tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247617062024-03-13T16:40:01.807+01:00Diabetic daneHeidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-32781232379236127742013-02-12T13:24:00.002+01:002013-02-12T13:24:57.356+01:00Should I blame diabetes?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">....probably not, but I can't say that the possibility hasn't crossed my mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We're currently in the fourth week of hospital admission with our daughter. The reason: <a href="http://www.infantilespasmsinfo.org/" target="_blank">Infantile spasms</a>, a rare form of epilepsy (apparently there are only about 20 new cases per year in Denmark). We first noticed something not right a coupleof days after she'd had her 5-month vaccination. Her whole body would be shaking in cramps for 10-20 sec. after which she'd need a few seconds to return to her normal self. Our first contact with doctors and hospital had them concerned, but without any possibility to make a diagnosis because Amanda was perfectly fine in their hands and we had no documentation for her seizures. When we got that, we returned to the hospital the next morning, exactly a week after her vaccination. While I sat waiting for the doctor to have time to view our video, she had two seizures in just 10 min. Once the doctor and nurses came around and saw the video, Amanda has another seizure, the third in as many hours, and suddenly everything went very fast. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The day of the admission and the following ones, numerous tests were run to find a possible cause, but so far nothing has been found. In this investigation, I obviously cannot help but consider the possibility that the spasms could have something to do with my diabetes, e.g. a consequence of one of the severe hypos I experienced while pregnant with Amanda. The fact that I myself suffered from absence epilepsy for a few years as a child, also brought my thoughts to it being something genetic. I'm also inclined to think that the vaccination had something to do with this, if not as a cause then as a triggering factor,</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> but so far we don't know, and may never will</span>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">All we can do at the moment, however, is hope that he doctors will soon figure out a treatment plan that can keep her seizure free until she, hopefully, will outgrow this. Today is Amanda's 6 months birthday, and this is not the way we'd hope to be celebrating it :-( </span></div>
Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-54823860756498881072012-08-21T15:24:00.007+02:002012-08-21T17:17:40.619+02:00Welcome to the World, Amanda :-)<br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We made it! We made it through 9½ months of pregnancy with overall healthy numbers and measures for both me and the little one. What we didn't manage, though, was to convince the doctors that initiation of delivery induction at 38 + 0 was too early.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />On Monday August 6th (37 + 6), I'd started my day as I liked to do with breakfast and a 14 km bike ride that I managed to get in just before the </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">rain started pouring. I was at my computer by 8:00 AM with a wish to finish as much as</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> I could on the publication that I was working on. Since being at home in the last months of pregnancy, I typically would work on data analysis or paper drafting in the morning and then take a long walk with our dog after lunch. On days when I felt a need for a nap it would typically be just before or after lunch. On that particular Monday, though, the weather forecast had shown that the rain should abate around the time of lunch, so to have the entire afternoon open for the long dog walk - and because the gray and rainy weather outside was making me sleepy, - I decided to take a nap at 9:00 AM.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Before lying d</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">own, my BG was 5.1 (92), having dropped just 0.7 (12) points within the past hour. I knew that I had a tendency to drop over the morning, but at that point it had been 3 hours since my breakfast bolus, and I considered it safe to take a 1 h nap. I set my alarm clock for 10:00 AM, but all I remember is that I hit snooze, then nothing until Jimmi was home with me at 13:30 PM! :-( At that time, I was able to test and had 1.6 (28) staring back at me. Jimmi was very concerned, also for our baby - at that point, </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">my </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">brain was still too foggy to remember how very pregnant I was. He'd called the paramedics, and even though my BG had already climbed to 4.6 (83) at their arrival, I was still very affected by the hypo, and hence we were all off to the hospital for a check-up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">At the hospital, they immediately started an IV on me - even just with saline - and initiated CTG monitoring of the baby. She was affected by the hypo as well, showing a much slower heart rate than she typically would do, so with no room for discussion I was admitted and they were practically ready to cut her out of me with minutes notice. Having both recovered for a few hours, the baby's heart rate was back to normal, my BG was cruising at much higher levels than usual, but at least the doctors backed</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> off a bit, deciding that they probably didn't have to start delivery induction until the next day. E</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ven though I tried, I could not convince the morning round doctors that it would be Okay to wait until Thursday for the scheduled induction to start. They wanted to start right away, so we only managed to push their schedule to start late afternoon instead of in the morning, as this would give us a chance to go home on a temporary leave to pack some things and get a bit of rest (I'd only gotten some 30-45 min of sleep that past night).</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Tuesday afternoon was the initiation of a long and not very successful attempt to induce natural delivery. From the beginning, my cervix was about 2 cm long and very closed. 6 suppositories later that hadn't changed significantly and because I was not willing to agree on a c-section until there were no other </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">opportunities,</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> we proceeded to insertion of a balloon catheter which should mechanically force open the cervix. The first attempt was a painful flop, as the catheter fell out during a toilet visit because the doctor had not been able to fill it as much as required because it hurt like H... The next day (now Saturday!) took a longer discussion with the doctor, who said something different from the doctor who had checked on me </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">over night when the catheter had fallen out, but the end of the discussion</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> was that we should be transferred to the maternity ward and I should be started on a contraction stimulating IV. The plan was that either this alone would be enough to help the baby settle in my pelvis so that she could add a bit of pressure to the cervix to make it open enough for the midwife to break my water, or if that didn't happen, then at least hope that the IV would enable insertion of a new balloon catheter for the night. </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It ended up being the last, this time much less painful, and the balloons</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> were filled as they should. The doctors were encouraged by this and were almost certain that if my water didn't break by itself overnight, then at least it could be broken the next morning.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">On Sunday morning (12.8.12) Jimmi and I were hopeful that the whole thing would soon come to an end and that natural delivery could finally be induced. Unfortunately, the examination after removal of the catheter revealed that induction of natural delivery was not going to happen, and because they had started that process they also wanted to finish it, so c-section was the only way out - we got just 1½ h to get used to that. I had an emotional meltdown when they announced this. It was exactly what I'd feared would be the end of it, because from the very beginning I had felt that our baby </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">would be better off staying in my uterus for another week or two.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Fortunately, the spinal sedation wasn't as unpleasant as I'd imagined, and Amanda screamed her lungs out in protest the minute she was pulled</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> out. She was just 2745 grams and 47 cm, so a very lean little baby. Her blood sugars were perfect all the way, only her stomach and intestines needed a couple of days to get to work </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">properly so we had to stay in the hospital for a few days afterwards.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QrATxJk96Rg/UDOhl62zyVI/AAAAAAAAAN0/kYavzhmxd80/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QrATxJk96Rg/UDOhl62zyVI/AAAAAAAAAN0/kYavzhmxd80/s320/DSC_0017.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779140419672852818" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Amanda, 2 days old, still with a stomach tube, but chilling peacefully with her dad :-)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p6asSE-8FQw/UDOl6CpVJ2I/AAAAAAAAAOI/rCPCJWQc91s/s1600/DSC_0018.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p6asSE-8FQw/UDOl6CpVJ2I/AAAAAAAAAOI/rCPCJWQc91s/s320/DSC_0018.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5779145163407697762" border="0" /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Sleeping beauty, 5 days old :-)</span><br style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></div><br /></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-29316053933810314462012-08-03T16:18:00.003+02:002012-08-03T16:43:00.422+02:00Point of no return<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Yesterday, we had the final pre-scheduled hospital appointments of my pregnancy. It was meant to just be with the midwife and a pump nurse if needed, but because we had so much that we needed to talk through with the midwife it ended up taking most of the morning anyway.<br /><br />The midwife, who's followed me from the beginning was back on duty yesterday, and while doing the heart rate monitoring on the baby we expressed our concerns and frustrations with the decision of induction that we felt had been forced upon us last week. The midwife was very understanding, and ended up checking which doctors were on duty to get us into an additional consultation. Fortunately, the doctors that have been following me along this journey were back after their summer holiday, and with both of them being chief physicians they had a lot more knowledge and nerve than the ones we saw last week.<br /><br />The OB took us through their main reason for sticking to the 38+0 rule, which was new to me: According to her, the function of the placenta will typically drop more or less dramatically after 38 weeks, and this drop in function seems to be more severe and with a quicker onset in PWDs. Both of the doctors were rather surprised though, when we showed them the information we had about the procedure in the two largest national hospitals. Apparently it was new to them that type 1 diabetics elsewhere in the country could be allowed to await natural induction of delivery all up to their due date, so I hope that if we change our mind about trying for a sibling for junior in a year or two, the procedures will have changed in Odense as well to allow this type of approach if there are no problems or complications.<br /><br />In the end we felt like they listened to our concern, and they agreed that postponing the induction a couple of days wound hurt anybody. It's a small, but more acceptable compromise, I think. They offered us a bit of influence and we accepted it. My feeling is still that the little one is not ready to be born just yet, but now at least she may not be out until around 39 weeks. I'll still have to check in for another ctg on Tuesday, but the full examination and start of cervix maturation will not take place until Thursday the 9th of August. This will be the point of no return even if it might still take days before active labor commences.<br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-51588667948701427222012-07-27T08:21:00.005+02:002012-07-27T09:42:31.493+02:00Oh baby!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Yesterday, we had our final grand check-up before the doctors were to decide, when they want to schedule induction of delivery. In Denmark this is normal practice, though there are significant regional differences, with some hospitals hoping for natural delivery commencement and others playing it safe with induction weeks before term. We belong to one of the latter kind. What started out as a great day was turned into utter feeling of frustration and tears :-(</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Our day started at the midwife for a CTG on the baby and a blood pressure check on me. The little one still has a perfectly normal heart rate and activity level, and my BP was just as stable as it as been all way through - 110/73. Next up was the ultrasound weight scan, which again showed that Junior is still following her own growth curve with average tummy and femur measures, but a slightly smaller head. Her weight was estimated at 2,386 grams, which is on the lower normal side at 36 weeks - and which will leave her at just about 3,000 grams at the time when they want to induce delivery.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Now, how can you not be happy and totally in love with this little one?<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VKwv3_frhm8/UBJCLH5Hb-I/AAAAAAAAANg/4fIEGP6dixw/s1600/Junior260712.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 290px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VKwv3_frhm8/UBJCLH5Hb-I/AAAAAAAAANg/4fIEGP6dixw/s320/Junior260712.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5769746831479631842" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Junior at 36 + 2, 260712</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Having made a couple of adjustments to my pump settings based on the sensor output and having my weight and urine checked, the final stop was the doctors' office. Unfortunately, being vacation time, yesterday meant a consultation with two new doctors that we've never seen before - not optimal when you want to make your final points about delivery induction before they make the decision. My feeling with these two docs, as well as the ones we saw a couple of weeks back, was that they weren't really listening to our thoughts and concerns. Whenever we tried to ask for personal explanation to their 38 + 0-rule, we got a general answer along the line of "the risk of complications increases significantly and we cannot justify jeopardizing the baby's life". Not a single personal reason. It seemed like they only refer to their own, and in my mind somewhat biased, experience. I mean, if they don't let people pass the 38 + 0 line, how can they know that the outcome will be so much worse on the other side? We left quite deflated with the message that they would call us in the afternoon once they'd had their end-of-the-day conference to set a date for me.<br /><br />At 3:30 pm the phone rang, and I was told that they'd decided to go ahead with their 38 + 0 recommendation. I argued a bit with the doctor on the phone, and while she said that I could of course reject that decision, then she made sure to play on my feelings, making me feel like a bad parent/patient if I did not follow their recommendations. Both before and after that phone call yesterday I was an emotional mess because of course I don't want to risk complications for me or the baby, but I also have this strong feeling of 38 + 0 being too early for both of us. It's hard for me to explain, but it just does not feel right, especially with the baby's current size and growth.<br /><br />Now that I've slept on it, I think that I'll ask the midwife at the appointment next week whether if I show up for the 38 + 0 appointment, I'll be able to reject their pills if the baby and I are still doing fine and there are no signs of any of us being ready for starting the induction process at that time, or if I have turn the appointment down in advance. In the end of course, I hope that the midwife will be able to come up with a recommendation that is more on my side of things, as I can only imagine that things will be easier if both me an the baby appear more ready for delivery to be induced.....<br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-90153809559210319142012-07-17T08:32:00.004+02:002012-07-17T09:18:20.955+02:00Showered and starting the count down<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">While you sometimes - especially when you're a kid or teenager - feel that you could do without their presence or well-meaning advice, other times it's the smallest things that makes you remember why and just how much you love your family. A couple of weeks ago was my sister's birthday and we'd been invited to a Sunday morning brunch. Our parents came over on Saturday and we all had dinner together at Jimmi's and my place, so we had already sorted her presents at that time. I say this, because it turned out that what Jimmi and I thought would be a birthday brunch for my sister, was actually a baby shower for us that my sister had arranged with both our families and a couple of our friends! Her reason: In her own experience, it had been incredibly hard to constantly have people dropping by with presents in the weeks after their daughter was born, so she hoped that by letting our families provide us with their presents now, we'd get a calmer first few weeks and be able to decide when we're up for visits :-) Have I mentioned how much I love my sister?<br /><br />Today I'm 35 weeks pregnant, which means that after my appointment next week, the medical team will meet up to schedule when they think delivery should be induced. We've discussed this with our midwife on a few occasions, and while she's seems open-minded and supportive of our wish to not force on delivery if it's not medically necessary, she also took the time to explain to us the likely reason that the OB had seemed rather dismissive, when we asked about this possibility last week. It seems like the "induction at 38+0-rule" is based primarily on experience - and since it almost always work well then they are hesitant to make any changes because, if something should go wrong it may be difficult for them to determine if what went wrong would have also gone wrong had the induction taken place at 38+0 and not later. I fully understand that argument, and I may also feel like just getting things over with at that point, but as both junior and I seem to be doing perfectly well currently, and the little one is actually estimated to be on the lower side weight-wise, I do have some difficulty coping with the fact that she may not be allowed to mature more than 3 weeks more inside of me.<br /><br />It may just be the fact that in this case I may not have much to say about the course of actions that makes me feel uneasy about it. I don't know, it just seems strange to me that when there are absolutely no indications of diabetes-related complications for junior or me that they'll still insist on inducing delivery no later than 2 weeks before the official due date. The little one is still growing steadily, but their continuous measurements have kept the medical team very attentive because apparently the little one's head measures slightly smaller than what the median measures are, while the tummy and femur measures are always spot on. Because every thing else seems to be perfectly normal (heart rate and activity level), I find it a bit difficult to be really worried about this - after all we don't know if this is just genetic variation, because none of us were ever measured to this extend and unless something seems completely off, no one measures a newborns head anyway.<br /><br />Only time will tell, and we can almost start the count down.....<br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-3693393284682191002012-07-05T16:31:00.003+02:002012-07-05T17:01:38.242+02:00Twisting and turning - but growing well?<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">"Diabetics tend to get big babies" - a very common line among medical professionals. And sure, our babies may be building up more body weight if our glucose levels are too high. After all, insulin is a hormone with anabolic effects and as soon as our little ones start producing their own, they'll just produce more if the blood running from our system into theirs is too sweet.<br /><br />Still, I think that there are other factors contributing to a baby's weight, regardless whether the mom is a PWD or not. Not least the genetic pool.<br /><br />I'm now 33 weeks along and have switched from biweekly to weekly check-ups at the hospital. Last week was a full day (well technically only half a day) of midwife (CTG), ultrasound, doctors (OB and endo are fortunately sitting at the same table at every appointment), pump nurse, eye photos and blood tests. Since the beginning of May, the ultrasound appointments have been dedicated to measuring the baby's weight and growth. All three of those appointments so far have shown steady growth, with tummy and femur measures right in the middle of their standard curve, but with a slightly smaller head, resulting in an overall lower weight estimate for our baby (10-20% below the center of the curve, but still within the "normal" range). Last week, the midwife had estimated the baby's weight to be around 1,600 g and the subsequent ultrasound came back at 1,571 g. This had the OB a bit concerned - even though the little one is still following her own growth curve - so she ordered another ultrasound before the next scheduled one, "just to make sure".<br /><br />At today's CTG-appointment, the midwife estimated the baby's weight to 1,800 g. Next week will then be another ultrasound to measure it, but while I'm not too worried about the baby not growing well, I obviously cannot just forget the OB's worries about it. I asked around in a forum of pregnant and mommy PWD's, and was comforted by the fact that far from all had had big babies. Also, the fact that my now 6 months old niece was also estimated to be a bit too small, but came out at 52 cm and around 3,500 g at 41 weeks comforts me, as it makes me think that maybe it's just part of my genetic makeup (both my sister and I had similar lengths and weights, and none of us were born "on time", but a bit after our mom's due dates). Or maybe it's just because the little one is so active? ;-)<br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-80148545844463827842012-06-08T09:47:00.007+02:002012-06-08T10:51:48.012+02:00Continuous adjustments<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Between trying to manage my health for the sake of our growing baby and a busy social calender, I've been working hard to complete as many work-related projects as possible. This has made time for blogging and blog-reading limited, but today I found a <a href="http://badpancreas.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/overcompensation-nation-2/">new post</a> from one of my fellow <a href="http://badpancreas.wordpress.com/">pregnant D-bloggers</a> in my mail. It reminded me not only to post a bit myself again, but also how different each and every PWD is in terms of treatment goals and wishes.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Jacquie's <a href="http://badpancreas.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/overcompensation-nation-2/">post</a> was about how, in the process of pregnancy, she has changed her view on desirable BG and HbA1C values originally sown by a statement of her endo in the early days of her diagnosis. Pregnancy has made Jacquie wish for even a temporary membership of the "5-point-something" HbA1C-club. In the context of pregnancy I fully understand that wish. However, I must say that being a member of that club, which I've been for the better part of the past 15 years isn't always a pleasure.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The perfectionist in me has always strove for close-to-normal values, especially as technology improved and I started testing more frequently to get better HbA1C-results. The first 4 years of my diabetic life I had one of the brick-size meters taking 120 sec. to come up with a result, but in 1994, as I won a trip to the final matches of the World Cup in football (or soccer as you American prefer to call it :-)) in the US, my parents </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">and I decided that it was about time to look for a smaller and faster meter. This became the start of me testing more frequently, and even without much attention to it, I soon found myself with HbA1C-values in the 5-6-point-something range. From then on, my competitive mind wanted to stay there.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />I've managed to stay in that HbA1C range, which also made for a carte blanche to get pregnant whenever I felt like it. However, the low HbA1C levels at times also represented numerous hypos, some even requiring assistance from friends, family, colleagues or even paramedics. For many years, I've actually worked hard with my CDE to slightly increase my HbA1C, but I haven't been too successful at it. Also, 5 years ago, an additional autoimmune diagnosis entered my records, namely that of hypothyreoidism. </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It had probably been going on for a while before I finally got into treatment, as during the process of drug dose titration, I experienced a lot of the issues regarding BG regulation that I'd been experiencing on and off for years before. This, along with study and career choices, made me postpone any attempts to start a family, despite Jimmi desperately wishing to.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">When I got pregnant, my HbA1C was at 5.4 and steady for the first three months. Then it dropped to 5.0, and because I knew how many hypos had brought about that number, I certainly didn't feel satisfied, but rather a bit defeated by diabetes and how pregnancy continuously changes all the rules of play in the day-to-day diabetes management game. Last week, my HbA1C came back at 5.1, and this time I feel slightly better about it as the number and intensity of the hypos have decreased over the past months. </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Yet, I still have work to do to try to slightly increase my overall levels in order to make the hypos less frequent. My insulin needs has gone up - currently about 50% - but I'm still very sensitive to physical activity as well as lack thereof, so it's a delicate balance to dose correctly at all times.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> It seems like every time we evaluate my sensor downloads some rates and ratios are adjusted upwards while others are adjusted downwards - there's apparently no common sense for the direction of adjustments yet.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Last week, we had another chance to spy on our baby. The ultrasound tech was then convinced that we are to expect a baby girl, and she's fortunately growing just fine with tummy and femur measures perfectly matching the center of the standard curve. Her head measured a bit smaller, so overall she was estimated to be in the low normal weight range, but following the growth curve perfectly well :-)<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z02QHvEUaA8/T9G5ULALBUI/AAAAAAAAANE/6CHkA_9OneQ/s1600/xx310512.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 257px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z02QHvEUaA8/T9G5ULALBUI/AAAAAAAAANE/6CHkA_9OneQ/s320/xx310512.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5751581955330868546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Junior at week 28 + 2 </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">:-)</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />I hope that she'll continue like this, and that I - hypos aside - will continue to feel as well as I do now. Then we'll see if I'll let the doctors go ahead with their principled requirement for induction of labor in just 8½ weeks from now :-)<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-54037386451892893162012-05-03T14:53:00.004+02:002012-05-03T15:30:39.031+02:004 down, 20+ to go.....<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I have more than 20 different hospital appointments in the next 11 weeks - all related to being a pregnant diabetic. The hospital has a scheme with biweekly doctors appointments until week 32, then weekly appointments. On top of that, there are midwife appointments, numerous ultrasounds - from now on I'll have at least 2 per month to judge the baby's weight - eye screenings and appointments with my pump nurse. They sure pay a lot of attention to you and your baby! :-)<br /><br />Today I had 4 appointments scheduled, which fortunately was cut to three because the gestation outpatient clinic's diabetes nurse could see that I already had a separate appointment with my regular pump nurse scheduled in three weeks time. Hence, today's program was an ultrasound, a combined OB and endo appointment (this is actually a really good construction to prevent information getting lost or doctors having opposing opinions about treatment goal etc.), and a midwife appointment.<br /><br />The ultrasound revealed that the baby is following the standard weight curve, although lying approximately 10% below - I guess I'm not too surprised by that, because there haven't really been any consistent high BGs for it to feast upon. At the last ultrasound, checking for disabilities, a month ago, the technician couldn't get a clear sight of the baby's gender. This time, we had both a doctor and an ultrasound technician giving it a go, and although the baby challenged them greatly by lying with the umbilical cord between its legs being squeezed tightly together, the ultrasound technician finally announced that she felt relatively sure that it would be a baby girl :-) Maybe our little one is just a tomboy like her mom, who used to find playing soccer with the boys more fun than playing with Barbie dolls ;-)<br /><br />The appointment with the docs was pretty quick as there were no new lab results or anything to discuss or adjust.<br /><br />The midwife appointment was the one that we'd looked most forward to, to be able to ask some of the questions we had about the course of labour induction. We've previously been told that by principle, all pregnant diabetics will be induced at week 38, unless there are complications that would indicated the necessity of premature birth. I've felt a bit provoked </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">by this </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">(I don't know how better to describe the ambivalent feelings I have around this). Obviously I may feel completely ready to get it over with at that time, but I'm also quite sure that if I feel good and if there are absolutely no indications of issues with weight or anything else for the baby, then I'd definitively prefer to let her stay in there a bit longer for both of us to be more ready for birth. We discussed it with the midwife today, and was happy to know that even though induction at 38+0 is custom - and put out in a way that make it sound like it's not up for any debate at all - then we do have a choice to object to this and argue with the doctors. At any point, no induction date will be suggested until after the week 36 ultrasound and appointments, so there will be plenty of time to think about it and decide what we feel best about.<br /><br />All in all, today's 3 hours at the hospital felt like a good trade for the information we received :-)<br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-4241014585345498962012-04-16T16:05:00.008+02:002012-04-17T13:07:17.909+02:005½ months.....<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It started with 2 pink lines just around Christmas time.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e1vJzmV48uE/T41L5wuk6sI/AAAAAAAAAMs/dqW_y0pq_SM/s1600/PC230208.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e1vJzmV48uE/T41L5wuk6sI/AAAAAAAAAMs/dqW_y0pq_SM/s320/PC230208.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732321356417395394" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">About a month later, I spent an entire day at the hospital attending a handful of different introductory appointments. Two weeks later the first ultrasound checking for potential malformations was carried out, letting us see you alive for the second time.<br /></span><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NSWK0A4D1Ys/T4wpIup8ywI/AAAAAAAAAMU/zgoZB5_VWOY/s1600/090212.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NSWK0A4D1Ys/T4wpIup8ywI/AAAAAAAAAMU/zgoZB5_VWOY/s320/090212.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732001655675472642" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This was also how you were introduced to the family weeks later. On purpose, we had chosen not to say anything about you for a long time because 1) we wanted to be sure that you were indeed there and doing well, and 2) minimize the amount of time that our parents would have to freak out in joy, worry and be ever-interested in mine and your well-being. My parent were the last to learn about you after almost 19 weeks. They have been more cool about it than I'd dared to hope and so far haven't increased the number of weekly phone calls to inquire about you and I. Jimmi's parents, on the other hand, have been overly interested - maybe because you'll be their first grandchild. Hence, their disappointment was quite noticeable, when you didn't want to reveal your gender at last week's second malformation-check ultrasound ;-)<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Jimmi and I are just happy that you seem to be doing well, not bearing any signs of my diabetes.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DG6q78zsKp4/T4wrygRNdzI/AAAAAAAAAMg/rtJ6KP0TK6A/s1600/100412_2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DG6q78zsKp4/T4wrygRNdzI/AAAAAAAAAMg/rtJ6KP0TK6A/s320/100412_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5732004572391372594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I've now officially entered week 22 of your creation, and while everyone (doctors as well as other diabetic mothers) seem to say that insulin needs should already be going up-up-up, I haven't really experienced that yet. Sure, some of my basal rates have increased in the course of the past 21 weeks, but many of them have also been reduced, which was also the case for a number of them again at last week's appointment. My A1c - that has been very stable around 5.5 (+/-0.5) for the past 15 years - was 5.4 at the first check post-conception as well as 1 month later. In February, it had dropped to 5.3 and now it's down to 5.0. I would be very happy about this, not least regarding your health, was it not because of all the insane low bg's that I've been struggling the past few months. My basal rates are the very least possible the entire afternoon (0.05 u/h on a Medtronics pump), yet I can still drop like a stone when bike riding or walking. On typical workdays I'll have a 12 km bike ride in the morning and late afternoon, but because my employment contract just expired and I'm now "just" trying to finish a number of publications, my current schedule isn't as predictable. Yet, the hypos sneak their way into life every day. Yesterday, I spent the entire morning in front of the computer and on the phone, trying to fix certain issues, and still was 3.2 mmol/l (58 mg/dl) prior to lunch. A couple of hours later, I was at a very respectable 5.4 mmol/l (98 mg/dl) with the next-to-nothing afternoon basal rate in effect, and thought it was a good time for a walk with our dog. It didn't take more than 20 min to drop me to 3.1 mmol/l (56 mg/dl), though, and even though I consumed a total of 30 g of fast-acting carbs during the 75 min walk, I still was only at 2.7 mmol/l (49 mg/dl) afterwards. I used to assume that the low afternoon basal rates was a consequence of the late effect of my morning bike ride as well as part of the preparation for the ride back home from work, but yesterday's relative inactivity certainly doesn't support that notion.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I don't know. I'm not at all looking forward to becoming more insulin resistant, but I do wish that these unpredictable hypos will cease sooner rather than later :-)</span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-44991205689711542262012-01-16T18:33:00.002+01:002012-01-16T18:45:36.135+01:0022 years<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Twenty two years ago today, I was admitted to hospital with a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. I'm pleased to have survived all these years, virtually complication-free (i.e., if one doesn't count in the occasional hypo-unawareness), yet I'm also saddened by the fact that the promised cure still seem far away. The more I've learn, especially from my education in biomedicine, I've come to think that we will not see a cure until we learn to manage the immune system as well as replace the beta cells that the former mentioned immune system has killed off. This is tricky, and although I hope that it will happen some day, I'm not holding my breath. Instead, I enjoy life despite of diabetes - something which has become far more easy with the technologies of current time, such as insulin pumps, smaller and faster BG-meters, not to forget continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMs).<br /><br />Cheers to the first 22 years - I'm off to "celebrate" by working late in the MS-lab :-/<br /></span></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-6498010647716514612011-10-12T19:51:00.003+02:002011-10-12T20:34:13.596+02:00I wonder.....<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">....if different pumps, even of identical model and brand, deliver slightly different amounts of insulin when set at the same rates?<br /><br />I'm not thinking differences in the range of entire units, </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">but maybe 0.01-0.02 unit differences in delivery when set at the same rates, due to minute differences in the mechanics.<br /><br />The reason I even ask this question is that when I changed my infusion set first thing Monday morning this week, I also switched to the pump replacing my old, cracked one, and ever since I've had way more hypos than usual. Actually to the point where there are almost as many readings below 4.0 mmol/l as t</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">here are between 4.0 mmol/l (72 mg/dl) and 8.5 mmol/l (154 mg/dl) (my desired range). I've only had one high reading Tuesday morning after overtreating a pre-bed hypo in fear of more hypos after a day with no less than 10 readings of 2.1-3.3 mmol/l (38-60 mg/dl)!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXQ8wHkBvZA/TpXbGDK9VeI/AAAAAAAAALY/aJ2LWLaDlp8/s1600/Mon-Wed_week41_2011.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXQ8wHkBvZA/TpXbGDK9VeI/AAAAAAAAALY/aJ2LWLaDlp8/s320/Mon-Wed_week41_2011.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662673003465233890" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I'd entered all my settings with my old pump in one hand and the new one in the other, reviewing them all multiple times to be sure that there were no discrepancies. The significant number of lows could of course be caused by something else and in this sense be totally coincidental, but I do find it strange that it's been like this since Monday. I'll await how the numbers behave after my next site change before I start tweaking basal rates and ins:carb-ratios. Until then I'm wondering about pumps, precision and performance - as well as how I avoid the next hypo :-)<br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-71744053639074110462011-10-08T15:40:00.007+02:002011-10-08T16:18:27.041+02:00Replacement of an injured pump<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A couple of months ago or so, I noticed that my pump had some cracks on each side of the reservoir window. I made a mental note to inquire about this the next time I saw my D-nurse, and then forgot about it again - well at least until the next time I saw a crazy number that called for inspection of tubing and reservoir for air bubbles :-)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xn3G4Sb5C2s/TpBU9fXKP1I/AAAAAAAAALI/oL6CO_yUIks/s1600/PA080198.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xn3G4Sb5C2s/TpBU9fXKP1I/AAAAAAAAALI/oL6CO_yUIks/s320/PA080198.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661118146972106578" border="0" /></a><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_I1nJkK22vA/TpBU0XrNoqI/AAAAAAAAALA/3bW7M2VNAC8/s1600/PA080197.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_I1nJkK22vA/TpBU0XrNoqI/AAAAAAAAALA/3bW7M2VNAC8/s320/PA080197.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661117990289908386" border="0" /></a></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The cracks are visible as thin white lines on the above pictures, my apologies for the poor quality of these, but close-up detail coverage isn't a force of our camera ;-) The cracks actually go all the way into the reservoir window, which on more than one occasion has made me question whether the reservoir was damaged, even if it was bright new and I hadn't noticed anything when filling it up.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Last week, I had an appointment with my D-nurse and showed her the cracks (in Denmark, insulin pumps as well as the supplies are paid for by the hospital treating you, hence I had to ask whether they would want to just replace it or if I should contact the pump company rep about it). Turned out, the decision and way of replacement would depend on whether the warranty period had expired or not - neither of us could recall exactly when I had gotten the now cracked pump.<br /><br />A call to the company rep revealed that my current pump was still under warranty and so the company would send an identical replacement model (if the warranty period had expired, the hospital would have provided me with the newer Paradigm Veo). So now I have a replacement pump to set up before I retire the old one by direct mail to the company :-)<br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LqU2O88PAzY/TpBZcCC8CuI/AAAAAAAAALQ/NKuQoq9_KG4/s1600/PA080200.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LqU2O88PAzY/TpBZcCC8CuI/AAAAAAAAALQ/NKuQoq9_KG4/s320/PA080200.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661123069725117154" border="0" /></a></span></span></span></span><br /><br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-27867865562958782382011-09-06T19:51:00.003+02:002011-09-06T19:59:28.545+02:00Tough diabetes gear<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Last night I'd made the second site change of the day, this time nesting the set on my left thigh. In this process, I'd just binned the new tubing as I already had a new and insulin-filled tubing from the site change I did in the morning. Getting ready for bed, I heard a cracking sound when I pulled up my Pj bottoms. The source of said cracking sound is visible in the picture: One site of the tubing connection had snapped off.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UvcjxTVINhU/TmZe8nuJnsI/AAAAAAAAAKw/b_Zl2toDiyg/s1600/P9060194_ny.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 215px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UvcjxTVINhU/TmZe8nuJnsI/AAAAAAAAAKw/b_Zl2toDiyg/s320/P9060194_ny.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649307178130579138" border="0" /></a><br />I was suprised though, to find that the set still works - the tubing still sticks properly to the set and it's still possible to disconnect with no issues. I guess our diabetes gear is just as tough as we're stubborn in exchanging them :-)<br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-6803621313273908122011-08-02T12:56:00.003+02:002011-08-02T14:29:06.224+02:00It requires a lot of time and effort....<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Denmark has very high tax rates - don't know if they're still the highest in the world or if the current government's tax stop has changed that. Our high taxes pay for free education, unless you choose private schools, free medical care (there are some exemptions here as well) and many other services for the benefit of the population.<br /><br />Diabetes is no cheep acquaintance. Living in Denmark, and for the past few years also in Scotland, however has kept the costs of insulin, pump supplies and test materials low for me. In Scotland, NHS made sure that I got all my insulin and test supplies for free. In Denmark, the hospital I attend pays for my pump, its supplies (except personal pump accessories of course) and the CGM sensors that I may need to use. Insulin is not free of cost. It used to be, but years ago the rules were changed so that we've now got a central subsidy scheme where prescription only medication is subsidised by different rates. If your medicine costs less than 865 kr (approximately $160), you pay the full price, but above that you get 50% subsidised up to 1,410 kr (approximately $265), then 75% for costs between 1,410 kr and 3,045 kr (approximately $265-570), and for everything above the 3,045 kr mark you get 85% of the costs covered. There are different rates for children, but there is still something to pay. For every person, the subsidy scheme is reset 1 year after the first transaction. With the different meds I use, I generally spent most of each "subsidy year" at the higher subsidy rates, but I still find this system sub-optimal. Especially when I was a student, it meant a lot whether I had to pay 1,500 kr (approximately $282) or 15 kr (less than $3) for my medication. Now that I'm employed, I'm better able to cope with these greatly varying medical expenses. I know that this type of system is probably far easier to administrate so that most people can benefit from it, regardless how dependent they are of prescription only meds, but while the average monthly cost for me and other chronically ill people in general is affordable, it is a killer that in reality the costs are so unevenly distributed.<br /><br />Coverage of test strips, lancets, meters, pen needles and syringes etc. have long been regulated, though mainly for type 2 PWDs, and the regulations have varied from council to council around the country. Most places, type 1 PWDs have access to unlimited amounts of test materials free of charge, while type 2 PWDs can only get a certain number (I believe it's some 150 test strips/month, but am not sure). Some councils have had restrictions on where you could get the supplies (i.e. pharmacy or private vendors), but for most parts you'd still have unlimited choice of products. This is now changing - at least where I happen to live. A couple of months ago I received a call from a representative of Danish diabetics asking me if I had any issues getting the test supplies and needles that I wanted now that my council had made a deal with a private vendor about the delivery of these products. I was rather uncomprehending as the council had used this vendor for years already, and I had never had any issues in the past. Mid-June, however, I received a message from the council that they had indeed made a new deal with said vendor, valid from March of this year and 3 years ahead, and that from now on only certain items would be covered. When I looked through the list of items now covered, I was surprised to see that most of the test strips that I use were no longer covered, especially as I had received my latest order in April and had not had to pay anything.<br /><br />Annoyed and a bit confused I phoned the municipality services to inquire about this. I was told that the council had decided upon the selection of meters, test strips and lancets based on what was most often ordered. I was still puzzled by this answer, as I know that I order about 1,200 test strips every year for my main meter. These strips are included in the current deal, however only in 50 strips packages and not the 100 strips packages that I normally order. The response was that the pack size had been chosen to accomodate the restrictions on number of test strips covered for type 2 PWDs. Hmm, I guess I can live with this - twice the number of test strip cassettes will obviously take up more space in my closet, but it's the council who'll have to pay more for the higher number of 50 strips packs than for less 100 strips packs. What bothers me more is the fact that the selection of meters included in the deal is so narrow, and doesn't contain a single of the small, handy meeters. Most of the meters on the list are rather big/heavy, their main feature being big displays. Two of the meters that I use are on the list - my primary meter and a newer all-in-one solution that I find some use of when on the move where a single-hand operated device generating no waste is nice. The latter meter, however will probably never be my favourite due to its size and weight (it almost resembles a late 1980'es cell phone by size and weight). I'm of course pleased to find my primary meter on the list, but also greatly saddened to see that the FreeStyle Lite meter that I keep on my night stand for middle of the night/first thing in the morning tests is not. To my knowledge, the FreeStyle meters are the only ones (available to Danish PWDs) with a test strip light, which is why I heart this meter by my bed. I don't have to get up to turn on the light when I feel queasy from a middle of the night low, and most important, I can perform the test immediately instead of having to wait until my eyes have grown accustomed to the light, thus also making it much easier for me to go back to sleep afterwards. I don't even want to think about how little sleep I might get when having to deal with basal rate tests without a meter that I can use in the dark!<br /><br />Poking my fingers up to 15 times a day (when I'm not wearing a sensor), I have carefully chosen the lancets that I prefer, not to mention the lancing device. None of them are on the current list. It's not that I need to renew my lancing device that often, and it isn't even that expensive, but it bothers me that I can now only choose from thicker lancets than the ones I currently use, unless I pay for them myself. My fingertips definitely tells me that there's a huge difference between using lancets of 30G (a selection of which, as well as some 28G, are available from the current list) and the 33G ones that I've used ever since they came out. In Scotland I had the "pleasure" of getting the same brand of lancets in 30G instead of 33G once, and it was a painful month to get through, leaving numerous black dots on my otherwise dot-free fingertips!<br /><br />My phone call to the council assured me that of course I could continue to order the supplies I wanted, but that I would be billed for those not included in the current deal. While promising myself that I wouldn't leave this without a fight, I accepted this message. Today I had to order new supplies and as usual I logged in to the vendor's web shop for this. My order contained both supplies included in the deal, a lot that are not, and some glucose gel. The glucose gel and other non-medical consumables (food, books, batteries, etc.) are usually paid for during the check-out process, and I had been told that billing for the supplies not included in the deal would be handled separately, so I just proceeded to check-out to pay for my gel. However, I wasn't able to proceed, just got an error message that I couldn't continue while running "Navision Application Server". I didn't really know what to make of that so I had to call their customer service, and was then told that this was because my order contained items not covered by my council's deal with the vendor, and that the vendor just had not yet managed to set up the online ordering system to deal with such orders! Sheesh!!!! I then had to give my order by phone, and time and time again assure the customer service assistant that, yes, I knew that I'd have to pay for part of my order, and indeed I would do so as well as fight the council separately.<br /><br />Now I need to gather information about the legislation on this area to see what my options for arguing the council's decision are. My current order will cost me 1,700 kr ($320), and will probably last me for a couple of months, so if I have to pay for everything in the future, I need to revise my budget to include these significant additional expenses. Don't get me wrong, I don't see it as an obligation for everybody else to pay for my medical expenses, but I do find it wrong that I'm charged such high taxes without then being able to choose what I want these tax money spend on. If I and other PWDs pose too high costs for the council then I'd rather the council limit the total amount they'd be willing to pay for my D supplies than having them try to force me to use "medieval" remedies. I know it's all about budget cuts, and that some will probably see me and other Danes as spoiled kids when we complain about these types of restrictions, but it's probably because they have never been used to a tax-financed health care system, or if they have, then have never had to make as much use of it as chronically ill people have. In a country with high tax rates nobody will make equal use of all the services paid for over the taxes, it's a joint club and those who have no need for medical aids may have a host of school-aged kids who get free education, or spend hours every day on the roads and bridges that are also partly or fully financed by taxes.<br /><br />It does indeed require a significant amount of time and effort to cope with the challenges presented to us in consequence of diabetes - especially when we don't only have to fight our own body but also municipal decisions affecting our health.<br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-41077884776055641462011-07-26T16:04:00.015+02:002011-07-27T14:37:56.633+02:00What kept me too busy to blog......<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As I mentioned in my <a href="http://diabeticdane.blogspot.com/2011/07/life.html">post last week</a>, I'd give </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">you a </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">review of what has kept me from blogging these past 3½ years, diabetes included. In short, I'd say that it has been a mixture of intensive work and everything around deciding to build the <a href="http://boligprojekt.net/">new house</a> that we moved into in December last year. This has obviously all been seas</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">oned with diabetes high and lows, but also with a final exam and subsequent unemployment on different levels, while trying to land either a job or funding for a research project that I want to carry </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">out.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZL-96n4IZDo/TjADUSLrp8I/AAAAAAAAAKA/W8j_vmLXMbY/s1600/P7100161.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZL-96n4IZDo/TjADUSLrp8I/AAAAAAAAAKA/W8j_vmLXMbY/s320/P7100161.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634006780853594050" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;">My leather-bound thesis - its contents kept me busy for the past 3½ years :-)</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />In my last post before my un-noticed hiatus, I wa</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">s abou</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">t to leave for Glasgow as part of my postgraduate studies, and part of the preparati</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">on for that trip involved getting my hands on a CGM. I had hoped to update you on my experience with the Minimed Paradigm CGM, b</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ut that didn't happen in a timely manner, and while every experience is individual, I'll definitely spare you a lengthy review on the pros and cons of this s</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ystem :-) In short though, I can say that I have used Minimed's system on and off ever since. I say on and off because while I'd were it continuously whenever in G</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">lasgow for extended periods of time, I'd typically take a break from </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">it when back in DK, only using it for special occations (e.g. stressful weeks around deadlines, conferences, moving, etc.). While it definitely </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">does have its flaws, I wouldn't have wanted to be without it over these years and I'll likely continue to use it in the future when need be. Even though my current system cannot provide predictive alarms, it saved me numerous times in Glasgow. However, I've never fo</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">und it to be good with sud</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">den, drastic changes, and as these do occur - sometimes not even giving me </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">enough time to actually feel them - I have experienced the imp</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ressive helpfulness of the Scots and their emergency services. These episodes were fortunately far in between, and only one h</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ad other consequences than my </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">pride and D-self confidence getting knocked down: </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y6i56RoKf7o/TjACeE7KMgI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/2oXVaF7mpd8/s1600/HPIM1952.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 243px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y6i56RoKf7o/TjACeE7KMgI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/2oXVaF7mpd8/s320/HPIM1952.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634005849581695490" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />My laptop screen didn't survive a "dance" with a lamppost durin</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">g a severe and sudden-onset hypo. M</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">y laptop was in my backpack and as I tried to stay on my feet with a BG well below 2 - the EM</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">T arriving a few minutes later tested me a</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">t 1.2 (approximately 22 in America</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">n measures) - I stepped/fell backwards against a lamppost one or more times before settling on the sidewalk. It's never fun when lows affect anything but yourself, yet fortunately I came back up wit</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">hou</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">t being too </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">hurt and the laptop screen could easily be replaced.<br /><br /><br />My postgraduate study obviously took a lot of my time over the past years. It's been super-exciting and super-tough at the same time</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Wh</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ile I was a registered PhD-student with a Glasgow-based university, my project had me spent just as much time at a Danish university, carrying out specialised analyses in the rese</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">arch group where I did my graduate work years before. A combination of lab-work, data analysis and extensive progress reports made for the t</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ypical work weeks to hover around 50-70 hours - certainly not healthy to anyone, let alone PWDs. I'm fairly convinced that all this work on top of all the "life" things that I had to fit into my schedule played a big role in the difficult</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ies</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> of managing D that would sometimes be manifested by hard crashes - of course almost always while asleep when I'm least</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> likely to cooper</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ate with Jimmi's suggestions or demands. Especially the last part of the project work was tough as I not only had to finish a lot of experiments and write up a monster thesis </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">of 200-250 pages (I'd have preferred the Danish version of just 50-60 pages along with publications ;-)), but at the same time also had to take part in all the preparations for becoming house owners. There were a lot of issues around the handing over of our house, so we ended up getting it just a few days bef</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ore </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I had to leave for Glasgow to hand in my thesis. I was beyond stressed at that time, but somehow managed to hand in my work, register as unemployed, pack down our old home and move into our new house in just about a wee</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">k's time! This was, ho</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">wever, after several bad nighttime hypos on thos</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">e nights where I actually made it to bed in stead of working on my thesis.<br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0SWP2ho-Hbo/TjAA2o1kx6I/AAAAAAAAAJg/NUmFznYtf74/s1600/Fars%2Bkamera%2B030711%2B274.jpg"><br /></a></span></span></span></span><br />The beginning of 2011 was a combination of g</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">etti</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">n</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">g used to our new house, and the fact that its location generally meant longer bike rid</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">es for me (in</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">sulin adjustments required), as well as trying to sort out future work plans and possibilities. I had hoped to have at least the work part sorted rater soon as I was given the impression t</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">hat we might find a bit of money</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> to continue the collaboration from my postgraduate study, at least on a temporary basis. My supervisor in Glasgow and I had prepared project plans to further explore my work and findings.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Both of us applied for money to support different v</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ersio</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ns of this work, bu</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">t neither of us had any luck with our applications. When I was back in Glasgow for my viva in February, we managed to get things sorted for a temporary research position, though only part-time. My contract wo</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ul</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">d have </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">me mainly working in Denmark, and when it ended in June it was perfectly matched</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> for yet another trip to Glasgow for graduation. When </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I returned from Glasgow, I started a new position in my old DK-lab. This is also a tem</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">porary p</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">osition, but it's full time and hopefull</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">y it will provide me enough time to have at least</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> one of my research manuscripts submitted for publication in order to increase my chances of attracting funding in the future :-)<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zkpwYhtzFrA/TjACCGaEF8I/AAAAAAAAAJw/EaB7GNvC6mI/s1600/Fars%2Bkamera%2B030711%2B247.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zkpwYhtzFrA/TjACCGaEF8I/AAAAAAAAAJw/EaB7GNvC6mI/s320/Fars%2Bkamera%2B030711%2B247.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634005368943417282" border="0" /></a></span></span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;">My parents, me and my supervisor at the graduation reception</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CaXskn6n9JQ/TjABj8CsHZI/AAAAAAAAAJo/h8_09McbSsI/s1600/Fars%2Bkamera%2B030711%2B274.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CaXskn6n9JQ/TjABj8CsHZI/AAAAAAAAAJo/h8_09McbSsI/s320/Fars%2Bkamera%2B030711%2B274.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634004850764946834" border="0" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;">Graduates and their families filling the graduation garden</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Wingdings;mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings;" ><br /></span></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-89930274716818671182011-07-20T15:34:00.009+02:002011-07-20T15:53:21.225+02:00"Life"......<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">Those of you wh</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">o used to read m</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">y blog will know that it has been very long since the last update here. It’s not that I’v</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">e been cured f</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">rom diabetes and therefore have had nothi</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">ng D-related to</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB"> write about. There have been plenty of blogable events involving diabete</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">s in the past 3½ years, but there just hasn’t been time – or energy – from m</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">y side to consistently blog while working 40-70 hours a week on my postgraduate</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB"> studies.<br /><br /></span> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB"> </span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">Last week, I rea</span><span style="Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">d a blog </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.irunoninsulin.com/?p=3252"><span style="Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB" lang="EN-GB">post</span></a></span><span style="Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB"> by Alexis over at </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.irunoninsulin.com/"><span style=" Times New Roman","serif";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB" lang="EN-GB">I Run on Insulin</span></a>. </span><span style="Times New Roman","serif"font-size:100%;" >In essence, her entry</span><span style=";font-size:100%;" > <span lang="EN-GB">was about</span></span><span style=";font-size:100%;" ><span lang="EN-GB"> how that little thing called “life” sometimes makes it difficult to do all you the </span></span><span style=";font-size:100%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">things you want/need/have to do, online as well as in person, when there’s ju</span></span><span style=";font-size:100%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">st 24 hours in a day. I had to comment on this, and that lead to a comment f</span></span><span style=";font-size:100%;" ><span lang="EN-GB">or me from another <a href="http://pearlsa.com/blog/">blogger</a> that my updating my blog was missed. Even if</span></span><span style="Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language:EN-GBfont-size:100%;" ><span lang="EN-GB"> just one or very few people think this, I’m very honoured by it </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">:-)</span></span></p><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">So here I am with</span><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB"> the first update since <a href="http://diabeticdane.blogspot.com/2008/01/getting-everything-settled.html">January 2008</a>, but whether this entails a full revival of this </span><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB">blog, I dare not promise. 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</w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB">To end this, I’d like to repeat my statement in my comment for Alexis’ post last week: I know that the DOC is a very tolerant creature that will just appreciate those few times when I actually manage to contribute – and thank you all for that, and for being such an incredible source of advice and support when we need it!</span></span></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";font-family:Calibri;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family:Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-char-type: symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-char-type:symbol; mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lv8TomMadk0/TibbW6Zic_I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/oZTXkFsc9og/s1600/Fars%2Bkamera%2B030711%2B405.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lv8TomMadk0/TibbW6Zic_I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/oZTXkFsc9og/s320/Fars%2Bkamera%2B030711%2B405.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631429570753360882" border="0" /></a></span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Jimmi and I in front of the Famous Grouse at Glenturret Distillery in Scotland this summer</span><br /></span></div><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SAfont-family:Calibri;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-63911465257319808962008-01-27T20:22:00.000+01:002008-01-27T20:35:55.811+01:00Getting everything settled<p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Friday next week I will leave for <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:City>, spending 5 weeks over there. 5 weeks – with only a week to get everything settled for my departure!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Before Christmas my supervisor and I agreed that it would be good if I could come to Glasgow in the beginning of this year, but even so I don’t feel like I have had enough time to actually plan my trip. The reasons for this are that work has been crazy during January. My Danish supervisor expected me to assist and train a foreign post-doc coming here for a short visit end of January in order to learn how to analyse some samples that our lab had run for her. This was planned even before Christmas, and as I knew she would be here the last 2 weeks of January, I figured that I probably wouldn’t be able to leave for <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:City> until beginning of February. In the first days of January, I did start to make a draft plan for my trip, as well as the experiments that I would want to conclude before leaving. I had a plan for my experiments all set to start January 7<sup>th</sup>, and figuring that I could use the breaks in between the experiments to make the final arrangements for my <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:City> trip. However, as I wrote in my last <a href="http://diabeticdane.blogspot.com/2008/01/18-years-hypos-and-busy-schedules.html">post</a>, my plans got messed up by an e-mail I received on January 7<sup>th</sup>, and because I have a short-term visitor that I need to help with data analysis this past week has been more than stress-full. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I managed to have a very decent draft of my review done last Sunday, and have used whatever few minutes I would have during the week to proof-read and refine it, while having to use the majority of my time to trouble-shoot data processing and software installation issues. At the same time I also had to get my trip to <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Glasgow</st1:City></st1:place> arranged, ordering the tickets, so that I would be able to participate in a lab meeting over there at the 5<sup>th</sup> of February – a lab meeting I have to prepare a 20-25 min presentation for as well! <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Being busy for me usually means an increased frequency of hypos and as my regulation haven’t been the best the past couple of months I have had even more issues with this. Just before this crazy schedule started I had an appointment with my D-nurse and we agreed that some basal testing was needed. Thus, on top of all the work/study related stuff, I have also tried to fit in some attention to basal testing. It has been very difficult, and it is probably not the most optimal to combine busy schedules with basal testing, but I felt I had no choice as I have had far to many hypos in general lately. I have been making some changes to my basals during this period of basal testing, but the changes don’t seem consistent – as in one day they appear to work, the next they don’t – and I still have too many hypos to actually not worry about my coming trip to <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Glasgow</st1:City></st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I went for a blood draw Friday morning to get some thyroid results, and at the same time I had an A1c done. The result was in my file on the Funen Diabetes Database later that day: 4.9%! That is a 0.4 drop from beginning of November, and the lowest A1c result I have ever had. Aside from the fact that <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Alice</st1:place></st1:City> will probably “kill” me when I call her on Tuesday ;-) I don’t think I have even been that frustrated with a low A1c result before. Had this results been achieved without all the hypos then of course I would be thrilled, but fact is it has been achieved due to daily hypos, at least for the past month or so. That is utterly frustrating, especially when the changes you try to employ do not seem to help!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I have been thinking a lot about what to do about my stay in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:City>. Even though I know from experience that changing my setting, even if it is just for a couple days at my parents, will generally elevate my sugar levels - the extent of the elevation depending on the actual “new” setting – I am worried about the risk of being alone with a hypo in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:City>. Not to mention the fact that Jimmi has also been close to the past months’ low sugars and is of course worried too, because he cannot be there to help me. He will come for a short visit, but the majority of the time I will be on my own. I much hope that I worry without reason, but it is difficult, especially with the events from <a href="http://diabeticdane.blogspot.com/2007/06/yet-another-comeback.html"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hamburg</st1:place></st1:State> this summer</a> in mind. I plan on asking <st1:city st="on">Alice</st1:City> if there is any chance in the world that I would be able to borrow a sensor to bring to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:City>, but given the short notice and the length of my stay I don’t expect it. Anyway, I hope that the accommodation will enable me to notify someone about my condition and how they should react if I act strange or don’t show in the morning, and I will probably also make a deal with my colleagues in the lab about calling me if I’m not in at a set time and have them contact someone who can get into my room should I not answer. Otherwise I just hope and pray for my sugars to behave while I’m over there, so that none of the emergency contacts needs to get involved!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Wish me luck, and I will try to post about my adventures in Glasgow, if not during my stay then at least afterwards :-)</span><br /></div>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-56916925407746037062008-01-16T16:51:00.000+01:002008-01-16T17:04:10.058+01:0018 years, hypos, and busy schedules<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">In Denmark 18 is the legal age, allowing you to get a drivers license, vote, and officially take care of your self etc. Today, D and me turn 18 together, but somehow it doesn’t seem quite as big and important as when I turned 18 twelve years ago :-) Still, I cannot help to think about the progress within D research and treatment the past 18 years have shown. Although the cure that was also promised me within a few years when I was diagnosed still remains to be found, a lot of other important milestones have been reached. I remember a nurse on the hospital where I was admitted as newly diagnosed showing and telling me and my parents about how she could now eat and enjoy sweets again (as in not eating them to correct hypoglycemia) because she had gotten an insulin pump. Obtaining more information on the insulin pumps of the time blurred that picture quite a bit, and for several years I thought that I would never want to be treated that way because of the risk of DKA. 16 years and 3 months – and, indeed, a lot of progress – later <a href="http://diabeticdane.blogspot.com/2006/04/pump-issues.html">I was hooked up</a> to one for the first time, and while being somewhat reluctant about it, I have come to appreciate what this treatment strategy offers me in terms of freedom. It does of course have its <a href="http://diabeticdane.blogspot.com/2006/06/soccer-and-pumping-additional.html">issues</a> and drawbacks, but I guess most treatments and/or equipment have that ;-) </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://diabeticdane.blogspot.com/2006/12/busy-days-and-hypos.html">Hypoglycemia and a busy schedule</a> do not work well together. Today, once again my afternoon has been disturbed by a low BG, causing me to have to take a break from what I was doing. I couldn’t concentrate on what I was reading, and thought that I might as well take advantage of the time I needed to spend away from it, repairing the low BG, and write on my blog :-) </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I am in the process of working this out, but it a process that is significantly slowed down by an immense amount of work-/study stress. Just after New Year I actually started the process of thoroughly testing my basal rates, as my numbers the last couple of months – and in general if you ask <a href="http://diabeticdane.blogspot.com/2006/11/your-result-sure-embellishes-statistics.html">my loving pump- and D-nurse</a> ;-) – clearly indicate that insulin levels need to be reduced. Even though I had a lot of plans to effectuate at work along with planning my trip to Glasgow at late January or beginning of February, I felt that I could work some basal test into the scheme. In the first week of 2008 I felt I was moving at a very decent pace, working out plans for experiments to carry out during week 2, researching the areas that I should check out when coming to Glasgow, as well as putting down the experiments and other practical issues that I should take care of over there. I knew that I was expected to stay in Odense until end of January to help an Italian post-doc with some data analysis, and I wanted to test the data and the software necessary for its analysis prior to her arrival mid month. This was a clever thought as I have, of course, run into trouble with this – bioinformatics is always a challenge :-)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">My feeling of energy for the different tasks and assignments suffered an abrupt disappearance when I opened my University of Strathclyde mailbox in the beginning of week 2. I had received an e-mail telling me that my 3 month literature review was due now, and should be uploaded electronically as soon as possible. Reading the mail my jaw dropped down, and my mind started racing: What 3 month literature review? What should it contain? When is the exact deadline? Have I heard about this before?........ I search the university web-site to find information as I cursed the inability to obtain sufficient information about the obligations as a Scottish PhD-student. I couldn’t find the information I needed so I replied to the e-mail to inquire about it. That gave me an attachment of the institute’s post graduate study handbook with a note that I could find the information in that. Reading the 52-page Word-document sure provided me with some needed answers, both regarding assignments that should be handed in during the study (the intended contents of some of these reports were very well described) and the courses that I should attend. Unfortunately, the 3 month literature review that I was most keen on obtaining information about, was only just mentioned, its contents not described (I have later received another handbook, where it is described in more detail). Therefore, I started sending out inquiries to my supervisor in Glasgow as well as one of his colleagues. I didn’t want to start writing anything before I had some guidelines on it, and I could see that I was actually supposed to attend a course during my first year of study, where writing of literature reviews would be dealt with, but of course, since I have yet to come to Glasgow for several reasons, I haven’t attended said course :-/</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Thursday last week and Monday this week, I finally received some information about what this review should contain, how long it should be, and when it should be handed in. I have 2-4 weeks to prepare an exposition about the literature available within the area of research in my PhD project, concluding with the aim and reasons for doing the actual project! It should, of course, be fully referenced. Now, if I didn’t have the data analysis of a post-doc coming up with all its issues, and the planning of my trip to Glasgow already at my plate, I probably wouldn’t fuss about this deadline, as I am not starting from scratch after all. I might even have enough energy to focus more on the basal testing I am supposed to do. But this isn’t the case, and even though I’m annoyed at low BG’s interfering with my ability to perform and concentrate, I find it very difficult to sit down and focus on analyzing the data that I have on my BG excursions in order to make reasonable changes. It is actually crazy, as taking the time to get an overview of it would probably safe me a lot more time and energy than it would cost me in the first place. Does that make any sense? As it is now, I just make minor changes from day to day, but this also means that it will take somewhat longer to get it all adjusted. I don’t know, I guess at the bottom-line I’m merely frustrated about the work load that have suddenly been placed upon my shoulders, and adding diabetes management to that doesn’t make it any easier. Anyway, it was nice to vent here :-) </span><br /></div>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-23229487158316256322007-11-20T21:05:00.000+01:002007-11-20T22:13:40.504+01:00Tagged for 7<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Though I was thinking that I should take advantage of the fact that our little puppy is not at my lap while I'm typing, I wasn't really planning on posting a meme. However, <a href="http://chrissieinbelgium.blogspot.com/">Chrissie</a> tagged me so here I go - I figure I better do it quick, or it will be even more difficult to find people to tag that haven't already been tagged by others :-)<br /><br />Apparently this meme is about 7 random things about myself with 5 rules to follow doing this:<br /><br /></span><ol><li style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You've got to link to the blog of the person who tagged you</li><li style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You need to post these rules on your blog</li><li style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You have to list seven random and/or weird facts about yourself</li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">By the end of your post you have to tag 7 random people and include links to their posts (</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >do I sense some sort of advertising purpose - i.e. spreading the word of the host of blogs available to dedicated readers and writers - of this meme? ;-)</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">)<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">You have to let the people you tag know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog</span></li></ol><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Alright, rules set, and now Nemo made a jump into my lap - she seems to have a need to be tugged in - so I better get down to business:<br /></span><ol style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><li>I am not very good at prioritising my time for regular postings on my blog, hence my participation in <a href="http://www.nablopomo.com/">NaBloPoMo</a> is probably never going to happen :-)</li><li>I am now officially a PhD-student at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland - or so it seems, yet I cannot help wondering when new administrative and/or bureaucratic issues concerning this will show up whether from Scotland or from Denmark ;-)</li><li>Starting this Monday and 2 weeks ahead, Jimmi and I have no kitchen, which makes storing as well as cooking of decent food a challenge (did anyone say Nemo? :-))</li><li>I have a thing with high blood sugars! I don't like seeing high numbers on my meter, which sometimes makes me take actions that will get me into trouble later. I am trying hard to limit myself in this context, but it is hard</li><li>Yesterday I experienced my first bad site with a site change. I was a my parents because I had business to do in my hometown, and like I alway do I changed my infusion site in the morning. My fasting BG was 3.1 (56), and breakfast was a little lighter than usually, because I had plans to go visit my grandparents a couple of hours later, probably going to have a little something to eat there. When I got there I tested and found myself at 15.5 (279). I found that quite odd giving the low fasting value and light breakfast, so I did think about a possible bad site. However, I had just been to the dentist, and while I like my dentist very much (that is one of the reasons why I haven't found one here in Odense yet) and usually don't have any dental problems, I have a very hard time coping with the high-frequency spinning noice of her instruments used to remove the tartar. Therefore, I was also considering a possible stress-effect. I corrected the high, both with the pump and a small bolus by pen, just to be on the safe side, yet 90 min. later when I had just boarded the train back to Odense, I clocked in at 20.4 (367). I cannot remember the last time I saw a number like that, but it convinced me that something was not right with the new site. I don't usually remove my old site until I am sure that the new one is working, so I hooked back up to the old site and entered a bolus to "flush" it. I took a larger correction by pen, and by the time I reached Odense I could see that at least I wasn't rising anymore. I was 19.3 (347). After the bike ride home I felt quite exhaused and figured that it was probably the hours of ridiculously high sugars now taking effect, but it turned out that the corrections were now finally working and I was actually going low. Just an hour after being 19.3 I was 68! When I removed the bad infusion set I could see that the catheter was bend at a 90 degrees angel, so no wonder the insulin didn't seem to work!</li><li>I tend to have a rather messy workplace, both at home and in the lab. However, I usually know where to find the things I need, and so even if it might seem chaotic to other people, I am on top of it :-)</li><li>I need to take Nemo for her late night walk now, so I gotta stop now :-)</li></ol><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I tag </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.tudiabetes.com/profile/mamalookingood">Doris</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://scotts-dblife.blogspot.com/">Scott</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://adjoaa.blogspot.com/index.html">Adjoa</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://the-bad-blog.blogspot.com/">Super G</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://kathy4762.blogspot.com/">Kathy</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, </span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://artistmom2two.blogspot.com/">Sandra</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, and </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.tudiabetes.com/profile/aliyaf">Aliya.</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> I don't know if any of you have already been tagged, or if you want to take part, so don't feel obliged to do it :-)</span><br /></span><a href="http://www.tudiabetes.com/profile/aliyaf"></a>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-77764446573037808362007-11-12T20:29:00.000+01:002007-11-12T20:56:52.966+01:00The adventures of Nemo<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">This is just a short up-date to keep you posted on our adventures with Nemo (I still haven't found a way to transfer the pictures from my phone to the computer, and one of our friends has borrowed our digital camera for his awesome trip to some exotic island. Sorry!). Right now Nemo is pushing around behind me in the couch, battling one of Jimmi's socks, and I think that it is about time that I take her out for a walk :-)</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Nemo is adjusting well to us and our home, and Jimmi and I are adjusting to her as well. She is very playful, but also very good at obeying our calls, so we have had her leash-free several times already without any problems. She has started to sleep in her basket after being very sad the first couple of nights, forcing Jimmi to get up and tuck her in on the couch (we don't want her in our bed). Now she will usually run around just as we are getting ready for bed, but then, once the ligths are off, she will settle down and go to sleep.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Jimmi is home with her most of the daytime and has taught her to sit on command today - whether it is still coincidental or not, I am not quite sure, but at least it worked when he wanted to show me :-)</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">We haven't started any specific training with her yet, but are planning on taking her to some puppy courses in the near future. Jimmi was very positive one morning, when I was low - when I'm low while sleeping I tend not to hear the alarm clock - because he was sure that Nemo could feel that something was not quite right. I bet she could, but I think it might just be due to Jimmi's reaction - at least I haven't noticed any change in her behaviour what so ever on times during the day, where I have treated lows myself :-)</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">On the Scotland front not much have happened since last week. I still haven't seen any money, so I think that if there is still no sign on them in my account tomorrow morning, I will write the lady, who said that the money transferred would be arranged Wednesday last week to hear if "arrange" was just another word for deferring thing further ;-) I think that I have been very patient so far, actually more than should be expected, so I think I am more than entitled to push for answers and not least my salary!</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Now Nemo has fallen asleep on my lap, paws resting just besides the computer and her head between my arm and the table - puppies are so damn cute, and like Chrissie said in a comment this is probably the reason we put up with them despite their misbehaviour :-)</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></div>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-54705926059099127322007-11-07T19:48:00.000+01:002007-11-07T20:28:49.422+01:00Found: Nemo<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" lang="EN-GB">The title of this post is double-sided in references. I finally - or so I thought (see the next paragraph) - was registered at the Scottish university last week as I received the registration to sign as well as information about my e-mail account, user name and password for the different IT services. Nemo is the name of the exchange mail service at the university (the ability to check your university e-mails outside the university network).</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";" lang="EN-GB"><br />Today, another chapter in the seemingly never-ending story of the registration hassle was written - in e-mails I received from my supervisor over there. I'm actually glad that at the time his first mail - a long correspondence between several department and registration employees - I was attending the biweekly group-meeting in our research group here in Odense, otherwise I think that I might have send a couple of upset mails to several of the people involved ;-) Here is what it was all about: We have applied for a fee waiver, which was approved with starting date August 1st this year and ending date July 31st 2010. However, in terms of the finance office at the university, the fee waiver is only valid for the study year 2007-08, i.e. from October 1st this year until June 2008, and so the waiver didn't cover August and September because I have only been registered as a student from October 1st. Sigh!! However, apparently things have now been worked out by them registering me for the 2006/07-session, applying only August and September of the current year. Bureaucracy!! From the last messages that I got today, it seems like they are now finally starting to arrange the transfer of my salary for August and September - October wasn't mentioned, I don't know what to think of that :-/<br /><br />Back to Nemo. Nemo is the name of our new puppy that we got this weekend :-) On Saturday Jimmi received a call from a guy who had seen his announcement of our search for a puppy on the Internet. The guy had a dog with a litter of 4 puppies that they were looking to sell off. We went out to see them, and of course fell in love with one in particular. When we got home we discussed it a bit, but decided that to be totally sure, we would sleep on it. We decided to get the pup, and Jimmi got his father to take him to the little farm where the dogs lived. I thought it was a bit hasty to go get it on Sunday night, but Jimmi would rather do that than waiting to one of the weekdays where I probably wouldn't be home at the time he would get there with the puppy, and he didn't want to wait a whole week. The poor little puppy was a bit frightened by the car ride in the dark, though; it threw up all over Jimmi :-(<br /><br />Now it has been a few days with the puppy in the house, and it seems like it is settling down nicely. The first couple of nights Jimmi had to get up to go the couch to sleep with it in his arms because it was crying for company, but last night we could both stay in bed. We don't want the dog to get use to our bed, which is why Jimmi got up to sleep with it on the couch instead. It is allowed to lye on the couch, although it is still not big enough to get up there by itself, even though it tries hard :-) The picture below is our pup, when we went to see it on Saturday. I have some pictures of it in our home, but they are on my mobile phone, and I haven't taken the time to transfer them to the computer yet.</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RzIQ9IJXtZI/AAAAAAAAAFM/3W0oV9HtNqI/s1600-h/03112007023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RzIQ9IJXtZI/AAAAAAAAAFM/3W0oV9HtNqI/s320/03112007023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130181567873267090" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-28813938822471775052007-10-28T19:30:00.000+01:002007-10-28T19:58:45.957+01:00A perfect day<span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Is there such a thing in D-life? I don’t know, but looking at the readings at least it sometimes seems so :-) I had such a day Thursday this week. All of my reading were in target, from 4.2 (76) to 6.7 (121). Go me!<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTXQYJXtSI/AAAAAAAAAEU/D5XzYhVkSrc/s1600-h/Perfect+day.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTXQYJXtSI/AAAAAAAAAEU/D5XzYhVkSrc/s320/Perfect+day.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126458952214099234" border="0" /></a> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal" ><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Actually this week has been rather good BG-wise. When I look at the pie charts in <a href="http://parenthetic-diabetic.blogspot.com/2007/09/version-314.html">Kevin’s logsheet</a> that I use for logging, I can see that so far 72% of my readings have been in range and only 5% above. The part of readings below target could be smaller, but at least when looking at those values, only a minor part of them are re</span></span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ally low (I must admit, I don’t really regard readings of 3.5-3.9 (63-70) fasting or just before a me</span></span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">al as low, or at least I don’t treat them with anything but the meal that I’m about to have). When I left work Friday afternoon the statistics were even better with 81% of the readin</span></span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">gs in range and only 3% above, but weekends generally have a tendency to mess things up a bit.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal" face="trebuchet ms"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTYpYJXtVI/AAAAAAAAAEs/HkVrdID3zlU/s1600-h/Weekday+average.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTYpYJXtVI/AAAAAAAAAEs/HkVrdID3zlU/s320/Weekday+average.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126460481222456658" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTYHYJXtUI/AAAAAAAAAEk/dojp9Arhv5U/s1600-h/Week43+all+readings.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTYHYJXtUI/AAAAAAAAAEk/dojp9Arhv5U/s320/Week43+all+readings.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126459897106904386" border="0" /></a></p><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I wish there could be more such days, preferrably weeks! :-)</span><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Today I went for one of my “marathon” bike rides (little more than <st1:metricconverter productid="43 km" st="on">43 km</st1:metricconverter> (just short of <st1:metricconverter productid="70 miles" st="on">70 miles</st1:metricconverter>), so actually it is longer than a traditional marathon ;-)). </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">My experience tells me that I better do these rides in the morning to have least pos</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">sible BG-issues. Today, however, the weather was a bit rainy all morning, and I must admit that I prefer to make these rides in dry weather, so I postponed it, hoping for better weather in the afternoon. Around noon it seemed like the rain had subsided, and I decided </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">to go for the ride in the afternoon. I reduced my basal by 50% 1.5 hours before starting, and my BG was 10.3 (185) when I started my ride. The weather was quite windy, which usually is very effective in lowering my BG when I ride my bike. Riding my mountain bike also increases the resistance when riding on paved roads, which I – unfortunately – do most of the way, even though I go off-road every where I possibly can :-) </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Since I started out at a good level, and also felt quite good riding, I didn’t make a “pit-</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">stop” for testing until half way through my trip. Little more than an hour of MTB-riding had dropped my almost 8 mmol/L down to 2.6 (47)! Although I usually have a little snack midways on my trips, the aim of these rides are NOT to be able to indulge in sugary</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> snacks while riding. Today’s trip however, caused me to ingest a total of <st1:metricconverter productid="64 g" st="on">64 g</st1:metricconverter> of carbs as the halfway through low, was rather resistant to treatment, and reared </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">its ugly face again halfway through the last half of my trip :-</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">(<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><br /><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">This week Jimmi and I went for another visit with the dog that we were going to have. I say “were” because yesterday Jimmi got a txt-message from the owner, who apparently had gotten surprising news about the father of </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">the pups. It seems that the father is actually a Smaller Münsterländer, and as these dogs grows to about 50-<st1:metricconverter productid="60 cm" st="on">60 cm</st1:metricconverter> (shoulder height), our pup would likely get a lot bigger than anticipated. </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Also the owner, who we’ve had long, honest conversations with about our wishes for our coming dog, said that she actually didn’t really like the father dog and didn’t see it as a sm</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">art dog, so she could understand if we wanted to back out on this deal. After a lot of information search and talking back and forth, we did decide not to get Trille anyway, even though we were actually now really looking forward to getting her home :’-( However, the prospect of her getting that big (I know it could be a lot worse), doesn’t really fit our settings. If we lived in a bigger house with a bigger garden, then</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> a bigger dog wouldn’t be a problem, but given the fact that we don’t live in that big a house, and our garden/terrace is only the size of our living room, to us doesn’t seem ideal for a</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> dog this size, so now we need to look for a replacement. When you see the picture below, you’ll know that this is not going to be easy :-(</span></p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTZ5IJXtWI/AAAAAAAAAE0/YekWuQX5KLc/s1600-h/25102007023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTZ5IJXtWI/AAAAAAAAAE0/YekWuQX5KLc/s320/25102007023.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126461851317024098" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal">Jimmi with a sleeping Trille in his arms</p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTaaIJXtXI/AAAAAAAAAE8/1wDYbc1ydvY/s1600-h/25102007024.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTaaIJXtXI/AAAAAAAAAE8/1wDYbc1ydvY/s320/25102007024.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126462418252707186" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Trille awake on my lap</span></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;" face="trebuchet ms" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTa9IJXtYI/AAAAAAAAAFE/mJaOm3SR9Zs/s1600-h/25102007026.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RyTa9IJXtYI/AAAAAAAAAFE/mJaOm3SR9Zs/s320/25102007026.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126463019548128642" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Mayby she already knew that she wouldn't come home with us? She does look sad here. Bye Trille, we hope that you find another good home!</span><br /></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><br />On the Scotland front I just heard from my supervisor over there that the German research fund’s money have finally arrived on the right account at the Scottish university, and that the registry office are pushing hard to get the registration through as soon as possible. I am looking forward to see if this will then cause the missing salary from the past three months to enter my account!</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style=";font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-78888206086321888572007-10-22T19:21:00.000+02:002007-10-22T20:15:38.684+02:00Impatience<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I cannot say that patience is one of my strongest assets, though it does somewhat depend on the context (if that was not the case I thi</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">nk I wouldn't be able to work in science ;-)). When it comes to my education and carreer, however, I have been rather impatient to move on ever since I graduated two years ago. I wanted to pursue my wish to optain a PhD-degree sooner rather than later. Thus, I was very annoyed by </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">the fact that no positions seemed to be available within the areas I had the most interest, and when finally one was, I was overlooked by my supervisor because "we do have a meeting coming up about a potential project next mon</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">th" (this meeting had already been postponed causing me to seek other opportunies) and the newly graduated, who got the position, needed to have employment in order to extent her visa.</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Because of this, I wasn't expecting too much w</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">hen the day of the planned meeting arose back in January. I hoped that the project would be a good one, and that the main supervisor of it would be someone that I could see myself working with. Fortunately, this was the case, and though I had about 5 months left of my contract as a research assistant at the time, my former supervisor, who would also be a co-supervisor o</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">f the project, my coming supervisor, and I all agreed to start up the project as soon as possible. There was a lot of formalities and paperwork to be taken care of beforehand, though, so I was actually able to finish my contract before starting on the new project.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Back in the first months after our initial meeting I had several e-mail correspondances with my new supervisor, and among other things asked</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> him about the application for registration at the Scottish university where he would move his research group to by August. At that time I was told that we should wait with that until he had had some more information from his superiours-to-be in Scotland. That seemed reasonable at the time, and also in June when I spend a few weeks at his laboratory in Germany - at the latter time there were still some issues about the transfer of the German res</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">earch fund's money that should pay my salary in the next couple of years. We also had to search for a fee waiver as there wasn't room for tuition fees in the research fund money pool, and it became clear that this waiver would by no means take effect before October 1st, leaving August and September as a couple of</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> months surrounded by uncertainties. For June and July I was employed by the German research lab, but we could not register me as a PhD-student at the university in Scotland until the fee waiver could take effect. We discussed the possibilities of employing me as something else, e.g. visiting scientist, research assistant or whatever would solve the problem of me</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> continuing to work on my project AND being payed by the German fund's money through the Scottish university. However, no aggreement was settled, and because my supervisor was super busy moving both his own family and the lab in late July and August plus having to get use the different administrative standards, time just went without anything happening.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />Thursday last week I finally received the offer letter that I should sign in order to get the registration rolling. It seems that until the registration is settled, the fact that the money that shall pay my salary is German and not Scottish is immaterial because it still needs to go through the university's finance department. </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">By now it has been almost 3 months since the last salary entered my account. I don't think it is fun anymore :-( I feel sorry for my German supervisor also having to struggle with this, but most of all I feel screwed by the ridiculous bureaucracy that prevent the money in coming m</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">y way. I certainly hope - almost expect - some kind of compensation once this issue is finally solved. Until then I'm actually only working for my own sake, keeping myself up on the beet of biotechnology, but keeping my results and struggles with my samples to myself. I will not give anything away for free!<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Well, that was a bit of a rant, but I needed that. I will finish this entry somewhat more positively. Jimmi and I have decided to buy a puppy. Jimmi is hoping to be able to somehow train it into recognising my lows by time. The pictures below is "our" new puppy at 4 weeks of age, on the lower picture, mommy-dog gets a lick :-) We get the dog in a couple of weeks, and have yet to decide on a name for her. The owner calls her "Trille", which in Danish means "to roll" or "trundle". I don't really know if I like that name for a dog, so if you have any good ideas, let us know :-)<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RxzmTaH0IkI/AAAAAAAAAEM/0rWgIA7XovM/s1600-h/hvalpe+4+uge+039.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RxzmTaH0IkI/AAAAAAAAAEM/0rWgIA7XovM/s320/hvalpe+4+uge+039.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124223697144783426" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RxzmLqH0IjI/AAAAAAAAAEE/lihqQrBOTik/s1600-h/hvalpe+4+uge+033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_NNNe5YNZr5Y/RxzmLqH0IjI/AAAAAAAAAEE/lihqQrBOTik/s320/hvalpe+4+uge+033.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5124223564000797234" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-62281374085358270272007-10-15T20:34:00.000+02:002007-10-15T20:37:27.463+02:00I'm still here<p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">It has, once again, been quite a while since my last post, but I’m still here! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <br /> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">There have been an awful lot to do the past months, and thus I’ve had to prioritize, and doing that, blogging as well as reading and commenting on other peoples’ blogs didn’t make it into my top 10 to-do list. I’m a bit sad about that actually, because I do enjoy and appreciate the DOC a lot, and I hope that even though I will probably be busy with various things in the future as well, I will still be able to stop by here once in a while :-)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">My last entry was a question about hypothyroidism and diabetes, and I guess I better give an up-date on that side, as well as a very belated THANK YOU to everyone who responded to my questions. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">The blood samples, of course dare I say, showed TPO-antibodies, along with a TSH-value of 7.43 (as far as I remember). This ensured me yet another appointment with a doc at the hospital. The appointment was rather useless in my opinion, though, but summa summarum the doc wrote me a script for Eltroxin (the Danish version of Syntroid), 50 mg/day and set me up for a follow-up appointment 6 weeks later. The follow-up appointment was almost just as useless, and I was the one having to ask questions in order to find out what the status actually was, and how treatment should continue. I was told to increase the dose to 75 mg/day by taking 2 50 mg pills on even dates and only one on uneven dates (I will not even mention the fact that the pills can actually be split nor that this instruction, if followed literally would actually only work due to the long half-time of this medication, as there are actually several times years when there are two uneven dates following each other ;-)). I was also told that in the future the control of my metabolism would pass to my regular endo. There are a few issues about this, but I will not go into those here. Some of you will know what I’m talking about anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I had an appointment with my endo last week, just short of a month after the follow-up appointment for the metabolism issue, and thus not really ideal for evaluation of the upped Eltroxin-dose. My endo, however, hadn’t even realised that treatment was initiated, though, as he told me, when commenting on my lab-results, that it still wasn’t necessary to start treatment! I had a little chat with him about that fact, and had it not been for a hypo during the appointment, I had probably asked to switch to another doctor. While I like my current endo, he doesn’t seem to be the ideal choice for issues like pump treatment and hypothyroidism (again, some of you know more about the background of this). Anyway, I think that my endo actually realised a few things during our last appointment. We were discussing the number of tests needed to be performed on a daily basis (I am not sure if we will ever agree on this, but that’s another matter), as well as my efforts in avoiding really low sugars, when he asked me what I though my sugar was at the moment. I told him that I had a feeling that it was on a down-slide, if not already low, and he said that he thought that he could see as well as hear it on me, so he ventured off to get me some juice. I was rather calm, though a bit annoyed, about it and just got out my meter to test. I had assumed that I would be around 3.0 (54) or something like that (I was 9.2 (166) before my bike ride (<st1:metricconverter productid="5.5 km" st="on">5.5 km</st1:metricconverter> = <st1:metricconverter productid="8.8 miles" st="on">8.8 miles</st1:metricconverter>) to the hospital about an hour earlier). The result that my meter showed just as my endo re-entered the office with a glass of OJ and an apple was much lower though: 1.8 (32). While I hate readings below 2.0 (36), I don’t panic too much about them anymore, as least not when I don’t feel too bad, but my endo was baffled and immediately ran out of the office to get more juice + some rye bread with cheese to follow up. While I was consuming all these carbs he was all, “I’m right here with you, just take your time”, and “can you feel it rising?” It was actually nice that he took the time, even though I wasn’t feeling that bad, also because it was a real show off of the fact that I have been trying to make him clear that sometimes I seem to function rather well, even when incredibly low, and I will actually feel the worst “symptoms” when the BG is rising again afterwards. He could hardly believe that it had been possible for me to be part of our dialogue seemingly problem-free, even though he did note that I had slowed down a bit, i.e. was talking a bit slower than I usually do (I didn’t even notice that myself, but I don’t doubt that it could be true). In general, I think this little episode scared him the most, but then I have been there before, and he probably hasn’t :-)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Now that this is already a lengthy entry I might as well end it off by a little up-date on my PhD-project. Back in June, when I got back from my stay in the German lab, the plans were for me to re-join the group once they were settled in </span><st1:city style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" st="on"><st1:place st="on">Glasgow</st1:place></st1:City><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> by mid-August. There were some unsolved issues about my status in August and September, as the Scottish study year doesn’t start until October, and thus the fee waiver that we were to apply for wouldn’t either. These issues still haven’t been solved although we are now in mid-October. Actually, my registration at the Scottish university is still not settled despite the fact that I was promised to receive the offer letter Friday last week so that I could sign it and send it back in time of the next registration date, which is…….October 16</span><sup style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">th</sup><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">! I hope that all these issues will resolve soon enough. I think that it is about time to get some salary again – I haven’t gotten any for August or September yet, so things are getting a bit tight now.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24761706.post-90236259329979940372007-07-18T16:15:00.000+02:002007-07-18T16:26:27.686+02:00Diabetes and hypothyroidism<p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I need some information the interaction between these two ailments, and what better forums to turn to than the DOC and TuDiabetes? ;-) I know you guys and gals have a lot of experience to share, so I will give you some background to support my specific questions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">When I moved to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Odense</st1:place></st1:City> more than 6 years ago, I needed another D-team. I had arranged with my former team that they would send my chart to the university hospital in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Odense</st1:place></st1:City>, but here they wanted to start their own chart, only keeping the chart from my former D-team as background reference. Therefore, I received a chart for blood sampling, and I have never before or after seen that many marks for analyses to be performed! It required 9 tubes of blood, almost leaving my arm drained ;-)<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">When I saw my new doctor at the hospital for the first time, I was informed about the results. Most of them were normal, but among those requiring attention was my TSH-level. It was marginally increased, 6.3 or something like that I believe – the normal range being 0.5-5.0 mU/L. The doc felt my thyroid gland being somewhat enlarged and referred me to an ultrasonic examination and a pin needle biopsy. The ultrasonic examination showed that my thyroid was indeed a bit enlarged, but the biopsy didn’t show any malignancy. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">My D-doc (endo) has kept requesting thyroid analyses with most of my blood draws ever since, but otherwise there hasn’t been any follow-up on this. I have rarely seen the results of the analyses, but a couple of times within the past 2 years or so my doc has asked about my dose of Eltroxin (I believe it is called Syntroid in the States) – as if he shouldn’t be one of the first to know if I received any such treatment!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">A months and a half ago I had my last appointment with my endo. When he showed me the paper with the most recent lab-result – for me to view my A1c – I noticed that the TSH-level was still off, having been as high as <st1:metricconverter productid="9.37 in" st="on">9.37 in</st1:metricconverter> November last year. I was a bit shocked about this, but was told that treatment wasn’t initiated until the level was above 10 (so has my TSH been at this level the times he asked me about my dose of Eltroxin in the past?). He continued asking about my asthma, something that he has never done before, and I could tell him that I have had more problems during this spring when playing soccer. Still, he seemed to conclude that no immediate action needed to be taken, and just set me up for another appointment in 3 months (usually I go 6 months between appointments).<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Ever since the realisation that my TSH-level apparently still isn’t normal, thoughts about the consequences of this have filled the back of my mind. I have searched the Internet about it, actually finding a site stating that with <a href="http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/b210.htm">hypothyroidism diabetes</a> could be hard to manage, but no case studies of the effect(s) of hypothyroidism on BG-management. I have found my old pathophysiology book, re-reading the section on hypothyroidism, and found some interesting information that put some things into perspective for me. <o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I’ve been diabetic for 17+ years, and the first 5-7 years were not much of a struggle. In contrast, the past 8 years or so have been very challenging BG-wise. I don’t know if my former D-team ever screened for other autoimmune disorders, but at least they didn’t tell me about it. With the initial result of my TSH-level 6 years ago, I cannot help but wonder if some of the problems I’ve had with maintaining a stabile BG, and not least avoid serious hypoglycaemic episodes, could somehow be related to the fact that an autoimmune attack has been taking place in my thyroid during the years as well. With swinging TSH-levels the levels of the important thyroid hormones have likely lingered around on the low side for the same amount of time as well, and since thyroid hormones among other actions increase the rate of carbohydrate absorption from the gut that may explain why it has sometimes taken “forever” to correct a low BG. As a side note, I can tell you that I have had a synacthen test performed to evaluate the functionality of my adrenals because for some time years ago, I had a lot of severe hypos, requiring a lot of ER visits as well as paramedics attending me in my apartment, at Jimmi’s place, at work – you name, it probably happened. The synacthen test came back perfectly normal, though.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">What annoys me, though, is the fact that without saying – and not least doing – anything, I have apparently been “diagnosed” with “myxoedema without specification” and “autoimmune thyroiditis” years ago! Leafing through all my medical documents, ER- and paramedics notes, I found a piece of paper that I cannot really remember the context of, but the information in it seems clear (the diagnoses listed above). Looking at the date of this paper, I infer that it is from around the time where I switched from Insulatard (NPH) to Lantus, although I cannot really see, what the information about thyroiditis and the like has to do with this switch.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I have an appointment with my D-nurse again tomorrow, and I intend to bring the above-mentioned piece of paper, and ask her about it. She arranged for me to have another blood draw, so that she could discus the newest thyroid results with a doctor prior to our appointment. Although, I don’t like the idea of having to add yet another chronic illness to my chart, I don’t like the though of anything going untreated with the potential of causing additional problems either. I am not sure if any or which of the BG issues that I’ve experienced within the past 8 years have anything to do with a possibly wacky metabolism, because I haven’t found any specific cause-effect descriptions of the effect of untreated, low-grade, hypothyroidism on diabetes, but I would be surprised if there isn’t a DOC-blogger or two out there who has experienced this on their own body. So if any of you have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism – after being diagnosed with D – and can remember any D-related symptoms that subsided once the hypothyroidism was treated, I would like hear from you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I am tired of having to act as my own doctor, but apparently it is necessary, so the more facts I can collect the better my argumentation for and questioning about lab-results and/or treatment will be. After all, I cannot write the prescription myself, I need a licensed doc to do that :-)</span> <o:p></o:p></span></p>Heidihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15928203708923370018noreply@blogger.com4