Top 10 Reasons why I dislike the DOC

It's true. I have many reasons to hate the DOC some days. Today you get the reasons in list form. Hey I'm lazy.

10.) Time: Do you know how much time I waste reading incite full blogs, comments on twitter, trying to follow all that is going on with my friends, while also trying to work?? Impossible.

9.) Twitter: Up until last year Twitter was something I had, but barely used. I followed some friends, but really it was an annoyance more than anything else. Now I can't help but have to use twitter, my phone, my ipod, my ipad. All have twitter so I can keep an i on things... Get it and i???? Oh I kill myself.

8.) Laughter: My office used to just have music coming out of it. Now I have to be careful that I don't start laughing to hard. People walk by, they look at me, ask questions. Yet how can I explain to them half of the reason why I am laughing my ass off. Usually Kimpants is the culprit. The conversation about the "fixing" of Billy Corgin was by far one of the worst for both of us.

7.) Tears: The same thing as laughter or more induced. I don't normally laugh so hard that I cry. Yet sometimes now more than ever in my life it happens so often. The conversations, again on Twitter, in Google Hangouts, on blogs are to much sometimes. I laugh, I cry, thankfully I don't piddle. It is amazing.

6.) Exercise: I hate to exercise, even though I try to do it daily. Some days I just DO NOT WANT TO. Yet on those days, I see the posts from various bloggers and twitterers and I know it is the right healthy thing to do. They inspire me.

5.) Cluesless: Mind you they are not clueless, I was. I did not know until I found the DOC how many people were in the same boat as I was. Some people having the same motivation issues I was having. Some having less. Others who had different problems. Yet we are all bonded as one sharing thoughts, ideas, time, and energy.

4.) Mothering: I have now adopted more mothers who worry about me. Yet it is good. You mention a low and people worry about you if you don't say anything after awhile.

Yeah that one low resulted in a me who had gone to bed early getting a text to check on me. Followed by me getting goaded into a Hangout. Mind you this is not a complaint.

3.) Mail: I got more mail now. None of it is spam or people asking for money, well sometimes. But postcards, jokes, CANDY!!! It is awesome.

2.) Bacon: I know this is a weird one. Apparently the DOC has this weird thing for unicorns, sprinkles, and Bacon. I'm a vegetarian who has developed an unnatural craving for Bacon now. Seriously guys, knock the crap out. I have only so much will power and I am convinced that Bacon is the gateway drug back to meat.

1.) Money: or lack there of. I have a decent job, the pay is not great, but I have no kids, I have no college to save for. So what money I have is mine. Yet I know it really isn't I seem to be bleeding money since I wandered into the DOC oh so many years ago. From #FFL11 last year where so much money disappeared into. The trip I am planning to visit Jess and Josh. The more money I have to spend for next years #FFL12 meetup. My money is going fast. I am fine with it. Money spent on friends is well worth it.

Yet had I known all of these things when I wandered into the DOC a few years back, would I still have done it??? Hell yeah. I hate them for it. For making me at home with them. Becoming my friend. For listening to me, humoring the bad jokes. I hate them for the laughter and tears. But if I go back to eating bacon, you guys are all dead. It is only a matter of time.

Show your Heart, but don't make me fart

Weird.....

Who the heck comes up with these titles anyway?? Oh wait that's me!

Last night, I had a costume contest with my Youth Group. It was so much fun. Two kids came dressed as me, which was awesome. Others came dressed in well clothing I would not let my 30 yr. old friends leave the house in, let alone a high school aged kid. I really enjoyed my costume. It was an "ironic" costume. I came dressed as a bowl of Halloween candy. (Basically I taped a bunch of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups" to myself. It was awesome. When people mocked the costume, I would say
Eat me!" and toss some candy at them. It was AWESOME.

The irony of course for those who knew was that the person with Type 1 Diabetes was covered in yummy, scrumptious, candy....... (drool) Yet, I was good, I did not eat myself. That did get me thinking though. The candy, not the jokes and innuendos and such. Halloween and Candy. Well truthfully it was less Halloween and more Candy. That "forbidden" fruit to all diabetics, kinda like Ice Cream it is something we should avoid at all costs. Just ask our friend Wendall. (Purposely not looking for him, it is better this way).

I would like to present to the court a different notion. We all know that if we plan it out and it is done in moderation, us pancreatically challenged individuals can enjoy the "forbidden" fruit just as much as anyone else. Bolus, eat, or eat, bolus, it doesn't really matter. There are those who in the past my parents included thought the right thing, the best thing to do was to give sugar free candy. Yes, that lovely fake chocolate or candy, that was supposed to make the withdrawal easier. You know where I am going with this.

SUGAR FREE CANDY IS EVIL. Yep, I said it. EVIL!!!!!!! It looks okay, usually tastes fine. Yet there is this small unexpected surprise when you eat this stuff. It's not the surprise at the bottom of a box of Cracker Jacks. Oh no, that would be nice. It would be the surprise to your poor tummy and well poop shoot. You know what I am talking about. The d-word and I don't mean "diabeatuuus". I mean

diarrhea. It is so scary I used a small font. Who here present has ever suffered the consequences of a sugar-free binge?? It is horrible. I swore that stuff off years ago, even pre-pump. I figured I would rather deal with the high's if I managed wrong, than to deal with the toilet. 

Who would think that the little warning on the back of the bag was so important? "Excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect." Ya think??? I found this quote in an article from WebMD.

"This is thanks to the part of the sugar alcohol that isn’t absorbed. It goes through the intestinal tract and gets digested by bacteria of the gut. Discomfort ranging from gas to diarrhea can result -- depending on how much of the chocolate you consume and your individual intestinal tract.
"The sugar-free chocolates have definitely been helpful for my clients,” says Tamara James RN, CDE, diabetes educator for the University of California-Davis Medical Center. "But they don’t realize that too much of it will cause them intestinal problems."
The key to avoiding discomfort: "Just don’t pig out on it," says McNutt.
The American Dietetic Association advises that more than 50 grams of sorbitol or 20 grams of mannitol per day can cause diarrhea. You can tell how much sugar alcohol is in a serving of each sugar-free chocolate product by reading the nutrition information label (be sure to pay attention to the listed serving size)"


I only linked to page 2, yet the entire article is quite interesting. 

So back to the title of this article. With Halloween fast approaching, think about how to best handle the candy and sweet needs of yourself, your friends, or any children who may have type-1 diabetes. Allow them their fun and candy. Do it right. Let them eat it. Don't show your heart by making them fart... or worse. 

Thank you, thank you. I am here all day.

Laughter Revisted

I know it's been all of like a week and I am already revisiting my thoughts on laughter. Well maybe not revisiting. Because what I said last week is true. What I say today is true as well. Well true to me, you can come up with your own darn opinion. Today, I will do my best to not pick on anyone or have this post require any bonus links. Allyourpageviewsarebelongtome. Yeah, inner nerd is attacking again. Blast it.

So this past week, I have been more or less by myself at the parish. My boss was on a pilgrimage to Italy, which is nice, but that means all of the work falls onto my shoulders. Again, this is fine I can handle it and deal with 90% of the problems. I am a big boy and I even have my big boy pants on. (I have no idea where the line comes from, oh well).  The thing is just like my D, how do I handle it? HUMOR AND LAUGHTER.

Life can be stressful, work can be stressful, things will happen. Yet do this we must. The stress can either cause you to pull your hair out. In my case, I like the hair I have left so I am hoping to keep it. The stress can cause you to go nuts. (Been there the hugging jacket was nice and all, but so not my color.) Or you can just laugh about things.

That is what I did I have been in rare form, I have laughed about it all. Maybe sometimes scandalized people. Sorry again Amanda.

That one killed me. The thing is that this is what keeps me going. Not in the bad sense again. If you are always stressed, angry, annoyed, etc. You will lose it so fast. Yet if we keep a smile on our face and the laughter flowing, well we can make it through anything. I can do this, hell I did it. You can do this. I was so close this time. It is true though. No matter what, 99% of the time sense of humor can see you through the problems we have. If we find the laughter we are golden. If we don't well we are just "cotton-headed ninny-muggins".

Word. (Please don't ask).

Wordless Wednesday - #nerdalert

Not just an ordinary watch. Yes it is my iPod as well. I have a "sport" band in the mail too. So happy!

Laughter is so much better than insulin

Continuing on my random theme of being me the posts from Thursday(Wednesday night), Friday, and today all kinda are tied together in the big picture. I am not a funny person by nature. Maybe funny looking, but my humor in all of its glory has taken me years to develop. Yet, I would not change it in the least. Yes, my sarcasm is varied, it can be funny, it can be critical, it can be judgmental. It can be all of the above, but it is part of what makes me, well me.

My jokes, suck 98% of the time, they are corny, I mean like I should be from Iowa or Nebraska or something corny. Yet, the thing is that people will laugh at them. Not the sympathetic or just plain pathetic laughter. Instead the get a chuckle out of the stupidity of what was just said. Why though? I mean I know my jokes are horrible, yet people laugh at them. Two reasons actually, 1.) I laugh at my jokes first so people feel they need to, in fact sometimes I think it is my reaction to my jokes that causes people to laugh at them. 2.) Timing. It is all in the timing. There is a joke about two comedians discussing what makes a joke funny. I wish I could record it and or tell it, but the one comedian answers with timing, at an awkward moment. More so, it is kinda like the the knock, knock joke:

Knock, Knock!
Who's there?
Interrupting cow!
Interrupting cow (MOOOOO) who?......

If you mistime that joke it crashes and burns faster than a run kills my sugars. So yeah, humor is key. Laughter is important. I can be serious, but I would much rather be goofy. My friends, family, and other people tell me how strange it is how I can turn it on and off right before mass, I am a total goof somedays, yet once the music starts, FR. BRIAN wanders out not Fr. Brian. But truly humor is so important.

When I have a bad day I look for something funny or fun to do. It brings up my spirits but others as well. Maybe sometimes I do provoke people in my delivery or how I handle things, but me = not perfect. Yet I think humor is what gets me through my days. When I am happy it is a joy to share, when I am sad it keeps me happy. It keeps my spirits up. It keeps me going. If I had to give it up, not only would I have a busted pancreas but also a busted Brian (shoulda said brain, but Kerri gets confused sometimes and it is easier for her to not have to reverse the letters).

I don't know, if I had the choice between a broken pancreas or a broken sense of humor. I don't know what I would choose. I mean my insulin pump can keep me going, I don't think there is such a thing as a laughter pump or anything like that. Without my humor I would not be who I am. Without having diabetes I know I would probably be someone different. The two things on some level go hand and hand and I am not sure I who I would have been without them. It's weird. But oh well. I would most likely though, keep my humor. Otherwise, the pas two posts would not exist, especially the one from Thursdays. If that didn't exist the comment I posted on Sara's blog would not exist. If that comment (fifth one down) did not exist, I would not be getting tweets like this from Sara.

Sara you know I love you. (END)

Sarcasm

So for those of you who have yet to figure this out. I am a sarcastic person. Well sarcastic may not be the exact proper word for who or what I am, but it is the answer that I am going to go with today. Dictionary.com defines Sarcasm as: harsh or bitter derision or irony or a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark. Yeah, that is me in a nutshell, but not so much. Apparently the quote, "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit." has been attributed to Oscar Wilde, but there is no written evidence of this either. Again, this is me, but I don't think so. 

Sarcasm is a venue in which what we want to say can be said in such a way that others can relate and see what we mean. ???...??? Brian, what the hell did you just say? Exactly. Sarcasm is just that, something said. Normally no ill will is meant, yet it may appear to be. Yesterday, my post may have been a little sarcastic. It may have been directed at the expense of my friend, I think Sara. Ooh, Sara, look I linked to you on Twitter not just your blog! Drat. There I go again. Sarcasm for me is part of who I am. It is normally not meant to be offensive. It is not a defense mechanism, as it once was. It takes just as much work to be sarcastic as it does to refine every other bit of humor. 

I mean honestly, sarcasm can be hurtful. Yes, yes it can. So can jokes about someone. Sarcasm can be blunt. So can my fist. Sarcasm can be critical, so can a comment such as "you're fat" or  "What the heck did you do to your hair". Sarcasm can be many of these things. Yet it can also be who we are. It can be a way to make light of a situation. "Dude, I'm sorry you have diabetes. It must suck that you can't have sugar and such." "I can't have sugar??!!!?!?!?! Oh chips and pringles. I'm gonna die!" "Can you eat cookies will they kill you?" "Normal cookies no, poison cookies, yes." It is a means of conveying a point without brutally ripping someone apart. We all have had that moment of "... did you really just say that? How do I do this nicely or not so nicely?" I believe Kelly refers to is as sometimes flipping the bitch switch. Sometimes we reply nicely, sometimes we don't. It doesn't mean we hate you or truly mean to hurt your feelings. Yet sometimes when someone says something so unbelievable we move past sarcasm and may rip into you. See #takethatwendell.

I don't normally go that far. For me sarcasm is just who I am. I have told people (Kerri) and others in the past. "If I don't make fun of you or if I ignore you completely. That is how you know I don't like you" So maybe I was sarcastic yesterday, but not to be mean. I love most if not all of my DOCers. I am who I am. I am unique. I am a diabetic. I am sarcastic. Deal with it. Know me, love me, hate me. Whatever, I don't care. 

(As to where this idea or post came from. I don't know. Guilt, sleep deprivation. An attempt to have another post. Who knows. Not me, not you, not anyone. Enjoy it or hate it.)

Guilty as charged

So last week I was having a very interesting, slightly snarcky conversation with Sara. I love Sara, she is an amazing person.

Sara makes me laugh. 

Sara makes me cry.

Sara wakes me up, even when I have gone beddy bye.

(New Paragraph)Have you noticed all my linking to Sara's name?? I am sure you have. And I am sure you may be wondering why. Well last week Sara called me out so to speak. She called me a "lazy blogger" and I think at one point she also called me a man. I would hope that I was a man, I mean that's what the bits and pieces tell me. But yeah, so I am trying to make peace with my laziness. 

(New Paragraph) Did I ever mention I was sarcastic?? 'Cause I am sure Kim, C, Jess, Kerri, or Sara could tell you this. Why though am I doing this? Well it started out during a Google hangout, after being woken up by a text from Jess. There was concern that I was in trouble, since I tweeted that I was low and never tweeted after that. That is true, but well I tweet sometimes, not always. I haven't incorporated Twitter into my life as of yet. Anyway, I guess in my last post I mentioned people and didn't actually tag them. Guilty as charged, but it has nothing to do with laziness, maybe more of time constraints and also the fact that 99% of you who read me, link from people I reference. So sometimes I may mention someone who is "famous" in the DOC and assume you know them. Maybe that is wrong. Maybe I should always link to them. Yet again if I say Kim or Kerri, I am sure you know who these people are.

(New Paragraph) So yeah, that is why I am guilty. The other complaint made was as a guy I don't mark my paragraphs. Well if Blogger would let me tab my marker that would be fine. 90% of my posts you can figure out where the new paragraph starts, but again apparently I don't know how to use paragraphs. So I guess now I need to make an extra special effort to split up my thoughts and lines, just in case you really needed to know where my paragraphs ended. I will do my best. I apologize for the confusion. I really hope Sara is in a good mood when she sees this or I may get it tomorrow. (This post was written on Wednesday afternoon in a moment of total laziness and sarcasm.) Oh and apparently I may sometimes forget to close my (   ), that is all me. 

I LOVE YOU SARA.

Wordless Wednesday: Pumpkin

I just want to state that pumpkins are a bitch to carve when you are using a knife normally meant to carve Roast Beast.

Faith Friday: Without You

I don't know who to blame for this maybe Sara, maybe somebody else, but over the past few weeks, month's Friday's I have noticed an explosion of the Faith Friday's or just been more alert and awake as I blog stalk. I kinda liked the idea of the Faith Friday. So much better than my redited songs on Friday, not that I am saying the songs were bad. I was entertained, but this has a little more substance.
I think the title of without you goes a long way. There are so many things that people love and get excited about. New toys ... Karen and her impatient waiting for her iPhone 4s (I am currently tormenting her online about it). New pets, Kim and any and all Billy Corgin reference (I would post some of them, but I think I have a limit as to how many hyperlinks can be contained in a post and well I don't have the time to post all 1,000 of them anyway). Sorry Kimmy. New babies, kids, nephews, nieces, husbands, wives, the list goes on and on.
There are other more essential things we might not be able to live with out. Blue and Beepy McBeeperson are so important. They have turned my life around in so many ways. The past 3 plus years, my control and care has never been better. Never to late to turn our lives around and make the step in the right direction. Sadly after about a 2 year run, my transmitter may be slowly dying. I started to use my Dexcom roughly around June 15th, 2009. I didn't mark the date, but I know it was late June. I have lost, killed, defected numerous receivers, but the transmitter just keeps going. It is great. I did get a new one last October since Dexcom called to tell me they could get me a new one free from insurance. But why get rid of one still working. One October later, I am still waiting for the puppy to die. The time is getting close, I think. The rep who called me a few weeks ago to tell me I was eligible for a new transmitter and receiver based upon last years reorder was kinda shocked when I told her the one from my initial order was still working. So I asked the all important question, how do I know when the transmitter is actually dying???

1. Limited range (kinda check)
2. Periods of being so completely off with the meter (kinda check)
3. ???? more frequently (kinda check, but it could be the sensor)
4. Transmitter fail (thank God not yet)

These are some of the hints I could face and see, but things are still hanging in there and holding on. So I am at the conundrum, if there is a chance that the transmitter may go in the next few weeks, do I change it this Monday? Monday is a free shower and a great chance to change it. I mean if the transmitter fails, do I lose that sensor as well, cause I would rather not lose the sensor, those buggers are expensive. So what to do. I DON"T KNOW!!!!
So yes, without Blue and Beepy, things would be different. Again, though this is only tech. There is the DOC, I can't even talk about all of you here. I would lose focus and so get lost on my idea for the day. But look at the help and support you have given. Look at all of the posts from KC Simonpalooza. The comments, the videos, the complete jealousy on my part that I couldn't be there. So many pictures, stories, hashtags, and videos. You support us all, you help us all. You all rock. Everyone in the DOC rocks, even if you think I hate you and I don't. You know who you are KMS.
All of these things, are effective. All of these things are great. If I had to do this alone, could I? Probably, I dealt with shots, and 60 second blood tests. I lived 14 years without knowing about twitter, the DOC, and the various sites out there. I lived through it all. But how did I do this? Family and friends, sure. There is more though. My faith and belief in the Lord.
Wow, this took me FOREVER to get here. I am over caffeinated and rambly (new word) today. But truly. Anytime I am down or was down before the DOC and various tech. Anytime I was depressed. Anytime I was low and unable to do much as I waited for the sugar to kick in. I turned my life to prayer. Sometimes just outright prayer of CURE ME!!! Yet more so, it was to calm me, focus me, help me find perspective. It was my support and comfort. It was my hopes and dreams. It was what I had. I knew and know that while there were others out there helping me. I had the Lord to help me. The answers to my prayers and requests for help and guidance came. I stumbled upon others out there. I found a person a T1, who helped me sort some of my issues out. I found Juvenation, I found Kimpants and C. I found the DOC. I yelled Yippee!!! (Sorry bad rhymes and poetry happen).
I know that while I was lost I should have done better for myself. I know though that while my cure is still waiting and out there, one of my prayers has been answered. That being all of you, all of my friends, all of the DSMAers, Bloggers, and FFLers. All of you were part of my prayers and all of you were the answer I was looking for. Without you, without Him, I would be lost. Thank you for being one of the answers to my prayers.



Right as I was posting this, Kim tweeted this, I fell over laughing. "This is the most awesome magnet I've ever seen. WANT. http://outsidepeg.com/products/red-pembroke-welsh-corgi-magnet-all-ears(via @lisafromscratch - thank you!!!)"

Wordless wednesday: Holy wow

Nothing freaks me out normally. Unless it is a freaky ass spider crawling out of my fan vent when driving 60 MPH. I got the bastard though.

The no DDay... The NO D day .... tHe nO "d" Day

Georgie Porgie, AKA Ninjabetic ( I want to be a ninja) proclaimed today to be no D day (still not sure how to list this title). The premise from his page is.... "October 7th is “No D-Day” and it means we spend one day not writing about, tweeting about, and Facebook status-ing about Diabetes!"
I thought it was kinda awesome and cool. Granted I don't FB normally about D and twitter and I, while we do get along, I sometimes forget about him/her/it. So that was fine. Blogging is an inspirational thing. Friday Blogs are not always a gaurantee, but I figured ah what the fructose and said to myself, "self lets think about something to post about." So that's what I did. I thought and thought, picture Winnie the Pooh tapping his head saying, "think, think, think." And finally I did come up with something.

I like to think I am a pretty organized person. Relatively tidy, a place for stuff and it usually ends up there. Key word being usually. Monday night after a rousing game of Ultimate Frisbee, I came back to my room. I took of my sneakers, put my cleats down and notice something.

A bloody shoe convention

WTF?? How did this happen. Half of my shoes escaped from my closet which is two shoes away... (test, test, is this thing on?) and were all gathered to play with each other.

So I thought to myself, Brian you need to do something about this otherwise you will kill yourself when you get out of bed in the morning. So I took the time gathered each pair lovingly and put them back into the closet.  All's good or so I thought.....

Tuesday is my one day off a week. I love Tuesday, I sleep in, make me some breakfast, maybe hit up a movie. Who knows what I will do. It is just a good day. I wandered back into my rooms circa 2:00 napped, went for a run. Sat down on my chair and found this staring at me....

I know I put you away

Today's shoes having another convention in my "living room". I just don't get it. I know I put you away. Later in the day apparently the Flip Flops made it into the mix, not on purpose but I was to amused to take a picture.
Some people apparently have shoe/foot fetishes or something like that. I apparently have this urge to liberate my shoes all over my room and hope that they don't kill me. They have come close and I am pretty sure it's a conspiracy, but I just can't prove it. If you find out that I am dead and the cause is blunt trauma to the head just assume I tripped over a pair of my liberated shoes!

Dear Irony

Dear Irony,
You are so not funny. No matter when you sneak into my room. I just don't care for your sense of humor. Just because last week I mentioned night time lows does not mean you had to slip in on my last night. Yes I know it's all my fault. I did eat the Apple Compote (or however the hell you spell it) on my own. Yes I had to swag it since I really had no clue how to figure that yumminess out. But did you have to smack me in the face at 3:45 in the morning?? So not cool.
You know what else is not cool, the panic trying to figure out what time it is, just so I didn't over sleep. The unbearable lack of any coherent body movement as I tried to reach the 50 count bottle of Wild Berry Dex 4 Tablets. The fact that I downed more than I needed, but just wanted it to end. My room was cold enough and now that I am drenched in sweat, frikin freezing. Come on I don't have a Mr. Bigglesworth. So not cool.
That was this morning. Thankfully I survived, but you just let the irony continue. I mean it is 2:00 in the afternoon. I have had coffee, breakfast, lunch, and brushed my teeth, yet I still taste glucose tab in my mouth. What the fructose is up with that? I had to go and buy more glucose tabs, but thanks to sleuthy Jess over at Me and D I found out that Walgreens has been selling the new Dex 4 Naturals even though they do not show up on the Dex4 Website. Weird.

I got a free bottle of these when I was at this years Friends for Life. They are pretty good in the glucose tab department. Not as much after taste, which I am/was hoping for. So now I have 100 of these bad boys in two different locations. But still, Irony why??
The good news was once I recovered some functionality of my body I was smart about it. I got up, I moved around and stretched a little. I took some Advil since I knew I was going to be sore and have a headache. I bolused lightly to keep the glucoaster in check as much as possible. I topped out at 186 this morning. So yeah, its all good. I just hate it. The lows, the fact that even though Beepy is next to my ear and beeping and vibrating up a storm I sleep through it. The fact that I still haven't figured out what to do if an even worse low hits. That's my own stupid pride. I will get to it one day.
Dear Irony, you taught me a lesson. Go home and take this bloody glucose tab taste out of my mouth!

Wordless Wednesday: $600

This weeks WW came to me two weeks ago when I was low, and was one of the few things scribbled on the post it note in last weeks blog. Hence why I did not make the picture clear. I is smarter than I seem.

Both cost $600 retail

People line up for the latest and greatest. Are willing to pay anything for the newest bit of tech, especially when it has that weird Apple Logo on it (guilty at times). Yet the item on the right is so much more important and people can't afford to get their insulin supply because of the cost. We supplement cell phones, why not insulin. Let's be honest here. How much is the markup on each bottle of insulin??