Monthly Archives: October 2010

How To Cure High Blood Sugars

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Ok, not cure.  But it works.

I figured out this helpful tip a couple of nights ago.

For me, when I’m high, I feel horrible. I don’t really know how to describe it, but I’ll try. I will have a bad taste in my mouth, my whole body feels like it’s up there. Thats the best I can do. I think every diabetic has problems explaining how it feels to be high. I know I do.

Anyway, a couple of nights ago I woke up at about 3 o’ clock in the morning. My blood sugar was 300. I got up and  gave myself a new site because my current one itched. Then I bolused. After that I brushed my teeth. And I discovered something miraculous. That bad feeling that I get in my mouth when I’m high, it disappeared! Not all of my high symptoms disappeared, but that one did! Wow!A Diabetic Brushes her Teeth

So I thought that I would just tell everyone! It makes me happy to know that there is at least one way to help reduce symptoms instead of waiting an hour for your insulin to kick in. Yes! Quite an achievement.

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 Diabetic, Blood Sugar Tester, Tooth Brusher

Mexico

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Just a heads up.

So I have ‘up and moved’ to Mexico. My parents want my brother and sister and I to learn Spanish and get a culture shock and things like that, so here we are. We’re only living here for the year, but that is more than enough time to get some freakin’ awesome stories.

We live in a town called Bucerias, which is north of Puerto Vallarta. My siblings and I go to school called Colegio Bucerias.

I live right by Puerto Vallarta.

This is just a heads up so when I start putting out stories that all seem to take place in Mexico, you guys are warned.

Oh, and FWI, I don’t speak Spanish yet. Just so you know.

You can read about my Mexico adventures here.

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 Diabetic, Diabetic in Mexico, Blond Mexican

A Diabetic Viking

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In which we talk about Diabetes but the teacher ignores my thoughts.

When I was in 6th grade my Social Studies class learned about the Vikings. These are some of the things that my class mates and I discovered about Vikings. They had awesome ships that were good out in the ocean and in rivers. That they looted a lot of towns. And that many English words come from them, including “Son” and “Berserk”.

You see, the Vikings had a group of absolutely crazy men who could seem to defeat anything. These men were called Berserkers. (Hence the word “berserk”.)  So my Social Studies teacher, Mrs. N., told us that historians now think that these Berserkers were so good at fighting and so crazy because they had some certain diseases. Diseases like Diabetes.

Then Mrs. N. and the rest of the class started to try to figure out examples of people today who had Diabetes. There was a wide speculation and I sat there trying not to laugh. My friend Sofie was sitting next to me grinning. She glances over at me and winks.

“Oh! Oh! I know! That Broncos Quarterback! Jay Cutler! He has Diabetes!” says Mrs. N.

At this point I decide to take some action. I raise my hand and say, “I have diabetes.” Mrs. Nelson keeps talking, and completely ignoring me. However, more than half the class turn around. But my teacher continues to ignore me. Sofie and I both crack up laughing.

Thankfully, the bell wrings so we don’t get in trouble.

Personally, I think that this story is hilarious. I don’t know if my teacher didn’t hear me, but she knew I had diabetes. But really, I guess I don’t mind that she didn’t hear me or whatever, because now I have a hilarious story. Which is just as good.

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 Diabetic, Story Teller With Diabetes, Ignored Teenager

A Low Dilemma

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In which people bombard me with questions at my candy eating habits due to low blood sugars.

While I’m low I eat Smarties. Everyone thinks I eat Smarties for fun. It’s actually quite the contrary. I hate Smarties. I eat them for lows because then I can’t be tempted to eat them when I’m not. My dad thinks I am really mature for restricting myself, but the truth is, I can never catch up with bolusing (giving myself insulin via pump) and almost always end up being high. If you haven’t guessed by now, I hate being high.

Low blood sugars make almost everyone confused. For instance, when most people think of Diabetes, they think of a person who is restricted in their eating habits and sugar intake. So most everyone does a double take when they see me stuffing Smarties into my mouth.

And then when hear the reasoning behind my eating habits, they want the candy. This is quite annoying, as you might imagine.

Hence, the reason I carry Smarties. I suppose the biggest reason is that they are easy to put into a bag and stuff into my pencil bag. Also, they are easy to stuff into my mouth without people noticing. Though of course, some people do notice, which is where the dilemma comes in.

I have had a number of odd experiences involving lows and candy. For example, last year I was low in Science class. A girl, we’ll call her Agent X, saw me eating the candy. So Agent X, naturally wanting the candy, asks me why I am eating candy. When  I explain that I am a diabetic and that I am having a low, she nods, satisfied. Then she smiles and says, “Yah, I’m a diabetic too.” Agent X laughs. To this day, I still haven’t gotten the joke.

When I was in 6th grade I was in an advanced math class with the worst bunch of 7th graders in the school. So of course I am seated next to a mean boy, who in the next week takes my empty desk as an opportunity to steal my Smarties. I never traced their theft to Mr. Mean Boy, but I’ve always assumed it was him, as he’d seen me eating Smarties before. The next class the teacher moved me to sit with a perfectly nice, and not to mention sane, 6th grade girl named Sarah.

Just this year I was low and a girl noticed me eating candy. “Claire, you bad a**,” she said. “You’re eating candy.” That’s the first time I’ve ever been cussed at, by the way. I find it odd that I was cussed at for inhaling sugar. So I quickly explained that I was a diabetic.

So, I think that the solution to this problem is to say that everyone goes wacko around candy. Everyone except the diabetic in the group, of course, who immediately pull their pump out, and bolus up.

Sincerely,

Claire Montgomery
Type 1 Diabetic, Teenage Blogger, Candy Eater