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Category: Stress

Late Night High with a 17 Unit Bolus Correction

Chris Stocker 2 Comments

Last night I was up very late again.  I don’t know why I even mention that because it is a norm for me now.  My new shutdown time is 3:00 a.m.  That is when I finish up whatever last project I am working on, well maybe not the whole project but part of it and then call it quits, lay down on the sofa bed and fall asleep.  Right now I am living with Amanda and her family and I don’t have a bedroom.  There is a family room upstairs along with 3 bedrooms, Amanda’s and her two brothers.  The family room is pretty much my living quarters.  This also happens to be where the computer desk is, so it is very convenient for me.  They all go to bed and shut their doors and I stay up, typing and clicking away not keeping anybody up.  Well, last night, my diabetes kept me up.

I have been eating somewhat healthy, but for some reason last night I wanted some type of dessert.  I was going to eat something healthy, but then Friendly’s was brought up, which is literally right across the street from the house.  We live on a long road, so it is about 0.5 mile walk total, so we figured, hey we will walk there and back and that will burn at least SOME of the calories off.  I tested my sugar and it was 155 when I ate the ice cream.  3 hours later, my blood sugar had sky-rocketed to 492!  This was at about 12-ish and I knew I would still be up for about another 2-3 hours doing work, so no big deal, I took my correction, which just so happened to be 17 units!  Seriously, what kind of correction takes 17 units.

I was knocking out my work like it was my job, oh yea, it is, and I had to have an energy drink because I just couldn’t go without one.  I knew this wasn’t going to be the best for me since my sugar is that high because caffeine makes my sugars go crazy some times.  Before I went to bed at 3:15 I tested again and my sugar was down to 230, so I was confident that come morning time when I woke up at 7:30 that my sugar levels would be around 150-ish.  Well I was a little wrong on that estimate as well.  When I tested my sugar again at about 8:30 it was still elevated at 215.  It still came down from 495 to 215 in 6-7 hours, but not where I wanted it to be at. As I am typing this post now at 12:30 my sugar was just 127, so we are good to go and it is almost lunch time.

I posted my sugar last night on Twitter and I want to thank @mydiabeticheart , @tinashaye , and @lizalovecyprus for all your kind support with the @ replies last night.

Met A Co-Worker With Diabetes

Chris Stocker

At my old job I talked and communicated with a lot of other diabetics, but I didn’t actually work with any other diabetics.  At one of the places I do on-site consulting for 3 days a week, Volvo Aero Services, I have been introduced to 2 other diabetics already.  This is a great feeling.  The first person I was introduced to, I already knew about because I had spoken with them via e-mail a few times to get them help with their strips and supplies.  The coffee is in her office so I see her multiple times a day(I’ve cut back to 5 cups of coffee a day).  The other person I wasn’t formally introduced to, but this is how it happened.

Before lunch one day, I headed into the bathroom to wash my hands.  While in there I saw this guy pull out an Aviva meter and check his sugar.  I saw a not so happy look on his face.  He then proceeded to take out a piece of paper which looked like a sliding scale for his correction, plus meal time bolus.  After a quick calculation he was drawing back a syringe.  This whole time I am just washing my hands, glancing over.  Probably the longest hand wash in history.  At first, I was a little hesitant to ask any questions, because I know not all people are willing to discuss their diabetes.  So, I decided to mention my diabetes first and see if he would open up.

I looked at him and just said, “my blood sugar was 195, so I’m going to eat a small lunch to try and bring it back down with a little correction bolus.”  He looked at me like I had 3 heads!  I followed that with, “I’ve been diabetic for 6 years, so I understand the lunch time finger pricks”  He opened right up to me about his diabetes.  Basically he explained that he has had diabetes for 10 years and that he was in a denial for about the first year and that he hasn’t been able to manage it that well.  I gave all the best advice that I could that you have to just keep on pushing.  Your not always going to figure out your diabetes, but you can get it right as often as possible and that is the best you can ask for.  I explained to him to not get discouraged when he sees a high number because it will stress him out and keep it high.

I gave him my contact information and let him know where my desk was if he had any questions or problems with his diabetes.  I also gave him contact info to a few support groups that I knew about and have previous attended.  I really hope that he decides to go, because he seemed as if he needed a little additional support for his diabetes.

How many of you work with other diabetics?  Are they part of the D. OC as well?

It Feels Good to Feel Normal Again

Chris Stocker

Wow, this may be the first time all month that I have blogged in two consecutive days.  It is cold down here in south Florida, about 50 degrees.  I know that is nothing compared to the northeast where I am from, and where I am going next week, but for being down here, it is cold.  But it is a good cold, not a bad cold.  What do I mean by that?  It is nice to sit outside, exactly what I am doing right now.  I am sitting out back at Amanda’s house in a screened in patio typing up a blog.  I am away from Monday Night Football, away from the Panthers hockey game (which is taping, so I haven’t escaped it completely), and just relaxing in the nice outdoors of her 1 acre lot (for those of you who live in south Florida, you know the annoying condo / highway life that exists everywhere else).

Today was a long day at work as well.  It was tough and hard on my brain because I was doing things that I don’t think I ever did before in Excel.  As a consultant, I am open to doing pretty much whatever is needed by somebody, you have a question and if I have the answer, I do it.  Right now I am doing data analysis for Volvo Aero Service (pretty much sell jet engines and parts.)  There are a lot of parts and a lot of numbers that go along with jet engines, so it can be a little stressful getting the numbers into the correct places.

How has this affected my diabetes?  Not bad at all.  I have gotten back into a normal way of life, working 8:30-5:30, eating lunch at the same time, eating dinner at the same time, being more productive with my life and back to testing my blood sugar once an hour or two hours at most during the day.  I am eating better at breakfast and at lunch, dinner I am still trying to work on.  I don’t eat fast food breakfast anymore, like I did pretty much every single day at my old job and I don’t pay for coffee anymore, which saves me between the two about $75 a month.  I lost a little weight, but put some back on this past week because I was very stressed out about moving and getting out of my old house and into my new house.  I will get into that blog tomorrow.

Until then, I am signing off tonight.  Oh by the way, you may not see me tweeting as much, but I am still there in heart, I am reading, but not always posting.  I can easily read tweets during work, but I don’t always have the time to write something and then I just usually read them at night, but by that time it’s too late to respond to them.  I am finally back to living a normal life of a diabetic.

My 6th Birthday with Diabetes, 25th Altogether

Chris Stocker 3 Comments

Today is my birthday and it can turn out to be potentially one of the best birthdays that I ever had.  Reasons are simple, it is an all day New York – Philadelphia day.  At 1 p.m. the Eagles have a huge NFC East match up against the Giants and then at night it is game 4 of the World Series with the Phillies and the Yankees.  Do you think my stress level is going to be high?  I’m not even sure exactly what it is going all day during my birthday because of all the sports, I think it may include a cookout between the games, but not sure.  This is my 25th birthday (yes, I can now legally rent a car and my car insurance rates should go down), and it is the 6th birthday that I have celebrated with diabetes.

My birthday’s haven’t really changed at all since I have been diagnosed.  There is really only one thing that I require for my Brian and Chris_Halloween2birthday, call it high maintenance if you will, but I must have an ice cream cake because the greatest thing in the world is the little chocolate crusty things in the middle layer of the cake.  I get to eat that about once a year, so it’s allowable on my birthday.  My birthday gifts have changed a bit from family members however.  Now when mom and pops ask what I want for my birthday this year, I usually respond with, “How about picking up the costs of my insulin for this 3 month supply.”  That’s usually what the gift is now.  And I am more appreciative of that gift then I am for any other gift out there.

I didn’t get a chance to post any pictures from our company Halloween party from Friday, so here are just a few.  This is my buddy Brian, whChris and 800 lb gorilla_Halloweeno writes one hell of a blog about baseball and baseball cards, dressed up as one of the Disney Imagination Movers and then another with the proverbial 800 pound gorilla that we are all up against half the time in life.  I’m dressed up as a low budget Chase Utley (I have a man-crush on him).  This is also the same thing that I was last year..  I didn’t do any Halloween parties or do anything related to it this year because the Phillies were playing game 3 last night.  I was doing a little “trick – or – Tweeting” though however.

So today is not only my birthday, but also the first day of National Diabetes Month.  It’s also a bunch of other things, but I don’t feel like talking about that stuff.  Start today with spreading awareness.  Tell one person starting today about diabetes, almost like a Pay-it-Forward style.  Do your part, if we all do ours we can create a big movement.  Don’t just do it on November 14 on World Diabetes Day, make it the whole damn month!

Have a great Sunday ya’ll

Top 3 Things Diabetes Related That Make Me Mad

Chris Stocker 7 Comments

Recently I started to think about some of the things related to diabetes that really make me mad.  Diabetes in general doesn’t because I have learned to live with it, deal with it and manage it.  It is usually other people that make me mad when it comes to diabetes.  Let’s start with the top 3 things, in no particular order.

Diabetic vs Person with Diabetes

I personally don’t understand all of the hype around this.  If you want to call me a person with diabetes, go ahead.  You want to call me diabetic, which I prefer, then go ahead.  I don’t really care what you call me.  Diabetic is just the term that is used to call somebody who has diabetes.  Why all of a sudden is it such a bad thing?  I think it is a good thing when someone calls me a diabetic, because I have diabetes, so therefore I am diabetic.  I guess if I hear one very good logical reasoning of the PWD thing then I will go with it.  Like I said, I have no problem if that is what you want to be called, I will call you that.  Quite honestly, I would rather call you by your first name and not diabetic or person with diabetes at all.

Supply Switching

Who the hell are you (fill in the blank with your supply company) to tell me what meter, strips, lancets or pen needles I want to use?  Do you think that I care about your bottom line figures and that you make more money off of the generic lancets than the brand name.  I don’t really care about the 200% profit you are making, I care that the lancets that I am using are not damaging and bruising my fingers constantly.  I want a pen needle that is going to penetrate my skin and not hurt when it goes in because its not sharp enough.  A few years ago when I was still using an old supplier, will not mention names, they continued to send me these cheap generic lancets when I wanted the One Touch ones.  They kept sending them every 90 days and I would call and tell them to stop, but they wouldn’t let me return them, I still had to pay for them.  They then went far enough to tell me that the One Touch ones are no longer made, they have been discontinued.  So when I was walking through Wal-Mart one day I saw them there and then went off on the company.  I called 4 times a day every day for like 2 straight weeks to make sure I got every customer service rep there.

Not the same goal in mind

There are a lot of non-profits, organizations, blogs, communities and they do not know how to work together.  What do we all want?  A cure, right?  Of course there are some other things that would be great along the way, but ultimately it is about finding a cure, spreading awarenss and giving people an arena to share and talk about, especially in the online world.  Then why can’t we just all work together and not look at other people in the diabetes world as “competitors”.  I’m not saying that everyone does that, I’m speaking of the minority on this one, but it just irritates the hell out of me.

Those are the 3 main things that just make me mad.

What are some others that tick you the wrong way?

Took a Little Break, Except from Diabetes

Chris Stocker

Last week I decided to take some time off from Twitter, Facebook, blogging and every other online outlet for 4-5 days.  I had a lot of things coming up and just needed a break.  It’s now time to get back to work however and catch back up, which is harder than actually doing the work in the first place.  I needed to get some offline things done, it’s crazy that theirs actually an offline life out there.  You know, all the fun stuff plus the diabetes stuff.  The life of a diabetic always consists of making sure you have the essentials.  Since I am type 1, I had to make sure that I had enough insulin in my pump before I went to do all of the fun events thisweekend because there is nothing worse than going out somewhere and not having enough insulin.

Friday night after work I headed down to the Panthers game for their exciting win over the Flyers.  It was a stressful event for me.  The Phillies started at 4:00 p.m on Friday, so I was wearing my Chase Utley jersey all day long and had Amanda drive down to the BankAtlantic Center so I could pay attention to the game on my phone.  When I got to the arena, I had to take the Phillies shirt off because the Panthers were playing a Philly team (Flyers), so I was in a little predicament.  Ultimately, the Phillies lost and the Panthers won.  During the game I decided to get some nachos, so I bolused for them and chowed down.  After eating them I started to feel a little low in the middle of the period, so Amanda went out and bought me a huge $4.00 chocolate chip cookie.  I didn’t test to see how low my sugar was because of course my meter was out in the car.  Finally, I felt better and my sugar was about 160 after the game.

As soon as the game was over, Amanda and I went to Super Wal-Mart because I had to get all the fixings for pasta salad (my favorite food in the world).  Saturday was my future father in-law’s birthday party for his 60th birthday, which is actually today.  My roommate (my girlfriend’s brother) and I decided to get a keg for the party because there was going to be a good amount of people there.  But that wasn’t the main reason for the keg.  We knew that the Oklahoma – Texas, Gators – Razorbacks, Virginia Tech – Georgia Tech, and the Yankees games were all on Saturday, so we knew there was a lot of beer to go through for the day.  I’m not even going to get into Virginia Tech blowing any chance that they have to play for the national championships.   At the party I didn’t have my meter again, starting to be a not so good recurring theme here.  I was eating a lot of pasta salad, macaroni salad, beer, chicken tenders and mini subs.  So a lot of insulin wasb eing consumed there.  When I went home I tested and I was near the low 200’s, which is where I stayed pretty much all night long.

And to top it off the Eagles barely outscored the Phillies on Sunday.  The Eagles game did have my stress levels at a high so far this season because they have been playing well so it hasn’t affected me too much.  Since my meter was left in my car, surprise surprise, I had no idea what my sugar was.  All I knew was that I didn’t feel dizzy and I didn’t have to pee a lot so I knew I wasn’t at either extreme.  I know this isn’t good because sometimes I am just dehydrated and drinking a lot because I was sweating so much.  Sometimes I will take some insulin because of that, which is not a good idea, so don’t try that at home kids.  But at the end of the night the Phils win at least made it a little better.

Last night after work I had to coach a game which was the best game all season so far.  It was a 12-6 loss for my kids that have been averaging about 21-0 losses.  Then at night, Mr. Jimmy Rollins rocked Philly with a walk-off double, which sent me running and screaming around my house at about midnight, waking up my roommate who is cheering for the Dodgers.

Monday Ramblings, Pink in the NFL, New Basal Rates, No Stress

Chris Stocker

First weekend with the new basal rates and carb to insulin ratio, not bad.  I didn’t see much of a difference, but the after meal highs have come down a little.  There were still highs, but they were about 170-180 insteado f the 230-240 I was having.  It could have also been the food that I ate this weekend because I must admit, it wasn’t the best choices.  Friday night I went to Chile’s.  Saturday night was food court chinese food (my favorite food in the world)  Sunday was a chicken sandwich at the bar watching the Eagles.

This weekend also didn’t really have any stress involved at all.  Saturday Virginia Tech took care of business easily, and so did the Eagles yesterday.  Nothing to stress about sports wise.  My Panthers got beat, but oh well, what are you going to do.  Anyway, onto other things.  I am working on finishing up an interview with my local JDRF person.  She pretty much does everything for the JDRF in this area, so I’ll be posting that later this week.  I have some plans that I’ve been putting together to work with the local office of JDRF and do some more volunteering and working to get more donations.  Hopefully it will all work out, mainly when I actually have some time to.

Seeing all this pink in the NFL again this weekend is pissing me off, because I know that there is not going to be a single thing done for diabetes month.  And there are a few NFL players with diabetes, one of them being a Pro Bowler (Cutler).  Diabetes gets no respect.  Diabetes is the Rodney Dangerfield of comedians, no respect I tell ya.  But all I can do is use my resources that I have to try and get a voice out there and work with you all that have voices as well so maybe one day somebody will hear us.

Well, it’s Monday and Monday’s are always my shortest posts, so I hope you all have an amazing day.

Results From Endo Appointment

Chris Stocker 2 Comments

Today’s post, although later is about the results from my endo appointment today.  I just came home from football practice a little bit ago, so that is why it is such a late post tonight.  But anywho, onto the appointment.  A diabetic’s mandatory meeting.

I was actually on time so that started out well.  I handed my pump and my meter to the receptionist so they could pull the numbers off of the two.  For some reason, my meter decided that it didn’t want to work anymore and wouldn’t give the readings so they were going to give me a new Freestyle Lite meter.  I told them to just keep it because I have plenty of meters at home, leave it for somebody that needs one.  [Plus didn’t know if I’d have to report that to the FTC also 🙂 ]

Next up was the blood pressure.  If you recall from my last endo appointment, my blood pressure was a little high, 140/80.  I was very stressed out that day and was running around like crazy before the appointment.  Today I wasn’t stressed at all, it was a perfectly fine day.  My blood pressure was 122/70, perfect.  So there was nothing to worry about with that.  For some reason they weighed me after the blood pressure.  The scale at their office is always about a 10 pound difference then any other scale I step on.  Their scale last time said 254 when mine at home said about 244.  Today, their scale said 246.  So even though I’m not that heavy, I am obviously losing some weight.

As I explained recently, I have had a month full of highs and was trying to figure out why that was happening.  I discussed it with the doc today and we both agreed on all the possible reasons that I mentioned.  Probably a site issue.  We eliminated those highs so we could see patterns in normal days.  Overall, the sugars were pretty damn good.  Just those few high days did it to me.  Like usual my sugars overnight are killing me, literally!  We increased my basal rate during the late night / early morning hours to 1.8 and kept the rest of them at 2.2 – 2.4 depending on the time of day.  We also increased my carb ratio to 1 unit of insulin for every 4 carbs at night time and kept it at 5 carbs the rest of the day.

I felt very good after leaving today’s visit.  Things are going good and somethings are getting even better.  My goal for next month’s A1C is to have it below 7.  I have busted my butt exercising and eating better to do this, but I can’t stop now I have to continue.  Well, next appointment isn’t until end of November, so I’ll update you again after that appointment.

Long Stressful Drive Back from Orlando

Chris Stocker 1 Comment

Yesterday involved a long, stressful drive back home from Orlando.  After spending a great weekend up there, Amanda and I were headed home on the Florida Turnpike in seperate cars.  We were flying down the highway and making great time.  We were on pace for about 2 1/2 hours which is great time for where we live.  My sugar was about 220 at this time.  It was above 200 all day while at Sea World.  I couldn’t seem to get the numbers down, I don’t know why.

So, we were just north of the Ft. Pierce exit on the Turnpike when I heard a little noise, almost like I hit a bump in the road.  About 2 miles later the loudest noise of my live occurred.  It sounded like someone let go a shotgun right next to my head.  I knew it exactly what it was when it happened though, and the first thing I thought was $#!t.  My spare tire is already on the back right side of my car because I had a flat several weeks ago.  And no, my spare is not a donut tire, it was a real tire so that is why I was able to drive on it for so long.

I called Amanda and told her to get behind my car and she said that it didn’t look like my tire was flat, but then she said that she thought that she just saw the tire spark.  She saw it again, so I said ok we need to get off at this next exit.  We pull off into the nearest gas station (with a Dunkin Donuts) so I could get a coffee if needed.  I looked at the tire and there was a huge hole in it, but it wasn’t flat.  The wires were sticking out of the tire, so that explains the sparks.  I called AAA right away and they were going to send a truck out to me and tow it to a tire service and I would have to get it the next morning.  I definitely did not want to do that, but what the hell else was I going to do on a Sunday night at 8 p.m.

I called a 24 hour tire service to come out and fix the tire and they wanted to charge me over $300, uhh yea right!  After 30 minutes of waiting for the AAA truck, it was the wrong kind of truck.  They didn’t get the correct information from dispatch and they needed a flatbed truck.  It was going to be another 30 minutes, which I didn’t want to wait.  I asked the driver what his honest opinion was, if he felt I could drive it about one mile to the Super Wal-Mart and he felt that I could.  I drove it down there about 10-15 MPH and took all of my belongings and then drove home with Amanda.  I wanted to stay in a hotel and just get the car fixed first thing in the morning, but it didn’t make sense to spend the $70, even though it probably would have worked out better that way.

Finally, this afternoon after a half day of work, we drove back up to the Ft. Pierce area and went back to the Super-Walmart.  Luckily my car was s till there and intact and I was able to drive it over to the tire service center and get 2 new tires and put the spare back into the truck.  I drove the car back home and the tires felt fine.  The car was riding smooth again, so I was happy.

Meanwhile, the whole time this was going on my sugar was just skyrocketing because all of the stress.  It went up to about 375 because I was freaking out.  I was so hungry and there was a Sonic right there, but I knew I couldn’t eat because I could tell my sugars were in just one of those moods that they were not going to come down, especially with more food going in.  I woke up this morning with a 245 blood sugar.  Things were fine with the blood sugars all day today after that, a few lows, but no highs.

So that was the wonderful life of a diabetic this weekend and the stressful drive back from Orlando.  It was a long, exhausting, stressful night.  But I made it through it, and have another diabetes related story to share with people that want to know about diabetes.

Weekend Full of Highs…Went over 500

Chris Stocker 2 Comments

This weekend involved a lot of highs.  I hit over 250 Friday night, reached 300 on Saturday and was over 500 on Sunday.  Sunday’s was the worst.  It was also the scariest, and also made me feel like crap.  I was coaching a football game Sunday afternoon and I was sweating a lot and felt a little low so I drank some Gatorade.  After the game and when I got home I tested and I was at about 240.  I then ate Arby’s because Sunday is my diet cheat day.  About 2 hours later I started to feel a little crappy, just felt like laying down. No big deal I thought because I was up early and was out in the sun all day.  I tested and I was now up to 300.  I figured it was because I ate fatty food so it will take a while for my levels to get back down.

Then I started to feel really thirsty and my stomach was starting to hurt.  I tested again and now it was over 400.  So I take some more insulin to correct.  About an hour later, or maybe even less then that, I tested again because I was even more dehydrated, and that’s when the meter gave the worst reading, “HI”  HI Blood Sugar

I didn’t panic because I knew I could bring it down, just do everything that I was always taught from my diabetes educator, thank god I’m able to still have a CDE!  I corrected on my pump and took the necessary insulin.  I tested 30 minutes later, still says high, so I changed my site and corrected with insulin in the new site.  I layed down and tried to fall asleep and wake up and hope that it was lowered.  I woke up about 45 minutes later and now finally I got a reading, it was down to 435.

Before I finally went to bed at midnight, it was down to 235.  I woke up at 4:30 this morning with a blood sugar of 65.  Talk about going from one extreme to the other.  I went downstairs and had some OJ and of course a few Skittles.  I went back to sleep and when I woke up and went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, I tested and I was at 106.  So luckily I was able to get it down and get it back to where it needed to be.  I ran a little high all day today as well, around 200 all day long.  I just came back from the gym for an hour and I am about 160 right now.  I thought my sugar was running high because I was starting to feel sick, but now I think that I felt sick because my sugars were high.

Well I guess this is part of living the life of a diabetic.