NaNo round-up

Well, I managed to post something every single day, with only a minor snag over Thanksgiving. I only had to resort to one meme and one guest post. Not too shabby.

However, in order to post every day here, I had to abandon my craft blog. I hope to get back in to that and post a bunch of the crafts that I’ve made for Christmas presents so far.

Also, due to NaBloPoMo and craziness at work (listening in on a conference call right now!), I had to pretty much abandon my NaNoWriMo novel I had planned. It was going to be a neat superhero type story starring GiR and some of our other friends. Sadly this is all I ended up with. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Carb game ANSWERS

Well, I only got one reply, but I thought I’d post the carb game answers anyway, for everyone’s benefit.

Chicken - 0
Cheese stick - 1
Broccoli - 6
Milk - 11.4
Carrots - 12.3
Apple juice - 14
Premium vanilla ice cream - 16
Apple - 17.3
Fat-free no sugar added vanilla ice cream - 20
Dr. Pepper - 27
Big ‘n’ Tasty - 37
Barilla spaghetti - 38
Dreamfields spaghetti - 42
Medium fry - 46.9
Blueberry bagel - 69
Pop tarts - 74

There are a few things I’d like to point out.

1. The Dr. Pepper amount was quoted for 1 cup.  That’s only 8 ounces.  A whole can (12 ounces) would be around 40 g carbs.  Just for a beverage. Yikes!
2. The fat-free no sugar added ice cream has more carbs per serving than premium ice cream.  My thought?  Don’t bother; just get the real stuff.  Or, just get Low Carb Breyer’s.  It is the win.
3. Dreamfields (which is supposedly lower impact carbs) has more total carbs than regular Barilla.  I have yet to figure out if the lower impact carbs are worth the price, so for now I say skip it.  Bernard says differently though.

Hate the diabetes, love the diabetic: A guest post by GiR

I know the diabetes blogosphere likes calling us the ‘Type 3 diabetics’ - those who have loved ones with diabetes, making it a part of our everyday lives. When my lovely wife is having good blood sugar, my day is better - and when she’s not, my day usually isn’t that good either.

Last Sunday, Amalas (who was very stressed at the time) was telling me that I didn’t know what it was like to be diabetic - always watching blood sugar numbers, never knowing exactly what your blood sugar is going to be, never being in control of things as much as she would like. I told her that I do know - I live with her all the time. I’m always watching out for her, never knowing what her mood would be, and watching her have mediocre numbers even when I carefully counted out carbs and weighed her food.

When dealing with a stressed diabetic, hugs are not a cure…

Thank you, Abbott

My meter’s been acting a little funny lately. For over a week, it will occasionally not recognize that there’s blood on the strip. It’ll suck the blood up just fine, but nothing will happen. I’d have to throw the strip out and use a new one. Or two. Then yesterday I got a bunch of Err1 codes and an Err3 tossed in for fun. Getting sick of wasting test strips, I called Abbott up to see if they could help out.

After only a couple computer prompts, I spoke to a real live person who spoke English. His name was Arthur. He listened very patiently to my problems and asked me a few questions. We ran through a few different scenarios to rule out other possibilities (yes, it happens with multiple tubes of strips; yes, the code is correct; yes, I apply the blood correctly, etc) and finally deduced that it was most likely the meter. He said they would ship a new one out to me and it would get here in about 3 days. Talk about awesome!

I really do love it when companies get it right. Abbott seems to really care about its customers and they make sure that their meters are doing their job. Thanks, Abbott!

Carb game

When I was in college, one of the jobs I had was as a Peer Health Educator. So, when I found out I had diabetes, I decided to give a presentation about it. One of the games I had was this carb game. I made flash cards with pictures of the food on the front and a description and serving size on the back. They had to line up the food in order of least carbs to most carbs, then I pulled out an answer sheet to see how well they did. I thought it was a great way to show the different amounts of carbs in various foods. I still have the game tucked away somewhere, but I thought it would be fun to do an online version. =)

Below are a various foods, listed with the serving amount I used for the calculation. First person to post the correct order from lowest to highest amount of carbs gets a virtual completely carb-free cookie! lol I will create a new post with the answers (along with the actual carb count) once someone wins. Good luck! (Note: all numbers are verified via CalorieKing, but no cheating, people =P)

apple, 1 cup chopped

Langer 100% apple juice, 1 cup

Dr. Pepper, 1 cup

2% milk, 1 cup

string cheese (mozzarella and cheddar swirl), 1 stick

Barilla spaghetti, 2 oz dry

Dreamfields spaghetti, 2 oz dry

Blue Bunny premium vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup

Blue Bunny fat free no sugar added vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup

frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts, 2 pastries

Panera blueberry bagel, 1 bagel

broccoli, 1 cup chopped

carrots, 1 cup chopped

McDonald’s Big n Tasty (with mayo, no cheese), 1 sandwich

McDonald’s fries, medium

chicken breast (meat only, roasted), 1 cup

Household names

I love the OC.  You are like my extended group of friends.  I probably talk about you to GiR more than I talk about my in-person friends.  It’s getting to the point where you guys are household names.  For example:

We were snuggling in bed and my tubing got caught up in something.  Then GiR said, “This is probably why Kerri disconnects.”  I just had to laugh a little.   He knows exactly who Kerri is and he even know the right post to quote.

Other household names, aside from Kerri, include Bernard, Allison, and sometimes Amy and Wil.  I don’t even feel the need to preface their name with “this other diabetes blogger, so-and-so.”  To us, they are just more friends in our lives.

Meta-posting

Sorry for the lack of updates the past few days. GiR and I were spending a nice technology-free Thanksgiving in Arkansas. I got to visit with his family, eat lots of turkey, and play some fun games. All in all, a much needed break.

I went ahead and did a NaBloPoMo no-no and back-dated the posts I had prepared in advance. I was hoping to be able to hop onto a computer real quick and just hit “post” while on vacation, but it didn’t happen. However, I didn’t think you all would mind.

Also, I would like to give another serious thanks to Lucy. I was able to get through Thanksgiving without nary a high or low. Huzzah!

Glucagon. Do I need it?

I have never owned a glucagon shot. Some people say that it’s a necessity. However, I don’t think I need to have one.

I’ve only had that one severe low, and I’m not often below 50. In fact, I’m not often below 60. I guess I just don’t see the need of carrying something that I’ll almost for sure never use, especially if it expires after six months.

I suppose that once I get truly serious about bringing my A1c down to crazy low levels to prepare for getting/being pregnant (no worries, many years off), then maybe I should worry about it. But for now, I’m just not going to bother.

Thanksgiving 2007

I give thanks for…

• my parents, for always being there to help and support me
• GiR, my husband, for being the light of my life and my knight in shining armor
• Lucy, who keeps me alive
• my friends, who bring laughter and joy to my life
• good food. Yum. =)
• life. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Just the right place

…to be completely annoying.

Yesterday was site-change day (hurray for infusion site-free showers!). I was running out of good places on my hips, so I switched back to my stomach. I typically go above the belly button to avoid waistband issues, but I’m more muscle-y there, and I was getting tired of it being sore all the time. So, I decided to try a below the belly button site, where I am squishier.

Sadly, I picked exactly the wrong spot. It’s too high to go below my waistband, and it’s too low to go above my waistband. It’s in exactly the wrong spot. I am, of course, too cheap to throw it out, so I guess I get to be annoyed for the next few days about my unfortunate choice in infusion sites.

Also, GiR was too busy and was not able to get his guest post done last night.  Or today, for that matter.  ><  And finally, we are going on vacation, so I may or may not be able to post over the next two days.  We shall see.  Happy Turkey Day!