Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Doctor Office Shenanigans

(warning: Rated...don't let your kids watch this!)




Try this the next time you're waiting for your endo.. Funny, between the Socks + Shoes Sign and the thyroid models, I feel right at home!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

10 Things on a Tuesday

#1 Had f/u appointment with eye doctor, that went ok.Seems a portion of my vision has reverted back to funky(but it is better then completely funky), and the incision is healing well. And yeah, you can still see the black blob of stitches, those should be absorbed sometime in the next month. With this type of surgery,sometimes you just take what you can get + the eye doc isn't going back in. The surgery corrected 3/4 of the double vision.(which is nice) On the wall of the exam room, there was a framed cross stitch for one of the eye docs.(The Retinopathy guru) That was kind of interesting- perhaps one of his patients was so grateful that he'd saved their vision that they made him that. Another f/u in 3 months. I won't have to have a dilated exam in awhile..as he'd done that(sometimes w/all the drops they put in, its difficult to tell what they're doing)


#2 Marched on down to the cafeteria, where I devoured my very healthy Caesar salad w/no fat dressing + low fat milk. They didn't have any other choices, or you'd have bet I'd chosen them.(like chocolate milk + artery clogging Ranch)Stupid hospital food.

#3 Flirted with the parking garage attandent. (not to worry, he's got grandkids)

#4 Drove across town to the endo's office, where I demanded my a1c results as it's been a month + anyone has yet to call me back/send it in the mail...Nurse promises she'll discuss it today w/my endo,even if she has to spend all day on the intercom.
How am I supposed to work on that a1c,if I don't even know what it is?

#5 Drove to Walmart(oil exchange) + groceries.


Five Things I need to get done today:
- Post office(supply pickup,mail stuff)
- Fax Deltec upgrade + other needed pump stuff to Endocrine(she's gonna hate me, when she gets finished with all of that..)
- Pour Drano down my kitchen sink, and hope that it works(not come bubbling up the garbage disposal)or the landlady will not be happy.
- Continue watching Northern Exposure, Season 6..
- Go to the gym. It's been a solid week, since I've last been. (lazy, lazy me)

Compact vs. Ultra



It was awesome.
It was amazing.
It was about to rock my teenage world.

So, when the CDE handed me an One Touch Ultra,
promising me I'd love it, I took her word for it +
tried it out. After all- it was the era of change, and
I wasn't particularly emotionally attached to my brick
of an AccuChek.
5,4,3,2,1. Whoo Baby, I'm sold. Have 508, have latest
meter-I'm going places.

6 years later,I've pretty much stuck w/my Ultra +
Ultrasmart, tried the Freestyle(and the Cozmo
attachment), but my insurance company doesn't cover
those strips(at all) + I figure, it's not really a
battle worth fighting. I like my Ultras,+ I'm lucky to
have good coverage on them.
Even if I won the (Freestyle strip)appeal, the out of
network copay would still be too expensive for me to
afford..

I've heard of the Accuchek Compact, when I saw a deal
at the local drugstore, I bought it. Yeah, I know
you're NOT supposed to spend any money on a meter but
I'll get the $10 back anyway(mail in rebate). And it
comes with 17 strips. (check out retail strip prices-
+ this is actually cheap...)

Will it be big?
Will it be bulky?
Will it be a blood sucking vampire from the Black
Lagoon?
Will the bg values correlate well to my Ultrasmart?

Check it out:















Not much bigger then an Ultrasmart.(Although, you can't tell that from the picture)

The size of the strips:
(Compact versus Ultra)















And the stabber isn't bad at all- I was able to get a
big enough drop out of the 2nd depth setting. It takes
about half as much blood as the Ultra.

On the back, there's a test strip counter(showing how
many strips are left in that particular drum):















I think this might be a good "work" meter, I'm always
forgetting my lancet device/and/or/strips. All you
have to remember is the meter,and maybe a backup drum
of strips(if the counter is running low that day).
Very convenient.

Ultra vs. Compact:

119 mg/dl- Compact


123 mg/dl- Ultra

On Ebay, strip deals abound, and these are cheaper then many
(100 for under $30) cost wise, it's defiantly a keeper.
Although I am not totally ditching my Ultra, the
Compact may yet find a spot in my heart. This thing is EASY- you just push a button, the strip pops out/meter turns on, you stab your finger, hold it up to the strip + 8 seconds later, there's your reading. Punch the button again-and the strip pops out/meter turns off.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

My Time Warp

It was 12 PM all day, according to the work clock.They hadn't switched the time yet, and then the battery died. Highly disconcerting when you just want the day to end..

Straight out of "Scrubs"
(aka "My Monday")

3 AM- Wake up hypo, devour pre-Easter candy, fall back asleep.
5:30 AM-296. Not surprisingly, bolus correction
6:30 AM- 25 carbs(really a light breakfast, all things considered. Bolus for that)
7:30 AM- I'm parched. If I had to guess, I'd say that my blood sugar must be in the upper 400's..but that's impossible, I just bolused for everything. 3 cans of Diet Coke later..
8:30 AM-280. Well, that partially explains it, although I'm not generally this thirsty on a 200's number.
9:30 AM- Rolling nausea, figure my set is probably toast and I should check for ketones. Eat light snack.
9:15 AM- Hypo time. Eat another snack, take light bolus.
10:00 AM- 200. Still feel low. My meter must be lying to me today.
10:30 AM- Supivisor tells me to go to another dept.
11 AM- Get settled in to other dept., commence work.
11:30 AM- Another hypo. AuGggHHHHHHHHHH. Package of yogurt raisens down the hatch.
11:50 AM- Lunch.
Meanwhile, my new coworker is taking bathroom breaks on the half hour, and stays there 10-20 minutes each time so not a great deal is getting done on our end of things. This is because of a hangover, he'd already vomitted in one of the department's trash cans. Supivisor told him that if he goes to the bathroom one more time, he'll have to go home(its been going on all morning.)
So what does he do?
Yep, parks himself right in front of trashcan #2, not 10 feet away from where I'm working, and commences upchucking-going back to work-going back to the trashcan.
Right in front of everyone.
I've had enough of that, I'm just doing most of his job anyway + the department is quickly filled w/the lovely aroma of alcoholic vomit. I inform the supivisor, and the supivisor tells the guy to go home.
Since things still smell pretty aweful, I move to the opposite side of the dept. to try and get away from the smell.
Final Blood Sugar of the Day:
497.
Yay, me.Skip supper,change set, crash into bed.
-------------
I'm going to call about my a1c results, they still haven't gotten here + I figure the week couldn't be any worse anyway.
Today's Agenda:
Dentist.
At least it's a balmy 70 degrees outside.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Breaking the Silence



Youtube has alot of whacko D videos, but there are some pretty interesting/informative ones on there.

Monday, March 05, 2007

I'm in the mood for Blog(ging)

Computer update: Still on the fritz, I think it's due to a virus. My computer is so buggy(and slow) it's only a matter of time before it dies entirely.

7 things to do before I die:

#1 Get an a1c under 7.
#2 Finish up my RN degree.
#3 Travel the world- go scuba diving off Australia, skiing in the Alps, and mosquito-slapping in the Amazon.
#4 Finish my book.
#5 Find the right guy..get married, have 2-3 kids. (or more)
#6 Donate blood 100+ times.
#7 Be a contestant on Jeopardy. Man, I would so love to be on there...

7 things I CANNOT do:

#1 Cook
#2 Be organized.
#3 Disregard moral views, for the sake of anyone. Not even for a cure.
#4 Understand why supposidly wonderful parents smoke around their kids.
#5 Enjoy minus zero degree temperatures.
#6 Stop wishing for a cure.
#7 Play basketball, I'm just too short.


7 things that attract me to men:

#1 All men(present company excluded) are scum, and I'd rather not discuss the 7 most important(nonexistent) qualities at the moment. Or perhaps its the fact that I must be the anti-thesis(whatever)
to those 7 most important characteristics.

7 things I say:
#1 Alrighty, then.
#2 Hey you!
#3 Oh puh-lease.
#4 Been there, done that.
#5 Way to go.
#6 Do I look stupid?
#7 Crud.

7 Books that I recommend:
#1 Whatever you want, it's fine with me. I haven't read 7 books in the past year- I'm not much of a reader.
7 Movies that I like:
#1 The Sound of Music
#2 Ladder 49
#3 Cars
#4 Flightplan
#5 Catch Me if you Can
#6 The Notebook
#7 Yours, Mine, and Ours
------------------------------------------------


SUPPORT THE FAIRTAX! (the only way we'll be able to pay for SS and the rest of those 'essential' government programs)

Friday, March 02, 2007

Destination: Weekend

Eight Tips to Appearing on TV

(inspired by the D-life Nose-Picker Episode)
#1. Don't pick your nose. Seriously. A million people are watching you, even if you're in the studio audience + think no one could possibly be videocamering you. IT WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU.
#2 And if you do pick your nose, do so in a delicate manner. Use a tissue, and make it appear as if you are just blowing your snozz, not digging it.
#3 Don't faint.This is easier (to do)then you may realize, and at times you will feel like there is no possible way that you're going to survive a minute longer. Take a deep breath, smile, and relax. Nothing lasts forever. If you faint, the first thing you'll be hearing is "Are you LOW?"
#4 Make sure you get the ok from a responsible adult, before you inflict your clothing choices on the tender eyes of a waiting nation. You may think you look like hot stuff-meanwhile, by the end of the night, your family has completely disowned you.
#5 Do not snort, guffaw, burp, wheeze, or make any other disgusting body sounds. (at least not when the camera is on you.)
#6 Do not say UHHHHHH. This does not sound intelligent, and does not convince anyone that you deserve to be up there. (this also goes for radio, from personal experience)
#7 Keep talking, even if you have nothing more(on the subject) to say.Bluffing always works.
#8 Do not, if you check your blood sugar on tv, suck the blood off your finger. Most non-D people will vomit, and even some PWD's might be shell shocked.
----------------
It's been an interesting week, my computer has some serious problems.(attempting to sign in to my gmail account, the page keeps refreshing in an endless loop) WHY???(please help me, computers are not my forte) Hence, I am writing this at the library.
And on the Ebay front, I have had it with one of my buyers, went and left negative feedback. For doing this,I am (no doubt) a nasty,horrible, non-understanding person. This makes the 3rd negative feedback I've ever left, (in 7 years) I am usually fairly understanding about these things + don't wish to scar another's FB reputation. I would want someone to do the same for me.
1 month.
2 invoices + 5 emails.
No response from buyer.
File NPB(non-paying bidder) report.
1 week.
Buyer emails that they'll pay me soon.
Respond, ok. 5 days.
Email buyer.
4 days.
No response. Give up, leave negative feedback. I've had it with this guy.
Buyer sends payment that evening. WHATTTT? Now I feel somewhat guilty, as I just neg'd him. Annoyed, because this is just too draining + he's saying he never even knew he won the auction. Refund payment.I'm not dealing with this.
2 days later... Buyer emails, asks for item(gift certificate code). Says he payed.
Email buyer-inform him that payment was returned, check email(s) for reason why.
Close NPB dispute. Now I'm thinking that I may have been a bit too rough on someone who obviously is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.(doesn't check email,paypal,or My Ebay..hmmm) Either that,or he has a good reason for lying. He had a good fb record(short as it was)till it came to this transaction. If he negs me, it would be highly unbelievable as I've got a perfect record + have been around much longer then he has. Ahh, the joys.
The research study check finally came(at just the right time, dude,I thought I'd have to take a trip to Turkey + sell a kidney) I'm pretty happy about that. It's nice when stuff actually
comes on time.
On Monday, my first intelligent action of the day was to break off a windshield wiper on the ice-so I can't go anywhere till it quits raining. Highly inconvenient.(supposed to be a nice weekend,though) I also set fire to my breakfast (in the microwave), and dropped a 30 lb.wooden pallet on my right foot so it was a fairly disastrous day.
Today was pretty interesting- I got to see someone giving just plasma. (at the blood donor center) It looked like a regular IV bag of fluids. (plasma is the clear, watery part of the blood) Plasma, unlike other blood components, can be frozen/saved for up to a year (for use in vaccines,etc.) so its pretty unusual stuff. Their donation took awhile, though(more then the 30 minutes I was there). PWD's aren't allowed to give anything except whole blood(believe me,I've asked) something about reduced immunity + the IV dextrose they give(for one of those special donations). Such is the policy at that blood center. So I just gave #32, and watched them. I guess whole blood donations are enough of a challenge, they could be right(who knows how taking specialized components might screw up a PWD) . Oh well.
Have a great weekend, everyone.