photo friday

happy hour . going through boxes . the most awesome sushi ever 

diaversary dinner . watching olympic trials with my man . meetings

it's coming! . new dress . the heat is ON

[almost] wordless wednesday

diaversary dinner with my hot date

12 year diaversary

today is my 12 year diaversary. for those who are not hip and cool with the diabetes lingo, that means 'diabetes anniversary' or 'the day i was diagnosed with diabetes' ... 12 years ago. and back in the day, mom would get me a red velvet cake to celebrate this day. (cough cough) ...just kidding mom. ;) because yes, when you have diabetes, you do what everyone else does. celebrate anniversaries with sweets. DUH.

it doesn't seem like 12 years ago. it feels like yesterday. i never really have crazy emotions in either direction on this day ... but i do think, holy crap. i've lived with this for 12 YEARS. that's insane.

i remember dr. awesome telling me, 'in five years or so they'll have a cure.' yeah, that happened. but hey, my pump works for me. and my dexcom changed the control i have of my blood sugar for the better. we've come a long way in the last 12 years.

so i won't say i can't complain ... because i could be one of those people (come on. we all know who those people are who complain about everything NO MATTER WHAT, even when you can think of a million things worse than what they're complaining about) to whine about how awful this disease is and how i have to deal with it 24/7/365, but that won't do me any good. so i suck it up and do what i have to do.  by now, i'm used to it. it's not even an extra thought, it's just a part of my life.

i've come a long way in 12 years, diabetes or not. started college, graduated college, had a few jobs (some better than others), became an aunt to a nephew and a niece, bought a condo (wish i could say sold a condo), went to vegas, went to mexico, went to disney world, met an amazing man, was diagnosed with graves disease, got engaged, had my thyroid removed, and we're planning a wedding - all with diabetes. it's not a show stopper. life goes on.

thanks to everyone for all the support, hugs and laughs over the past 12 years. here's to many, many, MANY more - with or without the disease; in case someday they really DO find a cure.


cupcake anyone?

mini photo friday

it's been a while since i've done a photo friday. i'm going to try to start picking it up again, so this is just a mini edition.

have a great weekend!

wedding things . relaxing . work perk

21 days

best. dexcom. sensor. ever. nevermind the multiple pieces of tape i had holding it on the last week, that baby was AMAZING. so accurate. love it. 


i didn't want to take it off. but, considering i had worn that bad boy for three weeks (two weeks longer than suggested. what?) and it was hanging on by the only smidgen of sticky left, it was time. 

is that a tan line?

if only this obvious reminder of the sensor didn't come with the removal. it'll go away in a day or so, but still. luckily my smart fiance already thought of neosporin. he is ON IT. 

nighttime lows = tired mornings.

the annoying thing about the dexcom? when it's doing it's job, ya know, alerting you to do something to save yourself from a medical emergency, and it hovers above/below the 'low' line ... and goes off over and over and OVER.

and you eat and drink juice in the middle of the night. and then go back to bed, try to fall back asleep (and look at the clock and think 'if i fall asleep now i'll get this much more sleep') and the dexcom decides just one more time, right as you're drifting off, to buzz again. just for good measure. even though you're on the uphill climb, it thinks you're still JUST below 70.

awesome. thanks dexcom.

i'll take this little higher number for now. (STILL STAYED UNDER 200!! success.)

yawn.

you can do this: one year later!

well, it's been a year since kim launched the you can do this project ... i guess it's about time for me to submit my own video, no? (i mean, since i helped with the snazzy logo and i'm on the committee and all) :) 

congratulations kim, what an amazing year it's been for you! 

post-exercise, hair-up, visible scar (my proof i'm graves disease and thyroid free!), groggy-for-unknown-coughy-reasons voice and all. here i am, 12 years later ... and still doing it! 

because that's pretty much the message, right? you can do this. i have. 12 years (on june 26!) ... and going strong. 

we should celebrate. let's have some ice cream! and cupcakes!! 

[almost] wordless wednesday

hello delicious lunchtime friend who doesn't make my blood sugar rise like crazy. 

and your delicious beverage buddy in the background.

oh, hey blog...

sorry blog, that i have neglected you (which means this is a long summary post).

you see, i've been busy with a few things. like finding out i had graves disease, snagging a fiance, having a total thyroidectomy and planning a wedding. 

let's review. i found out i had graves disease on may 19. the option for treatment was nixed because they give you a prescription to keep the disease in remission ... but i am allergic to the drug. so, i met with dr. awesome and he explained the two alternatives. 

option a was to take a radioactive pill - which meant not being around anyone for a week, using disposable plates and utensils, a separate bathroom, etc - a pill that might not take full affect by killing your thyroid for a year (NOTE: this option does work and has for a few people i know personally, it was just not the best choice for me.). he and my surgeon both said they felt surgery was a better option for me, as there is no research that shows if the pill does or does not affect reproductive organs or may cause cancer or other long term effects. The fact that it hasn't shown these things was a plus, but the risk when they said 'if you want to have kids...' (to the woman about to get married) made that plan very unappealing. 

option b was surgery. take the thyroid out. the end. 'then you will be cured of graves disease,' said my amazing surgeon. done. sold. i'd never had surgery, i was crazy nervous, but here we are. i had surgery on may 29 and now i'm graves disease free, with a lovely little scar that will fade quite nicely (that you can't even see if you're a few feet away - and i learned that if you don't know it's there, it has to be pointed out to you). i just have to take a hormone pill each day. which, i've learned in the past month, lots of people i know - or i know someone who knows, or someone whose mom's sister's mother-in-law have to take. 

scar up close - the day i had my bandage removed, a week after surgery

scar far away - a week and a half after surgery

and my blood sugars you guys. ever since my surgery (where my pre-operation blood sugar in the hospital was 333), they have been AMAZING. once i was out of the hospital and off the steroids they had me on for a few days leading up to the operation ... i can count on two fingers the number of times i've been over 200. that's no numbers over 200 in almost TWO WEEKS. it's ridiculous. it makes me feel so good. my fiance (saying that is not ever going to get old. well, until he's my husband) and i went out to dinner at an italian restaurant - where they serve you loads of bread and i had manicotti - i NEVER went over 200. that's unheard of for me. amazing. i've had multiple no-hitters the past few weeks - i've just been too tired, man, surgery really does zap your energy busy to blog them or tweet them. but YAY. it's amazing what removing a pesky organ that's not doing its damn job will do.

at least i'm back to only one malfunctioning, waste of space organ.

(and as for the wedding planning ... we're just five months away and all the big plans have been set - except flowers. got our venue, food, photography, cake, dress, dj ... we're getting close!)