!)
3. Living life with D along for the ride and NOT taking the wheel
4. Seeing happy kids because I DIDN'T obsess over BG's and let them be kids
5. NOT fighting with insurance/supply order/picking up supplies

As you can see some of the challenges are also the victories. The thing to remember is to keep it all in stride. Easier said than done sometimes and managing two T1D daughters is sometimes just that. But we take each day as a day and know that tomorrow gives us another shot (pun intended) at D again. What challenges/victories do you see?

Day 17 of the WEGO #HAWMC - "TV Matchup"

Today we are prompted to think of a "TV Matchup. Think of a TV show that compares to your life. What is it? Who would you be, who would your friends and family be?".

This was one of the easier things to come up with. Quite simply my life mimicks the TV Show "Dirty Jobs".  I would of course be the Host [his name escapes me]. My Friends and Family would be the ones tossing the dirty jobs my way, as they have perfected the art.

Allow me to take it one more step and if my life was a Movie, it most certainly be "Groundhog Day". Not that my life is that redundant or boring...far from it!

Day 15 of the WEGO #HAWMC - “Health tagline”

Today we are prompted to create a “Health tagline” Give yourself, your blog, your condition, or some aspect of your health a tagline. Make sure it’s catchy!

Those of us affected by diabetes talk so much about, and dwell upon the Blood Glucose [sugar[ Levels of finger poke test's during the day, A1c [3 month average] Tests, proper carb to insulin ratios, amount of good/bad carbs in any given food. It is WAY to easy to stress over each and every aspect of the numbers those items bring. You will see many try to keep things in perspective by saying it is just a number. So how about we go all out and make our tagline "Diabetes...it's just a number".

I also like a variation of last weeks Wordless Wednesday pic. One of the things we try to impress upon ourselves, and to those whom are newly diagnosed, is that diabetes is NOT a death sentence. That does not mean we ever forget that it IS a silent killer, and that the medication [Insulin] that keeps us alive, can also kill us. That being said, here's another tagline worth exploring "Diabetes is just a word, not a Sentence".

We would love to hear YOUR Tagline. Just leave it in the comments section and we will feature them in a future blog post.