Wednesday, May 21, 2014

So am I Borg or Bionic?

It's no secret that I have a nice variety of health problems.
Lately though, my health problems have given me more... stuff to deal with.

I have diabetes. Type 2. I've had it for *years*. I've been using insulin for several of those years.

Several months ago, I started using a new-ish medication that lowers your blood sugar by allowing your kidneys to "flush it out". I was a *perfect* candidate for it! I had GREAT kidney function and the doc was excited for me to try it.

Hell, I was excited too.
It made my numbers *awesome* for the first time in years.
It *worked*.

Then... problems.

My kidneys were slowing down. Very down. I went from filtration in the high 90s to the low 20s. 10 points lower and I was going to be on dialysis.

Dammit.

Luckily, once I stopped that medication (and got lots of IV fluids) my kidneys bounced right back and I'm none the worse for wear.

That little incident, however, prompted me to move forward with my diabetes treatment.
I've had doctors try to get me to consider an insulin pump for quite some time.
I resisted.
I resisted strongly.
I was a bucket of "hell no".

I decided to make a change.

I am now the proud wearer/owner/user of an insulin pump.

I don't know what the hell I was so scared of.
It works.
It works damned well.
It's a LOT less painful than taking 5 shots per day.

As we tweak settings my numbers are MUCH improved. I'm on track to have an HbA1c of 7 (or just under) for the first time in over 10 years. Fairly recently it had been as high as 11.
Yeah.

So back to my title question - with this device *always* attached to me (I move it once every 3 days when I change my infusion set) am I more Bionic or Borg?
(also add to this picture my  CPAP mask - that I wear for obstructive sleep apnea)

Monday, May 19, 2014

I won!

That's right.
I Won.

I enter zillions of contests online. Ok, maybe not zillions, but it sure seems that way sometimes. I follow many MANY awesome bloggers - and some of them host giveaways.

I have won a few neat things lately...

I won the Mixer vinyl from These Girls Create on Fearlessly Creative Mammas.

I won the Mighty Leaf World Flavors giveaway at Mom to Bed By 8.

I won the Mini Frisbee Golf set Giveaway at Two Savvy Sisters.

And - most recently - I won a Kindle Fire HDX from Giveaway Promote.






Yes, I know. I'm a sucky winner most of the time.
From now on, I will be taking pictures and posting them.

Oh, and if you think this is a lot of winnings - you have no idea just how many and how often I enter.

Do yourself a favor - follow (at the very least) the bloggers above. They always have great posts - and giveaways.