I really do like Symlin - and I've had a lot of success with using it at breakfast time.
When I last saw my endo (still waiting on the A1C from that) we talked about my trying Symlin in the evenings also. That's the time I'm most likely to eat too much.
So this evening I did use Symlin. And here I am now writing some 30 minutes after climbing up out of a low 38 mg/dL. I so hate when that happens. With the insulin on board from my square wave with dinner, I'll have to watch things for another 2 hours or so.
I think I'll have to ease into Symlin with dinner. It's going to take some getting used to.
Disclosure: I have owned shares in Amylin, makers of Symlin, in the recent past. And I'll probably buy them again at some stage in the future. So don't make any financial decisions based on what I say here.
Between a six-day work week last week; finishing a book review for an upcoming book; completing an article for a diabetes journal; and life in general...
I've been way too busy to post here.
Wait I just said that.
Anyway, I'll be friendlier next week.
For me being this busy means not paying attention to what I'm eating and how I'm bolusing. So I'm not sure I'll make the goals for the OC New Me Challenge. I'll have to clean up my act.
It's a long story and I won't bore you. But I'm moving my desktop, plus assorted hard drives, spare DVD burner, and speakers to a different part of the house.
When I think about the work it'll take it tires me out. But there is a silver lining (I hope).
Sometime ago I'd bought two kits from Cable-safe to help organize the clutter of all those cables. I'd used one on my wife's PC and it did a pretty good job.
Now I'm taking advantage of the move to do the same for me. I've no relationship to this company except as a customer. But have a look at their picture gallery and see what you think about the possibility of getting all those cables cleaned up.
I just heard today that the cycle ride to directly support Dr. Faustman's research at Mass. General is happening this year in September.
The full details are on their website. The ride itself will be in New Canaan, Connecticut on Saturday September 9th, so you've lots of time to get ready to participate.
How about d-bloggers? Wouldn't this make the ideal place to get together? We could all take part in (say) the 20-mile ride, enjoy ourselves, and raise funds for this research?
Imagine being able to say to someone in 2015 "You remember Dr. Faustman and how she figured out a cure for diabetes? Well I actually raised money to support that research, so in a way I helped develop that cure."?
Here's something that I just don't get -- and you can certainly call me naive.
<soapbox>
I test my blood sugar readings about 6-8 times each and every day. So over the course of a year I use between 2,200 and 2,900 test strips. At about $0.40 each (I'm being generous here), that means my meter maker is seeing sales of $880 to $1,160 each and every year. Over the last five years they've basically made over $5,000 just from me.
So why is it that they want to charge me $35 for a proprietary cable so that I can get the data out of the meter which might help me better manage my diabetes?
I've used blood equity, time, and money to collect that data. It belongs to me. Why can't I just get it?
I think I've finally realized that device makers don't understand the two ways I use their meters.
Clearly I use meter(s) to tell us what our blood glucose levels are at a given point in time. So I test before I drive, before exercising, before meals. That way I can tell: whether it's safe to drive; have I a good reading before I start my sumo wrestling match; or is it okay for me to eat right now.
But I don't think they understand how important it is for me to have the values for the last month, or the last six months, so I can understand how we're doing on a long-term basis.
Now makers may think that log books would be enough for that kind of tracking. But can a log book automatically draw graphs for me? Can I easily review a months worth of data by flicking through my checkbook-like logbook?
The way I see it these manufacturers are requiring us to spend our own money (because insurance doesn't cover it) to buy a data cable. By holding our data hostage what they're saying is that getting ready access to my data is less important to them than the revenue they receive from their cables.
I'm fortunate that I've never had a problem with my weight. I'm always hovering around 154 lbs, or what I used to call 11 stone when I was living in Ireland.
So my goal is to radically improve my A1C numbers.
Last year I had a lot of health problems with my lungs, I think this was partially the cause of the lousy, rotten A1C values I had for much of the year. My average for 2006 was about 8.4% which is not at all good. I've set myself a goal to get down to 6.8% for December, 2007.
But here's my blessing (long explanation warning).
I was going through all the old A1C results that I could find in my disorganized filing system at home. And I found a postcard from the Joslin center in Boston showing me the values for 1988 and 1990.
These were years when I wasn't yet on the pump, and was probably taking about 9 shots a daily (between regular and long-acting insulin) to control myself.
In 1990 I had improved my A1C to 10.7% from the 11.0% result that I had in 1988!!
Bear in mind that the DCCT results were being made public in 1993. I remember attending a meeting near Boston where I was in a roomful of interested folks and we were being told about the DCCT outcome (lower blood glucose readings meant much reduced risks of complications) and holding back the tears and I realized that this meant there were proven ways to reduce those awful outcomes, and seeing this as a whole new lease on life for me.
So in 1988/1990 my readings were around 11%, and last year I had a bad year where the averages were 8.4%, which is almost a 25% reduction in where I had been. Measuring from my 1990 averages, even my recent bad year is WAY better than where I had been.
Thanks to the OC New Me Challenge, I looking forward to one of my best years ever.
Thank God for insulin pumps, A1C tests, much improved blood glucose meters, and folks like Allison for organizing the challenge and the Diabetes OC website.
On the spur of the moment, I bought myself a pedometer over the Christmas break.
Partly this was because of Amy Tenderich's book Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes. I'm about half way through the book, and it really does a good job at emphasizing the importance of exercise.
We finally have a treadmill in the house, so that helps me for the 25 minutes or so when I'm on it. But for the rest of the day, or the days when I'm not on it, I really don't pay any attention to how much walking exercise I'm doing.
So now I put the pedometer on first thing in the morning and take it off last thing at night. Then I'm using dHealth.net (which I found out about courtesy of Dave Mendosa's posting) to track the steps I take each day.
Guess what I found out?
For me, it's very challenging to wear this thing. Each day I have it on, I'm really focused on trying to break 7,000 steps. So far (one week and counting) I've got about a 50% success rate, but it's really motivating me to try and walk more and walk faster.
Can't be bad.
If you're interested, the pedometer I purchased is something like this one on Amazon (and yes I'll get a little something if you purchase this one from Amazon).
I actually got mine at an Olympia sports for about $16 (battery included), the model is an Accusplit Alliance 1590 and it's working just fine so far.
I'm hoping to work up to an average of 8,500 steps per day. I'll let you know how it goes.
I was reading a post today on Jon Udell's blog and noticed a really interesting facility that displayed a preview when you hovered the mouse over a hyperlink.
The Diabetes Technology Blog is focused on using technology to live life to the full with diabetes. I review new diabetes technology including: blood glucose monitors; continuous glucose monitors; blood sugar meters; diabetes software and living with diabetes.
I was born in Ireland and now live in the US.
I have had Type 1 diabetes for over 36 years. I struggle with my blood sugar, the same as most people with diabetes.
I wear a Cozmo 1800 insulin pump and a Dexcom SEVEN Plus CGM to track my blood glucose levels.
I'm blessed by God, and every day brings the possibility of a cure.
