Gluten Un-Invited

There are lots of invitations around the holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Years for family and friends to celebrate & enjoy the festive season. So, it is with much feet dragging, inner tantrum throwing, and just plain old sadness that I must send out an un-invite to….all the gluten right a midst the hustle & bustle of this holiday season . Our relationship has been a good one, well  until it literally made me sick that is… I can honestly say that I have been a lifelong lover of all things Gluten. It’s a family trait. From bread (my mom’s AMAZING rolls)both savory savory & sweet, pastas, breading (I’m talking the fried chicken my Papa made that no one can match), desserts (insert all desserts here), and all other things I don’t want to think of right now….Did you know that the average taco season has gluten added?? It’s oddly amusing to me that with the very long list of (mainly auto-immune) diseases & disorders that I have, I had not yet encountered one that requires a specific diet. I know many people think my Type 1 Diabetes does, but it doesn't!!

It should also lessen the blow that my mom has had to follow a GF diet for a number of months now. In a way, I suppose it does but I’m still grumpy about this. I keep testing myself, thinking “no this can’t be it”. I eat something gluten filled, a hot dog bun (yes, with a hot dog) and like clockwork within 30 minutes the excruciating migraine like headache begins, then takes over everything. Maybe I should stop the testing….maybe. I've already done lab work, and have a test lined up to rule out other problems. So far what I know for sure is that removing gluten drastically improves my health so, no gluten for me folks. (Insert a little sniffle, sniffle here) (Quickly followed by the voice in my head that says...suck it up, big smile, & move on) 

Well, guess I should devote a little space to mentioning the things that make this not so fun change a bit better…. Turns out I have so much more energy  when gluten is not a part of my diet. Also, I don’t feel get that “my stomach is so full/bloated” feeling after eating anymore!! And, my acid re-flux has disappeared…..for real!!! I ate a dinner of (rice)spaghetti noodles & tomato sauce and did not have any acid re-flux what so ever after….It has been well over a year since that has happened!! My mom having already been dealing with  GF for a bit knows what stuff if worth buying and has plenty of stuff I can try! My son, who is my sunshine could care less whether his food is made with something gluten free. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't. He asks “Momma, is this Gluten free?” and no matter what my response is, he says, “It’s great!” or “momma, you are the best ______ cooker/baker in the whole world” In those moments I am reminded that no matter what I am facing my little son-shine is right there supporting me!! I got this!! No matter what it is!! 

Whether Gluten is invited to your holiday or not, I wish you a very Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Family Fun, Surprise Lows, & how rude!!

What a wonderful weekend it was!! We took a family trip to the zoo yesterday. What a gorgeous day for it! 80’s in late October in KC!! I hope you all were outside too.

Just as we pull out of the driveway I feel my first low blood sugar of the day. No biggie, fruit snacks from my purse stash that’s for both Landon & I. Scooby Doo kind this week. Then I chased then with an apple cinnamon bar Scott had in his truck. On we went to the zoo. Turns out, it was “Boo at the Zoo”, come in costume and trick or treating for kiddos…..oops. Parenting almost fail here, only to be saved by telling Landon “see how hot it is, you wouldn’t want to be in your costume out here today!! Plus, you can still trick or treat!!” Phew, we dodged that one just barely :)

 

River otters, Polar bear, Penguins, & Elephants oh my!! Landon LOVES the zoo, he always has!! This little boy of ours LOVES all animals big, small, real, and all 500 of his stuffed animals as well!! :)

We had just wandered over the bridge and into Africa, and were trying to decide where to go next when my second and much worse low blood sugar hit. As I struggled to make a decision on what I needed to do – the lower the sugar the tougher this is, it continued to drop. I settled on having to ask to cut in the mile long line in the restaurant to get a pop. I asked a lady who was waiting to order with her family if I could please get a drink for low blood sugar. She looked at me, sighed, said “I guess” and actually rolled her eyes at me. I muttered out “I’m sorry, I’m Diabetic” (In hindsight I’m yelling at myself that I have nothing to be sorry for). I asked the lady working the counter for a dr pepper as sweat was pouring down my face. The scared factor had set in by now. At the same time, the lady that I had gotten in front of was discussing with her family how irresponsible I was, and lecturing them that I could have prevented this and on and on and on. I have never in my entire Diabetic life felt this ashamed or embarrassed, I was near tears waiting for my drink. If you know me very well, you know that my typical non-low blood sugar reaction would have been to confront this woman. However without low blood sugar, I wouldn’t have been in that situation. The whole thing lasted maybe 3 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. On any regular day in “Beth-Land”, I take on the world, full steam ahead, and don’t back down especially if it comes to sticking up for what I think is right. In fact, I’m kinda known for that! But in that moment, that one person was able to make me feel like it was my fault, that I was a “bad” and “irresponsible” diabetic and it hurt…..a lot.

I slurped down the Dr Pepper, inhaled more snacks from my purse. My blood sugar recovered, we moved on, out of Africa by tram, and on to trick or treating.  A visit with the blue frogs, Meerkats, and Lemurs (a few of Landons favorites). We even discovered a bridge to feed the fish below that we hadn’t come across before. Then, with one worn out little boy we headed towards home. All in all, it was a fantastic day!! That 3 minutes of awfulness didn’t ruin my whole day, it did take a part of it away, just not the whole thing!!!

By the end of the day,  I knew I would share this story. And I knew that my one hope for that woman is that no one she loves will ever be faced with this disease. Control for us Type 1’s is an illusion, something we can chase, but never catch. In order to survive, we must do what we can with what we have, and sometimes that means dealing with some rough moments. 

In order to end this on a slightly humorous note.......here's a funny!!

Blogging, Walking, Pods, & of course, GO ROYALS!!!

The JDRF One Walk last weekend was FANTASTIC!! Thank you again to all who donated to myself and my Team Liveabetes!! Thank you to my awesome hubby, superhero kiddo, and  to my fantastic friend Hesper for walking!! It meant so very much to have them there with me!!

After the walk, I happened to stop by the Omnipod Vendor table. I have been curious for a while about this "tubeless" pump, how does it work? does it work? What might life be like without tubing. Well, I set up a meeting with the rep, met yesterday, and even got a little demo (minus the insulin) of wearing a pod. I must tell you, it was amazing!!!

! I know I get frustrated from time to time with my mini-med pump, but I tend to convince myself that there is no other way so "suck it up Beth"! Turns out, I don't really have to suck it up, there is something better!!! Maybe it's time to cut the tube!! While I await the call from Insulet to go over the ever important $$$ part, I can't help but imagine what life could be like without the tube. 

A girl can dream.... 

No more planning what I wear around wear the pump can be clipped
No more meltdowns when I can't  make an outfit work with my stupid pump (yes this happens.....likely during high blood sugar)
No more taking the pump off for swimming, and trying to figure out where to put it
No more taking the pump off for running/working out
No more worrying about the tubing getting caught and ripping out (OUCH!!!)

No more shooting the needle in and flinching...it inserts for you!
There are so many "No Mores" but these are the top ones so far.

New, fun, or just about any gadget that makes my life with T1D easier makes me so excited I go all teenage girl squealing excited.....It's super nerdy.

Type 1 is hard, real hard. Scary, life threatening hard. As in every once in a while, a full on "why me, this isn't fair, I don't want this anymore", crying sometimes sobbing pity party happens to me. Type 1 NEVER goes away, did I mention NEVER EVER. I do feel it is partly to blame for my over the top level of sarcastic humor (the other part is just good genes!!) SO, when the pity party fit ends, I look for things to amuse me, and there are a ton!! Here is one I found today. These are all right on target!!

http://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/would-understand

I hope to keep up with the blogging, to share what I go though, and to help me deal with it all. Follow my blog people!! At the very least you will be mildly entertained....I hope. Heck, you might even learn something about Diabetes that you didn't know!

The next super exciting tale will be soon, I promise! In the meantime, GO ROYALS!!!!!!!