Thursday, April 29, 2010

Seriously?

Pt.s seriously never cease to amaze me! Guy gets hand suck in glass jar cause he made a fist after getting it in there. he wanted the last couple of M&M's and I am thinking 2 things 1. why did you not just flip the jar over like a normal person would and 2 you seriously got me away from my lunch and energy drink for this? I asked why he didn't just break the glass? he had no answer just that he might cut him self. Man never take a medic away from a much needed energy drink! or meal if you do not have a real emergency!! trust me. On another note I got a new Endo or for those who don't know what that is a doctor who has training on lots of hormones and metabolic diseases and in my case type 1 diabetes. I am of course on a pump and had a mishap with it and needed some adjustments and my regular doc god bless him didn't want to try to make the changes since my CGM ( continous glucose meter ) graphs were all over the place and so this new Endo is a god send! he does not put you down for a number on your meter but instead includes you in your treatment and lets you ask all the questions you need to feel comfortable with what has been said. the other staff was wonderful as well! the CDE and nutritionist are amazing. Also my CGM device warranty is up so I am thinking of switching to the Dexcom 7 plus which according to all the raves I hear on it, it is more accurate. I don't know I am going to talk with the new endo about it next week and decide if the one I have is good enough since it has it's pros like all in one with my insulin pump and so one piece on my belt instead of two with the dexcom since it is not all in one with any pump as of yet. it seems they may be partnering with Omipod or Animas to work towards all in one status. Cons to my current one is it really hurts to insert it and the needle is huge! it last for three days vs the Dexcom which I think last 5 to 7 days . also my CGM seems a bit anal on things like placement or position with start up though I have found ways around it. So we will see. I just know for sure that I am not going with out a CGM as it has helped my control greatly. As for soccer our team is doing great they are first in the finals line up the had a great season so we will see! and school well it is school need I say more after that trauma with the cat dissection??

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Been really busy with work and school and coaching

So work has been very interesting I had a patient who well wasn't the smartest person in the world. He decided the well play with his dog and it was more then playing he decided to take it to the next level and called us because the dog was stuck and swelled in his butt. so we come and take him to the hospital and I have never had a patient and dog in the back of my ambulance. We get him to the hospital after we called it in and I don't think I have ever seen all the ER staff laughing so hard in my life! they had to step out of the room to not laugh in the room. I never asked how they removed the dog but I am sure it was interesting none the less.That poor dog I am sure he was scared. I thought that since I had that patient the day could not get any worse but I was so wrong! the next patient decided it would be fun to play with his son and his son stuck his head in the stairwell and so daddy thought he could do it to not thinking his head was bigger then his son's and of course he got stuck. He was so worried about what we thought that he could not make eye contact with us the whole time we were getting him out. Then soccer practice comes around and I coach the team my God daugther plays for and of course she decided to show off and broke her leg so of course I had to take her to the ER and get it splinted till we could get an appt. with ortho the next day. Now of course that was not enough school made the day even worse I had to do some disecting of a cat who looked just like my kitty Oddie. and then a test I didn't know we were having but since I have most of this training from paramedic school I passed thank God. So needless to say my week has been more then interesting.

Monday, April 12, 2010

What a week

So I just spent my whole weekend in the hospital! Ugh okay it wasn't horrible but who really enjoys staying at the hospital on a sunny day. I felt so couped up! I was in my own room with nothing but the T.V me and my Computer with NO and I mean NO internet!! yes so I was way bored besides the movies and oh the Sims 3!! I am kind of addicted to that game. I was in for a little kidney stone causing my blood sugars to whack out! I mean it was 26 from all the throwing up and what not then they fixed that with nausea meds and the pain meds were great! I woke up and they tell me the problem that yet another kidney stone has made its way into my kidney and really got stuck so off to the O.R we go when my God send of a urologist gets there and took it out and stented the kidney's. I woke up to find out I had to stay a little bit longer till the BG got back to a semi happy range. later the anastesia doc came in and thanked me for being the first patient he has had with a insulin pump and glucose sensor who wore both through surgery. He was excited to have learned more about it. I was well goofy throughout the day as I was on pain meds that I have no tolerence for in the first place and apparently I had a low BG during the visit from the Endo. I was like oh great I am so not a good patient right now!! but she was great and said hey it is okay things happen and we can't be perfect! I cried ( so emotional on pain meds ) I was glad to see her and to not be judged by a number on my monitor. I finally got out today to finally sleep in my own bed and I have to say that people who have to stay in the hospital for more then a week my gosh I feel for you! I can say I didn't get to much college work done, I mean I tried but looked at it today and half of it makes no sense! I mean lord I should never be allowed to do anything besides sleep if I am on pain meds! I did get to finish reading a book I started a yr ago! wow I was really bored!! and oh my hospital food has come along way especially when the hospital has a chick fla and cook to order food! I didn't mind it too much and the nurses were really no all about running my diabetes for me. well wait I take that back this one nurse tried but the older nurse told her who knows her diabetes more then she does! They got to learn my pump and my sensor and how to help me when needed but to not over do it. but to just wait until I ask. they did a great job at not waking me up while sticking my fingers the tech asked me how I slept through a needle prick and my mom said well I did it to her plenty of nights so it is kind of something she is used to. I am glad to be home I am not allowed to go to work for the rest of the week so I guess I will catch up on reading and internet and T.V.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Patient VS. Medic

So Being a medic I tend to try to treat myself without the lead of my doctors which I am discovering needs to stop. I have had diabetes for over 15 yrs and always felt like I know more about it then the specialist, and for the most part I do after living with it you tend to know these things but there are somethings I need help with. My doctor is amazing and anytime I go too see him we seem to get things done I can be completely open about pretty much anything. We share our faith and even things I go through in everyday life which I think helps him decide what is going to be the best treatment. He does not judge my diabetes care based of my numbers as we all know everything effects those numbers. Now I have for the most part kept my diabetes under control I have a little hurdle here and there with the highs and lows but it comes with the disease. I had a bad low blood sugar today it was 23 and I didn't even know it! lucky me my docs office is open till noon on sat. so I had to go in for the A kidney stone ( ouch ) and we tested my sugar when my CGM beeped low and amazing enough it was that low. I always keep juice in my purse and tabs of course but nothing seemed to get it up so of course to the ER he sent me by ambulance since driving was yeah not so much a good idea. so I sit here in the hospital over night to get the sugars under control as they treated the low it sent me sky high in the 400's. my doc meet us at the ER and took good care of me he let me take control with my pump and the CGM and testing he taught the nurses how to check the CGM if it beeps for a low or high while I am sleeping and how to suspend the pump if needed. he stayed with me for a while we watched T.V and after church tomorrow he will be back and will bring me a copy of the sermon since we go to the same church. He and my dad are great friends as they went to med school together he called him and they of course decide together what the treatment plan should be. I don't mind that since both have my best interest in mind. But today I felt like a failure I mean I am A medic and should have not let this happen but as my dad and doc told me hey you win some you lose some. I hate the fact that I will spend easter in the hospital I love the day as it is huge in my faith. I am very lucky to have the support I do as getting to hear the message in the hospital is better then missing it all together. I now know how it feels to be scared and restless in a hospital ( you can't get sleep in this place to save your life but I am on pain meds so they help but at the same time the constant beeping of the monitors and now helping the cause. the nurse was amazed that I do not wake up for BG checks but that is because my dad and mom would do it in the middle of the night when I was a kid. They brought up my lap top and thank goodness the hospital has wireless internet as I get to watch hulu.com great to catch up on shows!! and get on my fav sites too keep up with stuff. better then watching the small amount of channels on the T.V. The food stinks but the bed is kind of comfortable with the moving up and down thing. I got a private room thank goodness so all the people I get is the nurse my doc and the Endo. oh and my friends and family. even with this small bump in the road I still feel blessed to have the support and love of all. the low sugar was of course my fault as my pump was broke yesterday and so I had to use lantus and humalog shots till the new one arrived but I did not pay attention to the fact that I split the lantus dose half morning and half night so took the lantus this morning the pump arrived at like 11 am and I put it on with my basal going and everything so two basals equal a low just for the record. I just can't believe I made this bo bo. On the ambulance I always double check my work for my patients sake but failed to do it for myself. Well off to bed I go pain meds kicking in and I got to watch last weeks episode of house I missed. Happy Easter to all and God Bless. Enjoy the time spent with your family and friends and all the great food.

Friday, April 2, 2010

some topics bothering me right now.....

So you hear over and over again how diabetes can be controlled through diet and exercise but no where in those commericals do they mention that that is for type 2 diabetes instead they just say diabetes. now don't get me wrong I know they are trying to help but without properly educating the public only has small bits of info to go off of. Today I was in the docs office for a nasty infusion site infection uggh!! and I walk to a chair and this lady is like whats that? I said oh that is my insulin pump. she said but your not fat (God Bless her ) and you don't look like someone with diabetes your far too young and that is when I sat down and explained the different types of diabetes and she got a new understanding. I asked her though how she got her info on diabetes? she said some tv talk show. I also realized how to go about the talk without getting mad or irate since this happens more often it seems. It reminded me of the story of my DX with type 1 diabetes my Dad is a ER doc for the Army and was on deployment and my mom was talking to my dad and said I had to go to the bathroom so many times since I have been drinking so much more Juice which she thought was due too my active lifestyle with soccer and basketball and what not. they she mentioned I was really thinning out and needed new jeans so it clicked in my dads head and he told my mom to make me a doc appt to get a check up so she did and when we got there they stuck my finger and the meter they had said HI I giggled I said look mom the meter says HI and then I had lost like 15 lbs and the doc sent us to the ER where the put me in an ambulance and sent me to the Children's hospital where we were told I had type 1 diabetes. my blood sugar was sick high over 900 and I didn't understand but knew something was wrong because mom was on the phone with dad and she asked him if I was going to be okay and did she feed me the wrong food or what and that is the first time I learned how to explain the difference between t1 and t2. I wish we had a better way to let others know the difference or even better that the press or whoever would quite putting a bad light on diabetes. I did get to help some officers that came by the fire station last week learn to look for signs of diabetes in a person who may appear drunk while driving. I took them out to my car and showed them the car of one messy diabetic lol I showed them the used test strips my medic alert tattoo um my medic alert card with my insurance papers, lancets, glucose tabs um oh and the Humalog pen needles lol they also got to check out a video of 1 happy diabetic on what it feels like to have a low blood sugar and they left pretty informed. it was a good day I would say. ummm school is biting me on the behind I am on spring break but when it starts up again I am going at it with full force!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Got to love tech!

So I was looking around my room looking for yet another piece of D equipment and came across a lot of stuff like the 13 meters I know have more then half I don't use. then 2 old pumps poor guys they need a proper laying ground lol. Ummm then there was the CGMS graveyard I came across not to mention the lancets my gosh the lancets they are taking over. after looking at everything I realized how much diabetes is apart of my life (and when the last time my home got a good solid cleaning lol) It is everywhere I go my car has meter, Glucose tabs, used strips, extra lancet device, and emergency pump supplies. my house well it is a diabetes EXPO! then work locker has all this stuff and on and on and on but you get the just of what I am saying if I have been there then so has diabetes. The technology out there these days is just amazing I mean tubeless pumps different types of fast acting insulin and any type of infusion set you could ever want! ( mine is pink and discreet but I got infusion patches too with decor to go around the site and be pretty! ) ummm all the meters out there wow I mean I remember when it took like a pint of blood to get a reading. ohh and now with the A1C at home test kits that is amazing!! I can't do that though I would prob check like everyday just to be sure I am so over doing it sometimes with my care. and I love the wireless stuff like meters talking with pumps and pumps taking to CGMS ( I have mini med 722 system with the CGM ) I feel like we have all this tech for diabetes but still so far from a cure. someone on tudiabetes.com asked what would you do if you didn't have diabetes for 24 hrs? and I really had a hard time coming up with an answer I mean diabetes and I got this relationship thing down I do what it wants and it stays happy. I sleep, eat, drive, work, play, bike,swim and millions of other things with diabetes 24-7. I do know one thing without the diabetes I would not be the same person. I am stronger! duh anyone who can stick themselves with needles and fight to stay alive is strong. umm it has taught me to double check everything. I mean lord knows I used to sit on my bed at night with my mom or dad and we would pack all my school stuff and then the D stuff and check it again to be sure. That carried on with me now every test I take in school I double check, every work I do I double check it helped me a lot. I am more aware of my health because of the D not just the D portion either but all of it. I am so I guess you could say D tech savvy! and now I am getting an itching for wanting to upgrade my 722 pump for the new revel mini med just put out. it has more alarm features and still works with all the stuff my 722 does. so not sure yet but I am thinking about it.