I have posted on this previously but I think it’s important. I used to think that was a crazy question. Now I’m not so sure. Tony at Dsainsights posed that question a while back and I told him I thought he had lost his mind. After paying attention for quite a few months now, Im not positive, but I think he is right. I have noticed that I do tend to trend upward pretty dramatically in the a.m. after drinking coffee. I can’t prove it 100% but it sure seems  like coffee is the cause of it…   Adrenaline and all that…...

Keep an eye out and see what you think. Watch it over time and see what your conclusion is….

oh yeah,   and chocolate mocha latte doesn’t count….  I’m talking coffee coffee….the straight stuff with just cream or sweet and low…
let me know …................

Ahhhhh, the joys of flying while D…..

Sir you’re gonna need to remove your pager…..Ummmm it’s an insulin pump. Oh….Ok, take it off please..Ummm, Id really rather not if I don’t have to…as I unclip it and show it to him. .Ok, I guess. You need to put everything else including your pager in the xray machine. Ummmm, its a glucose meter…. A what? A glucose meter, I’d rather not run it through the xray machine (I understand you probably can, but as I am gonna be on airplanes for the next 5 hours, I’m not really willing to chance anything including it happening to alarm while being off my body. I probably would be hog tied and tasered …lol)

Ok , Sir, Please put it in the basket and come with me says the security lady after I walk through the xray machine. I am directed to a little holding area off from everyone else right by the xray machine, and told not to touch anything and to keep my hands out of my pockets. A little holding area “fenced in” by ropes as I stand there with my shoes off and feeling like a square peg in a round hole.

The following is Loudly announced by the female security officer who is not allowing other folks to proceed….. to the other 5 security folks and the 50 people now starting to back up in line.

WHITE MALE…NO ALARM…. No response…
WHITE MALE…NO ALARM.!!!!!....as she holds up my cgms in the basket
WHITE MALE….NO ALARM.!!!!!!...again, no response
For the fourth time….WHITE MALE !!!!!.....NO ALARM…..
Ok, now I’m starting to feel like a suspected terrorist…
WHITE MALE….NO ALARM…..!!!!!!!

At this point I’m starting to think, jeeessshhh, it isn’t bad enough that I have to deal with this in my own way 24 hours a day and struggle to stay motivated, regulated, and healthy, Now I am being treated like a domestic terrorist.

At that point, a man comes over and and says he wants to wand me…. Sir, I need you to hold your hands out and spread your legs…. Ok, fine… go ahead…. I say in my sock feet and assume the crucifixion position. Ok great. Sir, I’m gonna need to pat you down. Ok, as he feels anything that could be in any spot on my body. Now I’m starting to feel like I am being singled out because of my diabetes needs and am starting to take offense. Sir keep your arms up, don’t touch anything, and keep your hands out of your pockets. Ok, great! he says after he pats me down.

Step over here please sir, and don’t touch any of your stuff and keep your hands out of your pockets….Dont touch anything sir….
I now move to the “other” holding cell of ropes…as I slough over in my sock feet.

Sir, I’m gonna have to wipe down your insulin pump and your glucose meter and place it in this chemical reader over here to check for traces of potential chemicals. Please keep your hands out and stand in place. Please don’t move and keep your hands out of your pockets.

At this point, I truly was having emotional feelings. I understand that they have a job to do, but I was really feeling denigrated. I remembered at that point that I had been shooting targets at the gun range the day before, I was hoping I wouldn’t have a problem with gunpowder on my cgms or pump. I imagine I would have been gang tackled if the chemical reader had had a problem…lol

The man wipes down my cgms with a cloth on a set of tongs and then wipes down my insulin pump….He wipes the whole outside of each, front, back, and sides. He puts it in the chemical reader, and we wait….. hmmm hmmm hmmmm hmmmm hmmm de hmmmm woo doot doo hmmm de hmmm hmmm

After what seems like a minute… beeep Ok, sir, you’re fine, thanks for your cooperation. Have a nice flight.

No problem I say as I put my shoes on and collect my stuff which has been seperated by itself in it’s own area. I gather my belongings and try to put everything back as it was, but as I walk away, I really wasn’t ok…

I was very offended and upset and I’m not the type to feel that way.

Hey thanks for degrading me in public before I get on the plane, No problem, just one more thing I will have to accept that goes along with being D. I sit where I can, put on my shoes, reorganize, regroup, and recover mentally.

I’m not sure why it hit me so hard, I’ve been through this before…maybe it was just that I was “In a fish bowl” in the middle of the crowd and being singled out for something that I don’t have a lot of options to control. The whole process was probably less than 5 or 6 minutes, but it seemed like forever.

Oh well, alls well that ends well. After a day of flying, I got to come home to my kids and wife and give them all a hug. I realize that I am very in love with my family…especially when I am separated from them on my business trips. Life goes on. However, I am guessing I will probably cringe next time I hear: Step over here please sir!!!

Whiskers Brimley    One of my recent videos…..Sorry, I crack myself up…..

You gotta keep smiling with the D” 

Keep Smiling,  Keep Going…..............Bob

I recently tried Apidra for about 2 weeks as my endo thought it might be helpful. I really looked forward to what i hoped would be faster absorption rates that I had heard about.   Sadly to say, after 2 weeks, I am back on Humalog as I didn’t respond well to Apidra.   My wife finally convinced me to go back on the Humalog after about the third or fourth extreme low that she had to resurrect me from. As one who is hypoglycemic unaware most of the times, I dialed back my basal rates and I took less insulin, but the lows hit me really hard and without any warning….rather reminescent of NPH.

I also definitely found myself to be moody and morose and felt my overall mindset was suffering. I dont know if it was from all the lows or what, but it was not a good experience for me.  I am sure others have had positive results with Apidra, and I recommend they continue with what works for them .  For me however, it was not an improvement in my control…..more of a liability.   Sadly, I had hoped it would be an improvement regarding absorption rates….ie improved control, but it didn’t work out for me….

Keep Going,..................................Peace,    Bob

I wanted to wish everyone a Healthy, Happy, and Prosperous 2009. I know 08 was a tough one, but the future is ours to make what we will of it. I believe that there is a lot of opportunity out there right now and in the upcoming year if we only choose to find it. There will be a lot of millionaires made this year…I’m thinking we should all be one of them.

The older I get, I realize what is truly important to me…..My God, My wife, My family, My friends, My health, My belief in myself and others, Good Mentors, Passion for whatever I am doing, Humor, Teaching/helping others to be more, Learning new things, and the understanding not to take myself too seriously.  I know that when any of these are not going right, my life is not going right.

 As most of you know, I wrote The Joy of Diabetes and published it in 2008. It has been a true blessing to be involved with and work with so many great and interesting people in every aspect of Diabetes-publishing-marketing-internet-sales-P.R.-Development and the like. What an amazing industry…and a truly helpful group of diabetics who care.

Sometimes folks look at me funny when they hear Joy, and Diabetes in the same sentence.  I believe they are thinking “excitement and elation”…that’s more like Happiness…

Joy is about Peace and Confidence…..That is what I strive for and what I strive to help others find also.  I think it is safe to say that I have found Joy in my situation.

 I wanted to thank everyone whom I have worked with, been friends with (hopefully both), been helped by, and who have intersected my life in 2008.

 I look forward to finding Joy in this year of 2009. I look forward to you being Joyful in 2009 too…..

 I hope that you, your family, your work, your business, your finances, and your health, are all that you hope for this year. Best wishes………Keep going…………Peace,   Bob

 Ok…I gotta include a couple of my favorite Jim Rohn quotes again here.

 “We must wage an intense, lifelong battle against the downward pull. If we relax, the bugs and weeds of negativity will move into the garden and take away everything of value.”

“Don’t take the casual approach to life. Casualness leads to casualties.”

 “America is unique because it offers you an economic ladder to climb. And here’s what’s exciting: It is the bottom of the ladder that is crowded, not the top”

Wow, who woulda thought….?  I recently was lucky enough to celebrate my 46th Birthday and have been a Diabetic for almost 45 of those 46 years. I think back to how lucky I have been to be born to parents who were so totally involved and who told me I could do or achieve anything I wanted to…..I just had to work with my Diabetes and not against it.

When I was younger, I wondered if I would survive until 30!....But as my mindset and technology and knowledge of the disease improves, I truly believe that it is up to me to set my own course. I will or I won’t win,  based on the decisions and efforts I make every day to set myself up to be successful.

My mindset and approach to this disease will either help me or hurt me. I choose Joy because it’s not about elation  and excitement,...that’s Happiness. Joy is about Confidence and Peace. I have been blessed to have that!

Diabetes, a chronic disease   

Chronic.............7 little letters, but it’s a really, really,  realllllyy looooooonnngggg word!  Hopefully!!!!

Keep going,..................Peace,     Bob

I recently read on the ADA website that they believe there to be 57 million americans with Pre-diabetes.

Holy cow! That would mean with 24 million Diabetics, and 57 million Pre-diabetics, there are 81 MILLION Americans who are basically some kind of diabetic. With a U.S. population of about 300 million, that means that about 1 in 3.7 people are affected by some sort of Diabetes.    Wow!!!  I am afraid the healthcare system is about to be taxed , or maybe overrun…...   I hope that by managing my disease well, I won’t have to be a burden to the system. I think that if managed well, we can all have a positive impact on the health care system by working towards better control.  I guess that is why there is so much interest recently in Diabetes as the numbers of D’s are growing dramatically.

I feel pretty confident that technology will continue to improve the Diabetic’s life over the next few years and maybe even help to slow down the growth of the disease. ....or maybe even that “cure thing” would be nice…It is a matter of time. In the meantime, stay in control and keep the damage to a minimum….

Which is why I really like my cgms….

Wishing you “well”    Bob