Diabetes Apps

Hi All!

Life in the city has been swell. I haven't been up to much, but I've done some more exploring! Today I decided to explore the walk/bike path along the East River.

There was a path that went over FDR drive to get to the actual path.

The path is very nice! There were even some little dog parks along the way!

I was a bit nervous when I got to the Queensborough Bridge...but my nervousness came and went. I guess that's something I can expect being so new to the city!

Of course, I did not go for a walk without some sort of sweet to treat any lows along the way. Tis' the season for candy corn! Well, maybe I'm a bit early....but I cannot help but buy some for a "special" low treat! :-)



Okay...so now for the point of this post. This past May, I treated myself to an iPhone as a graduation gift. (Heehee...thought I deserved a reward for all my hard work)! I mainly wanted an iPhone for the GPS apps...for navigating the city and its subways without too many issues. Another reason I felt an iPhone would be useful is for some of the diabetes apps. The DLife app seemed like it might be kind of neat with the videos, food guide, and BG log...but the review weren't too great. I ended up downloading it and it's pretty slow.

Does anyone use any diabetes apps on their phones? If so, which ones? What are they useful for?

Life diabetes-wise has been okay. I had my 3-month endo appointment at the end of last month. My BGs are still on the low-side (A1c 5.6)...probably from all the extra physical activity I was getting at work. Now that I'm in New York and will have a more regular schedule, one of my main goals is to figure out any patterns in my BGs. I'm really starting to make some progress. Adjustments have been made to my:

-Overnight basal rates

-Dinner-time I:C ratio

-Bedtime snack I:C ratio



Last night was a huge breakthrough in that I didn't experience a nighttime low! I also woke up at a wonderful 76 mg/dL!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Thursday...it's almost the weekend! WOOOOO!

New Beginnings

Long time no talk everyone! Yesterday I moved to New York City to start my dietetic internship! The internship itself doesn't start until the 10th, but so far it's been a great experience.

I'm actually living in a dorm with other dietetic interns, nurses, pharmacy students, and fellows. The interns I've met have been awesome! I'm happy that we've all been able to get to know each other before the internship starts.

As for the conditions of my dorm....it's an 8x11 room. Pretty freakin small. It has some good storage though, so it hasn't been too bad.

This is my room. Not too shabby!

There's lots of storage....nice and deep. Perfect for my pump supplies!











One thing that's been a bit depressing is the price of groceries. For example, a box of multigrain cheerios was about $7.50! Luckily the hospital will be providing us with one meal a day. I'm thinking I will just eat breakfast in my room, having a larger lunch at the hospital, and then have something light for dinner. The interns and I will be venturing to Trader Joe's tomorrow to look for some cheaper items.

Some exciting news is that my first rotation will be.....wait for it.......ENDOCRINOLOGY!! YES! I'm so so so excited to start the internship doing what I am most passionate about. I will update everyone on what this experience is like!

As for the rest of this week, I'll be working on some homework, getting my ID badge, and exploring the big apple!

low low low

The title of this post describes the beginning of my summer thus far. A series of lows...attempting to correct those lows...followed by more lows.

This is something that I have been trying to fix with constant BG checks and basal rate- tweaking. For example, my morning numbers have been on the low side. I'm averaging around 69 mg/dL at 7am-8am. I've been trying to cut back my overnight basal rate and have seem some improvements! YAY! My mid-morning-lunch time numbers have been horrible though. I often find myself low, cranky, and weak around 11am or so. The other day, I went to help my friend move out of her apartment. Words cannot describe how irritated I was during this trip....mainly due to my blood sugar at the time. Starbursts probably helped to save my friendship.

Surprisingly, my BGs at work (I waitress at a retirement home) have not been too bad! I have been sucking down 1/2 water, 1/2 cranberries during my shifts, which seems to be working. I leave work at around 7:45pm with my numbers around 90-100. PERFECTION :-]

I saw my endo last week, and she was kinda pleased, kinda worried about my A1c. It came out to be a 5.9. Although this seems good, she's a bit worried that it's due to my frequent lows. I'm going to have to take my increased activity level into account and start eating more smaller snacks beforehand.

In other news, I have been experimenting with so many recipes while I've been home! It's so great to have time to do this again!

My latest creation was a lentil trail mix...which I am obsessed with. I adapted it from the Healthful Pursuit Blog.
1 cup lentils (soaked 4-6 hours to prevent gas)
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup raisins (tossed them in some flower to make them less sticky)
2/3 cup craisins
3/4 cup shredded coconut


After soaking the lentils, preheat the oven to 350F. Put the lentils on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the lentils are crispy. Cool at room temp. Once cool, toss the lentils with the other ingredients!

Even my dad liked this, and he's hard to please!

Here's how it came out!

So Yummy!

GRADUATION!

I am now a college graduate!!

This is me and some of my friends before graduation! Hard to believe that I am done with my time at Keene State. I'm spending my final post-grad week in Keene with the good friends I've made before I go home to Connecticut. It' so bitter-sweet to be leaving this place. The graduation ceremony was a bit stressful in terms of managing my diabetes. The graduates had to line up for the ceremony at 11:30am...the ceremony did not start until 1. This is prime lunch time for me, so I was super nervous that I would either be low during the ceremony. I was also a bit nervous that I could be high and have to get up and pee. I ended up wearing my "thigh-thing" under my dress for not only my pump, but starbursts, mints, and peanut butter crackers. I also carried a bottle of water into the ceremony with me (the ceremony was a total of 3 hours!). Thank god I brought those peanut butter crackers into the ceremony with me. I didn't have my meter on me, but I could feel my blood sugar starting to drop. I thought it would be best to treat it with real food as opposed to candy because I wasn't actually low...I just needed to eat something. Although I felt weird whipping snacks out of the garter belt under my dress, I was so thankful to be able to stabilize my dropping blood sugar! Other than that, graduation was fantastic! My mom, dad, and I went out for dinner after the ceremony. I got my favorite meat (leg of lamb) with mint pesto, sauteed kale, and pureed parsnips! It was so amazing! I'm now ready to enter the "real world"....well I hope so!!

Hello! These past couple of months have been very exciting! I'm happy to announce that I was accepted into the New York Presbyterian Hospital Dietetic Internship! Four years of hard work have finally paid off and I am one step closer to becoming a certified diabetes educator. I could not be more excited. I will start the 11 month, clinical internship in September. The hospital provides housing right across the street from the hospital for a VERY reasonable price. It is going to be such an awesome experience to live in the city! AHH! Until September, I will be working as a dietary aide/wait staff at the retirement home, working at the Circle of Life Camp (a diabetes camp), and working towards earning a childhood and adolescent weight management certification. I'm graduating from Keene on Saturday and moving home the following Saturday. It is so bitter-sweet. I have made some great friends and learned so much about myself in Keene. It's surreal to be leaving New Hampshire and moving to New York City. While home this summer, I'm really hoping to be a more active blogger! Once I start my internship, I will keep everyone up-to-date on all my experiences as well. In terms of diabetes, I have my next endo appointment later this month and am anxious to see what my A1c is. My BGs have been great for the most part. I hope I can continue to keep my numbers under control during my busy internship! Hope all is well in the DOC! I can't wait to be more active in it once again!

What's on my Plate Day

Hey everyone!

March is National Nutrition Month and USDA partners have announced that today is "What's on my Plate?" Day.

For those of you who don't know, there is no more food pyramid. The USDA came out with a plate called, "MyPlate."
Learn more at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

Changing the food pyramid to a plate is a fantastic idea. Now people are able to get a good visual of what exactly their plate should look like.

Today, people are encouraged to take a picture of their healthy plate and post it on the USDA's Flikr photo page: http://www.flickr.com/groups/choosemyplate
I'm going to post a picture of my plate on here....carbohydrate count included.


Here's a picture of my dinner plate!
A chicken and vegetable stir fry served over brown rice!
I bolused for about 25g carbohydrates.



What does your plate look like....and how many carbohydrates were in it?

A New Friend

Current blood sugar: 236- guess I underestimated that banana I had for breakfast!

This past weekend, I went home to work on a case study and visit one of my best friends at school. She had a bunch of people over her apartment that night to celebrate a roommate's birthday. One person in particular really stuck out to me....mostly because I noticed he had something clipped to his hip and there seemed to be some tubing flapping around. I GOT WAY TOO EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
I ran up to him and said, "You have diabetes. Don't you?!"
He confirmed and unclipped the pump from his pocket. I did the same. INSTANT BONDING.
I honestly have not met many other diabetics my age...just a few other counselors I met while working at a diabetes camp. It was so great to be able to talk to someone who knew exactly what I was going through.
We talked for hours about experiences with evil doorknobs (if you wear a pump, you know exactly what I'm talking about), what glucometers we use, favorite low snacks, recent A1cs, our diagnosis stories, among otheer things. I hope that we can keep in contact!
That night made me realize how valuable diabetes camp is for children. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 13 and never went to camp until I was a counselor years later. Going to camp allows children with diabetes to connect with other diabetics who are dealing with the same struggles they are. It's awesome if they keep in contact with these people throughout their lives. If you or your child have not experienced camp...I strongly suggest it. It is so awesome for these kids to be able to connect with other diabetics!
I am so, so excited to return to camp this summer!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

I got my blood work done after my last appointment and it wasn't so bad after all....6.1! yayyy!
I've also stopped dropping so low at night. I've been mainly waking up in the 80s! I love starting my day in the 80s!

Well, that's my good news.






You know how they say bad things come in threes? IT'S TRUE.

My friends and I usually joke that I have something called "The Karen Curse." I seem to run into a lot of bad luck. I'm honestly starting to think that I just let life's little events ruin my day. I don't think I'm going to joke about this anymore. It's just not a good way to live life. I'm not cursed...I just need to stop dwelling on the little things.

These past couple of weeks I really have let the little things get the best of me.


I got back to school all ready to start my last semester of college. I went back a bit early to work at an after school program. Within the first week of being back, my throat started to feel kind of funky. The next day...it felt like little hamsters were jabbing their tiny teeth into my throat! After a few days of denial, I decided it was time to go to the doctors There, it was confirmed that I indeed had strep throat! YUCK.

That following Sunday, my computer got a virus. I took it to staples and paid $100 to have it removed. They told me it would be done by Thursday....Wednesday night they called me and said that my hard drive had anywhere from 6 days-6 months to live. =[ Either I needed to buy a new computer or have the hard drive replaced. This isn't really the best time for this to happen....I'm a broke college student. My parents and I decided to just have the hard drive replaced. It's been working OK thus far ***knock on wood***

That same week, some immature idiot decided to hack my facebook and post obscene messages all over my friends' walls. NICE.

That was my bad luck in threes. From now on, I'm not going to let bad luck run my life. Instead, I'm going to take a deep breath and move on. ,Today, I woke up high and realized it was because I ripped my tubing out in my sleep. I would usually let this ruin my day...but I'm determined not to. Today is going to be a good day!