Category: Diabetes

In The Absinthe of Good Sense… (A Long Read)

In some respect, I was kind of what some would call a “late bloomer.” I never had a rebellious phase, never got brought home by the police and contrary to the majority of my age group back home, I didn’t spent my teen years partying and drinking alcohol. In fact, I only drank my first beer at the age of 23 when I was training in Okinawa. And during those first few tastes of golden, alcoholic bliss, I was hanging out in a climate that required my body to retain every single drop of fluid I was taking in, which meant I was pretty much drinking beer AND water with impunity. That first little while saw me drinking with little to no after effects (other than raised blood sugars from the occasional high carbohydrate beer) and never a hangover.

Because of that fact, I thought I was somewhat invulnerable to the effects of alcohol. At least where hangovers were concerned. I didn’t learn my lesson until about six months AFTER my return from Okinawa where, on my way to a friend’s party, I couldn’t decide between two brands of beer, and bought a 6-pack of both. And then consumed them all. In one evening. Within about three hours. Ironically, I remember my evening quite clearly and it was a lot of fun. No worries or concerns, really. But the physical pain I was in the following morning taught me the error of my ways and why I should never drink with such impunity again.

I woke up soaked in what I hoped to Light was sweat, and my body sending out warning signals of varying sorts. My blood sugars were through the roof and my bowels and stomach were having an extremely loud argument over who had the right to kick out their unwanted guests first. I decided that my parched and swollen tongue required some water before giving attention to anything else. The water aggravated my stomach further, causing me to rush to the washroom where I managed to sit on the toilet while simultaneously testing my ability to aim by unceremoniously throwing up into the sink next to me.

It was like there was a party in my mouth and everyone was throwing up. I walked away having learned an extremely valuable lesson about alcohol, after that night. Despite being in my early 20’s, it would prove to be only one of two or three times in my life (so far) that I would actually get drunk. Putting aside the story of the staff party where I don’t remember being dropped off at home, the recollection of the third and last instance where I got truly drunk is the topic of today’s post. It involves an unplanned road trip coupled with a legendary and often-feared drink: absinthe.

Because of the first two instances of getting drunk, I had a strict “no getting drunk” policy, which involved never drinking anywhere but the comfort of my own home as well as never drinking enough to go beyond the enjoyment of simple libations and the flavour of whatever I may have been consuming at the moment. That isn’t to say that I don’t have the occasional beer when out at a restaurant or bar with friends. Far from it. But as a personal policy, I never allow myself to drink to excess. I think this is an important self-policy and should be followed by everyone. But my third and last time of getting drunk hammered it home for me. Here’s what happened…

Sometime between my return from Okinawa in 2001 and moving to Ottawa in 2007, I had a friend who lived in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The capital city of New Brunswick, it sits near the south-west corner of the Province and is about four hours away from where I was living at the time. My friend had moved there some years’ prior and had an apartment on the south side of the river. Although some locals may argue this point, the south side is where it’s at. It has the university, the shopping, the coffee shops and the bars. It also has the best comic shops.

Since I had a lull in my career, I found myself between jobs and had recently become single (unrelated) so I decided to pay my friend a visit. I haven’t spoken to him about retelling this, so for the purposes of this story I’ll simply call him “Treats.” If he reads this, he’ll be the only one who knows this involves him. I swear on my right hook that this is how the night went down, but his recollection may be different. I’ll let y’all know if he ends up reading this and reaching out to me. But I left early in the morning and arrived at Treats’ apartment around lunchtime. This worked out well, since we decided to go have brunch at one of my favourite breakfast restaurants called “Cora’s.” Although it’s nothing special beyond the fact they serve fresh fruit with every dish, one of our mutual friends also work there.

Treats had managed to gather a small group of mutual and new acquaintances to join us for breakfast, which included Treats’ brother and made for a pleasant, social outing. That’s right; I can be social. After an uneventful afternoon of coffee shops, comic book stores and good conversation, we discussed what we would be doing for dinner and with our evening. This is where things began to slowly roll downhill. Innocently enough, we decided on a local pub where we could indulge on a dose of unnecessary calories while having a few drinks. Once again, we had a few people with us but everyone kind of melted away as the evening progressed. A combination of university, work and the fact it was a week night made for a quiet party.

We got bored and didn’t want to spend a fortune on every beer we got, so we stopped by a local liquor store and got a case of beer for the apartment. We decided to binge watch some Family Guy. This was before Netflix was the big thing, and Treats actually had all the current seasons on DVD, so we watched and giggled like drunken school girls until we watched a scene involving Peter Griffin and the giant chicken. This prompted a heated discussion about fighting and martial arts, as I had been training in karate and he had apparently been doing kickboxing for quite some time. We already had quite a few drinks and despite being heated, it was nothing but conversational until Treats spoke the words that would change the tonality of the evening: “We should do a shot of absinthe…”

Folks, absinthe gets a reasonably bad rap. There was a this misconception that it had hallucinogenic properties and was mostly banned in North America, as a result. This concept has been mainly disproven in the past twenty years, and you can now buy the stuff at most liquor stores. Its no more dangerous than consuming any other spirit. Treats had brought over bottle from his travels in Europe over the previous couple of years and wanted me to experience the stuff, since I had never tried it. On the flip side, this shit is about 150 proof and is meant to be consumed by sprinkling sugar over ice and combining the absinthe with water. Treats took out two shot glasses and poured straight from the bottle. Asshole.

We were already drunk and bearing in mind that both of us had likely consumed close to a 12-pack each, albeit over the course of several hours, I wasn’t keen on the prospect of downing a shot. My previous experience with spirits hadn’t ended well. But I figured, what the hell was the worst that could happen? We were in the relative safety of Treats’ apartment and weren’t planning on going anywhere. Famous last words…

I take an experimental sniff of the greenish liquid and compared it to a bad combination of surgical-grade antiseptic mixed with antifreeze. I watch Treats throw his head back and down his shot. Suddenly, my self-confidence is shaken since Treats is about half my size and weight and he’s drank as much beer as I had. I do my best not to be a prideful person, but booze makes all the smart thoughts go, “Fuck it, I’m outta here!” So, like a true drunken idiot, I also throw back my shot and down it in one gulp.

It almost felt as though my entire body went into panic mode as every molecule in my esophagus was suddenly screaming at me and asking why I had brought this unwanted guest to the party. My stomach responded in kind, akin to a bouncer trying to tell someone they weren’t on the list and didn’t belong in the club and to get out of there. My stomach threatened to reverse impulse engines and expel right there in Treats’ kitchen. Sharp beads of sweat break out on my forehead and my knees buckle as I get dizzy, wondering what the hell I just did to myself.

Treats is laughing at me, mostly because he’s drunk and he sees me swaying in place but also because half the absinthe bottle was empty. This meant it wasn’t his first rodeo and he intentionally wanted to see what effect it would have on me. This makes me indignant and I consider this a slight against me the likes of which karma needed to correct. Once my momentary weakness passes, I decided it would be a good idea to test my blood sugars. This is a true testament to my muscle memory and control over Diabetes. Most people would have put that shit on the back burner.

When I come out of the guest room, Treats is back on the couch and has continued to watch Family Guy without me. This makes me morose as I sit in silence and begin to watch with him, having missed a portion of the episode. Somehow the conversation returns to our respective fighting styles and becomes more argumentative over the value of certain methods and techniques. I pride myself on being open to others’ interpretation. But as I mentioned earlier, drunk Shawn has a much different perspective. I berate and belittle his perspective. This makes him openly angry. Absinthe has joined the argument!

Treats finally decides he needs to demonstrate the effectiveness of his kickboxing prowess and invites me to spar in his entryway. We’re talking a less than ten-foot by ten-foot space inside an upper floor apartment. I start picturing Jean-Claude Van Damme’s drunken fight scene in Kickboxer and decide that this is a fantastic idea. We move his dining table slightly and square off. I can only imagine how ridiculous we must have looked; two grown-ass men, drunk beyond reason on beer and absinthe, planning to “spar.” I use the quotation marks because of what was to come next…

He starts with a couple of simple jabs. He’s using the typical boxer’s stance that I despise; his guard is firmly against the side of his head as he delivers his jabs. I block the first one. Then I block the second one. I begin to realize that my excessive martial arts training allows me to operate almost on instinct and I stop TRYING to block and simply let the blocks happen. I am in the zone. He delivers a couple more jabs and punches without any success. Although my guard is still up, I start laughing. And that’s when it happened.

Because of my drunken stupor, my laugh involved my eyes squinting shut. This is not a good thing during a fight. His next straight jab catches me right in the face. My eyes were no longer closed, let me tell you! I look at him in shock and surprise and try to deliver a jab of my own. As I do, he suddenly remembers the “kick” aspect of his art and delivers a firm, roundhouse kick to my right ribs; right underneath the arm I was jabbing with. I fold over on the injured side, which opens up the left side of my face. BAM! He delivers a right hook to the left side of my face.

The hook jars something loose as a flood of all the times I had been bullied and beaten up in school came flooding to the surface (Yes, I was bullied in school! One story at a time, people!). I was drunk on more alcohol than I should have consumed and my inner filters and controls melted away by Mr. Absinthe, and I saw red. I threw a quick rounded punch into Treats’ gut. He grunts. I am displeased at his lack of folding over, so I deliver a front kick to his solar plexus. As he doubles over, he guards the left side of his face. Since his fist is firmly against his head, I strike and it’s as though the fist isn’t even there. I bring a knee up into his abdomen and back kick him into his living room, sending his sprawling over the coffee table.

Maybe I should have mentioned that his girlfriend was also there at the time. Did I mention his girlfriend was sleeping there, at the time? She got up and was not impressed. We were both battered and bruised, with fine rivulets of blood at our nose, mouth or both. Everything had happened over the course of about five minutes. She used a rather matronly voice to “suggest” that we quit our bullshitting or she’d get “involved.” This this day, I don’t know what she meant. I didn’t want to know then, and I don’t want to know now. We watched a couple more episodes and the mood lightened significantly. Probably because we had drained out all of our testosterone in those few moments. Who knows?

I awoke the next morning and staggered my way to the washroom. The left side of my face had some mild swelling and it hurt to move my rib cage. I stepped out into the kitchen and found Treats seated at the table. He offered me coffee, which I gladly accepted and then grinned devilishly while making some off-the-cuff comment about how I couldn’t handle my booze. I left it alone. I didn’t know how much he remembered from the previous night, but I have the significant advantage (or disadvantage) of always retaining full memory of what I’d done despite the alcohol.

We decided to have a second round of brunch at Cora’s before I got back on the road to home. I had a reasonably low after-effect and little to no hangover, considering the amount of alcohol AND the strikes to the head. We chatted, we laughed and I got back on the road having thoroughly enjoyed my time with Treats. Good times and good memories. It would prove to be the last time I would ever consume that much alcohol of any type, and one of the last time I ever went beyond “tipsy.” Even though I didn’t have a rambunctious youth, I recognized that my capacity for violence when inebriated was significant. And I didn’t want to ever chance inadvertently bringing harm to someone.

So there you have it! A little insight on lesser moments in my 20’s. I definitely wasn’t proud of how I was that night. Anymore than I was of the other two instances when I allowed myself to drink outside the home. But this is why I make a point never to consume to intoxication. And for the most part, I never drink outside my home. My personal and professional life have taught me that there’s too much room for error. To this day, I enjoy my wine. I also enjoy beer much the same way many folks do: cold and while barbecuing. But sometimes we need to learn about moderation the hard way. Maybe some of you will see my story as a way to learn that lesson. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll need a couple of hits to the head, like I did. ☯

Weigh In On Your Food Groups…

I’ve been trying to thin my gut for the past few years, now. The current pandemic hasn’t helped. I’m sure that I’ve gained almost twenty pounds in the past two years. I call it my “COVID-19,” as in 19 pounds gained. My father is an extremely heavy man, sitting at roughly 330 pounds. Through my teens and my 20’s, my goal was to never allow it to happen. In my father’s case, his genetic predisposition and the fact he’s paralyzed and wheelchair-ridden contributes to his overall condition.

The point is, I’ve allowed my fitness to take a seat (pun fully intended) as I started a new job a couple of months ago and felt that I should focus on THAT. It’s been great and wonderful and I’m happier in my weekly grind than I ever have been before. So that part is not the issue. But finding myself suddenly rooted to a desk for 45 hours a week has had a negative result. This is in contrast to the previous year, where I was home and could contribute full afternoons to cycling for 80 kilometres and train when I wanted.

For the past few weeks, I’ve indulged in a reduced-carb diet. I haven’t eliminated carbs, mind you. It’s important to remember that carbohydrates are a source of fuel for the body and are necessary for the proper energy levels required to maintain one’s daily life. Although insulin acts to reduce the blood sugar levels caused by the consumption of carbohydrates, there must be a balance. Not an elimination.

There’a lot you can do to improve things, from a carbohydrate standpoint. I, for example, focus on having two out of three meals a day without carbs. A good example is the breakfast I have shown in the photo above. What you’re looking at is six scrambled eggs with ham, lightly sprinkled with some grated nacho cheese. Completely crab-free (although not entirely fat-free) and filled me to last until lunch. Another important detail is that I don’t always eat six eggs in one sitting. I just happened to make breakfast on a morning that I realized my eggs were expiring the following day.

Full meals can be had on lean proteins and vegetables. It’s important to remember that some types of dairy DO contain carbohydrates, like milk for example. And not al vegetables are carb-free. Starchy vegetable like potatoes and some other ones like corn, are also ridden with carbs. It’s important to recognize those facts when meal planning, so that you don’t get caught by surprise with a sudden blood sugar spike. My final meal of the day will usually include some bread or a small portion of pasta. Even though I SHOULD include carbs, it doesn’t mean I consume a massive amount.

What’s the point, you may ask? Good question, and the answer is simple. Through reduce-carb meal planing, I’ve shed almost ten pounds in the past month. It fluctuates on a day-to-day basis, as it does with most Type-1 Diabetics. But having reached almost 220 pounds when I last visited my endocrinologist, I was tickled pink to see the scale stop at 208 pounds, just last week. Fitness needs to be included in this, of course. I did a nasty workout last week that still has my legs feeling sore. But my motivation is strong and my focus is true. Not elimination but reduction can be a way of helping you reach your weight and fitness goals, Diabetic or not. ☯

What The Hell’s The Difference?

I’ve made reference to nutritionists and dietitians a lot in many of my posts.  In truth, I’ve used them both during my many years of dealing with Diabetes and especially anytime there’s been a major change to my therapies.  For example, I spoke with a dietitian when I started on the insulin pump, back in 2015. I casually rolled my eyes at the prospect, wondering what this person could possibly teach me about eating well after over three decades of being Type-1 Diabetic.  Imagine my surprise when that appointment led to learning about carbohydrate counting.  Everyone was blown away by the fact that I had come so far and no one had tuned me in to the concept before that.  It’s no wonder that my A1C’s used to be in the mid to high 8’s.

Since I just posted about dieting and fitness yesterday and made mention of both dietitians and nutritionists, I had someone reach out and ask me, “What’s the difference, if any, between a dietitian and a nutritionist?”  Well, shit! I don’t know…  Or at least, I didn’t know until I decided to research it and look into it. My search brought to me to a Canadian website call Dietitians Canada. What I learned is that in Canada, “Dietitian” is a protected title, much like physician, nurse or pharmacist. “Nutritionist” is also a protected title, but only in the Provinces of Alberta, Quebec and Nova Scotia. But what’s the difference between one or the other?

We’ll, for the most part, anyone can provide nutritional information or guidance and call themselves a “nutritionist.” They’ll still help individuals reach certain health and fitness goals by aiding in the implementation of proper diet and exercise. Although nutritionists can have varying degrees of education fro what they do, the problem is that because there’s no regulatory body overseeing nutritionists, some may have no nutrition-based education at all. I’m certain that some of you could see the potential problem with that…

Dietitians do a lot of things that nutritionists don’t, such as research, influencing policy and creating diet and food plans for people with chronic conditions such as, oh, you know… DIABETES! In order to become a dietitian (in Canada), one requires an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution in human nutrition and dietetics, followed by over a thousand hours of supervised on-the-job experience. Then they need to actually register with the regulatory body within their Province or Territory.

Quite a journey to take, and they do a lot more than what the every day patient sees when visiting them in the clinic. The article I linked above goes on to explain that, “dietitian are committed and required to stay on top of emerging research, skills and techniques.” In other words, their training is constantly ongoing as they have to keep abreast of new information and developments that relate to their field. The article also explains that to ensure you get the most qualified nutrition professional, look for the acronyms “RD” or “P.Dt.” Since dietitian is a protected title in Canada, a nutritionist shouldn’t have those included in their names.

Lastly, the article ends by warning about titles such as “Registered Holistic Nutritionist” and “Certified Nutritional Practitioner” as these are not provincially regulated health professionals and there’s no telling what level of education they’ve obtained from a private institution in order to gain that title. There you have it. Now, you know. And now, I know. One of the things I love most about writing this blog is that I practically ALWAYS find something new to learn and research. ☯

Your Body Needs Balance

Nothing quite beats those exciting first weeks of making a major change to your life. Especially when it’s for the overall improvement of oneself.  Maybe you’re deciding to take your fitness in hand and start a new workout regime. Maybe you’ve decided to try a new diet and alter your eating habits.  And maybe…  Just maybe, you’re smart enough to know that you likely need to do both in order to reap the rewards from either.  Maybe.

It’s safe to agree that every person is different.  Everyone’s bodily functions are basically the same, when you get right down to it.  But each and every one of us will respond to different things in different ways.  This is why certain fad diets will appear to have greater results for some people than others.  And those are usually the ones you see advertising the product or diet. But I digress.  The same can be said for fitness routines.  And I’m not talking about preference.  I’m talking about results.  Maybe you prefer to lift weights but you get more results from doing cardio.  That kind of thing.

I harp on diets quite a bit, because I subscribe to the fact that it isn’t so much what you eat. It’s how much of it.  The number of meals a day isn’t as important as total calories consumed.  This means that all the fad diets out there (and I’m hesitant to bash them by name or brand, for obvious reasons) really don’t do shit for you, unless your body’s system requires something specific that may be provided by the diet.  Granted, if the average adult consumes between 1,500 to 2,000 calories a day, I wouldn’t recommend eating 2,000 calories worth of cake. Or butter.  You’ll do damage to yourself in ways I can’t explain because I’ve never been stupid enough to try it.  Not least of which is to wonder how that would affect someone with Diabetes. But anyway, moving on!  I’m not a doctor, so take this in with grain of salt.

It’s pretty important that there be a balance between your eating habits and your fitness goals.  If you’re typically a non-active person, you may start to notice some negative side effects if you suddenly jump into a new and increased fitness routine.  This is especially true if you don’t alter your eating habits to keep up/accommodate whatever physical activity you undertake. If you start working out 3 to 5 times a week without increasing your caloric intake or altering your overall diet and eating habits, you could experience symptoms like fatigue, irritability, weakness, dizziness and crankiness.  Not to mention that if you don’t include proper hydration in there, that’s a whole other ball of wax.  The same can be said if you try to diet without any physical activity.  You may be eating better/healthier but you may not see any noticeable results because the HUMAN BODY NEEDS TO MOVE!

It can occasionally be rough waters to navigate; especially if your fitness goals involve weight loss.  The average person has this belief that eating less means fewer calories, which means loss of weight.  In truth, the human body is designed to do everything possible to keep you alive and functioning.  This can lead some people to actually gain weight.  The idea behind that statement, is if you’re running hungry through most of your day your body will recognize that it doesn’t know when you’ll feed it next and will double down on storing the extra calories for later.  Guess what?  All the extra calorie storage?  That’s called fat.

So what can a person do to ensure they’re doing it right?  Well, there are a number of things that one can do and a number of professionals that you can get involved, such as a nutritionist/dietitian, personal fitness trainer and especially your family doctor.  Any and/or all of those people can help get you on the right track for your goals.  Have you ever purchased a workout DVD (do people even buy DVD’s, anymore?) and noticed that it practically always says, “Don’t start any new fitness routine without first consulting your family physician?”  There’s a reason for that.  Maybe your specific medical history conflicts with what the workout would have you doing and cause injury or put you at risk.

A dietitian or nutritionist can help you by providing nutritional information, meal planning and eating habits that can help you make the most of your workout without making yourself sick.  Picture yourself doing Cross Fit after eating at a Chinese buffet.  Not the greatest idea, right?  Sometimes, we all need a bit of guidance to do things properly. Fitness trainers, especially if they’re certified, can help you find fitness routines that fit your lifestyle, body type and can accommodate medical conditions that could hinder you or put you at risk.

Lastly, you need to hydrate.  This is true whether you work out or not.  The human body needs water.  If you do a heavy workout in the summer heat, you need to be mindful of hyponatremia,which is a condition where you sweat out all your mineral salts.  It can cause headaches, nausea and loss of balance.  I’ve had it a couple of times, when I’ve gone cycling in the hotter weather. In those instances, you need electrolytes and mineral salts and you can drink water until you die, it won’t make a great deal of difference.  Wow, don’t I sound like the harbinger of death…  Bottom line is, stay hydrated.

The take away lesson here, despite how long-winded and wordy I tend to get, is that if you start a new workout routine, be prepared to alter your diet to accommodate.  Maybe there are vitamins and minerals you simply aren’t getting enough of.  Maybe you need to ACTUALLY eat three balanced meals a day.  Be prepared to adjust, and remember that any fitness or dietary changes you make may be slow in showing results.  Proper health and fitness is a marathon, not a race! ☯

Goodbye, Old Faithful…

When you get used to certain equipment, it can be pretty horrible when it fails, breaks or gives out on you. I had just such an instance last week, when my lancing device broke. I don’t know how these devices are put together inside. In my head I picture a simple mechanical construction of a rubber band going taut as you pull the trigger back, only to be released when you push the button. No matter how simple or complicated it may be inside, the lancing device I’ve used for the past half decade finally decided to give out. I’d pull the trigger back without the tell-tale click, and there would be no response when I’d push the button.

For the non-Diabetics who may not know what this is, a lancing device is a small, pen-like plastic device that holds a lancet, which is the small needle that’s used to pierce your fingertip in order to test your blood sugars. Despite being on an insulin pump with continuous glucose monitoring, I still need to test my blood glucose via finger poke at least three times a day in oder to calibrate the CGM. I also need to test occasionally because apparently my blood sugars are TOO normal and if you go 2.5 hours without needing any microbolusing, the pump gets all pissy at you and wonders if there’s something wrong. It’s SUPER annoying when you’re trying to get eight hours of sleep. But I digress…

Since this was the evening and everything was closed, I had no choice but to do something that I haven’t seen done since the 1980’s. I had to hold a lancet in my fingers and manually jab my finger. Now, you may be thinking that this sound like such a big deal. The problem, you see is that doing it that way is extremely painful and usually causes injury in the form of bruising and sensitivity to the finger. A lancet’s needle can be anywhere from 1/8″ to 1/4″, and the lancing device controls how hard and how deep the needles punctures your flesh, making for a controlled and more comfortable experience.

Doing it manually just means you’re decimating your fingertips, especially when you get a brute like me with no control over how hard he does stuff. After three tests of doing it the ol’ fashioned way, once before bed and twice when I woke up, I decided that was enough to look into a replacement. I have three other USB glucomètres as shown in the photo above, but none of the lancing devices were with them. I searched in all my supply boxes but I never found the extras anywhere. I’m quite positive I haven’t ripped through 4 lancing devices in the past ten years, but the question remained as to where I put them.

Anxious to find some comfort and fervently aware that my pump would be pestering me for a calibration within the next hour or two, I ventured out to my local pharmacy with the hopes of purchasing a new one. Upon my arrival at the pharmacy, I explained my situation to the pharmacist who explained that lancing devices are usually included in glucometer bundles and don’t come as a standalone item. because of this, the only way to get a new lancing device is usually by purchasing a new glucometer package.

Luckily, he had some samples left over from distributors, and one of them happened to be the Bayer MICROLET next, which is the next generation above the one I had been using. He offered it to me, free of charge. I held my hands out and accepted the lancing device akin to receiving a great gift. I was grateful to my pharmacist for taking this step. And after several days of using this lancing device, I can say it was definitely worth the trip. Small favours… Sometimes you get lucky. Jus’ saying’… ☯

Here Comes The Heat! 🔥

Sunshine can be wonderful… Some warmth, Vitamin D is produced, flowers and plants begin to bloom… There can be a lot of benefits to there warmer season approaching. There can also be some pitfalls, and one needs to be aware of the requirements to enjoying the sunny outdoors without getting burned! I’m no fan of extreme heat, but even I can enjoy a sunny afternoon, albeit in the shade. In recent days, the temperatures in Regina, Saskatchewan have reached the mid to high 20’s, even reaching the high 30’s on the Celsius scale. It’s made for some dangerously high temperatures leading to several heat warnings for my area.

With those high temperatures, there are a number of things you should bear in mind before venturing out into the heat. Especially if you’ll be working out or exercising. And ESPECIALLY if you have Diabetes. Different people will have different reactions. In my case, being out in the extreme heat for too long tends to make my blood sugars drop. A doctor once told me its because my body is working harder to lower my core temp and as a result, my system works harder. Maybe so, but I remain skeptical. I’ve been in high temperatures on enough occasions where nothing’s happened to my blood sugars to convince that may not be the case.

But dehydration can be a very real thing, and it can sneak up on you if you aren’t careful. This can be the case whether you have Diabetes or not. Keeping a water bottle and consistently sipping water throughout the day can help to prevent dehydration and will help to regulate your body’s core temperature during your time outdoors. It can also help prevent nasty conditions, such as heat stroke.

Make sure you wear a hat, loose-fitting clothing that allow the expulsion and venting of heat and apply healthy doses of sunscreen to prevent sunburning. The sun emits ultraviolet rays, which can cause damage to living tissue after prolonged exposure, as well as being linked to skin cancer and a whole bunch of other nasty conditions. thesis the same celestial body that’s responsible for all life of Earth. Ironic, isn’t it? The same thing that’s responsible for our survival can also be deadly, after too much exposure. Such is the balance of life.

This is where sunblock comes in. Sunblock is defined as a gel or topical ointment that helps by reflecting UV rays away from the flesh, which prevents sunburns. You should always apply a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher, before stepping out into the sun. In Canada, I’ve never seen anything lower than 15 and nothing higher than 50. When I visited Okinawa, they actually had some SPF 110 and they apologized for not having anything stronger as we were there in october and it was “off season.” Wow. 110, and they had nothing stronger.

I’ve read some articles that have explained that anything more than SPF 30 to 45 doesn’t offer any ADDED protection and should be reapplied just as often. And to clarify, SPF stand for Sun Protection Factor and is a multiplier to how long you can be in the sun’s light. So, if you step outside and you’d get a sunburn in 10 minutes, and SPF 15 allows you to be out in the sunlight for 150 minutes before needing to reapply. This is theoretical and like all things in life, is dependent on the person in question. If I were to burn in 10 minutes and apply and SPF 110, I find it hard to believe that I could spend 18 hours in the sun before needing to reapply.

Men’s Health has a pretty decent article about how much sunblock you should be applying. The takeaway is to ensure that you apply liberal amounts and be sure to cover all the areas of exposed flesh. Most people tend to dab some on, here and there. You want to make certain you spread your sunblock on evenly and properly. And if you use a spray sunblock, make sure you spray uniformly and evenly, to ensure you prevent UV damage to any areas of your skin. As per my usual preaching, drink plenty of fluids and test your blood sugars often. It can mean the difference between maintaining proper health during the summer months or succumbing to the hotter weather. ☯

Tilting Your Head Down To Cry…

I’ve written posts where I’ve referred to Type-1 Diabetes like riding a deadly roller coaster… The only difference is there’s no way to stop of get off of this ride. Some days, it feels amazingly overwhelming. The issues, complications and amount of control and attention that needs to be paid on a daily basis… It can get to be too much for some people. And despite my drive and determination, it can get to me, too.

Never much of one to feel sorry for himself, I’ve always fought hard against my unseen enemy. The harsh reality is that there are so many complications to Diabetes that I often lose track and wonder what’s wrong with me, forgetting that it’s all a part of the condition that I’ve had to train to love with, since birth. Yes, I know this post is likely coming off as depressing. And I’ll be the first to admit that it likely is. So recognize this fact: what I’m describing, depressing as it may be, is what every Type-1 Diabetic lives with on a daily basis.

Now that I’ve sufficiently harshed everyone’s buzz, I’ll provide an example. Last Monday, I travelled to Saskatoon for my eye injections, which happen every seven weeks. I was unable to secure a bus ticket, so I had to book a hotel room and stay the night since my oldest son goes to school and my wife has to work. Typically not a big deal, it still requires me to be away from my family for the night. I usually treat the evening like something of a mini vacay, indulging in a couple of pints at the pub in the hotel’s lobby while I binge-watch some Netflix on my cell phone.

On this particular trip, my blood sugars were reasonably normal and everything was going according to plan. I got my eye exam, followed by dilating drops, followed by surface scans of the back of my eyes. Then I was attended to by the eye surgeon who provided the injections into my eyes. Yes, it stings. And yes, it sucks. Even with the localized freezing, you still feel the needle pierce your eyeball and a hot pain flare through your skull. Good luck getting that image out of your head, tonight. Anyway, once the injections were done, I staggered back to the hotel room, where I planned to nap for an hour or two to allow the immediate pain to dissipate.

I checked my pump and noticed that my blood sugar was running slightly high, having crept above 11.0 mmol/L. No big deal, I corrected with a bolus and slipped onto the bed for my nap. I set an alarm and drifted off to sleep. I woke up just shy of 6 pm and felt like I had been struck by a freight train. I knew right away, by my urgent need to urinate when I had drank nothing in hours, that my blood sugars were still high. I checked my pump and found myself above 15.0 mmol/L. What the fuck??? I once again corrected with a bolus and slipped into a shower to clean off the high blood sugar sweats before heading to the pub for supper.

My head was throbbing and I felt groggy, but I needed to eat, so I headed downstairs to my favourite irish pub and ordered a pint and a sampler platter, which contained some mozzarella sticks, deep-fried pickles and three chicken strips. Yes, please! Now, calculating a bolus for beer has become a fine art for me. I’ve got it down pat and can usually accommodate beer with insulin in a pretty balance way. And the irony is that the platter contained items that on their own, would be essentially carb-free. If they weren’t wrapped in batter. Bar food. Fuck me…

I bolused as best I could for the platter, knowing full well that the bar staff wouldn’t have nutritional information for their menu items (although they should) and that in the past, they’ve looked at me like some kind of an alien for asking. So I ate slowly and sipped slowly, hoping to let the insulin take effect faster than the carbs would. I think that I watched some American Dad of all things, and got back to my hotel room shortly before 9:30 pm. I had to attend some video meetings for my job, in the morning before checking out, so I didn’t want to stay up too late. But as I’ve often said, life doesn’t care about your plan.

The platter of battered foods was apparently the tipping point, as my blood sugars were still in the high teens when I attempted to go to bed. I bolused and the pump actually provided some units, which told me that my blood was actually running high and not just a byproduct of having just eaten. My alarm was set for an appropriate time the following morning, so I sipped some Gatorade (sugar-free, of course) and laid my head on the pillow and unceremoniously passed out.

I woke up at about 11 pm to use the washroom. I cursed myself for the beer and for the Gatorade, which I assumed was why I had awoken. After using the washroom, I checked my insulin pump. 22.4 mmol/L. What. The. Bloody. HELL??? I checked my levels via fingerprick to make certain it wasn’t some sort of misread on the sensor’s behalf. Blood sugar level was confirmed to be in the low 20’s. I bolused once again, piling more units into my system. I could bore you with further details, but the bottom line is I woke up just about every hour after that. You read that right: every FREAKING hour!!!

It took the majority of night and constant fluids and bolusing to bring it down to the mid teens and I started to almost feel human again, just in time to attend my meetings. I know what you may be thinking. There are a number of things that could have caused a spike in blood sugar. But I take it as no coincidence that my blood sugars had been fine over the previous 24 hours, only to have them go haywire after getting eye injections and eating battered food. Ultimately, my only crime may have been just that: indulging in a drink with some bar food. My punishment is going through an almost sleepless night. Such is the reality of Diabetes.

I know a number of my Diabetic brothers and sisters who eventually just close up shop and give up. When you face the prospect of such nights on a regular basis, it can overwhelm a person. And it sucks. I’m lucky with respect to the fact that I work hard to maintain proper control. Not everyone has the benefit of an insulin pump. I have a friend back home, whose father succumbed to Diabetes. He had no augury of control whatsoever, had blood sugars off the charts, ended up having his feet amputated and died about six or seven years ago. It can sneak up on you pretty quick, if you’re not careful. ☯

Diabetes And The Workplace

Diabetes sucks! There, I said it. Want to know what sucks even more? Having some sort of “Diabetic episode” with no one knowing what the hell is going on, then doing more harm than good. This is the potential scenario someone with Type-1 Diabetes can face in the workplace if they choose to keep their condition to themselves. This is a sensitive topic; most people aren’t jazzed about the idea of revealing medical information about themselves to anybody. Least of all co-workers and employers, where it could be potentially held against them or used against them.

Think it doesn’t happen? Think again! According to an article posted by The National Benefits Authority, “The Canadian Government recognizes both type-1 and Type-2 Diabetes as disabilities, due to its impact on lifestyle, the constant monitoring of blood sugar levels, and the potential risks associated with the condition.” At least in Canada, Diabetes CAN be considered a disability but it isn’t always SO. In most cases, the affected individual has to declare and claim in order to reap some of the tax benefits and some of the other “perks” associated with declaring your condition as a disability.

Screw that noise! I don’t consider my condition as a disability. If anything, my Diabetes has helped forge me into the individual I am today. But when it comes to the work place, I’ve always been a firm believer in the concept that forewarned is forearmed. I’ve had some instances in my life where I’ve suffered low blood sugar so severe that I lost fine motor skill and couldn’t really speak. This can be disconcerting to someone who may not be aware that you have Diabetes.

Even if you wear a MedicAlert bracelet, an unknowing co-worker trying to be helpful and lend aid during a tough situation could potentially make things worse. Some medical professionals as well as paramedics and EMT’s abide by the policy of administering fast-acting glucose. If the blood sugars are too low, the glucose will help correct it. If the blood sugars are too high, the damage is already done by the existing high and they can’t treat on site anyway. So it gets dealt with at the hospital. This is small comfort to someone who may have climbed to 20.0 mmol/L or higher, only to be dragged up into the 30’s by someone’s fast-acting glucose. No, thank you!

Although most people feel inclined to keep their medical conditions private, my practice has always been full disclosure. This helps to avoid complicated situations and helps to ensure that anyone on scene won’t do something stupid, like trying to feed orange juice to someone who’s only semi-conscious. Believe it or not, I’ve seen that happen. By providing some cursory information and education, I can ensure that my coworkers know exactly what to do in the event of a “Diabetic episode” on the job.

The simple truth is this: unless any of your coworkers are trained, medical professionals, there’s very little they can actually do to help. Besides calling 911 on your behalf, of course. But my instructions have always been quite simple: If I’m conscious and speaking, I’ll tell you what I need. If I’m unconscious, don’t try to feed me anything or administer anything. Just call an ambulance and let them take care of me. Maybe have my glucometer ready for testing, in the event they don’t have one. If I’m conscious, speaking and can move on my own, maybe help guide me to where I need to go but let me administer my own self-care. Simple.

That little bit of education can mean the difference between avoiding an unnecessary hospital trip and being able to treat myself and get back to work. It doesn’t mean that I need to divulge my entire medical history and all the gross details. But that little bit of voluntary disclosure can be extremely helpful and save your life. In a previous life, I avoided wearing a MedicAlert bracelet as it could snag and pose a hazard on the job. Maybe now that I no longer face that obstacle, I could start wearing one on the reg. That would definitely be a step in the right direction.

Privacy and labour laws in Canada prohibit an employer from asking about such things and can also prohibit discrimination based on such aspects of a person’s respective condition. But when it comes to your health and well-being, a little disclosure can go a long way. Some food for thought when you’re thinking of keeping the fact you have Diabetes to yourself. ☯

Pitfall! Not Just An Old School Video Game…

I’m probably dating myself a bit, with the above title. Pitfall! was an excellent, 8-bit video game that was released in the early 80’s and that my father used to let me play on his Commodore 64. Yes, you read that right! A Commodore 64! If you have no idea what that is, Google it and prepare to be awed at the current state of technology, when compared to what we had available three decades ago. Games that gave you a finite number of lives and if you died, you started ALL the way at the beginning. None of this “save point” bullshit! But I digress…

Enough reminiscing about how I used to spend my weekends as a child. The pitfalls I’m referring to in the title relate to the use of an insulin pump. Just to be clear, I LOVE my insulin pump. Besides the fact that it makes insulin delivery a breeze at mealtimes, my current pump maintains pretty tight control of my blood sugars when properly used in conjunction with a CGM or Continuous Glucose Monitoring system. But innovations and technology are only as good as the user allows them to be. And user error is always a possibility.

In six months, I will have rounded the corner on seven years of insulin pump therapy. Being as obsessive as I am, I used to be in the habit of testing my blood via finger pokes almost a dozen times a day; something not everyone can afford to do, for various reasons. The use of an insulin pump with CGM has allowed me to have some freedom from the glucometer, at least as it relates to how often I used to test. A couple of months ago, I managed to achieve the best A1C reading that I’ve had in decades, a direct result of tighter control through the micro-bolusing provided through the SmartGuard technology and CGM.

As good and wonderful as all of it has been, and as often as I like to quip that I’ve become a cyborg (since I have both biological and mechanical/electronic parts sustaining me), there are definite pitfalls to the use of an insulin pump. Hence the title. I know that I tend to harp on Diabetes a fair bit. But it’s for good reason, since, well… Diabetes sucks! I often like to speculate about how life would have turned out for me, had I not been diagnosed with type-1 Diabetes. But the reality is that I have it, it’s here and I deal with it. And I think a big part of who I am has come from how I’ve had to fight against Diabetes. I remember reading a quote somewhere that said, “Diabetes is the leading cause of bravery, determination, resilience, maturity, empathy, strength and compassion.”

While it’s true that I’ve learned to be as strong as I am due in part to my condition, the pitfalls are quite measurable and user error can occur unintentionally. I recently wrote a post about how the pump had been waking me every couple of hours throughout the night. There’s nothing quite like being woken up because your levels are “too good” and the pump wants constant blood sugar readings to understand why nothing’s changing. But I worked with the pump manufacturer and managed to stem that issue. But now, I have a different problem keeping me up at night… My gut!

A few nights ago, my wife and I decided to get an early night’s sleep. This tends to happen at least once a week, where we crash very shortly after we put our kids to bed in an attempt to stem the increase of overall fatigue throughout the week. That night was just such an instance, and we ended up in bed prior to the 10 o’clock hour. At roughly 10:30, I was awoken by the sensation of my pump vibrating. It’s annoying as hell but I prefer to be woken by it, than having it escalate to the audible alarm that ends up waking my wife as well. I rolled over and took the pump out, thinking it was going to request a BG reading again.

Instead, the display told me that insulin flow was block and to consider changing my infusion set. I had barely been asleep for an hour and still had well over a hundred units in my reservoir, so there was no way in hell that I was changing out my set. I wiggled the cannula on my gut slightly, then start the arduous process of getting the pump back to functioning order. You see, if the pump thinks that insulin flow is blocked, it’ll do three things:

  1. Sets off a “blocked flow” alarm. This starts as a vibration, followed by an audible alarm that gets louder, the longer you ignore it. This is important, as non-delivery of insulin can lead to high blood sugars and a whole host of problems;
  2. Turns off Auto Mode. This is where I start to get pissed off. There should be some way for Auto Mode to continue working for the few minutes it takes me to correct the “blockage”; and
  3. Turns off SmartGuard. This is linked to Auto Mode and uses CGM sensor data at five-minute intervals in order to control overall blood sugar levels.

It doesn’t look/sound like a lot when you read the words, but getting all that shit started back up, takes between two to five minutes, which is more than enough time to wake me up to a state akin to poking a grizzly bear’s ass with a bar-wire wrapped baseball bat. So just imagine if that happens a few times, throughout the night? See my problem? A few nights ago, I was woken up this way at least three or four times. Bearing in mind that my blood sugar levels remained ideal, the insulin WAS being delivered. It took until the last time for me to realize that it was my gut, pressing against the cannula that was the issue.

It turned out that every time I turned over in my sleep, the pump would encounter resistance in delivery due to laying on my front. Teaching yourself not to move in your sleep is difficult, if not altogether impossible. The placement of the infusion set is critical, as well. I’ll admit that I have a bit of a “Buddha belly,” so the angle the cannula sits at, can mean the difference between a comfortable night’s sleep or having the pump lose its freakin’ mind every few hours.

As you can see, there are definitely pitfalls to the pump, despite the noticeable and measurable benefits that it provides. As smart as the machine is, it can’t recognize and adjust if I’m physically doing something that interferes with its proper function. On a separate note, it may be a helpful reminder that with the summer season I need to work on trimming my “Dad bod!” ☯

“Keto” – It Ain’t All Fad Diets And Workout Plans

Last April marked my entry into my 39th year as a Type-1 Diabetic. I’d love to sound like an old sage; able to say that I’ve seen it all and done it all. But the reality is that Diabetes continues to throw me for a loop and never ceases to surprise me. The latest instance was getting my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and having my blood sugars skyrocket into the low 20’s as a result. Yesterday’s post and YouTube video covers that experience, if you haven’t had a chance to check it out.

Anyway, I was talking about the “incident” with some colleagues and when I mentioned the increased blood sugars, I made a point of commenting that, “At least I didn’t get any symptoms of ketoacidosis…,” which prompted the all-too-often puzzled look, accompanied by the question, “What the fuck is ketoacidosis???” If you don’t have Diabetes and have no one in the family, some of the jargon can get a little confusing. When people here the term “Keto,” they automatically associate it with ketogenix or the Keto diet. Believe me when I say that those are entirely different things and have nothing to do with Diabetes.

I guess I should by defining this bad boy, and will do so using a quote I found from a page on MedlinePlus, as its online medical encyclopedia provides the most accurate definition. It states, “Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening problem that affects people with Diabetes. It occurs when the body starts breaking down fat at a rate that is much too fast. The liver processes the fat into a fuel called ketones, which causes the blood to become acidic.” Nice, eh? Kinda makes you think a type-1 Diabetic will turn into one of those acid-blooded xenomorphs from Aliens. Given the foul mood that strikes when blood gets that high, that’s not too far off the mark…

The problem is not the breaking down of fat into ketones. Ketones can be a good thing and are useful to the body as a source of fuel when its been too long since you last ate. The problem starts when ketones are built up too quickly. This is where you get ketoacidosis, or DKA, as I will refer to it as from here on in. Otherwise, I’ll give myself carpal tunnel trying to type out the full term throughout the post. And we wouldn’t want that, would we? Alright, I’ll quit rambling and get on with the actual material.

When your blood sugars get too high, you don’t have enough insulin in the body to compensate, which is why the body starts to produce ketones too quickly. Heavy buildup of ketones in the blood stream cause your blood to become acidic. Okay, this sounds a little to similar to what was already defined in the previous paragraphs, so maybe I’ll move on to symptoms. For some, DKA can be an early warning sign that they may be developing Diabetes. Contrary to some sources, people with either Type-1 or Type-2 can get DKA.

Some of the more common symptoms will include nausea and vomiting, bodily aches and pains, weakness and fatigue, shortness of breath and confusion. Let’s not forget the two symptoms that lead to what I call the “Diabetic cycle.” First, you’ll have excessive thirst, which is a symptom of DKA. So you’ll consume more water, which is important when you reach the DKA stage anyway. You’ll have frequent urination, which is also a symptom of DKA as the body is trying to spill out the excess ketones. You’ll drink more because you’re thirsty, which will aggravate and increase the frequent urination. Then you’ll drink more water. Wash, rinse and repeat. A lot. It’s annoying.

For the most part, bolusing to adjust your high blood sugars and consuming plenty of fluids, especially electrolytes, is important as at-home methods of treating DKA. You should consult your doctor if an increase of blood sugar fails to bring your blood sugars down for an extended period of time. The Mayo Clinic recommends seeking emergency care if you’re consistently above 16.7 mmol/L and are experience any and/or all of the symptoms mentioned in the previous paragraph.

DKA is some scary shit. Coming from someone who’s experienced it, it can be a surreal feeling, doubled over in pain and puking, blood sugars refusing to come down and literally feeling like you must be dying. But there’s plenty you can do to prevent it. Regular exercise is a big help. I may have mentioned that exercise is good in some of my previous posts. Test your blood sugars frequently and educate yourself properly so that you can make adjustments to your insulin, should you need to. Last but not least, don’t ignore high blood sugar and act on it immediately, should you get a high reading.

Lastly, DKA is one of those Diabetic side effects that can actually kill you, if you ignore it. Take ownership of your health, train through your endocrinologist and insulin pump trainers (if you’re on the pump) and exercise like your life depends on it. because it often will. Taking those steps will go a long way towards preventing DKA so that you don’t have too experience it’s horrific effects. ☯