Wednesday, May 26, 2010

been moving

Sorry for the lack of post but I decided two weeks ago to up and move to GA to take a position with a fire dept in west GA. So between moving and getting settled in and finding new doctors for the diabetes which BTW I found a great one in atl. and an ortho doc for my recent knee surgery for follow up. then unpacking and waiting for cable men and delivery guys for furniture and what not it has been one heck of a month. I can't believe how fast I moved and took this job but I will be closer to my family and I love GA. My apt is 10 mins from the gym and the siliver comet trail which is great this time of yr for my puppy she loves to walk and run. I have scouted out my area and am very impressed. I get to go back to my old church and hang out with some old college buddies and start a new work adventure. anyways just wanted to update and will post again tomorrow and get back on track.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

My biggest supporter......

Is it my dad who decided over the phone from a country over seas that my mom should take me to the doctor with the symptoms she told him, or is it my mom who not only spend countless nights away keeping me safe from a high or low and ensuring I was having as normal of a childhood as I could. Could it be my friends who have been through it all with me even the mood swings and silliness of a low blood sugar? What about my twin sis who has this disease as well and has walked this road with me and encourages me as much as I do her if not more? Then what about my D-team? They keep my pump settings right and make sure I have all the tools and training I need to keep healthy. I can't pick just one you see as I have many people who love me and are there for me non stop we the need arises. Without this team of friends family and doctors I don't know where I would be. So to all of you thank you for making my life a lil bit easier.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Making the low go....................

Day 2 – Making the low go. Tell us about your favorite way to treat a low. Juice? Glucose tabs? Secret candy stash? What’s your favorite thing to indulge in when you are low? What do you find brings your blood sugar up fast without spiking it too high?

with lows I tend to vary on the treatment at any given time so first off my fav's
fruitables juice it has 13 carbs and a serving of fruit and veggies!

next up if I don't have time to sit and drink or snack I will use glucose tabs my fav's on those are sour apple and fruit punch they taste the best.

If I am going to indulge then bring on the snickers!!

What brings up my sugar fast with out a spike? peanut butter crackers.

A little side note on yesterday's shift.
so it was 8 am and we were on shift change and all was quiet till the rookie mentioned the word quiet! and of course all heck breaks loose. the first couple of calls were crap EMS should have never been called out. but those didn't bother me. The one that got to me and really broke my heart was for this family we were called out to A 10 y/o male with leukemia and the cc was severe pain with N/V and fever. We get to the home and the whole scene was just sad. The child is on the couch with a bucket beside him. He is very pale and very dehydrated, he was very lathargic. Worse is his vitals sucked too. I started a line and gave him some pain med's to make him comfortable for the drive to the children's hospital. we package him up and get him to the hospital and as soon as we hit the ER doors the child starts to code. In trauma he is intubated and draw labs to find the cause. about 20 mins later he crashes again and all I could think of is beautiful blue eyes with a frail body and the grimaces on his face. he was just a child I said to God in my head why him? he never came back from the second crash. We brought mom and dad in to the room to be with him. I asked the staff to leave so the family could be alone. I passed by about 10 min later and the mother was right there telling the lil one how sorry she was and to be safe. her head on his arm and father trying not to cry. Mom must have seen me and most of the staff because their was not a dry eye in the staff, she came and thanked us all for our hard efforts and gave us hugs she said it was his time to go and she was relieved he was no longer in pain. I don't think I will ever forget those blue eyes.

As always thanks for reading on my crazy life, and God Bless

Monday, May 10, 2010

A day in my life with diabetes.........

5a.m - Slam alarm clock many times then sit up and check my sugar. Morning sugar good at 124 with a nice steady line on my CGM.
5:15 - Turn coffee pot on and figure breakfast carbs since today is a running day I will have peanut butter on toast with a banana and milk. pump bolus calculated and out the door for a good 2 mile run.
5:50a.m - check sugar. chug water and BG is at 147 so good to finish out my run.

6:10 - back to the house for coffee shower and site changes and insulin refill.
6:45 - check purse to ensure I have everything ( monitor, battery spares for CGM charger and pump, infusion set, i.v preps. sensor, senserter, glucose tabs, and strips and lancets) keys, coffee, uniform,book check! off to the fire station.
10:30 - snack time cheese crackers and coke zero. check sugar first ......... 111 good.
1 or so - well god willing I won't get called out for a emergency while eating lunch but it never fails. check sugar........ 159 umm that seems a little high humm I wonder why?
2pm - nap time at the station till a call comes through.
4pm calls and studying so school stuff.
6pm - infusion site got caught on door and got riped out. got to insert new one now.
7pm - calls, calls and more calls ohh and dinner in between. sweet it looks like dinner at I hop tonight! check sugar...... 101 yeah me! bolus up meal and eat away.
10pm - more calls and sleep throughout the night.
1am - been a busy night and my body is feeling signs of low BG which of course not good check sugar..........43 eeekkkk!! juice, crackers, kitchen now! I sit on the kitchen floor for 30 mins while my partners are sleeping soundly. check again ............... 128 way better! back to bed.
7 am - get up check all the supplies on the trucks to ensure full stock. check sugar...... 131 good.
8am - off to the house to catch up on lost sleep and make a good breakfast and prepare for shift at 7 pm to 7am.

So this is about the break down on a day in the life with diabetes.

Friday, May 7, 2010

take 40 dollars worth next time!!

We get called to a patients home last night for a drug overdose. It was 3 am and I am sorry but at 3 am even EMS needs sleep. We arrive on scene to find a 24 yr old male passed out on his couch his roommate had called cause he would not wake up and it had been several hrs. The roommate was not 100% sure if he had done drugs that day or not but did admit to us that they do use heroin, His pulse ox was 93% b.p down the drain at 70 over 30 and pulse was brady at best. I started a line after like the nine mins of finding a usable vein and admin. some Narcan ( I have mixed feelings on this drug it does its job well gets my patients out of the drain but a lot of them come off that high very mean and cursing, hitting and what not ) I admin the drug and the patient wakes up and mad as hell I had a firefighter in the back of the ambulance with me since I can never judge how a patient is going to react to losing that high. The conversation went like this:

Me: welcome back Sir
Addict: what the hell?? you just took away a 80 dollar high!
Me: well if you would have done 40 I wouldn't have been called.
Addict: But now I feel like crap!
Me: well once again refer to my last answer.

This whole call got me thinking (which I prefer not to have to do at 3am ) but seriously we have clinics out there that give out clean needles to people to help keep the spread of disease down so why can't we just hand them all vials of Narcan as well and if we market it properly it might work. I mean think about it every drug addict knows how to shoot up and they know where to find good veins and the ones I pick up always get high with others around so say you and your drug buddy are getting high and he passes out then you can be the "responsible" drug addict ( what ever the hell that means ) and save your friend and allow me some nice longer bouts of sleep.

College finals coming up and ugh that just adds to my lack of sleep. Books go everywhere I do and in between work calls and training events I try to pack more knowledge of stuff I am sure I will never use into my fried brain.

As for soccer yep the season is over and those little girls played their heart out and won the finals!! so all in all not a bad week.

On other notes I have a dang kidney stone right now with a kidney infection so tomorrow I will be heading to the OR for stone removal and stents. I will try to post again this weekend I know I will feel ten times better once all the pain is gone.