6 comments

Insulin Pump Fashion

2012
03.03

A couple of days ago I wore a dress with some boots. And as I’m sure that my fellow female diabetic pumpers are aware of, even if you have shorts on underneath your dress, it’s pretty awkward to reach up your dress and take your insulin pump out. And then my problem is that I LOVE wearing dresses, and I would totally wear them every day if it weren’t for people saying, “Why are you wearing a dress?” whenever I DO wear a dress. It’s actually pretty annoying. “Because I felt like it.”

So this time I wore a dress with boots, and then I clipped my insulin pump onto my boots, so I could get my insulin pump without having to feel so awkward about it like I usually do.

So band was my first period, and people kept on bugging me out of genuine curiosity because they obviously didn’t have any idea what an insulin pump was, and I must say that I was enjoying the attention. After band I was checking the list to see who made it into Wind Ensemble (the highest band at my school) when a girl came up to me. Her name is Sam, and she told me that she really liked my Medtronic insulin pump, and that her’s was boring and black. It turns out that a flute who sits three feet away from me is a fellow type 1 diabetic. That pretty much made my day. We talked a little about going to diabetes camp, and then I had to leave to go to class.

So if you wear your insulin pump on your boot, you realize that people have a ton in common with you. That little thing made me happy for the rest of the day. :) And I still am happy.

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 Diabetic, Diabetic blogger, Insulin pump fashion-ista.

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Tags: , Category Diabetes At School, Insulin Pumps |

2 comments

Smartie Spit

2012
02.21

Get that picture into your mind: Smartie Spit. Now think of that spit going through a clarinet. Gross, huh. Don’t stop reading.

I play the clarinet. I’m in my high school’s symphonic band. It’s really fun, because I got first clarinet, and I just love love love music in general. It’s just so much fun. It’s really one of the best part of my days.

A couple of days ago I was low in band. Now that’s just awkward. I mean, try to imagine trying to inhale smarties during the rests (pauses while playing) and then forcing Smartie spit down your instrument. It’s really gross. And I’m not grossed out by many things, but this is just one of them.

And then in many cases your band teacher just gives you this look, that basically says, Why the heck are you eating and playing your instrument at the same time? Irresponsible student.

So you basically hope that you never get low during band.

Okay, and then you join the marching band. Which can technically be counted as exercise. Don’t get me wrong. Marching band is totally fun. Football games are the life. I mean, we’re all the “band geeks” so we really know nothing about football. So we just sit around and play little rifts and laugh and talk.

But throw the whole marching thing into the mix. We play at parades too. But how do you march in a contest in formation and get low in the middle of the song? It’s a puzzle, I tell you. A puzzle. My band teacher told me that I could just duck out when I needed to, and I’m not saying that I’m against the idea, but that it’s sort of awkward to playing our school’s fight song and then to duck out of the group when we’re all in formation.I will totally duck out if I need to, but it’s still weird. I still have a bag of Smarties in the pocket of my uniform. But I haven’t been low yet, which is a good thing.

Luckily, just now we’re only doing basketball games right now and no marching, so I wont have to worry about this until next school year, when we start marching again.

Well, adios for now!

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 diabetic, Diabetic blogger, Smartie spitter

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1 Comment

I Have Low Blood Sugars When I Ski

2012
02.18

Who knew.

So after a couple of weekends of taking ski lessons at Copper Mountain I’ve deduced that I always end up in my 20s after my first run. And being 20 mg/dl is just scary. And my goal is not to have Ski Patrol come rescue me (even my mom says that they are hot). So what do you do? I hate being high, and I hate being low. But at this point in time I am guessing that I should send myself high in order not to go low. Any suggestions?

I already carry candy in my pocket: jelly beans and Smarties. The first time that I was low and skiing my dad freaked out so now whenever I go skiing my pockets are weighted down like I’m carrying a bowling ball or something. Which brings me to my next point.

For all you skiers, always bring something with you. That really should be common sense, but I just want to get out there so I can say that I’ve said it. I carry candy, my lunch, my tester, an extra lancet, and a shot with me. All in my pockets. But seriously, if you need something on the mountain, you wont be sorry that you had all of that stuff with you.

For example, one time during our ski lessons we skied down to the bottom of Resolution bowl on Copper Mountain. For those of you who don’t know, Resolution is the only lift were you aren’t at a base, or can’t ski down to a base. So if the mountain looses power, you’re stuck. And guess what? Just as we got to the bottom of Resolution, the whole entire mountain lost power! I know, right? CRAZY. And for some weird reason Copper decided that Resolution was going to use reserve power LAST. That’s right, LAST. So everyone else in the class was starving, but my brother and I had our lunches in our pocket, so we weren’t starving. I know that I wasn’t low, but what if I had been? That right there is a really good reason to have sugar with you right there.

So anyway. I’m asking for suggestions on what to do to stop being low on the mountain when I ski. Suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 diabetic, Diabetic blogger, Diabetic skier

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Tags: , Category Diabetes and Exercise, Low Blood Sugars |

1 Comment

Party in the Nurse’s Office!

2012
02.14

Come all ye diabetics and lament about blood sugars…

…’Twill be fun. :

I love the nurse at my high school. She is so awesome and hip and cool. At my old middle school I didn’t really like the nurse, but here she’s awesome. So the other day I’d been having high blood sugars for pretty much the whole day so finally I just went down to the nurse so I could change my site because I figured it was a bad site. But when I got there I didn’t have any insulin so I had to call my dad so he could bring me insulin. I had all of the other supplies. Anyway. So I sat in the nurse’s office while I was waiting for my dad.

And then this kid named Noah came in. He was a diabetic and he was something like over 400 mg/dl. So we were sitting there and talking and lamenting about other nurses that we’ve had that we didn’t like and about insulin pumps and about medical IDs and about tattoos that serve as medical IDs (look them up). And we were talking about iPumps (don’t you think that would be totally wicked? It could count your carbs and test your blood sugar and be your pump AND be your phone, iPod, etc…). It was totally so much fun even though we were just so totally high. And being high is never fun except on that day it was because we could complain to each other and talk about things that nobody else would ever get. Just hanging out with diabetics is fun in general but it was even better this time because we were both high.

And then my dad came and he gave me my insulin and then he left and I gave myself a new site. Blah blah blah.

AND THEN a girl named Nicole came in and she just happened to be a diabetic and she just happened to be high. Join the club, sista. I swear, that’s the best time I’ve ever had in the nurse’s office, and I mean that quite literally. Three diabetics were high at the same time and lamenting about high blood sugars and were in the nurse’s office at the same time. IT WAS SO COOL!

So, a message to all you diabetics who are still in elementary, middle, or high school. Go to the nurse’s office when all the other diabetics in your school are high. It’s fun.

Adios for now!

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 diabetic, Diabetic blogger, Nurse’s office party thrower

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Tags: , Category Diabetes At School, High Blood Sugars |

3 comments

Skiing With Diabetes

2012
02.01

So. I ski. I suppose it’s not that surprising, but I live in Colorado, so of course I ski. Stereotypical, huh? My grandfather rented out a house in Steamboat for winter vacation so all of my aunts, uncles, and grandparents (and my immediate family) came up to Steamboat to hang out and ski. Fun, right? But I’m sure that you’re all very surprised that skiing can get very complicated when mixed with diabetes (intense sarcasm). It’s like running for me. Really. I’ve had a crazy couple of days.

So you think I would go low, right? Well, I did, but I also went high. While I was there I skied for a total of two days, and on the first day I had some really low blood sugars. On the second day I had blood sugars that were in the 400 range. Not really perfect. And it makes it hard to find a pattern. And on the first day, when my blood sugar was low, I was in the 30′s. That’s the lowest I’ve ever been before, and it really scared me.

So I guess I am asking for advice, so please comment. :) I’m going skiing in a couple of weeks so I will be sure to try out some ideas.

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 Diabetic, Diabetic skier, Powder shredder

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Tags: , , Category Diabetes and Exercise, High Blood Sugars, Low Blood Sugars |

2 comments

What Happens When You Ski With a High Blood Sugar

2011
12.29

Okay. I was 400. But my dad and cousins and uncles wont stop laughing at me. It makes me sad. Lets see them ski with a high blood sugar!

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Diabetic Skier, Diabetic blogger, Wipe-out queen

Tags: , , Category Diabetes and Exercise, Diabetes Humor, High Blood Sugars |

5 comments

Thanksgiving

2011
11.21

I can’t wait.

Thanksgiving is such an awesome holiday. We get a couple of days off to stuff ourselves with food and give thanks to all those who arrived on the Mayflower. It’s just so totally awesome. Thanksgiving however has started me thinking. When it comes to diabetes, I can find to very significant points about Thanksgiving that can be related to diabetes.

The first part is obvious: It’s the food part. Personally I think that it is hardest to keep your blood sugars under control during the holidays. There’s the turkey, and the candy, and the mashed potatoes, and whoops! your high. But there’s still cranberry sauce and pie and stuffing and gravy and sweet potatoes and little bit more of everything else. So my advise would be to give extra insulin before you sit down and eat that scrumptious meal. That way if you have extra of anything, which I assure you that you will, you already have the insulin in your body to eat it. And if you go low you can have another piece of pumpkin pie.

But what if you do go high? Back when I was ten and newly diagnosed, I would always go high whenever my extended family got together. And whenever my extended family got together it meant pie and good times. (Do you sense a theme? Hint: I like pie.) And then I would cry and pitch a fit because my parents wouldn’t let me eat pie while everyone else was eating pie, and then by the time that I could eat pie I didn’t want to eat pie because nobody else was eating pie. A tragedy in the mind of a ten year old.

But here’s the thing: Diabetes comes first. Holidays are always tough because there’s that extra food around. But you have to be the big kid and not eat that piece of pie. Know your body and take care of it. And besides, you can have the pie in an hour or two, and gloat because nobody else is eating pie. Don’t be mean to your body and eat the pie anyway. I know that I’m teenage and am not technically old, but your body will be in so much better shape when your older. Because after you have that one piece of pie when you’re high, then it becomes a bad habit.

Diabetes comes first. Remember that.

Thanksgiving is all about a holiday about giving thanks. I don’t know about you, but my family always goes around the table and says what they are thankful for. So it’s time to thank diabetes again. And this time, just be thankful that your around at all to enjoy Thanksgiving. One hundred years ago, we would have died. Now there’s treatment, and we get to eat the pie. And like I’ve said before, diabetes has brought on some pretty awesome experiences, like getting to share this wonderful community where everyone is all so supportive.

Well, have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 Diabetic, Teenager with Diabetes, Pie Lover/Eater

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Tags: , Category Food, Tips on Living with Diabetes |

3 comments

Balancing Halloween Candy and Diabetes

2011
11.12

Just because I’m a freshmen in high school doesn’t mean that I am going to stop Trick O’ Treating. I mean, what kid doesn’t like going out dressed as Dracula and getting about five pounds of candy because they had the nerve to wear fangs? I mean, I’m strongly for the idea myself.

And before you ask, yes, several first graders did stop my friends and I and informed us that we were “to old to go Trick O’ Treating”. Honestly.

So basically the whole point of Trick O’ Treating is to go out and get as much candy as possible. And we all know that candy is a diabetic’s best friend, right? Right.

A lot of solutions that kids come up with is to sell their candy to their parents. And that’s actually pretty popular with our non-diabetics also. I tried the selling method for my first Halloween with diabetes, and it didn’t exactly work. I ended up selling the candy I didn’t like to my parents and kept and ate approximately nine tenths of that year’s haul. So selling candy doesn’t really work with me. I like it too much.

If you are like me, and go down the “eat all of your candy” path, then there isn’t a whole ton that I can say to you. BUT:

If possible, DO remember to bolus/take shot for candy, or you will set yourself on a high blood sugar roller coaster that will mess your whole day up. Trust me, I speak from experience. Not fun. It is just so much easier to take a little pain for some sugar, and not have one of those horrible days that just suck. Those days are the worst part (in my opinion) about having diabetes.

So just be a wise candy eater is all I’m saying. Cheers!

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 Diabetic, Extensive Bolus-Wizard User, Awesome Black-Belt/Ninja

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Tags: Category Tips on Living with Diabetes |

2 comments

My Second Race

2011
11.01

Cross country race number two.

Here was my second attempt at a cross country race.

My race didn’t start until about 5:30 or so. We were dead last, because I am in Girl’s Open, and the race order went Boy’s Junior Varsity, Girl’s JV, Boy’s Varsity, Girl’s Varsity, Boy’s Open, Girl’s Open. They were each about thirty minutes apart, which my Mom complained about for at least fifteen minutes, even though she didn’t go. So I don’t know why she cares. Actually, I kind of like it when it’s all spread out, because you get to sit there and relax for a while, or even take a nap, like one girl did. I listened to my iPod and talked.

Mr. Southerns was going to race with me again, which I really appreciate. :) I did not warm up with him, however. Before every practice, and every race you have to go on at least a twenty minute run and then do dynamic stretches so you don’t pull a muscle or anything like that. Before my warm up I tested and I was 150 mg/dl. So I didn’t correct or anything, I just went on the warm up jog. When I finished, I was 60 mg/dl. So I had a juice, and then I went and stretched. After stretching, I was 120 mg/dl, and this was about ten minutes or so before my race. So I had a Gatorade and and granola bar.

And we started. And I went. (Sound familiar?) And Mr. Southerns went with me. He was carrying my glucometer, and some juice and some more chewy thingies. After mile 1, I tested, and I think that I was around 170 mg/dl, but I can’t quite remember.

Meanwhile, I’m feeling really good. I’m passing people, and I have my rhythm, and I just felt like I was on it. It was the greatest feeling.

I was about at mile 2 when I tested again. This time I can remember what my number was, because I was 300 mg/dl. I guess the Gatorade threw me over the edge, eh? So I bolused, but I didn’t give myself the full amount. Only about a unit.

But about thirty yards ahead, all of the varsity girls were congregated. I started running again, and they were all cheering me on, even though I was the only person in that little bit. It was so awesome. I love a sport where the only person you have to beat is yourself, and everyone knows how hard it is, and everyone is SO supportive. They were so loud and so enthusiastic that I couldn’t help but smile. That was my second-to-best moment in my whole cross country career, which hasn’t been a long one.

Right after the girls was a hill, and I got faster GOING UP the hill, and I PASSED about five girls! That was an excellent moment of success. It was the bomb. I had about .5 or so miles left.

I got to the finish line. Now I will tell you my best moment in my whole cross country career. I CROSSED THE FINISH LINE AND MY TIME WAS 29:24 approximately, AND I HAD CUT OFF ABOUT 4 MINUTES FROM MY FIRST RACE!!!! OMG I WAS SO HAPPY. AND I STILL AM. Can you tell?

Mr. Southerns was so happy for me too, he hugged me as soon as I finished, and I was happy with that moment for the rest of forever. And my couch was so proud and supportive, and everyone on the team was telling me good job, and it was the best, because by then everyone knew that I had diabetes, so they knew that it was a huge accomplishment for me.

By the end of the race I was 150 mg/dl and steady. And that was my second race. :D

By the way, a HUGE shout out to Claudia J. for contacting me. She has just been diagnosed, so I’m sure we can all sympathize. Keep going, Claudia, and don’t give up. It’s a struggle at first, but you’ll get better at it. I’m cheering for you!

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Cross Country Runner, Type 1 Diabetic, Awesome Person in General

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Category Diabetes and Exercise |

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A Random Question

2011
10.22

Welcome to random world.

Lets just say that you were in high school. And lets just say that you happened to be obsessed with Harry Potter. Oh, hello, that’s me.

If I started a quidditch club, would you join? Trust me, it’s real. Like, muggles, or non-magical people can play quidditch. Look it up. I’m not kidding.

But lets just say that I started a quidditch club in my high school, would you join? I need some incentive to do it. So do comment. :)

And for those of you who are confused, think Harry Potter.

Tags: Category RANDOM |

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