Happy Belated World Diabetes Day!!!

Hey everyone! Yesterday I got a text message from my mom during school saying "Happy World Diabetes Day!" I completely didn't realize it was yesterday until my mom sent that. Like I knew it was on November 14, but didn't make the connection I guess... So, if you weren't aware like I kinda was yesterday was World Diabetes Day. Here is what the International Diabetes Federation says about it:

"World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated every year on November 14. The World Diabetes Day campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations. It engages millions of people worldwide in diabetes advocacy and awareness. World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat that diabetes now poses. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2007 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public spotlight. 

World Diabetes Day is a campaign that features a new theme chosen by the International Diabetes Federation each year to address issues facing the global diabetes community. While the themed campaigns last the whole year, the day itself is celebrated on November 14, to mark the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1922."

I know in Cincy there was a party at Fountain Square...sadly I couldn't go, but I definitely plan on it next year if there is one! 

Did anyone do anything special for World Diabetes Day?

Ironically, I had to go see my nurse practitioner at Cincinnati Children's yesterday for clinic. It was just a normal check-up type thing. After waiting for over an hour, she came in checked me out and did normal check-up stuff. She gave me an A+! She said she couldn't complain at all except me changing my sites every 4 days instead of the recommended every 2-3 days. And my A1C was 6.5! I'm not quite sure how it was, but it's still awesome! So, yesterday was a success for me. I was her last patient yesterday and she said she loves to end her day with someone doing such a good job....she said the same thing last time too.. lol :)

How is everyone doing with their care? Anyone else get an A+ at their last clinic??

Any questions?...comments?...

<3 Sam!

Insulin Pumps

I'm not sure if you have an insulin pump or not, but I do :) and it's pretty amazing :)

I have the Animas "Ping." I seriously love it! It's awesome because it came with a One Touch meter that acts like kind of a remote to the pump. I'll be honest... I don't usually use the remote whenever I enter in for food or for a correction. I will sometimes if I'm wearing a skirt or dress. It comes in handy for that. Another reason I love it is because it's completely waterproof. I can seriously swim in my pool without taking it off.. which is awesome :)

OmniPod Insulin Pump

When I went to the pump classes at my diabetes center, there were 3 different ones I could choose from. One option was the OmniPod. The OmniPod is really unique because it is the only insulin pump that doesn't have wires. The insulin is in the Pod which is attached to your skin. In each Pod there is a little computer. You enter in using the remote for it. It was also waterproof. The more I look into the OmiPod, the more I like it. So maybe this will be my next pump....who knows??

What it looks like on

There was also the Medronic MiniMed Paradigm. Pretty much the only reason I didn't get this one was because it was water resistant and not waterproof. Other than that I really liked it. With the MiniMed you can use a CGM with it, which is pretty awesome :)

What it looks like on along with the CGM

So, if you don't have a pump and are thinking about getting one, I would definitely call your diabetes center and they can help you like they did for me!

Have a fantastic day!

Children's Congress 2013

So, I got an email the other day from Juvenation(kind of like facebook for diabetics through JDRF). It was about the 2013 Children's Congress. I had never heard of this before so I decided to look it up. It's held every two years in Washington, D.C. 150 applicants from across America meet there with members of Congress. The representatives explain to members of Congress what life with diabetes is like and why research to find the cure for diabetes and its complications is so critical. They urge Congress to take action to help cure, treat, and prevent type 1 diabetes. 

I think that this is awesome. Just saying. 

So...I am in the process of applying to be a representative for Indiana. I'm really hoping I get chosen. I have no idea what the chances are of me being selected, but I thought I may as well try. The deadline is on Thursday, November 1. If you haven't applied, you should! Even if I don't get chosen, it would be pretty cool if you did!! If you'd like to apply the link is:  http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=115193

Have any of you ever gotten to be part of the Children's Congress before? What's it like? Let me know!! :)


Good night!!

Love, 
Sam :)

:)

School!

So as I've mentioned before, there are quite a few t1 diabetics at my school. So like all of my teachers know what it is but don't really know anything about it or how we take care of ourselves. Even the nurse asks me if I need to do a correction when I'm like in the 80s or 90s... Obviously I'm not going to do a correction for that...

Probably the worst thing about school with diabetes us the number of other students who don't know I'm diabetic and act super shocked when I tell them I am. If I say something about having diabetes they act COMPLETELY shocked and usually treat me slightly different after. I mean I don't advertise to everyone that I am one and I got diagnosed over summer break so I guess that's why they don't realize it...

I hate it if I get a low insulin warning in the middle of a lecture or test or something, too. My teachers always think it's a cell phone and yell at me to turn it off. So when I tell them it's my pump they have this like "oh crap" look on their face and get embarrassed. Then the whole class looks at me which is just super awkward... One time it went off while a was taking a test in my English class and my teacher turned around and yelled, "Seriously?!?!" I told her what it was and she didn't even say a word.... The whole class looked at me and were like "OMG I can't believe she yelled at you and then isn't going to apologize!!" yeah that was the absolute most awkward thing that's happened to me...

Does anyone have any super awkward things that have happened to you? Comment and share your awkward moment!

Love you all!
  ~Sam :)

Lows and Highs...

Hi there!! 

So...lows and highs...where do I even begin???

First off, I hate my BGs being off. It's great when they're normal or even a tad bit high, but I hate it when they're low/really high...

My BG is probably below 70 1-3 times a week depending on what I'm doing that week. Over the summer when I was in marching band, I would always be super careful to make sure I didn't go low, so I would probably only go low no more than once a week. But, not since school started it's a bit different. For some strange reason I was low yesterday and today when I checked before lunch after band. I have literately been eating the same thing for breakfast every day since school started. I've been eating Goldfish (I don't like normal breakfast food and they're so delicious) on the bus and I never do insulin because I have learned last year and the year before that I would be in the 50s everyday. This whole year my numbers have been great...until yesterday.. I absolutely hate being low at school, mainly because I can't focus on anything. And I feel like I could eat like 3 lunches. And because people think it's cool that I get to drink a CapriSun when I'm low...umm...yeah. I think they're crazy, but I guess they just don't understand what it feels like. 

Now for high BGs.. I actually have never had a BG above 375ish in the 2 years I have had diabetes. I don't know why... But it's a good thing. A lot of people talk about how high they go, but I never do for some reason. Most of the time I'm not above 180. If I'm anywhere above 200 though my mom absolutely freaks out and thinks I didn't do enough insulin and blames me for it. Or, she thinks there is a major problem and wants to call the Diabetes Center. It's kind of annoying... Yes, sometimes I do go high because I didn't do enough insulin, but it's not all the time. And I know she's just trying to make sure I'm staying healthy. Whenever I go to the Diabetes Center for clinic they are always shocked when they see how well controlled I am, and so I can't complain. They have actually called me the poster child for diabetes before which is kind of weird, but weird in a good way. 

I've actually wondered before if the reason I am so controlled is because we caught the diabetes early. I don't know if it has to do with anything or not, but everyone I know that got diagnosed was pretty sick and I never really was. I had ketones but never went into ketoacidosis. They told me I would have if we would have waited though. So, I don't know.. I would think someone would have came up with that idea before, but I've never heard of it.. Hmmm...

Well, I hope you had a great week and that you have an awesome weekend!

Love, Sam

Here's some inspirational quotes :)

Hope you enjoyed these :) Good night!!

Don't let anyone else tell you different :)

My Story

Hello! I figured that if anyone is reading this that they might want to know some things about me.

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on June 28, 2010. It was the summer before my freshman year in high school. Two weeks before that I started with the classic symptoms, drink a TON, going to the bathroom a TON, and having a gross taste in my mouth. I also lost about 10-15 pounds because of it. When I started having the symptoms I was actually at Girl Scout Camp. I was complaining to my mom about it, but she just told me to drink more water because I was probably dehydrated. What she was thinking makes some sense because it was super hot out and I was doing lots of activities outside. It was really bad though and very annoying.. So after Girl Scout Camp was over my family took a little "staycation" to Brookville Lake. We took our camper and boat and stayed there for like 5 days. By that time it had gotten a lot worse and my parents finally realized something wasn't right at all. After camping my brother had a baseball game and then my grandparents came over. My grandma, type 2 diabetic, brought her meter over so she could check my BG and it was over 400.  I went to my aunt's that night. My parents talked with my neighbor who's son had gotten it a few years earlier and she basically wanted me to use one of his ketone strips to check if I had any, but like I said, I was at my aunt's. My mom called the doc the next day and I went in right away. They made me pee in a cup and they checked for ketones, mine were large. :/ My doc told me that there was basically a 99% chance that I had type 1 diabetes and sent me to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. She didn't even want us to go home first but since we only lived a minute away from her office she said we could. I got to the ER and got taken back right away. They checked all my vital signs and stuff and then put me on fluids right away because I was so dehydrated. Thankfully I didn't go into ketoacidosis so I didn't have to be on an insulin drip too. The doctors and nurses there were so surprised by how quick we caught it. They said if I would have waited a few more days I would have been really sick and would have been in the hospital longer than the 3 days I was. Everyone at Children's was super amazing. I don't know what I would have done without them. They are always helpful and are always there if you need to call about something.
So I was in the hospital for 3 days. I was using pens pretty much right away which was so much better than the syringes. Once school started I found out that I was one of 3 girls just in my grade who have it. There were a bunch others too. In just my lunch there were 4 of us...and we have 3 lunches. The nurses office was VERY crowded. I got my pump in the end of December. We had met our deductible because it was the same year I was diagnosed so insurance payed for EVERYTHING. Thank God. I had to wait until February to use it, but it was completely worth it. I love it so much! I have the Animas One Touch "Ping." 


Last year was my sophomore year of high school and 2 more people from my school got diagnosed and then there were 5 people in the nurse before lunch. With this many people with it, it makes us think there's like something environmental about it. There is now a total of about 10 people in just the high school that are type 1 diabetic. I think it's insane that there is that many people. I'm really thinking about starting some type of support group/club, but I doubt many people would come to it. I would really like to try and create some type of group in my town, more for younger people, but it could be for anyone.

Now I am in my junior year of high school and things seem to have gotten somewhat harder. My blood sugars are starting to become kind of uncontrolled, but they still aren't that bad. My nurse practitioner said that I was probably in the "honeymoon phase" a lot longer than most t1 diabetics because I was 14 when I was diagnosed. With the help of my awesome diabetes team at CCHMC and with my pump, my numbers are back down.

This year I have really started to want to do something about diabetes if that makes any sense. I have done 2 walks and am going to start volunteering for my local JDRF chapter. And I am super excited to do so!! I really want to make a difference. I believe that I was diagnosed for a reason, and maybe that reason was to help others, to raise money to find a cure and better treatment, or to just be positive about it and to motivate others. I really do try to be positive about everything. Sometimes it is really hard, but if you think about it, you could have something way worse. When I got diagnosed with this awful disease,  all everyone was saying was how bad it was and how sorry they were. They acted like it was the end of the world, but there are so many people who have it so much worse than us and I think everyone needs to remember that. 

So.. Be POSITIVE and be STRONG!!! Make a difference in someone's life and show them how strong we are! I believe that we got diabetes because the big man upstairs knew we could handle it! Diabetes picks the STRONGEST people!

Love you all!!
    Sami Jean <3

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes

So has anyone ever done any of the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes walks or anything else? What did you like/dislike about them?

On Saturday, my family and my neighbor's family did the JDRF Bridge to Cure Diabetes at Newport on the Levee. My neighbor is in 5th grade and also has diabetes. We also did the walk at Kings Island in May. My family and his family made a team, The Bright Duo. Together we raised a total of about $1200 for type 1 diabetes research. I was completely shocked that we got that much! Our family and friends are amazing for donating. But anyways, we got an award at the Newport walk for raising that much money. 

We had the impression that everyone was getting an award and were shocked to find out that about only 10 teams got one! 

Before and after the walk there were little booths set up by various people (JDRF, Lilly, One Touch, etc.) and it was awesome because you got free stuff! I don't know about you guys, but I love getting  free diabetes stuff! For example, I got the new One Touch Verio IQ meter absolutely for free! I think that this meter is really cool. The screen is in color and lights up. The end of it where the strip goes in also lights up so you can easily test your blood glucose in the dark. I really like it but it doesn't communicate with my insulin pump(I have the One Touch Ping.) like the Ping meter does. We also got a ton of Walk to Cure shirts and lanyards and info on new stuff coming out, like this meter that you can attach to your iphone/ipod/ipad. You can use it without it, too. Has anyone tried this meter? If so, let me know how you like it! Or if you want  to know what it's called I can look it up for you. But yeah, lots of cool free stuff. And there was free food before and after! They had pizza, snacks, pop, water, and some kind of juice.

This is our team!
People in charge of the walk made signs for
 the people that the teams were walking for and put them
in flower pots on the Purple People Bridge.
We stole ours :)

I completely enjoyed the walk! The weather was awesome and I was with my family and friends. What's better than that?

So, If you have participated in other walks or events to raise money for type 1 diabetes research let me know what you think!



   ~Samantha <3

Hey there!

Hi! This is my very first post! I will probably update about every week. I'm 16 and a junior in high school. Obviously, I am a type 1 diabetic. I have been for a little over 2 years now. I guess you could say I handled it OK. I've never had one of those "why me?" moments...my dad still thinks I will, but I would like to think otherwise. I try to manage my diabetes very well and usually I succeed in doing that. My nurse practitioner and educator all say that I could be the poster child for diabetes. I have kind of been slacking off for the past year though.. :/ But anyways, my friends and family have been amazing and very supportive through everything. My neighbor across the street is also a T1 diabetic. He's in 5th grade now. It's kind of awesome that we have neighbors going through the same thing we are. 
Well, If anyone actually read this and has any questions/comments/post ideas just let me know and I would be happy to share with others!

Have a great day!!! :)
  ~Sam