One. More. Final. Not sure I can make it. Needed a break.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper. It's so much more fun.
2. Real tree or artificial?
REAL!!! I have a skin allergy to them and it's pretty funny to watch my and my mom decorating the tree with gloves. I will not give up my real tree.
3. When do you put up the tree?
Whenever I move home from school.
4. When do you take the tree down?
Sometime around new years. I wait as long as possible.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Not really.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
When I was about 8 I got an American girl doll (Samantha) and thought I was in heavy. I insisted on having it in our family Christmas picture that year.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes- kind of. It's one of those things that is a puzzle but the pieces are Mary, Joseph, Jesus, etc. My grandpa made it.
8. Hardest person to buy for?
My sister in law. We have different tastes, as much as I love her.
9. Easiest person to buy for?
Generally, my mother.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
A box of doll clothes from an extended family member when I was 15.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Neither.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
For the classics- Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. For recent- The Polar Express
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Depends on how on top of it I am. Usually sometime in December. This year? I am DONE! It is almost a miracle.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Noooooo....never......
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
These white chocolate bars. I can't describe them, but they are awesome.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Colored.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
I refuse to pick one.
18. Travel for Christmas or stay home?
Stay Home. This is the first year I'm traveling somewhere, and I'm trying to be OK with it.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers?
Yes.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas afternoon, actually. After Christmas morning church service and Christmas dinner.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Dealing with cranky people in crowded stores.
23. What I love most about Christmas?
EVERYTHING!! I LOVE Christmas. Favorite time of the year. The food, the people, the music, the food, pretty much everything.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Thursday, December 06, 2007
15 days
In 15 days, I turn 21.
I am quite excited about this. I am generally a rule follower, and I have not had any drinks before now. A sip here and there, yes, but other than that, I am not a drinker. That will not change much when I turn 21, but it will change somewhat. I want to be able to order a drink when I go out with friends. Maybe get a little tipsy once. I've seen plenty of stupid drunk people (I am in college after all) and I am not interested in being one of them. I'm being honest here- I am going to drink. I am not going to be stupid. All of my friends know I am diabetic, and almost all of them know how to take care of me.
In keeping with the not being stupid theme, I want to know how the OC handles alcohol. How do you bolus? How does it usually affect you? Any other drinking tips? (Now isn't THAT a strange sentence!)
I am not going to let diabetes take away a drink or two. I'd appreciate any tips anyone has. If for some reason you don't want to post as a comment, feel free to email me at jenjen6868@juno.com. Thanks in advance!
I am quite excited about this. I am generally a rule follower, and I have not had any drinks before now. A sip here and there, yes, but other than that, I am not a drinker. That will not change much when I turn 21, but it will change somewhat. I want to be able to order a drink when I go out with friends. Maybe get a little tipsy once. I've seen plenty of stupid drunk people (I am in college after all) and I am not interested in being one of them. I'm being honest here- I am going to drink. I am not going to be stupid. All of my friends know I am diabetic, and almost all of them know how to take care of me.
In keeping with the not being stupid theme, I want to know how the OC handles alcohol. How do you bolus? How does it usually affect you? Any other drinking tips? (Now isn't THAT a strange sentence!)
I am not going to let diabetes take away a drink or two. I'd appreciate any tips anyone has. If for some reason you don't want to post as a comment, feel free to email me at jenjen6868@juno.com. Thanks in advance!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Meme
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Nope. I do share my mother’s middle name.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday. I did something stupid that messed up my whole night and seriously stressed me out.
3. Do you like your handwriting? NO! In elementary school, I was actually in a special class b/c it was so bad. It did not improve.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No. I have fun with my niece and nephew. Kids are still a looong way off for me.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I have no idea. I often wonder this, and I have no idea.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Depends on who I am around.
8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No! Not a fan of heights.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Right now, honey nut cherrioes. Lucky Charms is my guilty pleasure, but I almost never eat it for obvious reasons.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Never. I don’t untie then when I put them on either. It is a bad habit that I can’t stop.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? No. I’m mentally strong during crisis, but that’s about it.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Chocolate. If there are peanut butter cups involved, I’m in heaven.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their clothes. The problem is, I focus on that, and I remember their clothes, not the face. The next time I meet them, I’m clueless because they have changed their clothes!
15. RED OR PINK? Pink.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? No question about it, My weight.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? As far as deceased, my maternal grandfather. Other than that, a friend who is studying in Africa for a semester.
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans and purple slippers.
No 19, and it’s one of my favorite numbers!
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Some cashews
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The TV (which is weird, because I almost never watch TV)
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Midnight blue
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? vanilla
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? A classmate
25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Basketball. But only in person.
26. HAIR COLOR? I consider it blond, but in the last week two people have called it brown, so I guess blonde/brown
27. EYE COLOR? Blue.
28 .Do you wear contacts? Yes
29.FAVORITE FOOD? Hmmm. Probably mashed potatoes
30. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings. I’m a sucker for that kind of thing.
31. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Fiddler on the roof, oddly enough.
32 WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Brown and pink
33. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter. I love snow. It snowed for the first time today, and I was THRILLED.
34. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.
35. FAVORITE DESSERT? Peanut butter pie.
36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Weird pink and orange cirles. It was the only one that didn’t have puppies or cats on it when I bought one, and I’m too cheap to buy a new one.
37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Didn’t watch TV last night.
38. FAVORITE SOUND? My niece laughing. You can’t get any better than a child laughing.
39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.
40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Colorado
41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Nope.
Nope. I do share my mother’s middle name.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday. I did something stupid that messed up my whole night and seriously stressed me out.
3. Do you like your handwriting? NO! In elementary school, I was actually in a special class b/c it was so bad. It did not improve.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Ham
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No. I have fun with my niece and nephew. Kids are still a looong way off for me.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I have no idea. I often wonder this, and I have no idea.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Depends on who I am around.
8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No! Not a fan of heights.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Right now, honey nut cherrioes. Lucky Charms is my guilty pleasure, but I almost never eat it for obvious reasons.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Never. I don’t untie then when I put them on either. It is a bad habit that I can’t stop.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? No. I’m mentally strong during crisis, but that’s about it.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Chocolate. If there are peanut butter cups involved, I’m in heaven.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their clothes. The problem is, I focus on that, and I remember their clothes, not the face. The next time I meet them, I’m clueless because they have changed their clothes!
15. RED OR PINK? Pink.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? No question about it, My weight.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? As far as deceased, my maternal grandfather. Other than that, a friend who is studying in Africa for a semester.
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans and purple slippers.
No 19, and it’s one of my favorite numbers!
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Some cashews
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The TV (which is weird, because I almost never watch TV)
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Midnight blue
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? vanilla
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? A classmate
25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Basketball. But only in person.
26. HAIR COLOR? I consider it blond, but in the last week two people have called it brown, so I guess blonde/brown
27. EYE COLOR? Blue.
28 .Do you wear contacts? Yes
29.FAVORITE FOOD? Hmmm. Probably mashed potatoes
30. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings. I’m a sucker for that kind of thing.
31. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Fiddler on the roof, oddly enough.
32 WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Brown and pink
33. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter. I love snow. It snowed for the first time today, and I was THRILLED.
34. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.
35. FAVORITE DESSERT? Peanut butter pie.
36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Weird pink and orange cirles. It was the only one that didn’t have puppies or cats on it when I bought one, and I’m too cheap to buy a new one.
37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Didn’t watch TV last night.
38. FAVORITE SOUND? My niece laughing. You can’t get any better than a child laughing.
39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.
40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Colorado
41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Nope.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
A short Guardian review
I've had a couple of requests for a review on my experience with the Guardian, so I thought I'd give you a quick run down.
Positives:
* This must go first because it seems most important. My A1c dropped from 7.4 to 6.8 in the month I wore the unit. I was shocked. This is my lowest Aic in my lifetime, except maybe the time when I wasn't diabetic :-). I think the increased awareness of postprandials was a large part of the drop.
* I like the size and weight of the receiver. It wasn't too annoying to carry it and my pump. I do think the weight and possibly the size would change with a pump and CGMS in one.
*The 3,6 and 12 hour graphs. The 24 hour was too small to be of any use. The others were helpful for seeing trends for that day.
* The sensor was not as big and bulky as I thought it would be. It did not bother me 85% of the time.
*The fact that the software was online, so I was not tied to one computer all the time.
*For the most part, I was happy with the receiving range. It did seem to vary and I'm not sure why. I found most of the time I could set the receiver on my bed and walk around my dorm room with no problems.
Negatives:
* I've written several times before about the accuracy issues I had before. I won't go into too much details again, especially since I think there might have been extenuating circumstances (see below). The highlights include missing almost all lows (it caught 2 in a month. I assure you I had more than 2 lows that month), not seeing highs as high as they actually were and random times where it was 150 points or more off.
* I was not happy with the support I received from Minimed. In several cases they refused to answer my questions. Not the impression you want to leave on a potential customer.
* I wish it would show more than just the current day without having to download it to a computer.
*Speaking of downloading- they seriously need a new cable! I could not use my laptop to upload data because it did not have a serial port. Quick annoying.
*Finding sites for the senor and my pump sites did start to get a little tricky. The sensor sites healed slower than a usual pump site. I could not really use the pump and the CGMS on the same side, so it did not take long to run out of real estate. I was not brave enough to try the sensors on areas of my body other than my abdomen.
* The sensors just shut off at the end of the 72 hour period with no warning what so ever. I found this annoying. I have enough things to remember thank you very much.
*There were times the sensor did bother me. The biggest of these were during exercise. There is nothing holding the transmitter portion to the body. When I exercised and when I showered it seemed to flop around a lot.
Those were the things that stick out in my mind. That being said, I am going on another trial in a few weeks. I met with the nurse educator who runs the program at my endo's office when I returned the unit and we sat down and talked. She was upset that I did not get the support I needed from Minimed, and wanted to try and correct the situation. She contacted the rep for the area, and he wanted the days and I times I called and said he was going to look into it. He also wanted me to try it again if I was willing. This time I have his number to call with problems, so hopefully I can problem solve with him and have a truly good experience. I'll keep you updated!
Positives:
* This must go first because it seems most important. My A1c dropped from 7.4 to 6.8 in the month I wore the unit. I was shocked. This is my lowest Aic in my lifetime, except maybe the time when I wasn't diabetic :-). I think the increased awareness of postprandials was a large part of the drop.
* I like the size and weight of the receiver. It wasn't too annoying to carry it and my pump. I do think the weight and possibly the size would change with a pump and CGMS in one.
*The 3,6 and 12 hour graphs. The 24 hour was too small to be of any use. The others were helpful for seeing trends for that day.
* The sensor was not as big and bulky as I thought it would be. It did not bother me 85% of the time.
*The fact that the software was online, so I was not tied to one computer all the time.
*For the most part, I was happy with the receiving range. It did seem to vary and I'm not sure why. I found most of the time I could set the receiver on my bed and walk around my dorm room with no problems.
Negatives:
* I've written several times before about the accuracy issues I had before. I won't go into too much details again, especially since I think there might have been extenuating circumstances (see below). The highlights include missing almost all lows (it caught 2 in a month. I assure you I had more than 2 lows that month), not seeing highs as high as they actually were and random times where it was 150 points or more off.
* I was not happy with the support I received from Minimed. In several cases they refused to answer my questions. Not the impression you want to leave on a potential customer.
* I wish it would show more than just the current day without having to download it to a computer.
*Speaking of downloading- they seriously need a new cable! I could not use my laptop to upload data because it did not have a serial port. Quick annoying.
*Finding sites for the senor and my pump sites did start to get a little tricky. The sensor sites healed slower than a usual pump site. I could not really use the pump and the CGMS on the same side, so it did not take long to run out of real estate. I was not brave enough to try the sensors on areas of my body other than my abdomen.
* The sensors just shut off at the end of the 72 hour period with no warning what so ever. I found this annoying. I have enough things to remember thank you very much.
*There were times the sensor did bother me. The biggest of these were during exercise. There is nothing holding the transmitter portion to the body. When I exercised and when I showered it seemed to flop around a lot.
Those were the things that stick out in my mind. That being said, I am going on another trial in a few weeks. I met with the nurse educator who runs the program at my endo's office when I returned the unit and we sat down and talked. She was upset that I did not get the support I needed from Minimed, and wanted to try and correct the situation. She contacted the rep for the area, and he wanted the days and I times I called and said he was going to look into it. He also wanted me to try it again if I was willing. This time I have his number to call with problems, so hopefully I can problem solve with him and have a truly good experience. I'll keep you updated!
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