Arm? Finger? Pick Your Poison.

I am a PWD (person with diabetes) that tests exclusively on my arm.  The very notion of testing on my fingers literally makes me nauseous.  And you may say, hey, don't knock finger testing till you've tried it... and to that I say oh, I have people, oh I have.  Out of the 11 years I have been managing my diabetes, approximately 5 were spent poking my poor fingers.  When I discovered arm pokers, I made the switch without a second thought.

Interestingly enough, when I told a fellow dia-bad ass about my love for arm testing over fingers, she looked at me like I was crazy.  Turns out, we share completely opposite feelings about where to test.  To each his/her own.  While I do understand that testing on your fingers is the most accurate in terms of blood testing results, I simply say I need quality of life.  I test upwards to ten times a day, and I'm NOT going to subject myself to the yucky feeling I get while testing my digits, or the aftermath of a throbbing finger.

Whether you test on your arm, your fingers, your toes (you KNOW you've tried it!!) the one thing all individuals with diabetes can attest to, are the marks left over from testing.  Here is a not so lovely shot of my arm.  I especially love the contrast between the cute bracelet/watch my mom got me to the gross red marks.  The huz is constantly rubbing blood marks off my arm because at this point, I'm far too lazy to do it myself.  That's love huh?  Just another minor aspect that people without diabetes never have to think about.

Every person's diabetes and how they manage their disease is different.  How often do you test a day?  Where do you test?  Are you an arm or finger kinda person?  Let me know.  And as always, if I can test up to ten times a day to keep myself healthy for myself and for my loved ones, so can you.

Amazing.

Four months ago I was blessed with the arrival of my daughter.  I don't throw around the word 'blessed' very often because 1) I'm not very religious and 2) most happenings don't merit the word.  From the second I found out I was going to be a mother, to the moment I held my child in my arms for the first time, I never imagined I would ever be lucky enough to have a baby. 

While having diabetes blows, every day I am reminded how unbelievably lucky I am to be living a world with technology that helps me to manage my disease.  I often find myself thinking about how different my life would be if I had been born 20 or even 10 years earlier. 

At my last endocrinology appointment I was told that there is a 25% chance that my daughter will be diagnosed with diabetes one day.  While that notion terrifies me to no end, I know I will stop at nothing to make sure she has the best life possible with or without diabetes!

I was moved to tears when I saw this image for the first time.  It reminds me of the love that parents have for their children.  Remember, your health and the health of your loved ones is the most important thing in life.  If I can lead a healthy life for my daughter, so can you.   

Make a Meal for Your Man. Or Lady.

Made this tasty, really simple chicken dish for the huz today. I kinda adapted it from allrecipes to fit what we had lying around. Instead of using chicken breasts I used chicken tenders from Costco. Also, I used rosemary instead of tarragon. Gotta love chicken for that carb friendly aspect. This chicken with a third cup brown rice? You're looking at a Diabetic friendly AND yummy meal my friends.



I always try to get in at least three servings of vegetables a day. The asparagus was absolutely beautiful! I knew I needed to make a dish where it was showcased.


The recipe calls for mayonnaise, but if you are looking for a healthier option, you could substitute light or fat free sour cream. Ditto with the cheese.



















I made this whole dish in like, 20 minutes. All while baby poodle was dreaming away : )



Here is the recipe:

6-8 Chicken tenders
1/4 cup mayo (or light sour cream)
dash of salt
dash of pepper
dash of rosemary
squeeze of Dijon mustard (like 2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup cheese of your liking
12 spears of asparagus
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

Method:
~Preheat oven to 350 degrees
~Pound the chicken tenders till they are 1/4 of an inch thick
~Place the asparagus in the microwave for a minute and a half- till bright green and tender crisp and then set aside
~Mix mayo, rosemary, salt, pepper, and Dijon mustard in a small bowl.
~Spread mayo mixture over each chicken tender; top with cheese, then add asparagus in the center of the tender
~Roll the chicken tenders up and place on a greased baking dish
~If you have any cheese or mayo mixture left over, pour over the chicken tenders
~Top the chicken tenders with the bread crumbs
~Bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink

It's really tasty! Let me know if you enjoy it too. And remember, if I can do it, so can YOU!

Organize Yo'self!

With Diabetes comes the stuff. The lancets. The cartridges. Insulin. Syringes. Glucagons. Testing kits.

For anyone with Type 1 Diabetes, they know that the list goes on and on. That is why organizing your supplies is SO important. When I was diagnosed at age 14, all I wanted to do was forget that I had Diabetes. So instead of organizing my supplies, I did what any angry teenager does. I threw any Diabetes related thing into a corner of my closet and tried to forget about it.

Unfortunately, this led to me running low or out of supplies on a routine basis. It KILLS me think about all the money I've wasted from paying for supplies out of pocket due to a lack of organization.

It's going on 11 years since I was diagnosed and just now I am taking strides to be more organized with my Diabetic supplies. How awesome am I looking now!?







I keep all my supplies in this old bin from my good old sorority days. Keeping them all in one place (besides Insulin, which lives in the fridge) saves me a huge headache from looking all over for everything I need. I'm almost thankful I don't have a 'before' picture. Seriously, it was a hot mess. I had about 2 full Target bags filled with trash when I was done with my little organization project.


I decided to take everything out of the supply boxes
and place each stockpile into separate ziplock bags. That way I always
have a visual of my supplies so I'll know when I need to reorder.
















I also decided to create an 'Emergency Kit' of supplies. This idea was inspired when I wound up in the hospital unexpectedly a few months ago. I tried to explain to my amazing mother in law what supplies I needed for her to bring to the hospital for me and it was a huge pain to say the least. So now, if I need to get out of the house super quickly for whatever reason or if I need to explain to someone what supplies I need- super duper EASY.







So people, get organized. This little task took about ten minutes of my life. And I'm so happy to say that it's going to save me soooo much stress over the pain of running low on supplies. Let me know how it goes for you. Remember my fellow Type 1-ers, if I can do it, so can you.