My Diabetes Art (and some pigs)

Today is Diabetes Art day for the Diabetes Blog week assignment.  I'm not a very artsy person, but I did create these two t-shirts.


This one is for my JDRF walks.

And this one was created as a gift for the transplant team.  I gave them theses shirts while I was there for my one year check up.


Can you spot the hidden pigs in both?

Accomplishments Big and Small

The next topic for Diabetes Blog Week is Accomplishments- Big and Small.

Well, my accomplishment is realized in hindsight.  Now that I am controlling my blood sugars with the help of my islets and some insulin, I realize how difficult it was before I had the help of my islets.  Looking back, I don't know how I did it.  Since I couldn't control or predict what my BGs would be, ever, I assumed that I just wasn't doing something right.  It was frustrating and at times, discouraging.  Since quitting is not an option, I just felt that I was plodding along hoping for better technology or some great insight that would help me figure out how to make things better an easier.

After my transplant while I was insulin free, things were simple.  The islets did all the work and no mathematic or strategic calculating was necessary.  It was when I needed to go back to using some insulin that I realized how much I actually knew about controlling my BGs.  And more importantly, how the math can work. If 0.8units is what should control my post breakfast blood sugar, it will.  I can see the benefits of exercise and I can tell how long my walk should be to replace part of my insulin needs.  While I was going through my illnesses this winter, I could adjust my insulin upwards to cover.  And after my immunosuppression reduction while my blood sugars were coming back down, I could reprogram my pump to meet these changes as well.

There are still some challenges and a few surprises, but they are explainable and easily remedied.  Frustration never enters the picture.

So, my accomplishment is in keeping myself healthy enough to qualify for this transplant   while my predicament was anything but simple.  What a payoff for some hard work.

Diabetes Memories

The topic for today in the Diabetes Blog Week is Memories.

My memory is of the day that I went completely off of insulin after my transplant.  It had taken 59 days to get to this point since my transplant, but I never had a doubt that I would make it "all the way".  I had been watching my insulin need slowly decreasing as my new islets were gaining their strength this whole time.

The day that I chose was destined to be a fun day anyway.  We were going to Put -in Bay with some friends of ours to spend the weekend.  I knew that I would be getting plenty of exercise and would be able to be focused on how I was feeling.  So, that morning I didn't take my injection of Lantus which at that point was down to only 2 units anyway.  It was both exhilarating and scary at the same time.  I felt free, healthy, and extremely lucky.  I held my breath every time I checked my blood sugar.  It just didn't seem real.  Its been almost five years since I had my transplant now, and sometimes it still feels like a dream.

The day went very well.  My BGs were normal and my energy was amazing.  It was a day that I enjoy thinking back to and am sure that I will never forget.

My wish is that the rest of my diabetes community will have this experience and soon.

Its the 4th annual D-blob week.  I like this idea because it brings so many interesting people together and I enjoy seeing the various viewpoints on the topics.

I'm beginning with one of the wild card topics.  The topic is "What is the ideal diabetes service animal?"  The idea of course is to be creative as far as which animal to choose.  Well, I'm a bit prejudiced on this.  I can't imagine a better animal than a Diabetes Alert Dog.  But, I could add a few characteristics that I think might add to its abilities.

The qualities that make dogs the perfect service animal, also can lead to some of the difficult issues of having a service animal.  They are so cute and cuddly that some people seem to have no choice but to come over and pet and love your dog.  Usually, this is fun and flattering, but sometimes it is an interruption in what you are trying to accomplish.  While I had Senator on vacation in Daytona Beach last year, this was a constant issue.  He was of course the only dog within this very large complex and many people acted like they had never seen a dog before.  Seeing Senator also made them extremely homesick for their own dog.  I can't tell you how many cell phone pictures of dogs were held up for me to see.

So, my perfect service animal would still be a dog.  You just can't beat their intelligence, loyalty, and companionship.  But, they would come with an invisibility cloak for those times when you wish they didn't stick out so much.  And they wouldn't shed.  Or want to go out in the rain.

This picture of Senator is my best argument for why a dog is the best diabetes service animal.  Who could resist this?

He is doing well with his training.  He alerts to my high or low blood sugars and is learning to distinguish between them.  It is an amazing thing to see.

The Moms of diabetes

I'll be combining two Diabetes Blog Week topics today.  Today's topic is "what they should know" about diabetes.  Sunday's topic is Diabetes Heros.  Moms of diabetic children fall easily into both categories.

Since my transplant and getting to know more diabetics, I have had the pleasure and opportunity to meet several of these moms.  I was diagnosed at age 24, so I don't have experience with this from my own Mom's perspective.  Its something that I never really thought about before.  It was a real shock when I discovered how a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes can turn a family's life upside down.  Its hard enough to manage when you have your own biofeedback.  I can't imagine having to judge by behavior when a child's blood sugar must be out of whack.  It would be a constant 24/7 worry.  And a real worry.  The statistic that came out in November shocked the whole community.  1 in 20 Type 1 diabetics will die of low blood sugar.  This must have sent waves of shock through these moms.  They knew that this could happen, but at that rate?!  I have no doubt that that fueled the fires to wake up even more to test blood sugars of sleeping children.  I've heard people say that every morning when they go in to wake their child up that they are literally holding their breath, and hoping to find their child breathing.   I can't even imagine going through that each and every morning.  What heros they really are.

This has been most of my motivation in learning to train diabetes alert dogs.  I think that this could really make a difference.  Maybe more Moms (and dads) could get more sleep.  

Islet cell patch

The assignment for today in the third annual Diabetes Blog Week is to tell about your fantasy diabetes device.

Well, my device is only slightly mechanical, but should do the trick.  Its modeled after Sernova's islet cell pouch system, but takes it a bit further.  My device is a patch that is similar to a nicotine patch.  It is removable and discreet.  It is easily applied to any area of the skin.  It holds an incredible amount of islet cells (pig), that were created to be able to elude the body's immune system.  No immunosuppression is necessary.  Its only electronic function is to perform a weekly C-peptide.  When the C-peptide value decreases to a minimal value, the patch will be removed and replace with another.  Glucose monitoring would not be necessary because there would be no significant   fluctuations in blood sugar anyway.

They would come in various shapes and colors.

Mine would look something like this.  Maybe in green.

If you don't already follow Joshua Levy's blog, you should!

"You should" are words that I try to avoid saying in conversation, and would rarely put into print.  But for this I'll make an exception.



Its the third annual blog week that was created by Karen at Bitter~Sweet.  I plan on writing on a few of the topics.  The first topic is "Find a Friend".  The  assignment is to introduce a blogger that I read and would like more people to know about.

I didn't have to think long on this one.  I've been following Joshua Levy for a few years now.  In his blog, he is constantly scrutinizing the research for the cure of Type 1 diabetes.  He is the parent of a Type 1, so his motivation to do this is obvious.  He has a clear definition on what he considers to be the cure and keeps track of the clinical trials as they progress towards this goal.  He writes scientifically, but impartial.  He gets excited by the ones that are making progress and you can feel his disappointment when the results are negative or inconclusive and an avenue reaches its endpoint.  He writes a little over my head, which I like.  I always learn something.

He also gives credit to where the funding comes for these trials.  I made a poster for my JDRF walk which shows which trials are funded by the JDRF.  It got a lot of attention and served to encouraged people to want to donate more and educate some on what is happening in the research field.  Most people don't have specific knowledge of what is happening and how close we are.

Here is the link to his blog.  I hope that you will find the same inspiration here that I have here.  Many thanks to Joshua for the long hours that he must put into creating this very useful and insightful blog.

He also recently created a new blog about the many times that mice have been cured of Type 1 diabetes.  Also very interesting and must be a good way to air frustration with this seemingly false hope.