Sleep Testing?

Last night may or may not have been one of the strangest nights of my life. This morning I was told that I had been sleep walking around my entire floor in residence. I do have a couple past incidences of sleep walking, it is not a regular occurrence. I wound up going to bed in a friend of mines room because I had managed to lock myself out of my own and conveniently my room mate wasn't home.

This morning I went to add my blood sugars from yesterday into my log book and I noticed that I had tested my blood sugar at 3:37am. Definitely while I was still in zombie mode. Fortunately it happened to be a lovely 6.2 mmol/L. Not quite sure how I managed to do something so fiddly while still asleep though. I get frustrated with all the little bits trying to test during the day.

I know people can do some pretty strange things while sleep walking. It makes me wonder if this has happened to anyone else? I guess it's good to know that my subconscious is still concerned about my health even at all hours of the day.

And They Say You Won't See Changes Immediately...

"It takes 4 weeks for you to start noticing your body changing, 8 weeks for your friends and family, and 12 weeks for everybody else. So keep pushing."

     The above quote is something I see posted all over the fitness board in Pinterest and on all the health blogs I read. While I admit it's a great motivational quote where weight loss is concerned, for me I started seeing results right away.

     I had a little bit of a break in my exams this week so I decided it would be the perfect time to start making use of the free gym membership I have at my university. I have been on a real health kick for the past couple months and I decided that I needed to get back into a regular exercise routine. 

     This week my blood sugars have been almost perfect. I would like to think that if I had a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) that I could be part of the "Flatliners Club".

      I feel absolutely amazing every time I leave the gym. It's an "I feel accomplished"/ "I'm so sore that I want to fall on my face"/ "Tired and refreshed" sort of feeling. And its great!!!!! Exercise is a fantastic stress reliever so I've been a lot less anxious about my midterms. 

So yes. You can see changes immediately.

Shaming Myself + Update

You know how you hate those bloggers who go for ages without writing a post? Yeah.....haha......Me too.....

WHOOPS!!!
I realized the other day that, at one point, this blog was a huge part of my life and just how much I miss it now. Writing posts was an outlet in which I could share my feelings, opinions, doubts, and life moments where it concerned diabetes.

Now, a year and a half into my diagnosis, things are a little different. I am not yet a seasoned pro but no longer a newbie either. I have come to terms that life can never go back to the way it was before but I have also learned that changes are natural and inevitable. Is it possible that this roadblock is actually helping me to better deal with other changes that I will have to face later on? I am still learning everyday about what is going on inside my body and how to best deal with this strange condition. Thank the heavens that diabetes fascinates me because I do enjoy being a diabetes nerd. 

UPDATE TIME

1.) As you may have been able to guess from my last post, YES, I finally started on an insulin pump. I chose the pink OneTouch Ping and I couldn't be happier. His name is Otis and he is my soul mate. ❤️ Being on a pump is making life so much easier and carefree. It has allowed me so many freedoms that I wouldn't have using the alternative. I also just caught drift that Dexcom is going to be available in Canada (actually this time) around November or Deceomber. Christmas present maybe??? Mum? Dad?

2.) I started university at the beginning of September and am pursuing a double major in linguistics and drama. I got way too excited after finding out that there is another type 1 who lives on my floor and I'm doing my best not to scare her away hahaha.

3.) I switched to Apidra and am LOVING IT.

4.) I own a fish named Cisco and he is the coolest.

I LOVE YOU ALL! And I promise that you will hear from me soon. xoxox

Oh My Lantus! A Goodbye Letter

Dear Lantus,

We both knew this was coming for awhile now. You'd seen me spend hours on end browsing the Internet and looking at insulin pumps. It was inevitable. Lets skip the tears, I don't want this to be harder than it already is.

Don't get me wrong Lantus, you are a great insulin. You were my rebound after my falling out with NPH, you gave me the freedoms that he never could. You made me feel steady. You never had mood swings where you would suddenly have a peak at an inopportune time, and you made my a1c so much better. Despite the fact that you always burned just a little bit, you are the best long acting insulin I have ever known.

Now hear me when I say that I am not leaving you for Levemir. You don't deserve that. I just feel that  I don't need a long acting insulin in my life right now. It's not you, it's me.

I know we've been in a bit of a love triangle with Humalog in the mix. And you guys always worked so well together. I'm going to miss the three of us. Although don't tell Humalog, but I'm considering leaving him for Apidra. I just need to start fresh I think.

I'm sure we'll meet again Lantus. Ping and I are bound to have fights and not see eye to reservoir. I am going to need a shoulder to cry on or a jab in the stomach, and it will be you I come to. This is not the end Lantus.

All my love,
Hanna

When You Just Can't Count The Carbs + Favorite Salad EVER!

So I'm usually pretty good about counting my carbs. I always carry my Calorie King book around with me to make sure that I know exactly what I'm eating. When dining out, sometimes it can be a little difficult to figure out the carb count when you order not-so-typical dishes.

My family and I are currently in Florida on vacation and we went out to a great seafood restaurant called Barnacle Bill's. Now, as a vegetarian I obviously wasn't going to eat any of their fish entrees, so I scouted out the menu for some yummy veggie dishes. I eventually decided on a side of mashed potatoes and a caprese style salad for my main dishes (yes this is the salad that I shall be raving about in a moment). Those were easy enough to calculate. The salad had virtually no carbohydrates while the potatoes were pretty standard. What was not easy to figure out was my appetizer. Black bean hummus! It came topped with bruschetta style tomatoes and served with these yummy sesame crackers, and all shaped like a flower! These guys are really good on presentation. So good.....but so horrible to my brain in terms of carbo-calculations. How many black beans did they use? What the hallelujah was the carb count in those crackers? In the end I wound up guestimating. I wasn't about to go bugging the waitress or the kitchen staff plus my family was already halfway finished their food.

All in all it turned out to be fine in the end. I went a little high after dinner but that might have just been a spike from the potatoes.

Now......salad time. Holyyy gucamoleeee. Heirloom tomatoes, whole milk mozarella, basil, and olive oil, all topped on yummy leafy greens (can you tell I'm a vegetarian yet?) Anyway, I'm geeking out a little bit. Caprese salads are my favorite. I could go on about it forever but I'll just show you a couple photos.....

Sorry. No photo of the hummus. I devoured it before I thought to take a picture.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm soooo good

One potato, two potato, three potato, four.

Yum yum. They put some delicious crispy potato

chip concoction on top. Mmmm.

Intro to Pumping Class on Thursday + Choosing My Pump

        Yes my little sugar free niblets, I am officially on the road to becoming a pumper of insulin. On Thursday I am scheduled in an introduction to pumping class at the children's hospital in my area. It's pretty ridiculous how excited I am. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I did a complete turnaround in my stance on insulin pumps. I hated the idea of being connected to something. I quickly got over that though when I saw all the benefits (oh yeah and all the cool kick butt features some of them have). So below I decided to include the pros and cons of the insulin pumps available in Canada right now that I considered and why I'm choosing the one I am.

OMNIPOD

Pros:
-No tubing
-Sophisticated PDM (personal diabetes manager)
-Don't have to see needle
-Cheaper than many other pumps

Cons:
-Wasted insulin if the "pod" fails
-Inability to disconnect
-Stranded if the PDM is lost
-Bulky under tight clothing/ no ability to relocate pump once attached


MEDTRONIC VEO

Pros:
-Integrated CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring)
-Customizable Skins
-Carelink

Cons:
-Not waterproof
-Low Resolution Screen


ANIMAS PING

Pros:
-Waterproof
-Meter-Remote (ability to deliver insulin using glucose meter without needing to remove pump from wherever it is stashed)
-Colour Screen (in Canada there is a high resolution colour screen on both the pump and meter remote)
-Carb database (store foods along with their carb values in the meter. Eliminates guesswork when calculating carbs)
-Customizable alert songs (that's just cool)
-Company will lend you a spare pump if you go on vacation in case something happens to yours

Cons:
-No CGM
-Limited options for skins


So by what I've written you can probably hazard a guess as to which one I've decided on. Animas Ping baby! For a while it was a little bit of a toss up between the Veo and the Ping (Sorry Omnipod, but I knew you weren't going to work for me after about five minutes). I really like the idea of continuous glucose monitoring especially since I will be at university next year. I would love to be able to catch any possible nighttime lows and know my BG and any given time. But in the end, I could just see myself using more of the features on the Ping (e.x I'm a lifeguard/ swimming instructor. The waterproof feature was kind of a no brainer.) I'm still hoping and crossing my fingers too that the stand alone cgm system Dexcom will be made available in Canada soon. Happy pumping everyone!!!

I'm a Slacker, Hate Me if You Will.../ Why I Blog?

So I have been seriously slacking on my blog writing.........It's been months. This is why keeping a diary never worked out for me as a little girl. I always put it off and then never got around to it. I also didn't really have any secrets I needed a diary for haha. I was always sort of an open book.

Back on topic though, I have made it my goal to write AT MINIMUM one blog post a week. Call it my New Years resolution if you will (one of my many).

Blog writing for me is highly beneficial. As soon as I was diagnosed back in April, I found myself spending ridiculous amounts of time researching diabetes, diabetes gadgets, pumps, cgm....see the trend? <-------(my Verio IQ meter does..........yeah haha lame joke). I found myself wishing that that I could find an all in one hub of answers for the questions I had. And whilst I don't claim to have all the answers, or even a handful of them, I hope my blog can help other T1D's out there. I love posting my stories and cool diabetes findings and networking with other pwd. That my dear pancreatically inept friends, is why I blog.

Gluten Free - Diabetic - Vegetarian.....,.oh joy

As mentioned in one of my posts from the beginning of this month, I have been on a mostly gluten free diet. So far, it has actually been quite easy to find substitutes. For example, today I had a burger bun that I didn't know was gluten free until my mum told me. It looked, smelled, and tasted just like real bread. But alas, on top of eating gluten free, I am also a vegetarian. I decided to stop eating meat in the 7th grade. That's about 5 years ago now. I really enjoy it and don't think I will go back to eating meat anytime soon. That's right folks, I am a 17 year who doesn't eat meat or wheat, and has to significantly limit my sugar intake. Believe it or not, it has not been that difficult to find foods that are yummy and nutritious that still fit my dietary needs. I have had amazing pastas, sandwhich's, burgers, pizzas*, bagels, you name it! Natural health food stores are your friends. They house everything you could possibly ask for. But unlike your local grocery mart, they understand that some people have certain restrictions on their diets, and willingly accommodate. They stock their shelves with the foods that you love and give you more options than you ever had before. So can I eat everything that people with "normal" diets eat? No. But I can ge pretty darn close. Happy shopping everyone. :o)

Diabetes Among the Mayhem

So yes.....I have been slacking on the posts. But I do have a valid excuse if it helps. This month has just been absolutely crazy for me between my two jobs and preparing for my grade 8 RCM piano examination. I hardly had time to breathe let alone write blog posts. But now I'm back and today's theme is (surprise, surprise) being busy and managing diabetes. Now I would be lying if I told you that the summer I have been 100% on top of my diabetes 100% of the time. I will admit that I have been a little (just slightly) slack on some of my care. Not to the point where I have had any lows or serious highs, but just some bad habits that I need to fix before they become regulars on the diabetes train (a bit too corny maybe?). Most of these just happen to be giving my bolus injection after a meal, not doing ANY nighttime checks, and testing maybe 3 times a day (even though my doctors only tell me to do it 4 times each day, during the school year I was doing it up to 10 haha). So I made a "back to school resolution" to be more organized in everything I do, but especially in my diabetes maintenance. I feel like I need to curb bad habits early in the game rather than later when they will surely be much harder to stop. Wish me luck!

hannathedrivingdiabetic :)

YESSSSSS!!!! I did it.......Miss Hanna Taylor passed her drivers test. Just like any other teenage girl..... Sure I have to have a medical screening in order to re-class my license, but it's done. Here is my "driving prep" list:

1.) Make sure I know where I'm going, how long I'm going to be gone, and if I plan on eating anything while I'm out. This isn't just so my parent's know what I'm up to, it's so I know in advance what could possibly happen to my blood sugars.

2.) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure I keep fast acting sugar on me. Last thing I need is getting pulled over by a cop who thinks I'm drunk just because I'm having a low.

3.) This builds on the last one: I, without fail, make sure I check my blood sugar before the keys go in the ignition. If it's below 4.4 mmol/L, I eat something.

4.) I stop every so often to check my blood sugar while I'm driving. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

5.) So this hasn't happened yet, but I'm going to get a decal for my car that let's other drivers know that I have diabetes. This is good for two reasons, a.) if my driving is affected in anyway, people may be less like to to "road rage" while around me. b.) in case of emergency, people automatically know what my condition is.

So my last piece of advice to you is to be aware of your body and your blood sugar, but don't become obsessed to the point where you're forgetting about the basic road rules. And please please please, do not try to check your BG while actually driving.

SAFE DRIVING EVERYONE!!!!

Canada Always Misses Out

Well, "always" might be a little bit of an exaggeration, But I really have noticed that Canada does really miss out on some cool products that other countries get (cough, cough Great Britain, United States). Namely the two products that I'm getting at are Dexcom and Symlin. I mean honestly, other than the integrated Medtronic real-time on their pumps, Canada has no access to any other countinuous glucose monitoring system. Not fair at all. We want tight glucose control just like everyone else! And Symlin (a.k.a Pramlintide/ Amylin) in an injectable drug used to prevent post-meal glucose spikes and can sometimes allow you to use less insulin. For me, as soon as I started on insulin I started gaining weight like nobody's business. Less insulin would be a godsend.

So why is it that Canada doesn't get the cool stuff like some other countries do? I mean, we are a fair sized country that maintains great connections with Europe and the States. From my research it is narrowed down to mainly these two things; Health Canada (Canadian equivalent of FDA) has not approved it yet, OR the manufacturer does not think that Canada has a big enough market to make a profit.

THIS IS A TOTAL BUMMER!!!

p.s On the plus side though, two cool things we do have are the InsuLinx glucose meter and the color screen on the Animas Ping meter-remote.

Gluten Free And Me...

***Before reading this post please note that I strongly discourage anyone from doing or changing anything in their diets without first talking to their medical proffesional(s). I know my body but I do not know yours.***

     Just these past two weeks I decided I was going to try something. I stopped eating gluten. No I'm not a Celiac, nor do I have a gluten allergy or intolerance. And I'm definitely not self-diagnosing myself. My objective was to cut gluten from my diet for a little bit to see if it made a difference. And boy did it ever! I've already lost 8 pounds of the weight that I put on since I started on insulin. I feel much less tired and groggy and my concentration has improved tenfold. 

    I thought it was going to be really hard but I was pleasantly surprised. For those of you who don't know, gluten is a substance found in wheat, barley, rye and many other grains. Meaning it is present in pretty much all pasta, cookies, bread, baked goods etc.  But you would not believe the amount of gluten free options out there. I just found some gluten free perogies and taquitos that are positively scrumptious. Some of my favorite brands so far are Udi's and Glutino, which between them, have a massive variety of cereals, breads, bagels, granola bars, and even desserts. Panago Pizza even offers a gluten free crust now too.

    Both my parent's are in on this too. We have all read the book "Wheat Belly" by William Davis M.D. It talks about the numerous benefits there are to eliminating gluten, especially wheat, from your everyday diet. This can be really good for diabetics too because wheat can really make blood sugars spike.

So before anyone tells me that I should not be making this change unless I actually have to, I have been feeling so much better without this kind of food in my life. I am ensuring that I am not missing out on nutrients and I make sure to closely monitor my blood sugars. I have succeeded very well on a vegetarian diet for five years now and I can can definitely accomodate for this change in my life too.

Have a super Saturday!!!!

Ultimatum From Hell: Low-Carb vs. Low-Fat

With almost all foods nowadays having a "low-fat", "non-fat", "fat-free" or "light" version available, one might be tricked into thinking these are the perfect way to still enjoy all the things they typically eat while being able to shed the pounds. Makes sense right? Less fat you eat the less gets stored in your body. Well unfortunately this may not be the case for people on insulin. Be very wary my diabetic friends of so called fat-free products. Yes it's true, they do contain less fat than the original product. But I invite you to let your eyes wander just a little bit further down the nutrition label. Have a good hard look at the carb count. Allow yourself to look again at the fat, now again to the carbs. More often than not, items that are advertised as fat free will have more carbohydrates per serving thn their fatty counterparts. This is because the makers of the product will often add more sugar to make up for the flavor lost when the fat was removed. This is especially true for things like sour cream, cream cheese, chip dips, and milk. For type 1's and some type 2's that means more insulin. And insulin is often associated with weight gain. So for us diabetics this is kind of a lose-lose situation. Eat the fatty version which can make you gain weight? OR Eat the non-fat version, which means more insulin, which can also make you gain weight? Bleh, this blows.

Camping and My Little Slip-Up

Being summer and all, my fam jam's and I have been trying to get out camping more. Up until now we had only gone one or two days without at least making a trip back into town for groceries, work, etc. But this time we decided to go way up north to our relatives ranch for four days straight. Now this may not seem like very long but you guys probably didn't make the same mistake I did......................... I forgot extra pen tips. :/

Now I remembered to pack extra insulin, extra glucose tablets, extra test strips, spare meter, carb counting book, log book, extra lancing device and lancets, etc. I even brought my sharps bin! I just forgot one of the most vital items to a diabetic after their glucose meter and insulin. And without these little pen tips I wouldn't even even be able to access the latter.

So now I'm being forced to alcohol swab and reuse the pen tips I do have. Kind of a no-no but better than not taking my insulin at all right? This just goes to show that you really have to triple and quadruple check your supplies before you hit the road. I'm definitely making a check list for next time. Happy camping!!!

First A1C!!!



A1C Comparison Chart

At my appointment last week I got my very first HbA1c result.  My number was a beautiful 6.5%.  was told the average A1C of a non-diabetic was 6.4% so I felt pretty darn proud of myself. Your A1C is basically like a report card to tell how well you have been managing your diabetes. Now I know that I am still in the "Honeymoon Phase" of type 1 and that my pancreas hasn't completely crapped out on me yet, but I have still been doing everything I possibly can to keep my blood sugars in control. Time to kick diabetes up it's backside for the next three months and see if I can keep it that way :D