World Diabetes Day

As I write this the clock is turning to midnight and it is now November 14, 2010.  It is world diabetes day.  Support diabetes in any way you can.  If you have friends and/or family members with diabetes do all you can to help them thru the maze of diabetes and try your best not to be the food police.  If you have diabetes~take care of yourself!  Any change in diet, any extra exercise you can do, every baby step helps you live longer and healthier.  It is very possible to live a long and healthy life as any type of diabetic.
I was diagnosed Type 1 diabetic in Feb. 2008.  My pancreas simply quit making insulin.  I knew this was a possibility with chronic pancreatitis but hadn't really thought of it much.  The day a blood test came into my GI Dr.s office with a reading of almost 600 changed my life.  They called me immediately, said they thought it was a mistake and to repeat the test, but to do it soon in case it was correct.  I went right back to the lab, and it had already closed for the day.  My Dr.s advice was to go to the ER and get a finger stick and blood test, which I did.  I don't remember the number, but it was still over 500 (for those who don't know that's WAY too high.  Also, I test glucose in mg/dL,  and those in other countries usually read in mmol/l.  Conversion information here.)  Surprisingly, and I think, wrongly, the ER doc did not give me insulin, since I wasn't diagnosed diabetic.  Although numbers that high really should be treated ASAP.   That was a Saturday and Monday morning I went to my primary Dr. and was officially diagnosed Type 1 diabetic and prescribed insulin.  I am considered Type 1 because I am insulin dependent,  although people can develop "regular" Type 1 at any age.  Mary Tyler Moore was diagnosed Type 1 at 33, the same age I was at diagnosis.
I had been afraid of needles most of my life, and had felt even worse about them after years of difficult IV sticks.  I've always had small, tiny veins  (thanks Mom, or the Stinson side in general I guess) and they'd been used many times.  Most times I go to the ER is after days of vomiting and my veins are almost impossible to find and I get poked many times.  So that first insulin injection was really hard to do.  I had everything ready, and the needle at my thigh but just couldn't put it in.  After over a half an hour, I called my friend Frieda who was taking injections for RA to ask her how she got over her fear.  We talked for a few minutes, and she said "just do it, put the phone down, do it NOW and get it over with."  So I did just that, and survived it and have had no issues with giving my own shots since then.  I take long acting insulin, Novolin, twice a day and Novolog with meals.  Usually at least 3 shots a day.  I also need to check my glucose at least 4 times a day, with a finger prick to get a drop of blood.  With an average of 4 shots a day, I've had over 2,500 shots and 3300 finger pricks in my time with diabetes.   I'm doing quite well with the 'betes.   When I was first diagnosed my A1C (average glucose reading over 3 months) was 9.7 and 3 months after was down to a 7, and have kept in the 6.5 range since then.  Its quite tricky to combine the pancreatitis diet of higher carbs, low fat and low protein with what's best for diabetics-lower carbs and higher protein.

So please support World Diabetes Day.  Unfortunately, other countries do more on this day than the US does.  Pass the word on to everyone you know.  If you are diabetic please visit this site http://bigbluetest.org/ and participate in The Big Blue Test this afternoon.  Its easy, I'll be doing it and you should too!