One more year

Here we are, 1 full year later and I'm again fundraising and recruiting for the JDRF Walk-A-Thon

Have to admit, it's a bit more challenging with 2 kids

My letter of invitation was written with my baby on my lap trying to yank my glasses of my face and pull out my earings (which she did, by the way)  


At least I have good news about where the money is going:

The JDRF is funding several research projects that could be very significant to me in my lifetime

Such as, the artificial pancreas project: this is basically a software that will read my blood sugar, and automatically dose me with insulin to fix it,

Or the Beta Cell Encapsulation project, the idea being to give a person with juvenile diabetes new beta cells and putting them inside a casing that will not allow your body to destroy them

The JDRF is also looking at Preventing diabetes.  I mean they never actually cured Polio, they just eradicated it with vaccines preventing people from getting it

Lots of promise….

My big fear of shame is showing up with a team of 4- me, my husband and the kids

Or falling so far short of my fund-raising goal that the JDRF organizers look at me and whisper between themselves that people must not like me very much. 

SO here's my plea:

 

Please sponsor me: Tamara Segall

Last year, my team raised a total of $5,227 this year I am setting us an optimistic goal of  $8,000!!!!

(So far, I've raised $118.00 )

Please join my team:Team Dex4

Last year we were a team of about 30

My friends, my colleagues, my family

We brought baby strollers and sunscreen

We talked about summer plans and work and music and maybe a few comments on how fat and pregnant I’d gotten

It was really great and everyone who went has already started asking about this year’s walk

The walk:

Sunday June 9, 2013.

At the park: Centre de la Nature in Laval

Registration time: 8:30 am
Walk time: 10:00 am

At the end they feed you lunch.  And it's good too, I swear!

The web site to register for my team or make a donation is now open as well:

http://jdrfca.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1467

 Thank you!

There is a logic to my brand of Insanity

Am I the only one that feels like my latest A1C is an exam result worthy of either reward or punishment?

That's insane, right?

I got a 6.4!!!! Yay!!!!!!

New shoes for me!

Do other people with diabetes exercise so that they can have a 'free' snack?

If I walk the 4 blocks to the café, I can have a medium latté and NOT bolus for it!

Worth it!

That's insane right?

If a gym wanted to cater to me, they should advertise a woman on a treadmill eating a KitKat 70% dark!

That's why I do it. If I wanted to just eat carrot sticks I could skip the work out all together.

That's insane right?

How about when I do a check and find I am low, somewhere between 2.5-2.9mmol/L and on my way to fix the low it seems like a good idea to sweep up the breakfast crumbs under the dining room table.  That's completely insane!  I know the crumbs will still be there in 15 minutes (hell, they'll be there next week unless I sweep them up!) but at THAT particular moment in time, I am SURE this is what I should do!

Or, my husband and I are relaxing in the living room watching a few episodes of Big Bang Theory.  I hit 'Pause' and he looks at me.

- Wouldn't it be great to have a tea right now, I say

- Great idea, he says, make mine black

- You should go get them, I say

- But I cooked supper, he says

- But I bathed the kids, I reply

- But I had to move 12 tables at the store

- But I have a defective pancreas!!!!

- Fine! I'm going! he gets up to make the tea

Fine, I admit that was a cheap shot.  But I won! I know, so wrong to use in an argument.  But so help me a moment later I was wondering if I could sprint a few minutes on the treadmill while the kettle boiled to eat a few 'free' cookies for desert.

I know, it's insane right?

All in a diabetic’s day: Second babies, Breastfeeding, and flu shots

Second Babies

I must say, when my son was born 3 years ago, I was very overwhelmed! Being a mama was a huge adjustment compared to the sleep filled / cocktail hour and coffee break existence I`d known up until then.   Presently, I’ve also gotten used to too little sleep and public temper tantrums.  But with my daughter, I’ve already been broken in so I can just enjoy.  I sometimes feel like I`m playing dolly!  Man are babies cute!  My challenge is to ensure I have the ‘me’ time I need to do  my pump set changes.  Also, not to get distracted on my way to fixing a low. (which has happened a few times...)

Breastfeeding and Diabetes

It’s so hard to maintain smooth decent blood sugars when you breastfeed!  Basically, I cannot anticipate how often a newborn needs to nurse.  Nor the impact each particular feed has on my levels.

If the baby has a growth spurt and needs to feed often, I find myself facing many lows in the vicinity of low 3’s high 2’s mmol/L

If I don’t feed regularly, I find myself with 14mmol/L

Quite the challenge.

I feel like I’m back on the rollercoaster ride of feeding lows like with multiple daily injections since you cannot program a pump for a trend you cannot foresee.

So now what do I do? Test often and correct as needed.

Flu shot and diabetes

So I went and got my flu shot.  People with diabetes are considered vulnerable.  But honestly, I did it for my baby girl, so that she would get the antibodies while I breastfeed.  The consequence on my blood sugars was ugly!  I ad to increase my insulin by 125%!

Creating antibodies manifests as sugar in the blood stream.

But it only lasted 2 weeks.  I also felt like I had gotten socked in the arm.  But that was everyone not just diabetic me.

It’s a Girl!

The background

On the Friday where I was 38 weeks pregnant, I got a 24 hour gastro bug. 

That Saturday night, my husband got a 24 hour gastro bug of his own.  

Then that Sunday night, my son got it and he couldn’t keep anything down.  My husband and I stayed up taking care of him all night.  

Finally, it looked like it had abated some by 5AM and we could get a few hours rest, and then my water broke!

The hospital

So into the hospital I went, no sleep, no food.

They inserted a ‘power bar’ type needle into my arm to plug in various meds:

-          1 for ivy: to keep me hydrated

-          1 for Oxytocin: to speed up the contractions

-          1 for insulin: I had to remove the pump and let them handle the dosing

-          1 for glucose: to be given when I was in active labor

They checked my blood glucose every hour.  When I went low they wouldn’t let me take Dex4 or any food to fix it, they injected me with glucose, then diminished my insulin

When I went high, they increased the insulin drip.

 

The Reward

After 12 hours, my daughter was born!

A little Mini Me of 8lbs and 4 oz

So sweet, so small, so beautiful!

The dosing

My own insulin levels immediately drop by a third.  I had already programmed an insulin profile for this into my pump.  It’s the placenta that makes a pregnant Type 1 insulin resistant.

Closing thoughts

-          Hospital food is terrible!  Bland and full of fat and carbs, not a fresh vegetable in sight. Guess they don’t want you to overstay your welcome!

-          The nurses and staff at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal are fantastic! Warm and caring and helpful.

-          The epidural is a fantastic invention!

Who Dunnit?

Welcome to the point where 'being high' has nothing to do with illicit substances and everything to do with an elevated blood sugar

I have had a week of very ugly numbers.  High blood sugars, over and over!  I dose myself with additional insulin all over the place to correct and avoid these 'highs' but success is minimal.  Here are the suspects:

1. I think the shock of air conditioning vs stifling heat and humidity gave me a chest cold.  When a person with diabetes is getting sick and their body is trying to fight off a cold, this effect manifests as elevated blood sugars

   - Eee, I have a cough and my chest hurts 

2. I am now 35 weeks pregnant.  As the pregnancy progresses my insulin needs climb exponentially. I count my carbs, and eat and give the corresponding dose of insulin.  Perhaps I need more?  I used to use 35 units of Novorapid insulin a day.  I am now up to 76 units per day.  Since my insulin pump 'reservoir' (the little bottle that I fill with insulin and insert into my pump) can hold a maximum of 1.8 ml of insulin, I need to replenish quite frequently lately.

3. I'm running out of good injection sites on my abdomen.  When you wear an insulin pump, you inject an infusion set (a Teflon needle/catheter) into your skin.  After 3 days, you inject a fresh infusion set elsewhere -like 1-2cm next to the previous site.  Basically, I go round and round my abdomen like a race track.  You do not want to overuse a site and cause scar tissue.  Scar tissue does not absorb insulin well, at all!  But I've gone round and round so often I've run out of real estate, so I've moved onto the back of my upper arm.  

   - The arms don't seem to absorb as well as the abdomen though

So, why am I high?  This is really bad when you're pregnant.  It means that you are giving the baby too much sugar and the baby is at risk of being too big.  Need to bring those blood sugars back in range!!!

In the end, the reason doesn't even matter.  It's just a thought process with which I can drive myself crazy.

Fact is, the solution is the following:

- Reprogram all the background insulin at a higher setting

- Reprogram all the food calculations to give me more insulin

- Reprogram all the correction calculations to give me more insulin

- Get used to injecting into my arms, that's what it's got to be

- Test my blood sugar often, write down the numbers, and reprogram as needed.

 And after that?  Keep on living, and laughing, and loving!

A Few Big Things on my Mind these days

A few Big Things are occupying my time these days........
Here's a snapshot of My Life Starring Me

1. Pregnancy
To be completely un-politically correct, I understand why fat people avoid exercise!  It's hard work when you are carrying all this extra weight!  I have a hard time remembering if I really and truly used to run 30min at 5.5MPH every lunch break on the treadmill.

I am now 30 weeks pregnant
I have gained 27lbs so far!  The Antenatal clinic has raised an eyebrow at all my weigh ins but at least I'm slowing down with the speed with which I'm gaining.

However, I am toooooooooooooooooooooooo heavy!
I walked 2 blocks and was exhausted and out of breath!  

Time to face facts! I froze my membership at the Nautilus Plus for one year.  Zumba, no more.
Plus my hip has moved out of place and my legs get tired if I stand too long.
(Clearly they are collapsing under the weight of my Fat-ness)

And people, Please stop asking if I'm having twins!!!!!
PLUS! As big as I am, I'm going to get BIGGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


But the tummy is fun!  I see elbows and knees and feet.  I'm never alone!
I feel the movement at specific times:
- like when I eat something sweet
-or when I'm reading my son his bedtime stories
- or when my husband sings
I'm filled with wonder at the little girl that is soon going to join us.
(If the heart burn doesn't kill me first)

2. Insulin & Blood Sugar Management
My average daily dose has gone from 34units/day to 60units/day
 I keep increasing and increasing.
What happens is, I have a few really good days where my numbers are all in range.
For 4 days I see something like this:
I wake up at 5.4mmol/L -perfect!
I eat 20g of carbs and inject 4 units of insulin - a big increase, but it's fine!
1 hour later I'm in the 5.5-6.2mmol/L range -perfect

last 2 days, one hour later I'm in the 8.5mmol/L zone....not good.
Time to increase, again
When you're pregnant, you are trying to be back in range 1 hour after eating.  

I'm still eating my 150g of carb per day.  Starving, mind you.  But since I've cut my exercise and continued eating the same, it all balances out.  Supposedly.

I now go to the clinic every 2 weeks for Ultrasounds and general follow up
I'm also looking to use all my vacation days and overtime towards leaving work in the month of June, it's just so tiring! 

3. Volunteer Work
My new volunteer role with the JDRF is going very well!
I am the RIV (Research Information Volunteer) for the Montreal chapter.
So I have monthly conference calls with the New York JDRF Head Office and hear all the scientific updates on the various Research projects in place.  So satisfying to hear progress reports on the diabetes cures they are researching, like Beta Cell Regeneration (the beta cells are the ones that MAKE insulin -which I don't have) and  Beta Cell Encapsulation (how to keep new Beta cells alive in someone, like me, whose body keeps killing them) and the diabetes treatments like Artificial Pancreas Project, (an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor that communicate and automatically respond to your blood sugar needs!)
ANYHOW, I take all this information and present it to all you fine people that are fund-raising.
People really like knowing where their money is going!
I do love this role!

4. The JDRF Walk
This June 10th is the JDRF Walk-A-Thon.  I'm trying to get a team together and raise $5,000 personally.
I'm having challenges.  I have a team of 4 people so far (this includes my husband and my best friend!)
And My goal is sort of very far away.  So far I raised $1,410.  So 28% there.
I wish I could make people understand how much fun the walk is as a family outing.
Personally, when the weather warms and the flowers are in bloom, I just can't spend another Sunday morning in pajamas inside the house with the TV on!  I want to be OUT! I want to GO! Is it just me?  

5. Baking with Molasses
Black Strap Molasses is iron rich!  Good for pregnant vegetarian me, good for picky fussy 2 year old my son, and just plain tasty!
A friend of mine (Thanks Gloria!) gave me a ginger cake recipe (possibly Martha Stewart of origin).  I modified it slightly to increase the protein content and reduce the carbs and we are loving it!  One slice is a 30g afternoon snack or breakfast.  Very well spent 30g!!!
I've baked one cake a week for the last 3 weeks and it's still the highlight of my lunch!
I wonder if I can bake sitting down?

I end on a sweet note.............
P.S. It's so 'ME' to start off complaining about my weight and end with talk about food and recipe!
Ginger Cake
Recipe:
1 cup blackstrap molasses 224g carbs
1 cup boiling water + 2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup softened butter 92g FAT
2 eggs PROTEIN
2 cups white whole weat flour (I like Robin Hood Multiflour) 176g carbs
1/2cup soy protein 16g carbs and PROTEIN
1/3 cup brown sugar 60g carbs
1/3 cup splenda 7.5g carbs
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

1. Spray a bundt pan and preheat oven to 350F
2. Sift all the dry ingredients together, except for the brown sugar
3. In a very large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy.  4. Add the brown sugar and beat together until smooth
5. Add the molasses and the water/baking soda and beat until smooth,
6. Add the dry flour mix, and beat
7. Add one egg at a time, and beat
Pour the batter into the Bundt pan and bake for about 35 min (until toothpick test)

If you slice it in 16 slices, each slice is 30g carb and 6g fat!

Also, don't forget, when you lick the beaters and the bowl, those have no calories OK?