Prayers For Mary......

I was making rounds today and noticed that Mary @ Mary's Writing Nook had a new posting. I knew that her grandson was in the hospital and she had been updating his progress, so I hurried over to see how he was doing. Well, it wasn't an update on Josh after all. Mary's husband had contacted Anni @ Hootin' Anni's
and asked her to do a post letting everyone know that Mary is in the hospital. At the time Anni didn't have any more information than that. I learned later from a posting on Mary's Face Book Wall that Mary has had a heart attack. Please keep Mary and Josh in your prayers, as well as their family. Anni said that she will be posting information as she learns it, so you can follow the link above to check for that information.

 

I received a notice the other day that my Endocrinologist and her husband will be moving to Oregon in May to be closer to family. I can understand them wanting to be close to family, but it just won't be the same without my Diabetes Boot Camp drill instructor. According to the letter that I received the practice she is with hasn't found a replacement for her yet. About two years ago our family doctor moved to Utah for the same reason. The practice he was with didn't replace him and I couldn't  believe  how difficult it was to find another family doctor. Until you start looking for a doctor, you don't realize how booked up they are and how few of them are accepting new patients. What has happened to the small town doctors of my youth? I remember the days when your family doctor finished med school, hung his shingle out and stayed in the same place delivering babies, to the babies he delivered a generation before and taking care of the whole family for every thing from a bad cold to diabetes. I truly do wish her the best. She approached  Diabetes aggressively and that worked for me.  Hopefully I will be able to find another doctor with the same approach to Diabetes.

May you be blessed!

   

VSA arts of Ohio.........

Imagine being sound asleep at 5:30 in the morning and suddenly jarred awake by the sound of your 17 year old daughter screaming in the living room. This is how Theresa woke up a week ago to Brittany screaming. Evidently Brittany had one of her nights when she couldn't sleep. I am thinking that she was looking for something to entertain herself with, when she found an unopened letter addressed to her.

The letter was informing her that she was the first place winner of the competition that her voice instructor had entered her in. What an honor to be chosen first out of all the entry from the whole state of Ohio. Not knowing about this award Theresa and I did some research and found out that

V ision of an inclusive community
S trength in shared resources
A rtistic expression that unites us all
arts of Ohio

Every year three musical artists with disabilities under the age of 25 are selected as Young Soloists of the year. They are selected through a juried process in December of each year and must show outstanding talent in vocal or instrumental music. The winners receive cash prizes and the opportunity to perform for a live audience in the spring of each year. Entries are then forwarded for entry in the International Young Soloists Awards Program. An affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. We are so very proud of Brittany. Not only for sharing the beautiful gift that she was blessed with....her voice and her music. When she was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic, it knocked it on her rear for just a little while, but it wasn't any time at all before she picked her self up, dusted herself off and continued sharing her musical gift with others.

I imagine that during the angry stage after being diagnosed as Type 1, Brittany questioned; WHY? WHY ME? WHY DID I HAVE TO BE GIVEN THIS BURDEN TO RUIN MY TEENAGE YEARS? Most people do go through this stage of anger no matter what their age. I believe in my heart that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. I also believe that there is a purpose for everything that happens. God gave you this beautiful gift as well as your disability, so that you can be a beacon to other teens that are considering giving up.

Keep that light shining Britt!! :o)

New Drug For Diabetics

Word has it that a new drug is awaiting the FDA approval for type 2 diabetics. Upon approval, this new drug will be called Victoza. In clinical trials it was proven to outdo Byetta. One draw back for Byetta is that it tends to make many patients nauseous. Victoza did cause some nausea, but that side effect went away a lot quicker then what was experienced with Byetta.

Another reason for type 2 diabetics to smile is that with only one injection per day there was a greater reduction in the average blood sugar levels as compared to Byetta users. A few of the other benefits of this new drug is that it does not promote weight gain....(Woo Hoo!). Patients on Byetta suffered more than twice as many low blood sugar episodes compared to those on Victoza. High blood pressure tends to be another problem for diabetics, but Victoza also has shown to benefit that too.

I Am So Excited!! Great strides are being made in the treatment of Diabetes. I would love to live to see a cure for this terrible disease that touches so many lives. I see and feel the toll that Diabetes has taken on me since I was diagnosed 15 years ago. I look at my 16 year old grand daughter (Britt), and feel so much pride in how she has refused to allow type 1 diabetes to beat her down. I then say a little prayer that God will soon give someone the knowledge to find the cure.



I want to thank all of you that were concerned about my absence from blogging and the e-mails and notes that I received during that time. I just needed to walk away from posting for a little while. It had become more of an obligation for me than something that I enjoyed and looked forward to doing.

Meanwhile, we have our little veggie garden going, we have a bumper crop of birds hatching in every nook and cranny around here, and the grass keeps growing, Buddy endears himself to us more and more every day and the grand youguns keep right on a growing.

Basically........ Life is Good!!

(and it's great to be back)

Not so bad....

Before I get back to telling you about our trip to the southland I thought I would share my trip to the doctor with you. My appointment to receive my first Synvisc injection in my knee was Monday. I admit that I was pretty nervous about it. I remembered how the cortisone shot had hurt and I just knew that to shoot gel into my knee would require a much larger needle and would no doubt hurt even worse. That was just an example of how the mind can take unknown facts about something as simple as an injection and blow it way out of proportion. So out of proportion that you can almost imagine that it is going to take four nurses to hold you down long enough for the doctor to give you that inection. I had myself wondering if I would have the courage to go back for the other two injections.



Thankfully it was nothing near as painful as I had imagined. The first thing they did was spray my knee with some sort of cool spray. The next thing they did was feel around until they found where they wanted to put the needle in. The first injection was what I am guessing to be Novocaine or some sort of numbing agent. Instead of pulling that needle out they just unscrewed the plunger and replaced it with the plunger containing the Synvisc gel. The whole experience was for the most part pain free.



I spent the rest of the day onthe couch at home with my leg propped up on pillows and ice on it. As the numbness started to wear off I had some soreness, but nothing like the pain I had been having. Yesterday morning my knee felt good enough that I thought I could try doing some grocery shopping. I promised J.D. that should I start having pain, I would go sit down somewhere and let him take the list and finish the shopping. I honestly didn't have any pain, but as the evening wore on the soreness moved in. Still it isn't pain and I am looking forward to completing the remaining injections.


My research tells me that the Synvisc gel is made from rooster combs and it provides that cushion between the bones that has been worn away and has the ability to take away the pain for up to 6 months. Anything I can do to take away the pain and delay surgery is thumbs up with me.




Taking you back to Louisiana with us brings us to a Monday morning with Darlene not feeling well at all. Toliver had to leave in the wee hours of the morning to catch his ride back to the rig. I don't recall if I mentioned it or not, but he works off shore on an oil rig. Darlene had been up most of the night vomiting and by morning she was also having pain. She told J.D. that there was a little hospital close to her house and she agreed to go to the emergency room since the pain was pretty severe. They kept her there for a few hours, gave her a shot for the pain and sent her home. Tuesday, she was feeling OK so we thought we would take that chance to go visit J.D.'s cousin, Roger since he lives pretty close to Darlene. Roger is diabetic and has had a rough time of it. They recently had to amputate his left leg. The visiting nurse came while we were there to change his dressing on his leg and found a blister on the heel of his right foot. That wasn't good news at all. As we were leaving he took my hand and told me he was going to fight this disease with all he has left in him. Please keep Roger and his wife Marita in your prayers.




Later that evening we met with J.D.'s two brothers and his sister and their spouses for dinner at a Chinese restaurant, except for sister-in-law Jackie. She is taking care of her 96 year old father who is very frail right now and unable to do for himself any more. We went by the family music store to visit with her and her son Stacy before going to eat. While we were there we also got to spend a little time with Stacy and Amy's two beautiful children. It was a wonderful time getting together with everyone. I even added our little server to our photo gallery. He kept the beverages flowing and had such a nice smile and pleasant personality.

Angela and Nick

Wednesday morning, Darlene had an appointment with her doctor to have some tests run and it was also the morning that we were to meet Angela and Nick at the cemetery. This year would have been Warren's 16th birthday. Since Britt and Warren's birthdays were only a week apart, I find myself gauging the important milestones in Britt's life with events that we are missing with Warren because of a girl with a cell phone and a lethal weapon, an automobile. Before Angela and Nick arrived we received word that they had admitted Darlene to the hospital.



We went straight from the cemetery to the hospital after meeting with Angela and Nick. J.D. learned that they had admitted Darlene because she was in pain again and it was coming from a kidney stone. They put in stints in the hopes that she would then be able to pass the stone. As it turned out, some time in the night they moved Darlene to ICU because her blood pressure had dropped dangerously low. They kept her in the hospital again Thursday night for observation and she was released sometime on Friday morning. She she still hadn't passed the stone and had to make an appointment to go back to her doctor after they released her so they could use the laser to break up the stone. I was puzzled by that move, I couldn't understand why they just didn't go ahead and do that while they had her in the hospital. Snce we have come home they successfully got rid of the stone. Get ready for this now...... She has to make another appointment to come back to the hospital to have the stints removed!! Again I have to ask, "Why didn't they do that while they had her in the hospital yet again to do the laser routine?" We didn't get to visit much with Darlene while we were there, but we did enjoy what time we did get to spend with her.




J.D.'s brother-in law has a flea market so while we were there we managed to make time to go by the Country Flea Market and see what sort of treasures F.J. had waiting there that might be calling my name. I will have some pictures to share with you tomorrow of the the treasures I brought home. Until then, Wishing you the blessings of good health and happiness.

To All Of The Grandma's

THE COMPUTER SWALLOWED GRANDMA

Yes, honestly its true!
She pressed 'control' and 'enter'
And disappeared from view.
It devoured her completely,
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm.
I've searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
I've even used the Internet,
But nothing did I find.
In desperation, I asked Jeeves
My searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
Not a thing was found 'online.'
So, if inside your 'Inbox,'
My Grandma you should see,
Please 'Copy,''Scan' and 'Paste' her
And send her back to me.


This is a tribute to all the Grandmas who have been fearless and . . . .
learned to use the Computer.....
They are the greatest!!!

When the television is on I pretty much mentally tune out most of the commercials that come on. I do this mainly because if they aren't just plain annoying, then they are insulting my intellegence by using 20 something year old actresses to try and sell the public on some sort of facial cream that will return that youthful look to your face. There are some commercials that I find beneficial though. Recently they have been advertising a new diabetic medication called Januvia. They gave a web site as well as a phone number to call to get further information. I went to the Januvia web site and was impressed with what I read. They have quite a few useful tools that you might like to try out, as well as a lot of good recipes. I have an appointment for Diabetic Boot Camp on Friday, so I thought I might discuss this new drug with Dr. Lee and see what she thinks. I'll let you know what I find out.

May your day be filled with blessings. ~Jo

Just One Of Those Interruptions

" I refuse to let this rule my life!" Those were the words that went through my mind over and over again as I drove home from a doctor's appointment in 1994. It was at this appointment when I learned for the first time that I am a diabetic. I was so determined that if I have to have this disease, so be it, but it would not rule my life. It wasn't as if I hadn't been warned in advance that there was a chance that this would happen. It was 24 years prior to being diagnosed as a diabetic that I was pregnant with Tersie and the doctor had then told me then that I had Gestational Diabetes. This bit of information explained why my babies were 9 pounds plus when they were born and why I didn't gain any weight while I carried them. He told me that I should have this checked from time to time because usually women that have high blood sugar readings during pregnancy will become type 2 diabetics years down the road. Even with knowing the possibility was there. Even knowing my odds of becoming a diabetic was greater because my grandmother had this disease. Even with knowing all of these things, it still felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me when I was told that it had finally caught up with me.

I had made the appointment with the doctor in 1994 because I was having my yearly Spring bout with pollen allergies and Bronchitis. I complained to him about how just before getting sick I had felt so tired all of a sudden. I told him about how it seemed to take all of the effort I could manage to just put one foot in front of the other and move and so forth. It was a easy call for my doctor, being a diabetic himself, to order some blood work because he suspected Diabetes.

I haven't allowed Diabetes to rule my life. I have had to learn to live with it though. If you are blind you learn how to read braille and walk with a seeing eye dog. When you are hearing impaired, you learn to read lips and use sign language. When you are diabetic, you learn what you need to do to live with diabetes.

It has been 14 years since I was diagnosed. I am still learning things that I didn't know. At first I was only taking the pills to control my sugar levels. Mistakenly, I cut out almost everything that contained sugar. I learned that lesson while standing in the check out line at K-Mart. All of a sudden I broke out in a cold sweat, with a trembling shaky feeling, and dizziness. Fortunately, I had read enough to know that what was happening to me was my blood sugars were bottoming out on me. A candy bar off the impulse rack took care of that one. That was when I learned that it is alright to eat a moderate amount of sweets as long as I am taking the pills for my diabetes to prevent my blood sugars from dropping too much.

The first 6 years of this journey was the toughest for me. I felt so alone in this battle. I had my doctor that I could talk to and the books in the library, but that was about it. That was quite a while before I knew anything about the Internet and the world of support and information that it would contain. I think I was taking at one time or another just about every pill they have available for diabetes. For those 6 years I found that some of the pills that might help with the blood sugar levels, also caused weight gain. I took pills that caused me to have stomach issues of all sorts. I took pills that caused me to retain fluid until I was puffed out like a toad. My blood sugar readings were all over the charts. Seldom were they where they were supposed to be, they were either way too high or dangerously low. I would find myself having bouts of depression. I was tired of taking so many pills and never feeling good.

As fate would have it, my doctor was leaving the area and I started seeing another doctor in the same practice. We discussed how my blood sugar readings were so all over the place and he suggested that I start injections of insulin. He put me on Lantus, which is a time delayed insulin that works over a 24 hour period. With lessons from his nurse on how to give myself injections, I was starting down a new path with this disease. You know the one, the same disease that I swore would not rule my life. I was hesitant about giving myself these shots, but gritted my teeth and stuck that needle in my leg. After a while giving myself the injections has become second nature for me. In no time at all, I started feeling pretty close to the person I used to be. It was wonderful! When I told my doctor how much better I was feeling, I asked him why I wasn't put on insulin six years ago when I was first diagnosed. I was told that many doctors try to put off introducing insulin as a treatment as long as they can because they feel it interferes with the patient being able to lead a normal life. My opinion of this is that insulin does not change my life style in the least............ Blood sugar levels that are out of control does interfere with my life. At that time I was taking my insulin at bed time and 1 pill in the morning.

As time passes, changes have to be made because eventually the body needs more help then what it is getting. Last year I started going to an Endocrinologist. I refer to my visits with her as Diabetes Boot camp and I call her my Drill Instructor. She believes in treating this disease aggressively and that is fine with me. She added Byetta injections do my treatment and sent me to the dietitian for instructions on injecting with the pen which contains the Byetta. I think Byetta is a giant step forward in treatment of diabetes. Not only does it help tremendously, but it doesn't cause weight gain like so many other medications do.

I mentioned before that I am still learning things 14 years after first being diagnosed. I learned two magic numbers while I was with the dietitian that had never been mentioned to me before. Those numbers are 15 and 45. These 2 numbers have the ability to help keep my blood sugar readings within an acceptable range. My nurse (Molly) told me that I will have better control if I try to limit my total carbs for breakfast, lunch and dinner to 45. Snacks between meals and in the evening after dinner should be limited to 15 total carbs. That in itself has been a tremendous help for me in trying to control my blood sugar levels. I will be the first to admit though that I do get lazy from time to time and don't check those carbs.......

When I first started living with diabetes, I mistakenly thought that all I had to do was stay away from the sweets and take my pills. It is so much more than that. One of my favorite vegetables is corn. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that there are enough carbs in a serving of corn to equal a cup good old white granulated sugar. (Place pouting face here). Some Doctors thought I should not eat three meals a day, but instead a bunch of smaller meals (5 to 6). I think most doctors have gotten away from that suggestion. Talk about interfering with a person's life style.

Just to sum things up, the Lantus and Byetta, the two magic numbers and testing on a regular basis has made it possible for me to live with my Diabetes instead of letting it rule my life. I hope that this information has been helpful.

Have a blessed day.......... ~Jo

Diabetes Boot Camp

I spent the better part of the yesterday afternoon at my Endocrinologist's (aka Diabetes Boot Camp Drill Instructor) office. She went over my latest blood work results, which she wasn't impressed with. Those numbers are still way higher than she wants them to be.

I am on an oral medication for diabetes as well as insulin (Lantus) and Lizard Spit (Byetta). She decided that we need to increase the units of insulin that I take and make some adjustments to the oral meds and see what sort of results we get from that. Now don't get all grossed out over the Lizard Spit remark. The original protein that brought about Byetta was found in the saliva of the Gila Monster (one of only two poisonous lizards in North America). When I first found that bit of information out I thought it to be pretty interesting. It is always nice to know where things originate from that you are putting into your body.


I tend to off track from time to time ........... The Byetta is wonderful stuff, but is tricky to use I am finding out. I visited a web site (Diabetes Monitor)that spells this information out for you. For instance there is a window of one hour after you inject Byetta that you must eat. At what point you eat within that window, determines how well the Byetta is going to work and the effects it can have on you in the process. I found many such tid bits of information that I was not aware of before. My Drill Instructor, as good as she is, just didn't pass all of these extras on to me or was not aware of them. No problem though, now I know the rest of the story.


I told you about my Santa (Vicky) from AmMed Direct in December. Well I am still receiving wonderful little care packages from them with sample snack bars and lotion, diabetic recipes, coupons for diabetic supplies and sundry needs. If you are not hooked up with them, you really need to check out their web site and get in touch. I was paying big bucks for my testing supplies through my Prescription Insurance. Vicky took matters into her hands and found out that my Medical Insurance will cover my test supplies at a fraction of what it was costing me before.


Another really wonderful resource that I happened to stumble across a while back is dLife . I have found that I could spend hours at this web site just feasting on all of the information that is available there. dLife also features a TV program that airs on Sundays. I am not sure of the time or channel, but it is posted at the site. I have caught the program a few times and have found it very informative.


Living with diabetes can certainly be a challenge at times, but it doesn't have to consume your life. Any help that we, as diabetics can find helps makes the challenge a little less taxing. I hope that you find the links I have provided here helpful. If you are not diabetic, but know someone that is, why not pass this information on to them. Please do this especially if that person is newly diagnosed. I remember feeling so overwhelmed when I was first diagnosed. That was quite a while before computers became a big part of every home. I had no idea that so many other people were fighting the same battles I was with the disease and that they were probably feeling pretty much alone, as well. My resources at the time pretty much consisted of my family doctor and what pamphlets he had available.

One Of Those Days

I am a little late getting my post up today. Reason being that along with the New Year also comes time to get back to that blood work routine and Doctor appointments. I am scheduled to return to my Diabetes Boot camp (aka Endocrinologist Appointment) and to report in to my Drill Instructor (aka Endocrinologist) a week from Friday. That translate in to, the latest I could get my blood work done was this morning. J.D. doesn't really enjoy these appointments with her because Ican easily walk into the office and not surface again for several hours. I really don't mind it myself though, I always find plenty to read to keep my mind occupied while I wait. She never rushes me through and spends as much time with me as I need for her to without giving me the feeling that I need to hurry it up. She really is a good Doctor and is aggressive when it comes to treating my disease which is what I need.

The good news of the day is that the clinic hired a new Lab Tech. Now we have two there with the knowledge of how to draw blood. I am a challenge to the techs when it comes to drawing my blood. As soon as I tell them they are going to need a butterfly to get it, most of them look at me like "where is your badge saying you are qualified to make that call ?" ........ There have been a few that tried it without the butterfly and ended up having to find creative ways and places to fill the little tubes with blood. Now these are usually the same ones that after their first attempt at drawing my blood work will cringe and try to hide when they see me coming on future visits. Little do they know that I cringe and want to hide when I see them as well. At any rate I have been grateful for our Dear Debby for a long time. Now there is Jeremy that we can all be grateful for as well. He popped that butterfly into my one good vein with precise accuracy and in no time at all those three little tubes were filled and I was on my way out the door. J.D. was amazed at how quickly that went. I made it a point to tell Jeremy how much he is appreciated. I didn't even feel the needle go in. That is what I call a "GOOD JOB!"

After the blood work was done we headed to Bob Evans for breakfast. I can endure just about anything as long as Bob Evans is dangled in my vision like a big carrot as an award. Breakfast was wonderful as usual and the coffee was the icing on the cake.

From Bob's we made a trip to the pharmacy to pick up some meds, the dollar store to get paper products and detergent, and then on to Kroger to hunt down some food bargains. So there you have it. We ventured off of the mountain today and did our part for the economy. We are stocked up on enough food, meds and paper products to keep us on the mountain for a few weeks. That is with the exception of Seth Day and Diabetes Boot Camp.

Seth Day.......Revisited

We're All About Exercise

Play Time

Bonding With Grandpa

I may have mentioned it before, but Friday of each week is Seth Day for us. It is one of those special times when we get to spend quality time with the youngest of the grandchildren. That smile on Seth's face is there pretty much all of the time. Occasionally you may catch him without it, but usually that is when something has really captured his attention and he is pondering the great secrets of that object.

I look for him to be pulling up to and walking around things before too much longer. His legs are very muscular and when he is in his exersaucer he is not only standing on his own, but jumping as well. He just needs to get the balancing act down a little better.

I can't think of a day better spent, than one spent with the grandchildren. I just wish that all of our little ones were close enough that we could just hop into the car and go see them every day. The 18 hour drive and the price of gas sort of limits us on that.

While spending time with Seth yesterday I received a follow up call on something I had inquired about last week. I had seen an advertisement for a company that provides testing supplies for diabetics. They were offering information packets, coupons for diabetic supplies, and a diabetic recipe book. I went online and requested the packet leaving my information so they could contact me. It wasn't the company that you see advertising all of the time on TV, but one that I was not familiar with. I am here to tell you that contacting these people was the smartest move I have made in a long long time. The pills that I take for my diabetes are the only medication that I can get in generic form as a $4.00 prescription at a local pharmacy. Everything else; Byeta, Lantus, even my test strips have to be sent off to the Prescription Insurance Company to be filled at $50.00 a pop. That is until the first of the year, when the cost of our insurance is going up, as well as the cost of having the Rx filled, which will be $65.00 then (and the lancets are not covered at all). My Endocrinologist wants me to test four times each day. Well it just doesn't happen. Living on a fixed income makes a person stop and think, how can I deal with this without going bankrupt paying for Rx refills. The lady that I talked to yesterday (Vickie) asked about my testing. I told her that I don't test four times a day because of the expense and that I also use an old meter that I had because the test strips were $50.00 as opposed to $65.00 for the newer meter that I have. Instead, I test when I feel funky. I know that doing this does not help keep the diabetes under control, but you do what you have to do. She took some information about our Rx insurance carrier and our health care insurance carrier and said she was going to do some checking to see if she couldn't get those testing supplies for me at a cheaper price. In less than 30 minutes Vickie was calling me back with 'Merry Christmas' greetings and saying that our insurance company is going to take care of those testing supplies through Vickie's company at the cost of $4.95 for a three months supply of test strips. But Wait!!! That's Not All!!!

They will also cover the cost of my lancets! ..............But Wait!!! That's Not All!!! Vickie is going to send me a new meter at no cost to me that will give me more accurate readings than the old one more than likely has. I thought I had saved the information for this web site on the computer, but I can't locate it. When I receive my care package from Vickie, I will be sure to post the information for anyone else that may need this type of assistance. Testing supplies at $4.95 ~vs~ $65.00 is a no brainer for me.

Jo's note: Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus! (Sometimes he calls himself Vickie though)