Pocketful of Memory Cards

Today's Project Blue November Instagram Challenge is to show where you've travelled as a Diabetic.  I've been extremely lucky to vacation all over the world and the two of the highlights for me were: 1.  Scuba Diving in Moorea in 2011.  By coincidence the dive instructor had been part of the team that dove with the first T1 Diabetic to receive her PADI certification. 2:  Hiking La Soufrière in Guadeloupe last winter. It was a very steep and challenging 800m elevation changed and I was thrilled to complete it thanks to my pump and my patient hubby. Travel can be challenging for the T1 Diabetic, with time changes, strange food, and unplanned exercise, but you plan for it and make it work.  The most challenging thing for me in recent years, has been crossing the Canadian border.  As I've mentioned in the past, I am a type one diabetic who uses an insulin pump. I travel by airplane a few times a year, leaving the country about once a year which requires a little

Saturday’s Project Blue November challenge was to show how you keep fit to help control your diabetes.   We all know that being in good physical shape is beneficial whatever your challenges in life.   But I have to laugh when I read that exercise is essential in “helping to control your diabetes”.   I will not deny exercise is good for you, but for a Type 1 Diabetic, exercise can throw a wrench into your control.   (My dogs help me get in shape by forcing me to walk them daily.   This view at the top of Mission Ridge is great motivation.) Whether diabetic or not, how your body reacts to exercise depends on the type of exercise.   Is it intense but for a short period of time, like sprinting?   Is it moderate for a long period of time like walking a dozen kilometres of Mission Greenway?   Is it a combination of two, like playing hockey or soccer where intense activity is followed by periods of rest?   Or is it a hike over terrain where the intensity changes from walking on

This morning on Facebook I wrote a post about carbohydrates or "carbs" as many people refer to them.  I mentioned that Type 1 diabetics have to determine how many carbs are in the foods they consume before they take their insulin.  How do you do that, you ask?  Here's where I tell you. There are actually several different ways to determine how many carbs are in your food.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency requires that most packaged foods put a nutritional breakdown on the label. According to this label, there are 29 grams of carbs in 1/4 cup of uncooked oatmeal. When cooked that works out to about a one cup serving which is a much larger serving than I would eat.  I'd probably eat about a half cup (15 carbs), add cinnamon and walnuts (no carbs) and a couple of tbsp of apple sauce (6 carbs) and 1 carb for the almond milk.  This gives me total of 22 carbs for breakfast. I recently read that the number on the box can be out by as much as 30%.  Some days you ju

Those of you on Facebook have been inundated with my posts about Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) for the past week as November is Diabetes Awareness Month.  All of this is an attempt to dispel some of the myths and give a little insight into how our lives are affected  by this challenging chronic disease (effected?  I have no clue.) I've been on an insulin pump since March 2011. I fought it for a long time.  I've noticed that diabetics are often resistant to changing the way we treat our disease.  I couldn't be happier with this change.  I can't imagine my life without a pump, which I think means the next time a new technology comes along, I'll be resistant to that one too. For the uninitiated, I thought I'd share some of the details about what goes into using a pump.  First of all you need one of two things:  Lotsa money or a premium drug plan.  I'm extremely lucky my hubby has an incredible extended medical plan that gives me 100% coverage on my pump and suppli