A Call to Action

Every day, I see people with diabetes and their loved ones doing amazing and inspiring things. Often I want to post about them here, but there are just so many it would be overwhelming. However, this one I need to share…

This is Luke and his diabetic alert dog, Jedi. I had the pleasure of meeting Luke, Jedi, and Luke’s family while we were on vacation in California. (and Jedi even alerted on me while I was there!) Their Facebook page is how I found out about the world of diabetic alert dogs, how I met their friends including Frank and his family whom we stayed with in California.

Their Facebook pages showed me a different side of diabetes – the side of parents who are doing their best to be pancreases for their kids, and doing so with grace and poise and a little kick-butt attitude. My personal friendships with Frank and Luke’s mom, Dorrie, have brought me so much knowledge, support, confidence, and love. I’m indebted to them forever.

Luke’s family is attempting to fund a documentary that will show the ins and outs if life with Type 1 Diabetes – the good, the bad, the ugly, and overall the honest truth. This documentary would be available for free and able to be shared with everyone.

They want this documentary to change the stigma around type 1 diabetes. And I want to help them make that happen.

Please, if someone you love has diabetes, consider donating to the kickstarter fund to make this documentary a reality. It will change lives – I guarantee it.

Click here to donate.

Thank you. And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Back At It

I took a slightly involuntary break from my CGM. In the middle of September, my Enlite serter got doused in Root Beer and wouldn’t insert correctly anymore. So I took a break, and then it became an extended break, and then I finally got around to ordering a new serter and it came today.

So, for the past month, my BGs probably haven’t been all that great. But sometimes, you need a mental health break. I still tested my sugar, still corrected for highs, still bolused appropriately for everything I ate, didn’t go crazy with bad meals… however I didn’t work nearly as hard to stay within my perfect narrow range.

It was a nice break of sorts, but it’s time to be back at it. So I’m attached to two devices once again rather than one.

In other news, we shot our last session of the year, so I’m in full-on editing mode. Maybe I’ll share some awkward behind-the-scenes photos as I come across them in editing.

Insulin Pump Fashion

It can be a challenge to wear cute clothes while attached to a pager-like device that keeps you alive. However, it is not impossible. So, ladies… here’s a peek into some of the ways I wear my pump and still feel cute!

1. Loud and Proud

On those days when I don’t care who sees my pump or what they think of it, I wear it facing outward, attached to my pocket or waistband. This is great for days when I am with close friends or family, or I am in a hurry and just don’t care. It’s also the best for days when I’m using the Enlite CGM and need quick access to my graph on my pump. (It can also be worn in the pocket with the clip hooked to the outside of the pocket, but this is less accessible).

2. Hidden in Plain View

My Flipbelt has made it where I can wear my pump in the belt over a dress and have many people not even realize it contains a medical device. This has been wonderful for photographing weddings. I can keep my pump on vibrate and feel it much more easily and consistently than if it were in a pocket.

3. Out of Sight, Out of Mind

This is the awesome part about being female and living in a place where it is cold for way too much of the year – I can attach my pump to my bra between the girls. Bustier women can get away with just doing that, but I have to wear a scarf over mine to hide the “pump bump.” This isn’t a very good solution for times when I’m using the CGM, or going out to eat in public, for obvious reasons, but it’s great for the days when I just want to look and feel “normal.”

Here are just a few of the ways to wear a pump and still look and feel great! Be confident and you can rock any style!

Be Nice to Photographers in October.

…They have a lot of crop to deal with.

I saw that somewhere on Facebook, and it is so true! We shot four weddings, a maternity session and a couple’s session in September. Yesterday we shot our last wedding of 2014, today is an engagement session and another engagement session next weekend. I actually can’t import the wedding I just shot on my computer because I am out of free space!

(a behind the scenes photo from yesterday’s wedding with a fighter jet!)

To say we’re busy would be an understatement. That is why my blog hasn’t been very active lately. However, I have some great blog posts on the horizon. Just gotta get through busy season (and try to manage my blood sugars in the process)! 😉

Don’t Be Fooled By Appearances

I get asked all the time how I can stand to poke my fingers multiple times a day. How I can handle inserting and having medical devices attached to my body all the time. People are amazed at how easy and effortless it all seems.

Don’t be fooled by appearances.

A Little Less Alone

I love meeting other type 1 diabetics in person. Growing up, I only knew of a couple kids in my school who had T1, and I wasn’t friends with most of them. One I was, but all I knew is that his pancreas sucked (because he had a t-shirt that said it) and sometimes he’d have to take a break from playing tuba to eat something. Even now, I know only a handful of T1’s in my city and rarely see or talk to any of them.

So when I have the opportunity to meet another T1, I’ll do almost anything to make it happen.

This is Jade. She’s had T1 for 13 years, having been diagnosed several years after her brother was. Yet she’s a DJ for WRIF out of Detroit, on top of being a wedding DJ on the side.