Celebrate good times!!!!

Weekends, holidays, celebrations....I LOVE them!!!
Unfortunately, these are the times I get a little laid back in my Diabetes care :(
Coming from a big Italian family doesn't help either...especially when holidays are filled with Nonna's homemade ravioli (ravs), pasta, pizza, bread, cake, etc....

So, now with Easter, birthday parties, work celebrations, etc. behind us, I need to kick it back into gear this week. Spring is coming, the weather is getting nicer...and it's time I really get to doing those fasting blood tests this weekend (argh!!!!).

Surprise Sherry!!! Happy 40th birthday!!!
It was so great getting together with old friends from the church I grew up at, to celebrate Sherry's life!!! What a great woman, mother, friend, wife...

The entire group that showed up to surprise Sherry.

Derek showing off our Saturday morning breakfast.

Baked Banana Bread French Toast.
(I took 3 different recipes, combined & tweaked them).
Wow...total carb-overload!!!

Easter weekend celebration!!! Sitting around the table, enjoying homemade ravs!!!

I LOVE MY CUGINI!!! (cousins)

Nonna & Brent, dancing in the kitchen. What would we do without her?!!? (Probably starve on holidays!!!)


Everett on an Easter egg hunt.

Life is good when you're the only great-grandchild!

Almost done!

Belated Birthday celebrations. The cross cake doubled as a birthday cake!

So yes...the weekend is over!!!
And now it's time to be healthy again!!! I just don't know if I can keep fighting the temptation of all those cookies in the break room at work!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!

A Time To Celebrate!!!

He's like the perfect Date Night!!! Just like when we went to the Chicago History Museum (for me) followed up by a steak dinner at Wildfire (for Derek).

He's the best of both worlds!!! He's what we've all been hoping for!!! He's bringing hope, encouragement, and inspiration to us all!!!

He's Chicago's new pride and joy (for Derek) and a superstar athlete living with Diabetes (for me)!!!

... He's JAY CUTLER!!!!



The phones started ringing off the hook at our place beginning at 4:30pm!!! Texts, calls, messages, excitement, celebration... it was quite the night!!!

My blood sugar was a little higher than I wanted as I finished getting dinner ready. I gave myself some insulin and knew it'd be at least a half hour until I'd be a little bit closer to being able to eat. I told Derek to go ahead without me. So he grabbed my hand to pray, as is our normal tradition (I get the breakfast prayers, Derek takes dinner...lunch is always a toss up).

[Derek:] "Dear Lord, we thank you for bringing us through this day. We pray that you would bring Jen's numbers down so she'll feel better and be able to eat. Thank you for this food that you've provided for us...and Lord, THANK YOU FOR JAY CUTLER!!!"
(To which we both responded with a hearty "AMEN!!!")



Not your typical dinner prayer, but whenever Derek can throw some words up to the Lord concerning the Bears, he takes that opportunity!

As Derek ate and I waited for my numbers to improve, conversation around Jay Cutler continued. In case you didn't know, the Bears Expo will be taking place this year on Sunday, May 17th (SAME DAY AS OUR 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!!).

Derek has been trying to convince me that it would be the perfect way to celebrate our first year of marriage..."Ya know, we can go to Soldier Field, then since we're close to the lake, we can have a romantic dinner downtown afterwards!!!"

And now with Jay Cutler there, Derek said it would be perfect. I could talk to him about my experience with Diabetes, maybe get him to sign my pump?!?!?


We decided it would be best to have Jay put his signature on the backside of the clip. In silver marker, of course so it shows up best. We'd probably have to cover it very carefully with clear plastic, heavy duty tape, so his signature doesn't fade after all the wear and tear from putting it in my pocket and pants.

Ah yes, good conversation to make the time pass! So, my numbers finally came down and I was able to eat my fish, curry rice, green beans, and grapes (much more nutritious than the previous night's meal!!!)

In other brilliant ideas, we thought we'd work on writing Jay Cutler a letter. It's not finalized, but it would go something like this:

"Dear Jay,
Welcome to Chicago! We are so excited to have you join us and have long awaited this day.
As long time season ticket holders, we are true Chicago Bears fans, there every Sunday, whether in the stands, at the away game, or rooting from home (only when we can't make it to the away games!).
We're so glad you will be here to help us bring in some more victories!!!
We want to let you know that we are here to help you as well.
As a person living with Diabetes myself, we know what sacrifice and hard work is like. So, we would like to sacrifice our high up, great view, seats, to be moved to the first row...so we can be right there on the sidelines, with juice and glucose tablets in hand, ready for any low blood sugar reaction you may have during the game.
So, in exchange for our service and dedication, all we ask is that you get us closer seats...so we can be by your side to help, of course!!!
Sincerely, Derek & Jen"

Hey, we can dream...can't we!?!?

YAY FOR JAY!!!

Supplies, Hand Prints, and Blackhawks Bobble-Heads

While Derek was out last night at the Hawks game with my brother, I decided to pick up around our place (after my nutritious dinner of chips, salsa, and cookies and cream ice cream... I had to get it out of my system before my big fast!!!).

As I went from room to room, something of mine seemed to be taking up space in each room. This got me thinking about all the "stuff" it takes to stay on top of my Diabetes...and how messy our place can become if I don't throw stuff away, put it in it's place, pick up after myself, etc.

As I prepared to change my needle, I gathered all of these items and decided to see what it all looked like, laid out in one area. Of course, once I was done with it all, I thought of the other million items that I had forgotten to photograph...but you get the picture!!!

Everything (that I remembered at the time)

Insulin boxes and bottle

Thryoid and Cholesterol rx's
(yes, I'm on cholesterol pills...
and it makes me
feel like an old, fat lady!!!)

Emergency "Stuff" (juice, glucose tablets, & fruit snacks, by the bed in case of a night time 'low' and ketone strips to test for ketones when I'm real high).

Faith & Family (a HUGE and needed support)!!!

Pump Supplies (needles, tubing, caps for exercising and showering)

Blood testing meter, test strips, lancets (little pokers), control solution

More boxes of supplies

Medic Alert Bracelet & Literature: Carb counting book, Diabetes Forecast Magazine

Record keeping

Praise the Lord for Health Care Coverage!!!!

And finally, my own 'Word in Your Hand' project (http://www.diabeteshandprint.com/):

Another productive night of cleaning, taking pictures, and drawing on myself. I guess I get a little bored without my husband...who very thoughtfully woke me up at 11pm by shaking the bobble-head that he won me at the Hawks game, in my face!!!

Pumping. Testing. Fasting

The insulin pump is an AMAZING invention!!! It's what keeps me alive, providing me insulin throughout the day. It's almost like a little pancreas with a brain, the size of a beeper. The insulin is delivered through the tubing that is connected to a needle that is inserted to my stomach (which gets changed, refilled, and rotated every 3 days).

When I wake up in the morning, I test my blood, plug the number into my pump and then plug in the amount of carbs I'm going to eat. My pump, very concisely, tells me how much insulin to give myself...just like that! It takes a lot of the guessing and math out of it for me.

With some adjustments that the doctor made, I get scared with how much insulin my pump tells me to give at times. So, on most mornings I cheat a little and cut back a tiny bit on the insulin. This morning, I braved it and took the pumps directions and gave the full amount. I was 175 when waking up. Not awful, but not perfect (80-120 is the goal). I gave myself 1.0 unit to cover being a little high and then another 2.2 units for the 33 carbs of oatmeal I ate.

I went throughout my normal morning, got ready, woke Derek up, and then sat down to test again, making sure I was ok to drive to work. 375?!?!?! WHAT?!?!? When I finally thinkI'm doing soemthing right!!! And then I felt it...sluggish, nauseous, and like I had a row of cotton, lined up on my tongue (I was really thirsty)!!! I tried to hold it in, but the tears came down my face. Sometimes it's frustrating, but I try to just move on and figure out what went wrong, knowing tomorrow will be a new start.

A hug and kiss and some encouragement from my wonderful husband and it's off to work!

Well, it's gonna make for a messy day when I start out like that. Some high's, some lows, and feeling lousy in between. My insulin pump settings [insulin to carb ratio, amount to bring high numbers lower, basal rates (the amount going through me during the entire day)] are all off!!!

Because of this, there is a process of doing fasting tests along with writing down EVERY blood sugar reading and EVERY single thing I put in my mouth...in order for my doctor to help straighten things out. It's a lot of logging and recording, but in the end, it's very useful to figure out how to correct the mess.

So...this Thursday, Friday, Saturday....it begins!!!

It will begin with eating low fat food throughout the day, being real careful to be as precise as I can as to counting carbs. I begin fasting around 6 or 7pm and will then take a series of blood tests at 10pm, midnight, 2am, 4am, 6am, 8am, and 10am. It makes for a restless night...and of course I get hungry and weak.

That is one series. I have to repeat this again on another day, along with about 3-4 more series of fasting tests at different points throughout the day.

Sure it's annoying, inconvenient, messes with our weekend plans, etc...but it is a step toward better control!!!