D Blog Day - 6 things about D

I'm very early on this, but I am on the other side of the world to a lot of the D-bloggers out there!

What would I want people to know about diabetes?

I want people to know that Type 1 diabetes is not something I got from eating too much sugar, nor is it something only children get (ok so that's sort of 2 things that I'll count as 1)

I want people to know that if we collapse they shouldn't give us more insulin! This is when sugar is in fact vital!

I want people to not ask - do you have too much or not enough sugar?! Hmm, let me think before I answer that? I might just go with the answer that I don't have enough insulin (and by not enough I mean none).

The trouble with doing this is there is so much I want people to know. That's three bullet points, how to grasp 3 more succinct ideas when really we need to tell people so much.

As much as I want to be positive about it, I want people to know that living with D can result in devastating complications - there is no cure, so managing this life long disease can take its toll. BUT... don't tell us about your grandma or aunt who had her leg amputated. It's really not very helpful.

We can eat sugar. (Note: I am not a dietitian. But if as a diabetic, I make the informed choice to consume carbohydrates that is my decision. It may or may not be the right thing for another diabetic).

And last of all... we are wives and daughters, mothers and sisters, husbands and brothers... you won't be able to spot us on the street, unless the sighting of a glucose monitor or needle or insulin pump peeping out of our top gives us away.

Happy D - Blog Day!

Mauve - Point + Shoot 8 November 2010

(Author's personal collection)

Growing up I always said my favourite colour was blue. And then I started loving pink, and owned quite a few magenta tops in my teenage years!

At some point this has all combined so that, like some sort of kaleidescope, it seems these days my favourite colour is purple. But not really purple, more closely mauve or lilac.

I've had more than one man say to me - what is mauve? And swear to me that the mauve shirt they were wearing was in fact pink (men!). This photo is of the lovely jacaranda out my window.

There you have mauve.

Point + Shoot - better late than never. [Updated: Link to Chantelle's old school Point + Shoot (before the days of her amazing Photo A Day) seems to be broken these days, but go along and have a look at her website].

What's your favourite colour?

After the rain...

There has been a lot of rain this week! Not a single day without rain. We're only meant to be a few weeks away from summer!

It has made for some very dramatic clouds and sunsets, so I got out P's camera with its super zoom lens (I'm such a novice, I don't even know what it is) and played around trying to capture the maelstrom in the sky.

I'm quite pleased with my efforts (see photo top left).

I quite like this weather - coming home from work hopping on the lounge after dinner under a blanket with a hot milo. I can indulge in a few extra days of winter before the horrible humidity of summer hits.

But I was quite excited to wake up to this today...

Bright blue sky and a few fluffy clouds. Everything sparkles just so after the rain and it puts a smile on my face. Just the way to start a Sunday.

Are you a winter or a summer person? I'm not sure I can choose.

(Photos author's personal collection)

One more sleep

Well the week has come and gone, and now it is only one more sleep. Tomorrow I have my 'pump start'. Now this is not going to be a diabetes blog, I will post about many other things, but right now the most exciting thing to report is that I get hooked up for the first time ever to an insulin pump.

I chose purple. If I have to look at something everyday I want it to look pretty rather than scream 'medical device', so I chose purple.

I'm nervous about having it attached 24/7, I'm nervous about working my wardrobe around it, but mostly I'm just excited to take a new step in my d management. After having been on MDI (multiple daily injections) for years, I want to see if there are things the pump can do that the insulin pens can't. I was never afraid of injecting with the pens every time I ate (so if you include snacks that could be up to 7 or 8 times a day). But the pump will have different basal rates for the morning (yay, perhaps morning spikes will be a thing of the past!). It will be easier to eat during work meetings and bolus, without having to lug my kit of needles and the pen into each meeting (plus no more exposing my belly under the desk in a meeting).

I want to see if I can have steadier sugars, and perhaps finally budge my HbA1C down into the 6's after hovering from 7.1 - 7.5 for 4 years.

Did anyone else find it so exciting but nervewracking at the same time, waiting for the pump start day?!

An impatient child

It was like writing my 'first' post the other week (ie my first post since I recommenced blogging) created good karma that came back to me in the form of exciting news I could blog about.

But this blog is so new I'm not sure that I'm ready to talk about it. Maybe when I have photos I'll feel more comfortable. Maybe once I'm settled into blogging, and have figured out the lines between sharing and not sharing, maybe then I'll be ready to blog about my news.

In the meantime, I'm like an impatient child while I wait for this news to come to fruition. 1 week to go and then it will be in my hands!! I can't concentrate for the excitement I feel.

Are we there yet?

Friends

(from We Heart It) - Oh to be sharing these and a cup of tea!

Have spent a fabulous Saturday afternoon shopping with a friend from back home, and it has reminded me how some friendships (the best friendships) survive despite spaces of time and distance. It has also reminded me how much fun 2 girls can have shopping ;) We talked non stop for 5 hours, until sadly she had to hop in a cab and leave for the airport.

We tried on dresses - those we could afford and a few that we couldn't. A corporate style MaxMara looked fabulous but needed to be about 65% off to be affordable. We are now both coveting the same Veronica Maine dress (can't find an image online though!) which again needs a slight reduction in price before it is justified.

My girlfriend bought an adorable little Leona Edmiston dress called 'Goldie Goblets' which you can see at their online boutique (again can't link to the exact photo!) which she spotted before me - I've now asked if I can borrow for an event next time I'm back home and I need a good dress!

So that's my Saturday, still another whole day to the weekend to go. Happy.

Hello again

(sorry I saved this image along time ago and don't have a link for it)

We haven't seen each other for a while.

I've been floating around the blogosphere, keeping up with my Google reader (or not!) and occasionally commenting on blogs.

I read a wide variety of blogs - a lot in the 'DOC' (diabetes online community), mummy blogs, interiors/homemaking, pregnancy blogs, wedding blogs. If I stumble across your blog and it has pretty pictures I'm more than likely to go straight to google reader and subscribe.

Sometimes I have thoughts that I'd like to set down, as inspiration for the future me, stumble upon something I wish to remember or just find something too cute not to share.

I would like to start writing this blog in earnest, as a way of documenting life, of sharing with other bloggers and trying to tap back into my creative side which has been so easily buried over the years since school.

I don't see myself as a daily blogger, and I'm not sure I'm ready to commit without trialling it for a while first. I don't want to force my writing. I want to write when I feel the need. After all this is for me and no one else. I'm just happy if something I post brings a smile to your face too :)