goal reached!

i LOVE reaching a goal. know what i love more? SURPASSING a goal!

i set a goal to get 13 donations by the end of my 13th diaversary. DONE.

not only done, SURPASSED with 16 donations. 16 donations and a total of $535. my personal goal is $1,000. i'm SO excited! i'm over halfway there in just four days?!

surpassing my personal fundraising goal is what will make me the most excited. it's always so awesome to see how people support something that affects you every day.

this year, the meaning doubles for me. with my dad's recent diagnosis of LADA, donations help both of us.

thank you to the awesome 16 people who kicked off my fundraising this year, and i can't wait to see how it turns out on august 24!

59 days to go.

my diabetes is a teenager.

13 years.

i've been looking at the blank screen trying to figure out what to say about that. another year has come and gone; another year lived with diabetes. pretty much a normal life like everyone else lives, just with a few techonological medical attachments.

so, in my search for words, i read back through some old blog posts. some i'd forgotten about, some were silly, some meant a lot.

i didn't have diabetes as a kid. i didn't go to summer camp. my mom didn't worry about me at school every day (ok, maybe when i was in college she might but i wasn't a YOUNG kid then). i was diagnosed right on the cusp of adulthood. a busy, crazy, exciting moment when it was time to grow up. maybe that's one reason that i didn't have a dramatic reaction to my diagnosis. life was already changing, so this was just one more change at the same time. it fell into place along with all the other new things.

i quickly learned about living with this disease, and took it in stride. i had no choice. i made it through college healthy, graduated, got a job, then another, then another... met a great man, had a fabulous wedding and here we are. a happy new(-ish, we're still newlyweds!) healthy couple.

all these things that some people may believe aren't possible, i'm doing them. i feel like i've written this before, and i'm sure i'll write it again. it's just a part of life. i live with it. i might think about it multiple times on a daily basis, but i don't always broadcast my thoughts. it's always on my mind, but not always on display. and it doesn't control me. i control my diabetes.

welcome to the teen years.



(there's still time to help me meet my goal of 13 donations for my JDRF walk team by the end of my 13th diaversary! just go HERE!)

a fundraising challenge!

my diaversary is coming up on wednesday. wow. already 13 years? where does the time go? (bring on the red velvet celebration cake/cupcakes/i'mnotpicky!)

this weekend, i registered my friends and family team for the local jdrf walk to cure diabetes. at the time, it didn't register with me (no pun intended, although i do love a good pun. SCORE!) that it was so close to my diaversary ... but i thought i'd tie in a fun way to challenge myself to collect donations for a cause so near and dear to me. 

i'd like to get 13 donations (no set amount, every little bit helps!) before the end of wednesday. i have three donations so far (thank you emilee, denise and jeanne!). i know i can do it! i've witnessed and thanked my family and friends as they've come through in a huge way in past years, and i'm confident i can meet and surpass my fundraising goal this year too.

if you'd like to make a donation, visit my personal fundraising page at http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/meredithpack. 

this year's walk is august 24, so i have a little time to raise money for the cause, but i'm kicking it off with a fun goal! celebrating this 13th year in a fun way - benefiting the organization that benefits me and my friends who live with the disease. 

cheers (and thank you in advance)!

share your sunnies link up (a non-d post)

for funsies, it's a non-diabetes post. :)  what a perfect way to start summer (TODAY!! first day of summer!)! i'm linking up with holly (who is hilarious and has a non-diabetes blog) to share my sunglasses!

these are my totally-awesome-super-expensive-name-brand-don't-scratch-them-sunnies.

get serious.

they're my totally awesome CHEAP sunglasses that are CHEVRON that i got in nashville!! $10, baby. and i never buy expensive sunglasses because the minute i do, they break.

perfect example? i got some nice brand name sunglasses at tjmaxx (so they were still only $20 but that is a lot for me to spend on sunglasses, i am a target sunglasses person). a few weeks after having them and throwing the receipt away, the side piece broke off.

i'll stick to my cheapies that are plastic and don't break easily.

i love social media.

i love the internet and social media for a variety of reasons. time-killing, informative, funny, scary, educational, friendly, entertaining ... the list could go on of course. discovering the DOC was a great addition to my life and added to my circle of friends, friends who related to me, living with diabetes.

one thing happened this week that made me really love the internet a lot. i've mentioned before when talking about dr. awesome how i had a fantastic nurse pratitioner when i was diagnosed. and i mentioned how she left the office a while back because she moved.

well, thank you facebook. i took a shot in the dark and looked up her name - which i have done in the past, with no success. this week, i found her. and sent her a message.

yesterday, she accepted my friend request. and commented on my status, asking me to catch her up on the last 7-8 years of my life. haha :) hard to do that in a facebook comment, so i told her i'd love to chat or email ... fingers crossed - and she might even stumble upon this blog when i share the link on facebook!


i bet she'll remember how much she misses dr. awesome. ;)

this is unrelated but hilarious. thank you internet.

diabetes at the pool.

you may remember that one of the lifeguards at the pool we go to has an insulin pump.

we finally got to go to the pool last weekend - and it was lovely. the lifeguard wasn't working, but she was there enjoying the day - with her pink pump on! i never thought my diabetes experience at the pool would branch out farther than seeing her pump while she worked.

a few hours into our stay, a woman came up and asked me if i was wearing a new pump on my arm or a CGM - i explained that it is my dexcom ... as she pulled up her tankini to show me her omnipod on her stomach.

we had a nice little chat about pumps and CGMs along with how it works (or doesn't...) with my pump and how she's considering getting one.

i never would have known that she has diabetes if she didn't approach me - and now i'll always say hi when i see her at the pool.

it's like the real life #doc.

just a note from dr. awesome...

so i had to get some bloodwork double checked because as dr. awesome put it (literally),'that's just weird.'

there are two levels they check with my thyroid bloodwork (at least they did this time); one was normal and one was oddly high.

turns out the high number was a fluke, when they checked it again, it was normal ... highlight of that mail i got - the note he left me on the page:

see, he's that awesome!

keepin' it in the family

i've gotten a few nice messages asking how my dad's doing. obviously great since he went to dr. awesome. ;) AND dad noted that he had never met the doc! my mom went with me to my first appointments when i was diagnosed, and the few that dad went to were with my nurse practitioner (who was fabulous and i was very sad when she moved away). also, dad says dr. awesome gets bonus points for having graduated from the same high school that he did, just four years later.

here's the summary as of now. he might get to have the same thyroid test that i did. and - same thing i was told, it's either graves disease or transient hyperthyroidism.

also, for a few years the family doc has been noting 'diabetic' on his chart with some diabetes-flirty blood glucoses. (diabetes and thyroid issues ... my family shares.) this year that doc decided it's been consistently higher so it was time for treatment. he has been taking metformin since january and is doing well! he recently found out from dr. awesome that he has LADA so he's a part of the club now, we can welcome him to the #doc. :)

that's where he stands and he'll follow up with dr awesome soon. so ya know, we share diseases. it's all good.

...and dad said that dr. awesome lived up to the name i'd given him.

as if there was ever any doubt.

meet dr. awesome!

this morning was my usual endo check up. my a1c is 6.9! i love it when that number begins with a 6. now i'm gonna work on bringing down that .9 part a little bit. my thyroid medicine dosage is also at a good place - didn't have to bump it up, yay!

anyone who reads my blog knows that i love my endocrologist and the people that work in his office. i really appreciate that i get to see an endo that lives with type 1 diabetes. he really 'gets it.' he understands what's going on and he knows what it feels like. we took a few minutes at the end of my appointment today to talk about his career ... and of course, cupcakes.

me: how long have you been an endocrinologist?

dr. awesome: since 1983, 30 years.

me: how long have you worked at this office?

dr. a: I've been with this group for 20 years.

me: what made you want to be an endocrinologist?

dr. a: two things. a lot of people think it was because i have diabetes. during my training there were a few endocrinologists that i was in contact with that i really liked so i got kind of turned on to it. the rest of it sort of fell into place. looking back, i think i'm doing exactly what i was born to do.

me: when were you diagnosed with diabetes?

dr. a: when i was 18. that was one of my high school graduation presents.

me: and you use an insulin pump?

dr. a: yes i do.

me: what is your favorite thing about your job?

dr. a: i love what i do. i'm at the point where people are asking when i'm retiring. i don't ever want to retire - as long as i'm in good health, i won't. i really love what i do.

me: what advice do you have for people living with diabetes - whether they're your patients or not?

dr. a: stay current. pay attention to things. don't get complacent. stay on top of your health but don't let it run your life.

me: what's your go-to treatment for lows?

dr. a: glucose tablets.

me: what if you don't have any with you?

dr. a: juice, coke .. anything with carbs and anything that tastes sweet. but my go-to is glucose tablets. i always have them with me.

me: what's your favorite flavor?

dr. a: grape.

me: what's your favorite kind of cupcake?

dr. a: oh gosh, anything with chocolate! recently i had one that was like carrot cake and it was pretty good too. i love all cupcakes!


imagine that, a person with diabetes who loves cupcakes. :)

without further ado, i'm revealing his true identity! you know him as dr. awesome, allow me to introduce you to the one and only, dr. fred williams!

with my favorite endo

the color run!

we did it! there was very little running involved (i did jog through the first color station, which was not a great choice because it made my legs hurt).

it was tons of fun, i'd do it again for sure!

the big question everyone wanted to know about ... did the sweatband wrapped around my dexcom sensor work to keep it clean?

before:

on my left arm ... not a longer sleeve. cut open wristband to cover my sensor!

after: 

covered in color! 

all clean!

it worked like a charm, didn't slip off, didn't have any condensation like the plastic wrap i used for the mud run. i'd say it was a success! and i'll be keeping that wristband for any future color runs i might decide to participate in. :) 

my team!

the unicorn. runicorn. for real. 

runicorn!

my team throwin' colors

mom ran the 5k, then walked back to find us and walked half of it again! 

i highly recommend doing this 5k!

a colorful event

tomorrow i'm participating in the color run with a few friends and my mom. i can't WAIT!!

i got my white shirt, white socks and white wristbands ... for what? my sweaty wrists? nope.

i did the dirty girl mud run last summer and i taped saran wrap around my arm to cover my dexcom sensor. it kept the mud out, but there was so much condensation it made the sensor lose sticky.

saran wrap = dexcom cover

so tomorrow i'm going to try something more breathable - enter sweatbands. i hope it works, i'll let ya know.

i'm also taking a plastic baggie to put my dexcom in so it doesn't become a rainbow (even though that would be really fun). 

source

let the countdown begin!

a new kind of medicine

we recently had an event where many of our departments created pieces to display some of the services they provide.

the pharmacy showcased how they have the means to provide different types of prescriptions ... and they did it in a fun way, putting skittles in fake prescription cases. IMPORTANT NOTE: this event was for adults. i would never EVER give kids (or anyone for that matter) candy out of a prescription bottle or package nor did anyone take these displays. let's all be responsible adults please and thank you.

we brought the displays back to our office and of course snacked on the skittles that were used (i mean, why waste perfectly good skittles?) ... ALSO. semi-related, i was told that green skittles are no longer lime. they're now APPLE flavored. i'm not a fan of apple flavored candy. no thank you ... anyway - a coworker asked if i wanted some, and i said, 'oh! i should keep some in my office, skittles are good for low blood sugar.'

her response, 'it really is like medicine for you!' ... so true! my blood sugar was low this afternoon and i had some of the skittles ... it really is like medicine for a low. :)

delicious, delicious medicine.

what do you like when you're low (besides glucose tabs and gel...)?

pickles and diabetes.

a few weekends ago, my husband and i checked out the flea market that was set up at the local expo center.

as usual (she says while she hasn't had her dexcom on since last week), i had my dexcom on my arm and was wearing a short sleeved shirt, so of course it was on display ... we'll get back to that.

my husband is a pickle fan, so while i was checking out the garden flags (priorities.) he went over to this big trailer with a huge sign that read 'PICKLES!' ok maybe it didn't have that exact wording, but let me sum something up for you.

i don't like pickles. i also don't like bacon but that's a story for another day. 

i wandered over and he was sampling all kinds of pickled items, not just regular ol' pickles. relishes, sauces ... and then i found something i liked, SALSA. it was delicious! meadowcroft farm, you are awesome. my favorite salsa was mango ...yum.

as i was trying the salsas, the lovely gentleman working said he didn't mean to be nosy, but he used to be a medical professional and wanted to know what was on my arm. of course, i don't mind when people ask, so we had a fun little chat about CGMs, insulin pumps, injections, non-responsible people with diabetes that he saw in his career that made him sad, successful healthy people he saw... you get the idea.

in the meantime, the husband is still tasting samples. i wandered down and the man working that he was talking to asked if i had tried any. NOPE. i don't like pickles.

i got the 'these aren't like pickles at the grocery' speech ... i was skeptical, but i decided to be adventurous (deciding to sample pickles is adventurous? don't be jealous of my exciting life). he asked me a bunch of questions about foods and flavors i liked, and i sampled some pickles! some pickled fruits (pickled peaches?! AMAZING.) and some others ... some pickles tasted like cinnamon. some were sweet. some tasted like what i would say is a regular pickle but it was actually pretty decent. i might actually eat one again - but not the kind you buy from the grocery store.

the family from meadowcroft farm was incredibly nice and even gave us some samples that were hidden behind all the jars. they follow all the family recipes that their grandmother used, now they just make more of it. in case you're wondering, they didn't pay me to do a review, they may never know i posted this. i just really thought it was that good! and i tried something new and they told me they were proud of me. woop woop!

baby steps people, baby steps.

i like pickles!

we ended up buying mango salsa, german pickles and jalapeno & mustard sauce.
it's all really tasty - i wish meadowcroft farm was closer!