Category: What Now?

Today may have been perfect if not for this.

The Alerts Just Keep on Coming…

~ JodiLea
Diabetic Equipment Stuff

My new insulin pump gets data from the CGM (blood sugar monitor) and adjusts the insulin rate accordingly. It is like I have a working pancreas most of the time. Some settings must be adjusted, and I must do my part by entering carb data. Until those things become routine, I have alarms going off day and night. That’s right—an alarm alerts me if my glucose is too high. I will give myself insulin to correct the high. Now, I get alerted to the fact that my glucose is dropping too quickly. OK.

The next alert is because my glucose levels are dangerously low. To treat this, I must eat/drink sugar. Then, the whole cycle starts over. My daily chart looks like the Himalayas. I don’t mind the alarms/alerts so much, but my puppy freaks out when she hears them. My hubby usually hears them before they wake me up, so he is annoyed. With me.

When anything beeps or buzzes in my house, everyone looks at me—like I am the only thing that beeps! The dishwasher, washing machine, computers, and telephones also make noise. Since the equipment is also new to me, I can’t be sure if it’s me or something else. I do know one thing: I’m exhausted.

I put the equipment on silent, so most of the alerts don’t sound. However, the critical ones bypass any volume setting and blare at max decibels. Since I must keep the sensor reading equipment within 20 feet of my person, this is quite jarring. Imagine how unnerving it is to sit next to me in a quiet meeting when my blood sugar begins to tank. It actually unnerves everyone in the building, but the closer you are to the source (me), the worse it is.

Technology has done wonders for diabetics to become more balanced and healthy. I have to wonder, though – is it eroding my mental health to live like this?

TTFN

May is …

~ JodiLea

How nice.

I am aware, thank you very much.

Mental Illness runs on my Mom’s side of the family. Grandma was diagnosed with “manic depressive” syndrome. So was my Mom, myself, then my sister. People are no longer diagnosed with Manic Depression. They call it Bipolar now, but we are talking about the same kind of crazy.

Also, from my mom’s side, I have Type I Diabetes. The T1D research group I belong to published this article in their May newsletter. Whether you have diabetes or not, I think you may find it interesting.

For people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), self-management requires an extraordinary amount of decision-making every day. In fact, research suggests this tallies to about 180 more health-related decisions than someone living without diabetes.   This level of stress can affect a person’s emotional well-being, leading to feelings of frustration, burnout, and diabetes distress. And it’s why your healthcare provider may regularly use an assessment tool to monitor your mental health.   According to our Registry data, participants with T1D also self-reported the following diagnoses. While these numbers are only representative of our participants, they are telling.
Anxiety (24.9%)
Depression (24.2%)
Eating disorders (3.2%)
Diabetes distress (2.4%)
PTSD (0.3%)
That said, on average, research suggests people with T1D are 2 to 3 times more likely to have depression than someone without T1D. But only 25-50% of these individuals are diagnosed and treated. That’s why it’s important to be honest about your feelings and advocate for yourself or a loved one. While caring for your physical health is essential, your mental health is equally important.   The T1D Exchange Registry is dedicated to improving the lives of those living with T1D. One way we do this is by supporting mental health research in T1D. A current study, Mental Health Support Experiences and T1D, aims to better understand participants’ experiences when talking with diabetes care providers about their mental health and well-being.

To find out more about the T1D Exchange Registry, see their website.

TTFN



I Organized my Office and Lost my Brain

~ JodiLea

This is embarrassing to admit, but I feel I should talk about it so people are aware of my erratic behavior and memory issues.
The wonderful half-day I enjoyed in my organized and neat office is not worth the aftermath that followed. It all started when I needed to make room to organize other things, and I wanted to use my office floor space. Well, after a week, the other things are not completely organized, so my floor is a mess, my lower cabinets are blocked, and my paperwork is piling up on the bookshelf.

How does this concern you? Most likely, it doesn’t. But if you recognize some of the issues I am having creeping into your own life, then you may be interested in hearing about this.

The best way to explain this is to walk you through a typical day. My to-do list included finishing laundry, working on my blog, and sorting through fabric donations for my quilt guild. While sipping my morning coffee, I went through my email. Sometimes, I get good or fun emails. Most of the time, I have junk, scams sent from other countries, or advertisements with bogus subjects.
Today, I received an email from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). It said that an alert regarding my SSN being compromised had been posted to my account. Terrific! I spent over an hour on this and submitted a report of possible Social Security fraud to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). I won’t go into specifics, but the alert found my SSN being used by someone else. The Nerve!

It is 11:30, and the sun has been drying up rain and snow for the past couple of days. You know what that means if you own a dog. With my boots and vinyl gloves on, I get my large trowel and plastic “pet bags.” This activity is called Turd Herding in our household, and because the dog is my dog, that means I clean up after her. It only took 30 minutes this time. It took me 1 hour and 30 minutes after the big snow we had in March.
I would cross the chore off my list if it was on there, but it was not.

I came back inside and washed my hands. I see the dishes waiting to go into the dishwasher before they are washed. I stick all the dirty ones (that fit), which fill up the entire machine. The doorbell rings, and our Hello Fresh package has arrived. I unpack it and get it into the fridge. I need to pee, so I go into the master bathroom and see the pile of dried laundry that needs folding. I had dumped it on the bed an hour ago. It was there waiting, so I took care of it.

Next, I go into the kitchen to refill my glass of water, and I see the full dishwasher sitting there with the door open. Sigh. I run water and fill up my water pitchers, waiting for the water to heat up. The dishwasher will not start unless the water is hot. Who am I to argue? The clock on the stove says it is 2:00 pm. I would love to take a nap, but there is no time. The rate at which this day is going by is scary. Every day has been flying by me like this one. I am distracted by the slightest thing. It could take me hours to accomplish something that would only take me 20 minutes when I have my brain.

I hope I find it soon.

Nighty-night Zzzz