I haven't posted for a while again. Been too busy and in between that, I've been resting a lot to manage the things I do.
As I'm typing this, I haven't slept at all yet and I'm watching a morning show on TV that I do like, but usually I'm asleep so I can only watch clips of it afterwards online. This morning they have a diabetes theme to the show because one of the hosts "celebrated" three years of being type 1 diabetic a few days ago and with that, decided to open up more and share his life as a type 1 diabetic to raise awareness for diabetes. Now it's been a well known fact that he's type 1 ever since he got diagnosed as he's never kept it hidden, but now he's really doing a lot to raise awareness for the condition after having received many emails from worried parents who have kids who feel ashamed about diabetes and hence not taking their insulin as they're supposed to. This morning it's not just the host who will be talking about his diabetes, they'll also have an 11 year old guy visiting who's had type 1 for the past five years, and they'll also have their TV doctor talking about diabetes.
I think it's absolutely amazing that Peter Jihde does this now, the response this far has been incredible and it's such an important subject! There can never be too much awareness for type 1 diabetes, so much can happen so fast with blood glucose levels and it's so important to respond fast to the changes or it can be very dangerous. There's still too little knowledge about diabetes among the general population, and some people are staring or say rude things if someone with diabetes check their blood glucose level or take insulin in public. The stares and rude comments can be very problematic as it makes some with diabetes feel uncomfortable to do their diabetes related things in public and instead feel that they need to hide or even go to the bathroom to inject insulin. Checking blood glucose and taking insulin is as natural as using a napkin when you eat, and really, there are things that are far worse to do at the table- blowing your nose at the table is one example! I'd rather sit in a room with 100 diabetics checking their blood and taking insulin at the table, than have one person blowing their nose anywhere near me when I eat! But then, I'm one of those who go under the type 3 label, type 3 being a person who is educated about diabetes and/or living with someone who has diabetes. I even have issues with my blood glucose myself at times and do own a blood glucose monitor that I use when I feel my levels may be off. I've seen 3.2mmol/l and 10.9mmol/l without being on any medicine that affects blood glucose, so yeah, some may even say I'm pre-diabetic but I do not have any diagnose, I do however keep an eye on it, especially at times where I need to take steroids because of my allergy, then I do become diabetic temporarily with levels up to 12.4mmol/l.
Checking blood glucose just involves a tiny drop of blood and normally there's little or no bleeding afterwards because the lancet is so tiny (nowhere near the size used in labs) so you don't really see what's going on unless you sit right next to the person. The needle used to inject insulin is so tiny you can barely see it regardless of the person using a syringe or a pen to inject. So why is it so uncomfortable for people to see? You don't even really hear what's going on, just a tiny click from the lancing device, maybe a beep from the monitor if the user hasn't turned off the beeps, and there may be a slight clicking sound from an insulin pen as you dial the dose and push it in, but again, you won't really notice it unless you're right next to the person.
Someone blowing their nose however... It sounds like an elephant farting and you can't miss it!
I fully support this awareness project by Peter Jihde, I quite frankly love it because he can reach so many people because of being a public person! His Instagram already has many thousand followers who support the project and it only just began on Saturday. He can educate so many now, and make fellow diabetics feel more comfortable about their situation and not feel ashamed about managing their diabetes in public.
While everything he does is in Swedish, I still want to share this with my international friends because this is so amazing, and since I have many friends around the world with diabetes, do check this Instagram account and feel free to use the hashtags and upload your own insulin injections to join the cause!
https://www.instagram.com/jihdesdiabetes/
Due to lack of sleep right now, my ability to type isn't what it's supposed to be but oh well. I just wanted to share this because I'm thrilled about the awareness coming out and wanted to share what an amazing TV host we have here in Sweden!
Here's a clip from his three year diaversary! http://www.tv4play.se/program/nyhetsmorgon?video_id=3232776
Hope you enjoy!
Showing posts with label Diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diabetes. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Public service announcement!
Now first of all, I am not a medically trained person, nor do I live with the diagnose in question. I'm just someone who's taken the time and effort to read and learn, so that friends with the diagnose in question can feel safe when we hang out, and can come to me for support if they need to. I am a so called Type 3. I am of course talking about diabetes.
Having started to read about it in high school or just before due to having schoolmates and later, friends living with type 1 diabetes, I've had time to learn a fair bit through the years (probably some 15 years by now) about the differences between the various types of diabetes and its management.
It really grinds my gears when I hear someone say "oh, you have the bad diabetes" when someone who's insulin dependent either takes out their syringe, pen or insulin pump to take some insulin to correct a high blood glucose reading or cover for a meal or snack.
Now, there's no such thing as "bad diabetes" or even "bad diabetics" A diabetic taking insulin doesn't mean he or she got the bad diabetes, it merely means that he or she is an insulin dependent diabetic either because of an autoimmune reaction that ruined the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas, or too little insulin is produced, or the person has some resistance to insulin and need more than the body produces itself.
Type 1 diabetes which is autoimmune, can hit someone at any time in their life though the most common is to be diagnosed in childhood to early adulthood sometime. Type 1 is always insulin dependent since the insulin production has been greatly reduced or completely eliminated due to the autoimmune reaction that attacked the insulin producing cells. Insulin has to be injected in some way as the gastric juices ruins the insulin, these injections can be done either with a single use syringe, a pre-filled or re-usable pen where you just change the needle for each injection and throw away the pre-filled pen when empty or put in a new cartridge of insulin if it's a re-usable pen, or you can use an insulin pump which gives a continuous infusion of insulin at a rate that you program it to and can set different rates per hour for different times of the day if you need to.
The body needs insulin both to function in general, but also to handle anything that you eat. Normally someone using syringes or pens will have two types of insulin, one slow acting which is injected once or twice daily, and one rapid acting to cover for meals, snacks or random high glucose levels. Someone using an insulin pump normally only have rapid acting insulin, and as mentioned above, the pump continuously gives insulin at the rate you've set it to, and for meals, you use the pump to give a dose that you select there and then based on what you're eating, what you're doing, current blood glucose, insulin to carbohydrate ratio, correction factor and sometimes even more factors are involved in determining the dose needed. Taking insulin for meals is the same regardless of delivery method, the only difference is that many new pumps can make the calculations for you, and that you can take a more precise dose compared to pens or syringes.
Whether an individual use a syringe, pen or pump is all about personal preference (and in the case of USA, what you can afford and what the insurance company will cover for you)
Each delivery method has both pro and cons though in general a pump is considered to give more freedom as you can set the delivery rate to fit your daily life more accurately. With a long acting insulin you can't make any changes here and now, nor can you get different doses at different times throughout the day. With a pump you can have for example 0.5 units of insulin per hour during some hours of the day, 0.75 unit per hour another time of the day and maybe you have the so called dawn phenomenon where the liver dumps out glucose to start waking you up in the early hours of the morning, with a pump you can program the pump to give a higher basal dose at the time where the dawn phenomenon occurs.
Wearing a pump doesn't mean someone has bad diabetes, or is a brittle diabetic or anything. It's just a personal preference to push some buttons instead of taking an injection several times per day, along with being able to have a tighter control over the blood glucose. The downside with a pump is that if it malfunctions and you don't catch it on time, you may end up with dangerously high glucose levels as you have no long acting on board to keep you level like you do on injections. Also, some people don't like the idea of being attached to something at all times.
As for type 2 diabetes, it's not autoimmune and may or may not require insulin injections. Normally it is diagnosed in adulthood but it's not unheard of in children and young adults. Genes play a big role in whether you get type 2 diabetes or not, it tends to run rampant in families and even keeping your weight at a good level and living a generally healthy life is not a guarantee to avoid developing type 2 diabetes, even though it's said to help preventing development of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can also be associated with some medicines or other health issues, such as PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome) where your weight or lifestyle doesn't play a big role at all. Type 2 is not a fat person disease and no one who is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has brought it onto themselves! Diabetes doesn't care what size you are!
Type 2 diabetes can be treated with a healthy lifestyle, tablets that lowers blood glucose either by making the pancreas produce more insulin or make the body more sensitive to the insulin produced, insulin through the same delivery methods as for type 1 diabetes, or injections of some fairly new medicines that also makes the body more sensitive to insulin.
Someone with diabetes will have both high and low blood glucose levels, no matter what they eat and how often they test blood glucose levels. The glucose does fluctuate all the time, it does in non diabetics as well, only that the body compensates for it automatically in a non diabetic and the fluctuations are less extreme. Someone with diabetes has to maintain a healthy glucose level by doing the things their body does no longer do on its own.
When someone has a low blood glucose it's very important for the person to eat something that contains carbohydrates, preferably simple carbohydrates like glucose as it enters the bloodstream faster than complex carbohydrates like starches. You do NOT give insulin to someone who has a LOW blood glucose!
In severe cases where the person is unresponsive, call for an ambulance immediately and if the person has a Glucagon kit and you know how to use it, administer glucagon as it will make the liver dump out glucose which will bring the glucose levels up. Eating something is important to not crash again. Severely low blood glucose left untreated may cause coma or even death.
Symptoms of low blood glucose includes but is not limited to: tiredness, shakiness, confusion, hunger, headache, mood swings
When someone has a high blood glucose it's important to get the glucose level down again, this can be done either by taking insulin, exercise some or in some cases, take extra medicine. Drinking fluid (sugar free) can help lower the levels some as well by flushing the system a bit. Nevertheless, it's important to stay hydrated, high blood glucose levels often cause the person to need to pee more which may rapidly lead to dehydration. Just keep in mind that only drinking water may wreck havoc with the electrolyte levels, so make sure to get some salts as well.
In severe cases where the person is unresponsive, call an ambulance. If ketones are present, you need to at least call a doctor unless you know how to handle it. The combination of high blood glucose and ketones may lead to a condition called Diabetic Ketoacidosis or DKA for short and it is a medical emergency. DKA is most common in type 1 diabetes, and is quite frequently seen in persons who are unaware of their diabetes before getting diagnosed.
DKA left untreated may cause coma or even death!
Symptoms of high blood glucose includes but is not limited to: excessive thirst, needing to pee often, tiredness, hunger, mood swings
Ketones is a waste product from the body burning fat for energy instead of glucose. Ketones in the combination with high blood glucose always needs to be taken seriously. It is not the same as having ketones in the bloodstream from eating a very low carbohydrate diet where ketones are desired.
I write this post as the basic knowledge around diabetes is very poor among the general public. Basic knowledge about one of our most common chronic conditions that comes with rapid changes that can quickly become dangerous unless treated correctly. It doesn't take long to learn how to recognize a low blood glucose and how to handle it, and it only takes a second to ask someone "Are you feeling okay?" if you see someone who doesn't look like he or she is feeling well and you recognize the signs. Don't assume that the person is drunk or on drugs!
Again, I'm not a doctor so don't use this post instead of seeking medical attention, nor use it as medical advice. I just wish to show some differences between the most common types and hopefully get rid of some misconceptions about both diabetes and how to help someone with diabetes who's having a rough time with their blood glucose.
It's sadly all too common that people think low blood glucose means needing insulin, when in fact it could be fatal to give insulin when someone has a low blood sugar.
People with diabetes got the condition for often unknown reasons, they did not eat too much sugar in their childhood!
Someone with diabetes can eat whatever they want, as long as it is covered for. But if you have someone over who has diabetes, don't assume that they'll want to have something very loaded with carbohydrates, have some various choices of foods and snacks and let the person choose instead, and don't question them if they have a piece of cake, or say no thanks to the very same cake.
Why I even write a long post like this?
Well, it happened again... A friend of mine who's had type 1 diabetes since long before I was born, had a nurse ask if it was the "bad diabetes" just because the insulin pump beeped! I mean seriously! A NURSE! *sighs*
End of rant and public service announcement. Have a nice day and now I shall continue to listen to music.
Having started to read about it in high school or just before due to having schoolmates and later, friends living with type 1 diabetes, I've had time to learn a fair bit through the years (probably some 15 years by now) about the differences between the various types of diabetes and its management.
It really grinds my gears when I hear someone say "oh, you have the bad diabetes" when someone who's insulin dependent either takes out their syringe, pen or insulin pump to take some insulin to correct a high blood glucose reading or cover for a meal or snack.
Now, there's no such thing as "bad diabetes" or even "bad diabetics" A diabetic taking insulin doesn't mean he or she got the bad diabetes, it merely means that he or she is an insulin dependent diabetic either because of an autoimmune reaction that ruined the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas, or too little insulin is produced, or the person has some resistance to insulin and need more than the body produces itself.
Type 1 diabetes which is autoimmune, can hit someone at any time in their life though the most common is to be diagnosed in childhood to early adulthood sometime. Type 1 is always insulin dependent since the insulin production has been greatly reduced or completely eliminated due to the autoimmune reaction that attacked the insulin producing cells. Insulin has to be injected in some way as the gastric juices ruins the insulin, these injections can be done either with a single use syringe, a pre-filled or re-usable pen where you just change the needle for each injection and throw away the pre-filled pen when empty or put in a new cartridge of insulin if it's a re-usable pen, or you can use an insulin pump which gives a continuous infusion of insulin at a rate that you program it to and can set different rates per hour for different times of the day if you need to.
The body needs insulin both to function in general, but also to handle anything that you eat. Normally someone using syringes or pens will have two types of insulin, one slow acting which is injected once or twice daily, and one rapid acting to cover for meals, snacks or random high glucose levels. Someone using an insulin pump normally only have rapid acting insulin, and as mentioned above, the pump continuously gives insulin at the rate you've set it to, and for meals, you use the pump to give a dose that you select there and then based on what you're eating, what you're doing, current blood glucose, insulin to carbohydrate ratio, correction factor and sometimes even more factors are involved in determining the dose needed. Taking insulin for meals is the same regardless of delivery method, the only difference is that many new pumps can make the calculations for you, and that you can take a more precise dose compared to pens or syringes.
Whether an individual use a syringe, pen or pump is all about personal preference (and in the case of USA, what you can afford and what the insurance company will cover for you)
Each delivery method has both pro and cons though in general a pump is considered to give more freedom as you can set the delivery rate to fit your daily life more accurately. With a long acting insulin you can't make any changes here and now, nor can you get different doses at different times throughout the day. With a pump you can have for example 0.5 units of insulin per hour during some hours of the day, 0.75 unit per hour another time of the day and maybe you have the so called dawn phenomenon where the liver dumps out glucose to start waking you up in the early hours of the morning, with a pump you can program the pump to give a higher basal dose at the time where the dawn phenomenon occurs.
Wearing a pump doesn't mean someone has bad diabetes, or is a brittle diabetic or anything. It's just a personal preference to push some buttons instead of taking an injection several times per day, along with being able to have a tighter control over the blood glucose. The downside with a pump is that if it malfunctions and you don't catch it on time, you may end up with dangerously high glucose levels as you have no long acting on board to keep you level like you do on injections. Also, some people don't like the idea of being attached to something at all times.
As for type 2 diabetes, it's not autoimmune and may or may not require insulin injections. Normally it is diagnosed in adulthood but it's not unheard of in children and young adults. Genes play a big role in whether you get type 2 diabetes or not, it tends to run rampant in families and even keeping your weight at a good level and living a generally healthy life is not a guarantee to avoid developing type 2 diabetes, even though it's said to help preventing development of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can also be associated with some medicines or other health issues, such as PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome) where your weight or lifestyle doesn't play a big role at all. Type 2 is not a fat person disease and no one who is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has brought it onto themselves! Diabetes doesn't care what size you are!
Type 2 diabetes can be treated with a healthy lifestyle, tablets that lowers blood glucose either by making the pancreas produce more insulin or make the body more sensitive to the insulin produced, insulin through the same delivery methods as for type 1 diabetes, or injections of some fairly new medicines that also makes the body more sensitive to insulin.
Someone with diabetes will have both high and low blood glucose levels, no matter what they eat and how often they test blood glucose levels. The glucose does fluctuate all the time, it does in non diabetics as well, only that the body compensates for it automatically in a non diabetic and the fluctuations are less extreme. Someone with diabetes has to maintain a healthy glucose level by doing the things their body does no longer do on its own.
When someone has a low blood glucose it's very important for the person to eat something that contains carbohydrates, preferably simple carbohydrates like glucose as it enters the bloodstream faster than complex carbohydrates like starches. You do NOT give insulin to someone who has a LOW blood glucose!
In severe cases where the person is unresponsive, call for an ambulance immediately and if the person has a Glucagon kit and you know how to use it, administer glucagon as it will make the liver dump out glucose which will bring the glucose levels up. Eating something is important to not crash again. Severely low blood glucose left untreated may cause coma or even death.
Symptoms of low blood glucose includes but is not limited to: tiredness, shakiness, confusion, hunger, headache, mood swings
When someone has a high blood glucose it's important to get the glucose level down again, this can be done either by taking insulin, exercise some or in some cases, take extra medicine. Drinking fluid (sugar free) can help lower the levels some as well by flushing the system a bit. Nevertheless, it's important to stay hydrated, high blood glucose levels often cause the person to need to pee more which may rapidly lead to dehydration. Just keep in mind that only drinking water may wreck havoc with the electrolyte levels, so make sure to get some salts as well.
In severe cases where the person is unresponsive, call an ambulance. If ketones are present, you need to at least call a doctor unless you know how to handle it. The combination of high blood glucose and ketones may lead to a condition called Diabetic Ketoacidosis or DKA for short and it is a medical emergency. DKA is most common in type 1 diabetes, and is quite frequently seen in persons who are unaware of their diabetes before getting diagnosed.
DKA left untreated may cause coma or even death!
Symptoms of high blood glucose includes but is not limited to: excessive thirst, needing to pee often, tiredness, hunger, mood swings
Ketones is a waste product from the body burning fat for energy instead of glucose. Ketones in the combination with high blood glucose always needs to be taken seriously. It is not the same as having ketones in the bloodstream from eating a very low carbohydrate diet where ketones are desired.
I write this post as the basic knowledge around diabetes is very poor among the general public. Basic knowledge about one of our most common chronic conditions that comes with rapid changes that can quickly become dangerous unless treated correctly. It doesn't take long to learn how to recognize a low blood glucose and how to handle it, and it only takes a second to ask someone "Are you feeling okay?" if you see someone who doesn't look like he or she is feeling well and you recognize the signs. Don't assume that the person is drunk or on drugs!
Again, I'm not a doctor so don't use this post instead of seeking medical attention, nor use it as medical advice. I just wish to show some differences between the most common types and hopefully get rid of some misconceptions about both diabetes and how to help someone with diabetes who's having a rough time with their blood glucose.
It's sadly all too common that people think low blood glucose means needing insulin, when in fact it could be fatal to give insulin when someone has a low blood sugar.
People with diabetes got the condition for often unknown reasons, they did not eat too much sugar in their childhood!
Someone with diabetes can eat whatever they want, as long as it is covered for. But if you have someone over who has diabetes, don't assume that they'll want to have something very loaded with carbohydrates, have some various choices of foods and snacks and let the person choose instead, and don't question them if they have a piece of cake, or say no thanks to the very same cake.
Why I even write a long post like this?
Well, it happened again... A friend of mine who's had type 1 diabetes since long before I was born, had a nurse ask if it was the "bad diabetes" just because the insulin pump beeped! I mean seriously! A NURSE! *sighs*
End of rant and public service announcement. Have a nice day and now I shall continue to listen to music.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
It's that time of the year again!
Well, it's spring and as always in spring, trees will turn green and attempt to reproduce using their "biological warfare" as I like to call it, namely Pollen! The great fear for us who suffer from seasonal hayfever.
I've been allergic to pollen since my early teens, and for each year it basically just gets worse. Despite my best efforts to keep my symptoms at a manageable level with antihistamines and local steroids, I have since 2010 ended up with needing oral steroids or long acting steroid injections to get back in control of the situation.
Now it's that time of the year again, my pollen issues are at its peak despite taking both Desloratadin tablets and Mometason nasal spray and inhaling Ventoline when needed. I'm now on this season's round of Betamethasone tablets too! As much as I dislike taking cortisone type medicines due to the possible risks with it, it is indeed a necessary evil when it comes to this allergy, and the benefits from taking it greatly outweighs the risks.
See, cortisone isn't good to take if you have a connective tissue disorder that's already weakening your connective tissue, as cortisone may also weaken the tissue. But I'm just on a low dose for maybe two weeks, so it should be fine. In the past years when I've taken cortisone of any kind for my allergy, I have not noticed a negative impact on my joints at least. But the general recommendation for connective tissue disorders like Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or Marfan etc. is to avoid steroids as much as possible.
Another thing that I do get with cortisone tablets is secondary diabetes. My blood glucose gets elevated and even goes above the diabetes threshold at times. It's also a common side effect of cortisone. But again, I'm only taking it for such a short time, so to me, the discomfort of an elevated blood glucose is a pretty cheap price to pay for feeling so much better allergy wise. I do however keep a blood glucose monitor at home, I've had it for years due to fluctuating glucose levels even when I'm not taking cortisone. But when I am on cortisone type medicine, I test my levels regularly to make sure I don't go dangerously high all of a sudden.
Today I've already been kinda high-ish and my levels are elevated compared to my normal, but not alarmingly high. Do I feel that my levels are elevated? Why yes, I do, but it's not out of hand. I get higher levels on Prednisone or Prednisolone than I do on Betamethasone, so I'm glad to be able to take Betamethasone which along with not giving me as high levels, also doesn't give me that "steroid restlessness" and insomnia that cortisone medicines may cause.
Hoping to not need the Betamethasone for very long this year, but I am expecting a couple of weeks because that's the norm for me. Also hoping my joints will behave this season as well. My left shoulder is clonking enough and subluxing even when I'm not taking any medicines that's affecting the tissue.
On a completely different note, my wheelchair had a flat tire yesterday, so now I've experienced that too! Sometime has to be the first for that as well. Fortunately I had a spare inner tube at home so dad and I could change the inner tube of the tire. Didn't find a leak immediately on the old inner tube, but the tube did lose a lot of air within just hours yesterday so it was best to change it. Old tube still has some air in it and will see when I wake up if it has leaked more or not, and dad may check it more for leaks too. We're not sure if it's the rubber or actual valve that's broken, just that it is something that makes the air seep out at a slow pace.
And I really need to do some maintenance of my caster wheels too! Should do that tomorrow.
I've been allergic to pollen since my early teens, and for each year it basically just gets worse. Despite my best efforts to keep my symptoms at a manageable level with antihistamines and local steroids, I have since 2010 ended up with needing oral steroids or long acting steroid injections to get back in control of the situation.
Now it's that time of the year again, my pollen issues are at its peak despite taking both Desloratadin tablets and Mometason nasal spray and inhaling Ventoline when needed. I'm now on this season's round of Betamethasone tablets too! As much as I dislike taking cortisone type medicines due to the possible risks with it, it is indeed a necessary evil when it comes to this allergy, and the benefits from taking it greatly outweighs the risks.
See, cortisone isn't good to take if you have a connective tissue disorder that's already weakening your connective tissue, as cortisone may also weaken the tissue. But I'm just on a low dose for maybe two weeks, so it should be fine. In the past years when I've taken cortisone of any kind for my allergy, I have not noticed a negative impact on my joints at least. But the general recommendation for connective tissue disorders like Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or Marfan etc. is to avoid steroids as much as possible.
Another thing that I do get with cortisone tablets is secondary diabetes. My blood glucose gets elevated and even goes above the diabetes threshold at times. It's also a common side effect of cortisone. But again, I'm only taking it for such a short time, so to me, the discomfort of an elevated blood glucose is a pretty cheap price to pay for feeling so much better allergy wise. I do however keep a blood glucose monitor at home, I've had it for years due to fluctuating glucose levels even when I'm not taking cortisone. But when I am on cortisone type medicine, I test my levels regularly to make sure I don't go dangerously high all of a sudden.
Today I've already been kinda high-ish and my levels are elevated compared to my normal, but not alarmingly high. Do I feel that my levels are elevated? Why yes, I do, but it's not out of hand. I get higher levels on Prednisone or Prednisolone than I do on Betamethasone, so I'm glad to be able to take Betamethasone which along with not giving me as high levels, also doesn't give me that "steroid restlessness" and insomnia that cortisone medicines may cause.
Hoping to not need the Betamethasone for very long this year, but I am expecting a couple of weeks because that's the norm for me. Also hoping my joints will behave this season as well. My left shoulder is clonking enough and subluxing even when I'm not taking any medicines that's affecting the tissue.
On a completely different note, my wheelchair had a flat tire yesterday, so now I've experienced that too! Sometime has to be the first for that as well. Fortunately I had a spare inner tube at home so dad and I could change the inner tube of the tire. Didn't find a leak immediately on the old inner tube, but the tube did lose a lot of air within just hours yesterday so it was best to change it. Old tube still has some air in it and will see when I wake up if it has leaked more or not, and dad may check it more for leaks too. We're not sure if it's the rubber or actual valve that's broken, just that it is something that makes the air seep out at a slow pace.
And I really need to do some maintenance of my caster wheels too! Should do that tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Fun conversation with mum
Was just on the phone with mum and mentioned that a friend of mine, Anna, is going on a cruise tomorrow and having to get up very early to catch the flight and that the security check may take a bit longer due to Anna having type 1 diabetes and wearing an insulin pump. Mums reaction? A pump? Is her diabetes that bad? DOH! I had to give my dear mother a whole lecture about pumps and diabetes! Told her that diabetes is not "worse" just because someone is wearing a pump. A pump is a personal choice and can enable better control by being able to fine tune the dose more than with injections.
I think the message got through anyways, as mum went onto saying "But I haven't heard about many using pumps here" and that is true, told mum it's most likely due to the cost and Sweden not having private medical insurance system like USA and Canada has. It's the regions that pays for pumps in Sweden, so it's a bit more picky when it comes to who gets a pump and not. As far as I know, the pump is just for rent, but it's the consumables which costs a whole farm compared to the cost for injections. I'm not very into how pumping works in Sweden though. But I do know it's not the most common way of treating Type 1 diabetes in Sweden.
Can I say mission accomplished now? I think mum learned something new about diabetes today!
I think the message got through anyways, as mum went onto saying "But I haven't heard about many using pumps here" and that is true, told mum it's most likely due to the cost and Sweden not having private medical insurance system like USA and Canada has. It's the regions that pays for pumps in Sweden, so it's a bit more picky when it comes to who gets a pump and not. As far as I know, the pump is just for rent, but it's the consumables which costs a whole farm compared to the cost for injections. I'm not very into how pumping works in Sweden though. But I do know it's not the most common way of treating Type 1 diabetes in Sweden.
Can I say mission accomplished now? I think mum learned something new about diabetes today!
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