Field Hockey

Hola!

haha im practicing for spanish class when school starts up agian. I have approximatley 6 days before the first day of school. I'm dredding going back, but excited to see all my friends!

Field Hockey is still going good. We've had 2 scrimmages so far, both of which we won in overtime! haha Tomorrow marks our first game of the 2007-2008 season! Its a big game so im excited to play. Its at home so we are very confident going into the game because NO ONE COMES IN OUR HOUSE AND BEATS US!

I am also stoked for Sept 4th when we will be taking on another schoool, a non league game, which my friend from Diabetes Camp is on! I can't wait to see her and play against her as well!

Anyways, about today. My sugars kind of SUCKED..but I am trying to fix them and get over it. This morning i was 167, not bad for a sugar to start playing FH..but then after practice..since i didnt have time to check it durring..it was 326..and i was like WHAT??...so that is kind of annoying. And a couple of hours after it was 250...ughh. so many correction boluses...hopefully the next time i check it...it will be within normal range! cross your fingers :)

Hell Avenue

When it comes to sports, I am all for it. They are basically my life (besides my boyfriend, friends and family). But anyways...I love sports. You might even say, I play too many sports, but its what I do. I play school Field Hockey, Softball, and I used to play Basketball but unfortunately have to stop because it got to be too much. Then I have my travel/club teams Field Hockey and Softball. I also used to play travel Soccer but had to give it up for travel Field Hockey. wow. That's a lot. So you get the point...i like sports.

Anyways....I believe one negative thing has come from playing so many sports...which is my current knee injury. :( It sucks yeah but I'm doing the best I can. I have been working hard to try and get it better...but it still hurts. Other than that negative it has brought many many countless positives to my life. I have met tons of new girls who have become friends of mine, It has kept me in somewhat of a good shape, It actually helped diagnose my Diabetes through a minor injury that did not heal at all and caused concern, It has made me smile, and most of all, It has been fun and still is EXCEPT........

For the whole part of running. lol. Now I can run sprints but if you ask me to run a mile...that will be a challenge..not to say i dont like a challenge cause i do..but i really despise running for sure....AND this week has been the week from hell. My FH team has been training all week with Athletes Advantage preparing us for our season and our REAL preseason. I like working out...but right now i am just plain SORE and i don't like it at all. When you can't walk up or down stairs, sit down, stand up, even walk...that's not good. But luckily tomorrow is the last day and I have two days off before the real HELL breaks loose on Monday.

Until then...I will be going to Cooperstown this weekend with my boyfriend to hang out, relax, and watch him play baseball! I just can't get away from sports...well at least i'm not playing!

Diabetes Camp!!

I am extremely sorry for the BIG break in my writing. I can't remember the last time I posted, or even the last time I had time to post. I have been a very busy girl considering it is now summer time and school is out! So, because I have not written anything in a couple of months, one could imagine that I have a lot to say. If I were to write about one thing that has happened since my last update...it would be about Diabetes Camp!!!!

The Donavon McNabb Diabetes Camp for Kids at Camp Green Lane in PA is one of the best times of all 365 days of the year!!..The feeling of being around others who live with the same disease, never fails to give me a sense of comfort, happiness, and normalcy. Its the 6 days that I get to talk freely about my diabetes, I don't have to explain myself, and we can all just relate to each other in how we are feeling. I also get to meet new people connect with them and stay in touch after camp! The friendships that are made at camp will never be forgotten!

This year was a special year for me. It was my last year as a camper and the man himself, DM, came to visit as well! This was only my second year at camp (I wish I had gone longer), but I'm not done with it yet. I hope to return as a CIT (councilor in training) next year and a real councilor after that!

(Here is a picture of the oldest girls cabin, SEASONS, aka TEAM AWESOME with McNabb!)

During these amazing 6 days, lots of stuff happened! There was the dance which was soooooooooo much fun! Here is another pic of the SEASONS cabin at the dance:

There was the luau/water fight between oldest girl and boy cabins, the light show haha, the trivia game, jeopardy, who wants to be a million air?, capture the flag, GAGA (best game ever created!), beach volleyball, huge football game, the long days when everyday at lunchtime it would feel like dinner then i would get excited that we still had another meal to look forward too!, the site changes were always fun (ecspecially when i got that gusher and then I showed Joe and he said "You're not cool until you've had a gusher!" haha, Team AWESOME, The seasons' crazy councilors-Roberta, Kristin, Court...!, hanging out in the boys cabin!!, THE MENTOR PARTY aka our reward for being nice and talking to the little kids!,THE PRANKS, and soo much more!

There was a FIRST for me at camp this year! That was.....a blood sugar all time low of 36 mg/dl. This was while i was having a catch with the football with my a kid named Jimmy. It was crazy. All of a sudden i was just like...WOW i need a break. cause i was starting to suck and not catch the ball and walk instead of run to the ball...lol Also while playing football was the first time someone has ever called me steroids..later to be shortened to roids...Basically i was beastin' it up during the game with some interceptions, touchdowns, and kick returns...but it was cool, my guy friends stood up for me and yelled at all the other guys who would call me different names like steroids or even Betsy, which was given to me cause this kid didn't know my name..lol



Here is the start of the PRANKS:::!

Since the girls were technically not allowed to go in the boy's cabins....WE decided to steal the boy's clothes off of their drying racks outside of their cabins and wear them to the flagpole the next morning!!! hahaha in front of the whole camp!..We also had a pair of their underwear the we stuck on a branch and marched out in front with!! lol They were pissed and came back at us with revenge in their eyes........That afternoon they decided to destroy our cabin, take ALL of our clothes, and throw them in a canoe in the lake. I thought this was funny but others, not so much..soooo we continued to battle it out and struck again the next night!

This time, considering they broke the rules by actually going into our cabin, we did the same. We snuck into their living area during the luau with string like a web and strung it throughout their whole cabin, had Vaseline on the door and light switches, put shaving cream on their windows and mirrors, placed forks strategically under their bed sheets, took their pillows out of their cases and hid them, and to top it all off we put pads and tampons on the beds and under the top bunks! hahahaha. It was awesome. Unfortunately we had to clean it all up, but it was funny while it lasted AND it got us in the boys cabin with them too! haha

Well considering i didnt get my pictures developed yet..i will have more about what we did at camp later..so thats it for now.

"What is that?"

As you may already know, I am currently on the Medtronic Minimed Insulin Pump. I have been on it for about a year and a half now. You may also already know that i am a big time sports fanatic. Currently my sports consist of school softball, travel softball, and field hockey.

Lately, during school softball, I have been having some trouble with the umpires' and their persistent questions about my pump. When I go up to bat, even though my pump is tucked away and most times out of clear sight, they find a way to spot it and call me out...

"My time," yells the home plate ump! I step out of the box and turn towards him. The first couple of times they would ask questions like..."What is that?", "Is that a cell phone?", or "Excuse me can you come here for a second?". I have even got "Is that an Ipod?" No, its an insulin pump." "Oh! i thought you were listening to some Diddy or something"....Now it goes a little something like this: "My time," - ump. I turn, and before they have a chance to ask, I reply "Its an Insulin Pump for Diabetes." That's when, i think they feel a little bad about interrupting or they just say OK that's fine. But I absolutely hate when they ask me about it...I don't know why it bothers me, I guess it is just the fact that-after they say it-I'm thinking about it and my focus is gone and has shifted to me and my pump. When I'm batting, i like to get up there, clear my head, and do what I gotta do, but when they inevitably bring it up...it leads to my destruction. I find that my mind races and I usually strike out when it happens.

Now, my coach is getting into the habit of telling the umpires before hand, that we have a diabetic with an insulin pump on our team, just to let them know so they won't bug me.

I'm surprised they haven't called me out about my Bracelet...??? I don't even try to hide that. lol

I HATE when I'm HIGH

Last night after i got home from my boyfriend, E's house, I kind of knew I would be going low during the night. I thought this because I had been low the past 2 nights and also because we were doing a lot of activity, consisting of basketball, Frisbee, football, and PlayStation 2. lol. So i decided to lower my basal a little bit by going down by 10 percent...I later found out at 2am that 10% wasn't nearly enough to go down by...I woke up to a shaky/extremely tired 68mg/dl. i drank my juicy juice and eat some crackers and fell back asleep without re-checking..oopss. That was OK though, because I woke up the next morning with 129mg/dl! yay i didnt over correct...something that I tend to do..A LOT!

So...that was the morning sugar but today seemed to just get worse and worse as the day went on. except for a very nice 102mg/dl. i was high every other time....(sad face). A couple hours after the nice 102...180mg/dl...awww come on u gotta be kidding..then before dinner..277mg/dl. NO WAY! uhh and i was out to dinner which didn't make things any better considering I was about to estimate everything that was on my plate...gerrr....1.5 hours later...364mg/dl..SHIT..not good..not good at alll. Correction bolus to the rescue..or lack there of. I was a little anxious at this point waiting and waiting for it to come down a little bit...so i checked it again about 30 mins later...366mg/dl. ahhhhh is this for real? Wow i really did a horrible estimating job. More correction bolus (as much as my wizard would allow)...

And that sticky 366 brings us to now....i just thought i would write about it considering i was feeling stressed...and not only from it being high but because i am trying to do 2 research projects at the same time.....Ridiculous, i know right?! I need my sugar lower so I can actually consentrate somewhat on that.....

I hope my corrections kick in soon...uhhh I Hate when I'm HIGH...:(

Excellence All Around! =)

Yesterday we had a softball game (varsity) and it was my chance to shine! This was basically my second start of the season. (Our current record 6-0) The starter is a senior and she was on vacation for spring break and didn't get to practice therefore, our coach started me! I was excited and came ready to play.

I started off in warm ups at 147mg/dl. A perfect start for physical activity. Then I didn't have much time to re check before the game actually started because I was starting, but i did as soon as i had a chance...this was at 4pm, about a half hour into the game..it was 121mg/dl. - not bad, but not as high as i would have liked to continue the game....so I ate a piece of a hard pretzel..which brought me up to 158mg/dl. in 20 minutes. That was the last time i checked in until I came out of the game in the last inning!

This was probably close to one of the best offensive games I have ever had! And I have been playing softball for about 12 years. My first time up to bat, there was a girl on second base...and i got a bunt single! My next time up, there were bases loaded with 2 outs and i got a 3 run Double! yay....THEN my last time up there were girls on 3rd and 2nd...2 outs...pressures on. I cleared my head, looked for a perfect pitch...and BOOM! The ball sailed out in between left and center...almost hitting cars in a parking lot (so i hear)...I GOT A 3 RUN HOME RUN--(stand up)!! haha it was the best feeling in the world!

Although after all this excitement, i think the adrenaline made my sugar go a little too high at 202 mg/dl., when i came out to let some other people play, so i bolused 1/2 of a correction which was 1 unit. That pretty much took care of it...it came down to 164 post game...92 pre dinner...99 at 9:30pm...72 at 10:15...123 post fix...96 pre bedtime...and 122 at 12:40 before actually falling asleep..ALL IN ALL it was an EXCELLENT day for softball and for my sugars (they weren't too bad)!

This was by far the best game ever! and we won 14-1...i was 2-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt single, a 3 run double and a 3 run homer which came out to be 6 RBIs....and...after the game a reporter interviewed me for the first time in my high school career!!! THIS WAS A GREAT DAY!

Last day of school before SPRING BREAK.

Today was a GREAT day. It started out with my internal clock waking me at 5:57am. with a sugar of 65 mg/dl. That was fun! SIKE. Although, I have a bed side mini fridge holding all my juicy juice and a crayon box on top full of crackers, pretzels, and glucose tabs, which is pretty cool and a great idea, if i don't say so myself. So that was a rocky start but it gradually got better and Better and BETTER....!

In 1st period at school my US History teacher was overly nice for some reason and we got to watch the rest of "The Great Gatsby". It was such a good movie and book-ironically i was reading it in English at the same time. Then after we finished the movie, we got to chill and listen to music!

In 2nd period we unfortunately had our "Great Gatsby" essay test, which wasn't that difficult, just annoying. That took up most of the time. Ohh..but as we were writing our essays out of the corner of my eye i saw a huge white spider crawling up a kid's back next to me...i turned to the girl next to me and was like..oh my god there is a huge spider on his back..then the teacher killed it...haha after I got everyone's train of thought messed up!

3rd period was half Directed Study...which i did nothing-so i went to the nurse's office and hung out lol- and then Lunch! Lunch is always fun, except for the gross food. This is a time to hang out and talk to my friends...

4th period Biology. This class was ok. I had another quiz but it was fairly easy...i love science!

As for 5th period- I was really bored because it was Art..so i again went to hang with my Nurse Buddies for a little bit! I'm glad I did too because I got to try some really delicious SUGAR FREE jelly belly beans! lol they were really good...

Then Post School...I had softball practice for 2 hours then a madd good Pasta Party..! But now i regret eating those brownies and all that pasta cause my sugar was a little high...like 230..but don't worry..a quick bolus and now its 130 :) i love my pump!

That was my day...and now ITS SPRING BREAK BABY...

April Fools....

So..i realize that April fools day is long gone and happened 3 days ago..but I'm a very busy person and have not had much time at nights, due to long softball games and massive amounts of homework..but that's a different story.

Anyways...On April 1st I had a lot going on: sleep :), watching movies, Field Hockey practice and a Pasta Party for softball!! yummy. I actually thought I had more going on than that but whatever. So i forgot that April 1st actually meant something, to tell you the truth I thought it was still March...obviously not. I found this out when My friend Meg and I arrived at our softball party and two of our team mates were cling wrapping my coaches car and putting Vaseline under the handles HAHA! (good thing our coach is cool and she was a good sport about it!) But yea it was soo funny..and that is when i found out it was actually April already!!! (so excited for SUMMER...and camps!!!)

Meg and I left the party to go to Field Hockey and I came up with an idea to trick my mom! I told her that my sugar was 500 mg/dl.! Knowing that my sugar rarely goes above 250 let alone 500, i knew her face would be priceless..haha. And it was. It was a small trick, but hey, it was the best I could do considering I forgot all about it...:) There is always next year.

A Book to Read...

A couple months ago, i read in a Diabetes news letter from my camp, that a boy named Chase was creating a book for newly diagnosed diabetics (Chase also attends the camp I go to, and is one of my camp friends). It is a collection of letters from all different people with diabetes and or people who know people with diabetes from all over the world. This book is definitely a Winner!

I am one of the lucky people who got to be involved in this project by writing an email that I sent to Chase about my story. I'm Chapter 53 ;). Anyways, this is a great book and I finished it in about three days! Its a great opportunity to learn about other people's situations and listen to advice they have to share!

The Book is called "When I Got Diabetes: Letters To Chase". I recommend this book to not only newly diagnosed people, but to anyone who is in need of support or encouragement! (young or old...) You can purchase it at Krollbooks.com and i also have a link to that site on the left hand side of my page so you can learn more about Chase and what he is all about!

Thank you Chase for putting such a great book together, I know you worked very hard on it, and it turned out really great!!!...(oh and Chase: only 2 months and 17 days till camp, can't wait)!

RED & BLACK 07'

Its been a few days since my last post...but I've been very busy lately. Between school Softball starting, travel Field Hockey, school, and RED and BLACK night (which ill explain later) i haven't had any time to write. But, its Saturday and i have some free time now so here goes nothing...

Every year my school has a competition between students to see which side of the alphabet is stronger: physically, mentaly, creatively, sociably, and spiritually. Its a crazy hyped competition between the last named people A-L (Black) and M-Z (Red). This event takes many, many days of preparation and is all organized by the student body. We have Generals (seniors) and captains (9,10,and 11). Each grade allows two generals of captains. Although i am not a captain, I love participating in as many challenges as possible! As i said, there is a lot to this big night! There is Painting, which is making huge posters which fill the wall space of our intire gym, Dance Team, one team for Red and one team for Black, Partner Dance, which is three groups of two dancers for each team, Speed Pyramid and lots more! (Those are all the activities which practice and put the most time into) And..the three days of this event are Pool Night, Field Events, and Gym Night. Also: This years names picked by the Generals and Captains were the RED VANDALS (my team) and BLACK KNIGHTS.



POOL NIGHT!- This was the first night of Red and Black. I originally did not sign up for any pool night events, but my friend was a captain, and decided that she would put me in Queen of the Inner tube. I was sooooo nervous. A couple hours before my event...i went down to the locker rooms to check my sugar...5.4.3.2.1..Beep...ohh gooood 112 mg/dl. Not Bad, yet not good for getting ready for a vigorous sporting event. Of course I wasn't thinking and didn't eat anything or drink any Gatorade at that point and probably should have. Naturally, my event was called to check in and what do you know, I'm already shaking and feel the need to check my sugar again..not good. I turn to my friend and say "I gotta check my sugar like NOW"..."You don't have time" she says. This is not good. So I'm like, "Yeah I do, I have to, I'll be right back." so I run as fast as I can across the slippery/wet tile floor, squeezing my way through a crazy amount of people. I get to the locker room and run down the stairs...zip-zip-zip, 5.4.3.2.1. Beep...Crap its only 100 mg/dl. now. I quick grab my Gatorade and run back up the the pool area while guzzling berry flavored liquid, which is extremely hard might I add. Our event was about to start and i was beginning to feel more and more weak and nervous by the second. Starting an activity like this at 1oo mg/dl is not good and I new I would be low after if now during Queen of the Inner tube. This event is one of the biggest more exciting event of Pool Night, it takes and immense amount of energy to swim around in a tube and try to knock people off their tube while fighting to stay on your tube at the same time. I was flapping around in the pool, not able to gain much ground, considering my 5 footness. haha. It was increasingly getting harder and harder to fight and swim and I felt like I was going to pass out. Finally in an overtime situation, i got pulled out of my tube after being attacked by at least three girls and one time, but I gave them a fight! I swam to the closest side of the pool, with absolutely no energy left to actually get out of the pool. Luckily my friends were right there for me and pulled me out of the pool. I collapsed on the ground, shaky and unable to catch my breath. Our trainer came over to me and helped me get to a chair where my juice was and i chilled out there for a few minutes. I drank more and re-checked at 146 mg/dl. I was relieved that I wasn't low anymore, but I sure felt it. (Im not sure what my sugar was throughout the event, but I know I wasn't feeling myself) My best friend, who was sitting in the stands, even said to others around her that she thought I was low, just by the way my face looked. We lost that event, and I lost my challenge of keeping my sugar higher so I could play, but everyone who saw my that night said I did amazing considering the 3 person ambushes I kept encountering.

Field Events- I'm not going into too much detail about this one, because I sucked here too, and felt shaky while shooting free throws for Basketball Foul Shooting. But I will say, it was right after gym class and i was 113 mg/dl and going down...After that though, our teachers competed against each other and the whole school watched.

GYM NIGHT- This was the BEST night so far! The events I was in were: Crab Soccer(as the goalie), Tire Pull, and Tug-of-War. Crab Soccer was SOOOO AMAZING! Again we still lost this too, but i was doing sooo well..I was literally diving left and right and kept the huge (bigger than me) sized balls out of the goal, which was the intire width of the gym wall. I may have scuffed up my pump a lil bit but it was worth it, cause I had so much fun and people were coming up to me afterwards, people i didn't even know, and saying how SICK i did! I know it sounds repetitive but again, we lost tire pull...but when my number got called I kept fighting as hard as I could and made it a tie so we would have a chance to win. I was up against the strongest girl there, and I kept her from winning. But tug of war was just a disaster. i was pulling as hard as i could but we still lost. OH WELL...for the most part it was an awesome night and i had tons of fun! AND I KEPT MY SUGAR THIS NIGHT ABOVE 200 mg/dl. and BELOW 240 mg/dl. THE WHOLE TIME....which was my objective in order to perform without having to eat to fix a low! EVEN THOUGH THE RED VANDALS DIDN'T WIN...I STILL HAD FUN!

The After Party! - I went home..iced my leg (which had a cramp from tire pull), iced my arm(sore from tire pull, and still hurts today), got a shower, and headed over to my Friend Biz's house. It was Biz, Christine, and me...and we had a sleepover party. We talked all night and eat and slept til 12 this morning...when i woke up and made them get up to eat......I woke up and tried to go back to sleep but felt clammy and hot and shaky as hell decided to check...5.4.3.2.1 Beep....57 mg/dl. ooohhhh crap. I grabbed my Gatorade and guzzled it down as fast as I could....sat there for a while and then when up for breakfast...before I ate..it was 99 mg/dl. and i was OK again!!!!

I LOVE RED AND BLACK NIGHT.....only 364 days till next years!

The Beginning...

This is my first post EVER and I am new to this whole blogging thing. Sure, i have/had all the "fad" web pages (xanga, myspace, facebook) but I'm a first time blogger today!

Not to sound weird or anything but, the past couple of weeks I have been reading and searching the web for Diabetes Blogs and found them quite intriguing. Its nice to read and learn about other peoples' everyday experiences with their Diabetes and see what they do in different situations that they are faced with! It gives me a sense of comfort knowing and reassuring myself that there are a lot of people "just like me" in this world and we are all in it together. That is why I am starting this blog; in hopes of sharing my dlife with others, communicating with them and to maybe even give comfort to someone else searching the web just like I did!

Anyways...to kick off this blog i just want to say a few words. First off, If you haven't already noticed this is a blog about me, my life, and living with Type 1 Diabetes and if your not interested in any of those subjects, I think it would be safe to say; you are in the wrong place!! haha. Also, a little background info on me, I was Diagnosed in November 2003 when I was 12 years old turning 13 in one week, I enjoy talking about diabetes and this is my chance to really get all my feelings, thoughts, and experiences down on paper and out to others! Sure, I have kids in my school with diabetes, but not all of them like to talk about it. I try to talk to them, yet some just don't feel comfortable expressing their situation for some reason, or maybe they are just insecure about the hole idea of having Diabetes. Whatever it may be, I'm not sure , but this is how i will get to share and learn with others who are willing to talk!

This is the beginning of my togetherness with other diabetics and I am pumped (haha) and excited for this new Online Communication experience!!!