BeingDiabetic.co.nz » Monitoring

Aaron: The statistics

Aaron — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 22:02:12 +0000

As I approach my 20th anniversary of diagnosis started thinking about how much diabetes I must have ‘done’ during that time so I’ve done a rough calculation based on what I have at hand and here it is.

I think it makes for an interesting read!

38,764 x injections
36,400 x fingerpricks
100+ bloodtests
185 x cannula changes
5000+ hypos
5000+ highs
200+ Dr visits
50+ hospital trips
2 x hospitalisations
756,864,000 x heartbeats

I’m not even going to try and start to calculate the amount of hypo treatments I’ve eaten in it’s various forms in KGs sorry!

- Aaron

What do you do with your sharps?

Nic — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 05:41:11 +0000

Hi all – I had a request to post this, so here goes:

Hey guys,
My name is Oriana Hill, a registered nurse and I work at Diabetes Auckland. I am currently looking at the issue of how easy or not it is to get rid of your sharps. I do not have diabetes myself, I did however have gestational diabetes a few years ago, and I was put onto insulin and remember taking my sharps back to the clinic. I know that although there is a needle exchange programme running in Auckland, that people with diabetes are unable to access this.
Just wanting to hear your stories: sharps and the effects not having a service

…

Staying motivated.

Nic — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:59:12 +0000

Hi everyone

Interesting re the timing of receiving this email…. I have just been swearing at my BG meter and diabetes in general for even existing after a complete rollercoaster day of highs and lows ranging from 2.5 to 20.5 (there – none of us are perfect at allll are we?!)

Anyway, here’s the email from a BeingDiabetic reader (please note there is another question after the motivation question). Answer none. Answer one. Answer both. Whatever you fancy!

I have a question for the blog: I am really struggling to stay moviated at controlling my diabetes!! I have been a diabetic for about 8 years now, I was diagnosed when I was 22. I find that I can

…

Thursday Poll: Are we behind the eight ball?

Aaron — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 20:00:05 +0000

I dunno about you guys but when I was a kid (less so as an adult now) I got the distinct feeling that here in NZ, we were very, very behind in the treatments, technologies and knowledge from a diabetes perspective.

Lantus has only just been subsidized in NZ compared to at least 6 years ago in Europe, we didn’t seem to get blood testers anywhere near as fast as North America or even Australia did and Analog insulins had to be fought hard for back in the 1990’s so that we had the luxury of not having to wait for 30 minutes after taking a dose of Actrapid which along with monotard was pretty much the only choice of treatment I…

Watch a video, help a needy T1 child. Do it!!

Nic — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 06:29:36 +0000

I got this info through by email today and had to pass it on to the whole BeingDiabetic community!!

It’s World Diabetes Day on Sunday 14 November, and the Diabetes Hands Foundation have set up an awesome initiative at bigbluetest.org where they encourage all people with diabetes to test their BG at 2pm on the 14th November, record it, do 14mins of activity and record it again. The even more compelling part of their campaign is the video below: Roche has underwritten the production of the video and will make a donation to Insulin For Life for every view the video receives (up to $75,000). Insulin for Life is my…

Aaron: #bgnow

Aaron — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:01:06 +0000

This last week has been a mixture of diabetes good and diabetes hell with a whole heap of random highs and lows plaguing me at various points day and night inciting more than one moment of cursing diabetes to hell I have to admit even though I’m not really one to sit around feeling sorry for myself (which I hope comes across!).

Moaning aside though, I’ve put the spikes and troughs down to the change in seasons again, me fighting a tickly throat for the last two days and a little bit of stress chucked in with too little sleep and the odd bottle of beer as I’ve transitioned out of my current job into a new one which is…

I love a new invention!

Nic — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:14:20 +0000

Thanks to Dianna and Erin for sending me links to this cool new invention from Sanofi Aventis. As always, things seem to get their debut on the iPhone, but I’m pretty sure they’ll roll out further from there if successful.

The invention on the right is pretty self-explanatory – it’s a BG meter which physically plugs in to the iPhone and integrates with a BG monitoring app.

At the time of writing this post, it was awaiting final FDA approval, and was expected to be priced at US$80. A price us Kiwis can only dream of methinks!!

For more info, see: http://ibgstar.com/web/

Thursday poll: do your sugars change with your menstrual cycle?

Nic — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 23:14:35 +0000

Sorry guys – this one’s not applicable to you. Ladies – I’d love to know what your answer to this question is (and I suspect the comments area is going to be more useful for this particular poll). I ask because I’m still trying to nail my approach to my own situation, which is huge spikes overnight for about a week of every month. My overall insulin resistance climbs too. So much so that I actually have two quite different basal patterns programmed in to my pump.

Thursday Poll: How often do you test your ISF/Basal rates?

Aaron — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:55:32 +0000

With the move to Canada and the ensuing chaotic BGs, I’ve found myself testing all my insulin sensitivity factors and basal rates this week in the hope that the information might help me get some control back.

How often do you guys test your ISF and if you are pumping, your basal rates?

- Aaron

Thursday poll: do you record your blood sugars?

Nic — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 21:44:26 +0000

Do you have a question you’d like me to pose in a poll? If so, please send your question to me and I’ll put it on the list.