I'm guilty. Even though I'm in NaBloPoMo, I didn't get a chance to post yesterday.
Like most of you, I was travelling late on Wednesday. And I was changing time zones. As I got on my plane, I had to chance the time settings on my insulin pump, my Dexcom and my blood glucose meter. One of the many joys of a diabetes geek. And when I'm travelling home on Sunday, I'll be setting them all back.
So besides the toll on my body, I guess my insulin devices will be out of sorts for a while. It could be a lot worse.
As I'm on the road, I have to keep my posts on the short side. But I'm taking a few different pictures for diabetes365 and I'll post these with a longer update early next week.
One note for Dexcom users. The new Dexcom sensor sets off the security wand at the airport if they decide to wand you. I don't know whether it also sets off the security scan as I had several things that might be the culprit there.
This is such an American holiday, and yet it's one for the world. Everyone has reasons to be thankful, even if they're not always obvious. And a holiday that revolves around family and a chance to be thankful is a great blessing.
Growing up in Ireland, we always relished Christmas. That was a time for families to get together and enjoy the long break from work, good food and tall tales from our past.
In our case it was horror stories. Like the time my Mum was making fondue for a dinner party and I handed her bread soda instead of cornstarch. I remember the pot of fondue boiling over on the stove and the smell of burning cheese.
So it wasn't the best of dinner parties. But it did make for a great Christmas story.
We had a stove called an Aga. As you can see from the picture it was like a range and not really a traditional way of cooking. In our kitchen we had a stool to the right of the stove where you could sit by it in the winter time and be nicely warmed.
It was definitely the focal point of our kitchen and so the kitchen was the focus of the house.
Another random Farrell story, maybe even a bit of family legend. When my sister heard that we had chickens, she reminded me of an aunt of my mothers.
This aunt was a wonderfully colorful woman who owned a small farm on the northside of Dublin. She was a heavy smoker and when we visited her we'd often find her sitting in the kitchen beside her Aga with a cigarette in her hand.
And on her lap would be a big red hen. As she talked she'd stroke the hen, who was clearly used to this treatment.
This is not a family tradition we've carried over here with us. Though our Aunt Betsy certainly seemed to find it relaxing, I'm not sure whether it was the cigarette or the hen relaxing on her lap.
I wish you all safe travels for Thanksgiving and much to be thankful for.
Richard Kahn of the ADA recently gave a speech where he seemed to be against the technology that I depend on every day to keep me alive and well. Amy Tenderich and others have blogged about his comments.
I'm not saying much on the topic because his speech(PDF) makes me so mad. It strikes me that he has a lot of nerve for someone who doesn't seem to have diabetes and therefore doesn't need these devices to maintain his health or quality of life.
Here's where I stand on this.
I wear and use several diabetes devices that have really given me my life back.
The first of these was my blood glucose meter. Before I had one of these I used urine testing. I called this the "closing the stable after the horse had bolted" test. Because all it told me was a value after my blood glucose was high enough to spill into my urine. So the test might say I was 'negative', but my blood glucose could have been 190 mg/dl. And the thing was stinky and a pain to use.
About nine years ago I started using an insulin pump. Before that I was on multiple daily injections. On a good day I only had about 6 injections. On a bad day, 9 shots or more. My blood sugar control was pretty lousy. And before the pump I really couldn't exercise because it's impossible to undo an insulin injection.
In the last year I got a continuous glucose monitor. This has freed me from a lot of worry. No nighttime lows without a warning. Long distance driving? No problem.
Life is a lot easier with all of these. But they do have challenges.
It's extra stuff to carry, to program, and to download information from. The cables alone are a pain. And when the pump and CGMS alarm multiple times in the middle of the night, I want to throw them away.
But you'd have to pry them from my cold dead hands before I'd give them up.
Today it's been a year since I started posting on this blog.
This is my 137th post since then. I want to use it to let you know what I'm trying to do with my blog.
If you're a regular reader you can hopefully tell that I care a lot about technology and user experience. I'm blessed that my regular job is as a software architect. On the job I get to look at tools and techniques that can help improve the user experience in software.
On this blog I look at software and technology for diabetes, what it's like and how it might be improved. Along the way I hope to influence device and software makers so they think about user experience in the early stages of design and development for new diabetes technology.
In the last year I've learned a lot from your comments and suggestions. I appreciate these more than I can say. I plan to be blogging actively a year from now. If I'm doing a lousy job, let me know.
And thanks for support and friendship to my many diabetes friends from TuDiabetes and the Diabetes OC.
Diabetes: technology, devices, software, and other stuff.
About Me
Name: Bernard Farrell
Location: Massachusetts, United States
I was born in Ireland and now live in the US.
I have had Type 1 diabetes for over 35 years. I struggle with my blood sugar, the same as most people with diabetes.
I wear a Cozmo 1800 insulin pump and a Dexcom SEVEN CGM to track my blood glucose levels. I also take Symlin to help control my post-meal blood sugars.
I'm blessed by God, and every day brings the possibility of a cure.
