I Wear my Pump on my Hip... and my CGM

I am loving the #showmeyourpump pictures on twitter this week. If you've been living under a rock, this fantastic and empowering hashtag for diabetics everywhere started because of this year's winner of Miss Idaho 2014. What does some beauty pageant have to do with pumps or even diabetes? Well, Miss Idaho, Sierra Sandison is a type 1 diabetic that walked down the stage of the pageant in a bikini while wearing her pump! (It's a t:slim, to be exact!)  On her Instagram post, she talked about how it is, "terrifying walking out on stage in a swimsuit, let alone attached to a medical device. My message to everyone, diabetic or not, is that we all have something that doesn't "measure up" to the beauty standards set by the media--and that is okay! It does not make you any less beautiful." Her message was amazing and she encouraged diabetics to post a picture of themselves with their pump, insulin pens, shots, or any other medical device they use because they are diabetic. After she posted this, the DOC quickly saw her photo and her story and suddenly thousands of people have been sharing pictures of themselves with their pumps. It's amazing to see everyone so proud of their small devices that keep them alive, as they should be! After all, if you have something that keeps you alive, you should be proud to show it off- it keeps you alive!

YAY FOR SHOWING PUMPS

Yay so I'm just really excited about #showmeyourpump because I love seeing everyone so proud of their pumps. Especially people my age, since most of the other teen diabetics I know hide their pumps from the public and try to avoid being see with it on at all costs. AHH I'M JUST REALLY EXCITED YAY

Okay, so you've read about the pump portion of my post, so let's move on to the other, almost-as-important device in the title of my post: my CGM. So I've decided that I am going to try putting my CGM on my hip because it's as perfectly good to use as any other site I've used for my CGM. I'll report back to you with how it goes, so we can determine in a TOTALLY scientific way if this is a good site.

Moral of the Story: PUMPS ARE COOL

Thank You

Today, my blog post about camp was featured on Diabetes Mine's June DOC Roundup! This is so amazing because I can remember back in the beginnings of me blogging (AKA the first edition of my blog that apparently still exists...) reading 3 blogs: Six Until Me, The Butter Compartment, and Diabetes Mine. (Also on the list of people's blog I've been reading since middle school: Kim, Kelly, and Karen. I see a trend going on here with K names...) I've talked to Kerri, Kim, Kelly, and Karen before via #dsma and comments on my blog and I've also talked to Lee Ann in the comments of my blog, so now being featured on one of the blogs I've read since 2011 is absolutely amazing! (I've already called my dad, tweeted about it, and am about to email my Grandad and Aunt Susan about it.)

I wanted to give a huge thank you to everyone who reads my blog, comments on it, shows it to someone else they know, and even the people that stumble upon this page on accident and read it for a little. You guys make blogging a bazillion times more amazing than I ever imagined it could be and I can't wait to write more and more stuff on this amazing blog of mine. I also want to thank everyone that talks to me on twitter during #dsma, endo visits, or just whenever weird diabetes-related things are happening! You rock for being there in real time to lift my spirits when I'm feeling down. And I also want to thank everyone that simply likes or comments on my photos on instagram for letting me share little tidbits of my life with you guys in pictorial form. All of you rock so I just had to give you a big thank you for being the best!

You guys are the best.

Moral of the Story: Apparently people find the thoughts of a crazy teenage girl entertaining. Who knew?

Cringing with a Side of Amazingness

This will totally be one of those randomy posts where I just talk about whatever. Because I can do that since this is my blog.

First, let's talk about the fact that I found my old blog today while scouring the internet to figure out why Bigfoot Child Have Diabetes commented on my super angry late night blog post (the best kind of blog post, really,) to say congrats. I was confused. I was pretty sure I hadn't posted anything exciting that has happened to me on here or on twitter. What could I have done? While looking through the vastness know as the internet, I googled my blog's name to see if there had been some other blog post mentioning my blog, or something else of that nature. Guess what I found. I had found my really old and started in seventh grade diabetes blog. I looked at it and cringed. I cringed even more than when I look at my first post on this blog. And that's saying something.

I read through the whole entire thing and laughed at seventh grade moi. I had  my name as nautilus. (I didn't even have a capitalized 'N.' It was cool to type in all lowercase in 2010.) Did I mention that my obsession at the time of that blog's creation was the nautilus? My twitter username used to be 'nautilusofdoom.' (Wait, why did I just share that with the whole world?) I used those text emoticon thingies in almost all of my posts. I made a whole photo album on Photobucket about getting my Contour USB. I don't remember making any of these posts, but I obviously did. Seeing my old blog made me laugh and cringe* and it was a total #tbt in the most entertaining way possible. (I laughed even more when I found my other old blog from seventh grade. I was pretending to be super girly and care a lot about make up and fashion. You can ask any of my friends and I promise they'll tell you that I'm pretty much the opposite of that. I've since given up on trying. I also got a kick out of my attempt to sound vague, but also cool with my tumblr's name. 'Insecure Light,' Sarah? Really?)

#tbt to my first CGM picture on twitter

Well, now let's get back to the whole congrats-on-my-blog-post mystery. After laughing at myself for a while, I finally went on my main blogger page so I could start typing a post about my laugh worthy find. I clicked onto my main blog page and saw that one of the main sources of traffic to my blog was from Meri's blog. I clicked over to her blog and read through her Best of the Betes Blogs post and oh my gosh, my blog was on there! I was in total shock and I was in even more shock once I realized that I had one the art section of the post with my flow chart! (I also feel like this was pretty ironic, considering I'm the least artistic person in my family.) I feel so incredibly honored to have won in one of the categories. I always look at those posts and hope and hope and hope that maybe I will have won in a category, and for that to actually happen is pretty amazing. Thank you so much to the wonderful person that nominated my blog post. You rock.

Moral of the Story: Today has been pretty unexpectedly awesome.

*The most cringe-worthy thing I read on the old blog was this: "I will just post about my life as a diabetic and topics that align with the purpose of this blog." That sounds like a portion of a legal disclaimer or something. Why on Earth would I have thought to say something like that?

When was the last time that you accidentally found something cringe-worthy from your past?

They're Here!

My Dexcom sensors finally came, after a week of waiting. It took a lot of high blood sugars, frequent testing, anxiety, and just a lot of anger towards my diabetes, but I made it through one week without my Dexcom. That week really opened my eyes to how much I take my diabetes technology for granted.

My Dexcom is basically the GPS for my life. It tells me whether I should eat a quick snack before I go somewhere or if I need to check my blood sugar because I am going up. I am also shown what happens overnight, so when I wake up in the 400's for days, * COUGH COUGH * Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday * COUGH COUGH* I actually know what is happening, and what I need to do to fix it. The magical Dexcom is basically my secret adviser when it comes to diabetes related things.

I've never been more thankful to see these boxes in my life.

Without my Dexcom, I was basically lost, even though I had only had it for three months. I forgot to cover lunch. (When I put in my lunch BG into the Dexcom, I am reminded to cover lunch.) I didn't know when I needed to have a snack after school, or just wait until dinner. I became anxious about my nighttime blood sugars because I couldn't just press a button and see what my blood sugars were, and I didn't know what was going on in between blood tests. I felt like I was blind, even though as my dad continually pointed out that I had lived without this handy device for nine years.

I guess my CGM shows how valuable the right technology for my health really is, and I am much more thankful for it now that have gone without it for a week.

Moral of Story: I am never wasting a sensor EVER again.

Excitement!

I have exciting news for my fellow DOC friends.

*Insert suspenseful music here*

I'm getting a trial sensor so I can get a CGM!

Yay!
I am so happy because I have been trying to get on a CGM since March; it has been seven months, but I finally get to get one!

I'm going to the endocrinologist at the end of the month, so I think that is when I am getting the trial sensor, but I might get a special appointment for it. Who knows?

My dad faxed my blood sugars from the past week to the endocrinologist yesterday, so hopefully we will be getting a CGM-related call in our near future. C:

Moral of Story: I guess seven is a lucky number!