Pre Filled Pen Annoyance

My insulin delivery system is a prefilled pen. Basically it is a syringe and vial all in one. All you do is spin this cap(holds the needle) on the top of the pen, expose the needle, dial up the amount of insulin you need, and press down on the plunger.

Sounds like a great idea and it is. The problem comes when you get near the end you cannot dial up anymore even though there is plenty left.

With the vial and syringe you can get almost every single drop out of the vial.

The pen you use up all you can and in order to get the remainder you have to use a syringe to draw out the rest.

So how much insulin is wasted if you just throw away the pen when you cannot dial up anymore insulin? At least 15 units. That is quite a bit. Could be anywhere from 1/2 dose to 2 doses or more depending on the type of insulin and how much you use per dose.

Does it really ruin my day? No. It is just annoying that I have to use more than one tool to take my insulin.

Younger Brother Saves Day

This was a number of years ago. I was at home with my little brother. My parents were off somewhere. I was 17 or 18 and my brother was 15 or 16. I was feeling fine. I had just finished a conversation on the phone with a friend of mine. I walked into the bathroom and the next thing I remember was being on the living room floor with an odd taste in my mouth.

I did not close the bathroom door all the way and my brother saw me standing in front of the mirror staring at myself. My hands were clenched to the sink and I was staring at myself and twitching. He grabbed a hold of me and dragged me to the other room. He popped a couple of glucose tablets into my mouth. Shortly after I became conscious. Glucose tablets probably wasn't the best solution(choking hazard) but he handled the situation admirably. I was embarrassed but thankful.

Most of the time when I am awake I can feel a low blood sugar coming on but this was a situation where I had no idea. This was a time early in my diabetic career but I knew the symptoms they just were not there. Sometimes the way my body feels doesn't match up with my actual glucose number. This is why checking with a meter is so important.

Too Hot

Last year my blood sugar readings were high all the time. It was the beginning of summer and I could not understand why I was so high. I was eating good food and was moving around. I figured my insulin was bad. So I tried a different batch and my blood sugar came down.

I soon realized that I overheated my insulin. I went to a baseball game. My insulin was in my pocket all day long and the sun was beating down on my pants. It got too hot.

It would be nice to know if your insulin has gone bad without continuing to take insulin that does not work.

Disaster Averted

Yesterday morning I took my last drop of insulin. I procrastinated til the last possible minute. I had been out of my long term insulin for over a week. So I had to use much more short term to compensate for the lack of long term. So then I quickly ran out of my short term insulin. I was barely getting by.

My insulin costs me about $300 a month without insurance. I have no insurance and no income.

I had an appointement with my doctor about two months ago and was turned away because I did not have insurance.(I could see him just had to pay $120 on the spot.) I was informed at that time that my doctor goes to a free clinic and sees patients there. So armed with this info I went to this particular clinic and found out that my doctor does not spend time there. I also learned that you can not be given medications unless you see a doctor. The next opening to see a doctor was four weeks away. (Was not going to make it that long.)

So then I went to my regular clinic and told them I had a problem and needed insulin. They were very nice and sent me home with about a months worth of insulin.

Was this situation my fault? Yes of course it was.

Should I have figured this out a couple of weeks ago? Yes.

Why didn't I borrow money from someone? I am tired of borrowing money. I am sure that I could have found someone to help I just did not want to.

I need to get my finances figured out soon because I know that the clinic is willing to help me but I know I will become tired of getting my medications for free. (it is a self esteem issue)

Perhaps I needed an adventure.

Low vs. High

Would you rather have a high blood sugar versus a low blood sugar?

Low blood sugar can be very scary and uncomfortable and you do not want to spend too much time with this condition.

High blood sugar is very uncomfortable. Immediate action, however, is not necessary.

I saw on a blog or forum that a person would rather be high for a few hours vs. low for twenty minutes.(I don't recall where on the internet this was. I should have responded when I saw it.)

Personally, I do not want to feel either condition for an extended period of time. I will do what ever it takes to get out of a low blood sugar as quickly as possible and I will do the same for a high.

Perhaps I am wrong on this but I despise the poor feeling.

Low Reading

The lowest reading that I have recorded, and was still conscious, is 24. I was in high school playing football. We began practice a couple of weeks before school even started. During these initial practices we would have "two a days". (two practices a day, morning and afternoon)

One time after one of these grueling days I came home in the early evening. I was tired. I sat down and just thought about the day. My mom was cooking dinner and it was almost ready. I was not having low blood sugar symptoms I felt fine just a little tired.

Dinner was ready. I checked my blood sugar with my meter. 24! I freaked out. What was worse was my mom freaked out. The strange thing was that I had no symptoms but when I saw the low number then I started to shake and twitch.

The good thing was that I remained conscious the entire time. (I hate losing time)

I have never caught a reading anywhere near that since. 45 - 55 is not an unusual occurence if I feel like I am low.

My Goals

I have a few goals with my web presence. I would like to be able to inform people about diabetes. I want to help people who have been recently diagnosed. I want to make connections. I want to learn new things and refresh on things that I have neglected.

With this blog, the intention is to tell my story and have people with diabetes relate to it.

Phases

Over the years I have had ups and downs. Today I thought about how at different times I either have high enthusiasm about reversing/curing my diabetes or I just go through a routine just to get by.

When I have high enthusiasm I exercise frequently, read excessively, and study my numbers very closely.

Of course, when the excitement is low I am on autopilot.

I think currently I am on the low end of the spectrum but I am feeling an up swing coming on and I am very excited about that.

A Rough Day

In early 2003 I had been exercising a lot and I seemed to be in pretty good condition. The weekend of Memorial day I had run out of my long term insulin and for some reason was not able to get more.

Sunday night I went to the bar and met some people that I went to high school with. (I only had a couple of drinks.) The bar closed and a friend informed me of a party out in the middle of nowhere. There was going to be a bonfire, drinks, and girls. I like all of those. So I went with him.

We got to this place and we had to walk a trail through the woods in complete darkness. After a while we came upon a fire. There were a couple of motor homes and a few chairs around the fire. Nobody was there. There were a few there just sleeping in the motor homes. No beer. No bonfire. No girls. I was very disappointed. The guy that I went with decided to go to bed as well. So I was sitting in front of the small fire all by myself with no way home. I couldn't sleep.

At this point I was not feeling ill. I felt fine just annoyed. I sat there stared at the fire then tried to lay in the dirt to sleep. I could not get comfortable. It seemed like forever but I started to hear the birds chirp. Soon after that the dark woods became lighter and lighter.

I was not going to wait. "I am going to walk home." This campsite was out in the middle of nowhere but my house was in the neighborhood of nowhere so I figured I could walk it. I got up and started walking down the trail soon I came to the road and started the long journey.

My mouth became dry my legs became heavy and I was feeling symptoms of a high blood sugar. I have to pee. Now I have to throw up. I positioned myself in the ditch so no one could see me and I did both at the same time.

All along the way I had stops to urinate and throw up.

I had traveled quite a ways an I realized that I needed to drink some water. I came to a bridge. I looked over the side and there was a stagnant pool of water calling to me. I moved to the edge of the bridge and made the decision not to drink the water and I kept on moving.

A car was coming! I extended my arm and my thumb in hopes that this person would take me home. It wasn't that far traveling by car. As the car drove by the driver motioned that he was going a different way than I was.

Now I am near an acquaintance of mine. It was a short distance from the path I was traveling on. I went to her house and knocked on the door. No response. I knock again. Still no response. All I want is a small drink of water. Nobody was home so I continued on my journey.

Finally I got home. I went to the garden hose. I gulped and gulped and gulped. It felt really good. That good feeling did not last. All that water that went in came rushing back out. I walked into the house grabbed a smaller glass of water and then headed for my bed. I found out later that the walk I took was ten miles long.

Every Memorial day since the mid 1980's I have gone to a service at a church. My uncle died in Vietnam and every memorial day at this church they honor all the people buried at the cemetery who fought in American wars.

This was the first one that I missed.

My parents were at a wedding some distance away from our house and they came home in the early evening on memorial day. I was in bed all day and would occasionally get up to puke. They tried to convince me to go to the hospital and I refused. I did not want to spend a holiday in the hospital.

The next day I was not better so I went to the hospital. I spent three days there. I had lost 20lbs. They got my blood sugar back in control and I felt much better.

I had thought that I was doing well. Exercising and doing alright with concern to my diabetes. It took just a few days without my long term insulin for all of that to unravel.

The Band and Diabetes

For two years the group practiced and wrote new songs. We performed in bars at open mic night. The Mountain Lions International won a Battle of the Bands contest at a local college in February of 2002. As part of our reward we were offered to perform on campus and get paid. Winning that competition gave us confidence to take our show on the road.

In the following six years we had hundreds of performances. In most performances we did everything. Set up and tear down of the equipment. You had to do everything quickly it was very stressful at times. What most people don't understand was that a 4 hour performance was a full day of work. Driving to get to the place hauling equipment in and out. It was at least 8-10 hours worth of work.

If we were on the road we didn't eat well and we drank lots of alcohol. So it was a constant struggle to keep my blood sugar near normal.

I didn't always succeed.