blue

I have no idea what to write about today, but I forgot to post a picture of my blue fingernails from Friday for Diabetes Awareness Month leading into World Diabetes Day on Sunday.

And by the way, it is really difficult to try and take a picture of your own hand while not having too much or too little flash.  I don't know if you can even tell, but the fingernails are kinda light blue and sparkly.  Had to get it semi-professional for work!

Sorry for such an incredibly boring post!  I'll be back on track tomorrow! :)

Have you viewed the video??

If you have not viewed this video yet, you need to!

For every view of this video, insulin will be donated to kids who need it.  Its only about 2 min long, and they're aiming for 100,000 views by this Sunday, November 14, for Diabetes Awareness Day.  Its all part of the Big Blue Test, so be sure to check it out!

It was GOING to be Wordless Wednesday...

While we were in Las Vegas over the summer, we ate at this really nice place, and I really really wanted to get a picture while we were there but for some reason I didn't have my camera or my phone on me at that particular point in the trip.

The reason for the picture was that there in this beautiful restaurant, with beautiful place settings and ambient lighting, sitting next to the silverware on the linen napkin, and awaiting the dish of pasta that I was about to eat, was my insulin pen.  And it just amused the heck out of me at that point.

So I couldn't title this post Wordless Wednesday.  And while this is the opposite of "a picture is worth a thousand words" hopefully my words can draw the picture for you.

D-Blog Day: 6 things people should know about Diabetes

What is D-Blog day, you might ask?
D-Blog Day was started back in Diabetes Awareness Month 2005 by Gina Capone. Its focus is “to help unite diabetes bloggers and create awareness about diabetes.”

This years topic is: 6 things you want people to know about diabetes.

ONE: Your Diabetes May Vary. (thank you for the phrasing!)
Every diabetic, whether they are type 1 or type 2, will have some things that are similar. Everyone with diabetes needs to watch what they eat and get enough exercise. Some type 2’s take insulin. Some type 1’s take the same oral meds that type 2’s take. But EVERYONE’s diabetes will vary, sometimes greatly, from others. I can eat a bagel and not even think twice about it, but even a small slice of pizza kicks my diabetes butt. Other people can eat tons of pizza but fall over at the thought of a bagel.

TWO: Food is not just food anymore.
Paying attention to what you eat is an important part of diabetes management. Its not as simple as “don’t eat sugar”. All diabetics should pay attention and eat healthy. Some may count carbs, others may use an exchange program, some use who knows what else. If you are taking insulin as part of your diabetes medication, you probably have to calculate and do math for everything you put into your mouth. You CAN eat sugar, you just have to think about it first!

THREE: Diabetes is for life.
Once you have diabetes, you have it forever. For a type 2, this is important because while you might be able to completely lose your symptoms by eating well and exercising, you will always have diabetes. You might be able to hold off those symptoms for a very long time, and you might be able to have normal blood sugars, but you will always be a diabetic.

FOUR: Insulin doesn’t make your diabetes “worse” than someone else’s.
Insulin is a medication used to treat diabetes. Some people use it, some people don’t. Some people REQUIRE it. But that doesn’t mean their diabetes is worse.

FIVE: Moods may swing along with your blood sugar
Me, I get super cranky when I’m low. Other people have mentioned being depressed when they’re low, and cranky when they’re high. I think its important for people to know that if you’re acting like a jerk, or an idiot, or sarcastic, or moody, there might be a reason for it, and to chill out until you can fix it!

SIX: If you have diabetes…. You can do it!
While being diagnosed with diabetes can be very very very overwhelming at first, it DOES get easier! You will learn how to do all the stuff you’ve been told to do, whether that’s taking insulin injections, counting carbs, starting an exercise program… whatever… you will get used to it, and it will become easier to deal with, even if it will always be a pain in the butt.

a very linky post

Among many others, the Diabetes Research Institute is focused on finding a cure for diabetes.  A fun way that YOU can help their campaign is by donating to “Be Part of the Cure”.  Not only will you be donating to help find a cure, but with just a $10 donation, you can upload your picture to go on the C-U-R-E banner, which is just pretty cool.  You can even search the photos to find yourself or anyone else you might know!  If you donate a minimum of $50, you get a mousepad with the CURE mosaic on it.  In addition, the first $25,000 will be matched by Animas and Lifescan, so there’s another reason to donate!

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the video at BigBlueTest.org, developed by the Diabetes Hands Foundation.  If they reach 100,000 views, Roche Diabetes Care will donate $75,000 which will benefit Life For a Child and Insulin for Life.  What that boils down to is that every view of the video will translate to a weeks worth of insulin for a child who can’t afford it.

AND!

On November 14, Diabetes Awareness Day, be sure to do the Big Blue Test!  Help raise awareness about how important testing and exercise are for all diabetics.  Here’s what you need to do: 

1. On November 14 at 2 pm, test your blood sugar.
2. Get active for 14 minutes.
3. Test again.

4. Go to BigBlueTest.org and input your results.

That’s it! Click some links!

Diabetes Awareness Month!

Holy moly! I have not posted anything in so long!

I’m sure that my loyal follower(s) have been sitting around crying over my lack of totally fascinating posts, and for that I am truly sorry!


November is Diabetes Awareness Month with World Diabetes Day coming up on November 14! There are all kinds of things going on this month, so be sure to check out other blogs around the community and see what people are doing! Sarah at Sugabetic started SAE Day which is to encourage you to Support, Advocate, and Educate about diabetes. That’s November 1, so I’m sorry I’m pushing it out there a little too late!

On WDD, November 14, be sure to check out and participate in the Big Blue Test to raise awareness for diabetes!

November 9 is D-Blog Day, started in 2005 by Gina Capone. This years topic is: 6 things you want people to know about diabetes. You can find out more by checking out her post here.

November is also NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. The basic idea is to post something in your blog every day for a month. Actually, I think you can try to do it any month you want, but November is the big month and they award prizes and everything! If you’re interested, you can check out NaBloPoMo.com and give it a try.

In honor of World Diabetes Day and Diabetes Awareness Month, and since it is NaBloPoMo, I am going to attempt the 30 Diabetes Blogs in 30 Days. They’ve got some great ideas on their site as to what to post about, and since I’m a slacker at posting sometimes, I’m going to take advantage of any help they want to provide! So here goes!

The suggestion for today is an introduction… “Tell us about yourself! Why did you decide to start a blog or share your blog with us?”

Overall, I’m pretty normal. I’m a geek… I love my World of Warcraft, my chainmail armor, my Stargate TV shows. I am also a student aiming for a degree/certification in medical assisting. I’m hoping to one day be a wife and a mother. I have an absolutely wonderful boyfriend who makes me feel special even when I’m being cranky.

I’ve talked before about my varying degrees of success with having Type 2 Diabetes. I decided to start blogging because my situation as a T2 seemed to be so different. At the time I wasn’t finding many T2’s that were taking insulin, especially, so I wanted to talk!

Anyway, enough about me for the day :)