JOYFUL DIABETIC

I start my day, six days a week by connecting with the Daily Motivator, created by Ralph Marston. My goal is to consistently work on my attitude toward life and in particular my diabetes. Ralph’s clear messages are a gift to me and since he’s given me permission, to you as well. Please note a message below that has particular significance to we who have diabetes. Click the link to enjoy the message accompanied by beautiful photos from around the world plus soothing music to help with message digestion. Enjoy!
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To view this message as a picture and music presentation, click on the link below http://greatday.com/v.html?2682h02LTm8f

THE DAILY MOTIVATOR
Thursday, August 19, 2010

How you spend your thoughts
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How are you spending your precious, powerful thoughts? Are you spending them on the things you desire or on the things you detest?

Would you waste your money buying things you didn’t even want? It makes no more sense to waste your thoughts on those things you don’t want.

Your life unfolds in accordance with your most pervasive thoughts. Your actions, and the results they bring, flow directly from what you think from moment to moment.

Can you create and nourish a rich and detailed vision of yourself living the life you wish to live? Yes, of course you can.

Allow yourself to fashion that vision, to nourish it, to expand upon it with your thoughts, and by so doing, to truly live it. The more you focus your thoughts on what you do desire, the more surely you bring those desires to life.

Make positive and meaningful use of the awesome power of your thoughts. Where your thoughts most frequently go, your life will surely and quickly follow.

By Ralph Marston. Originally published in The Daily Motivator and used with permission.
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Over the years, I’ve learned that my thoughts beget my feelings. When I’m feeling poorly, my thinking is typically negative and I need to take action to change my thinking. I like Ralph’s concept of thinking as spending and how to spend it wisely. For we who have diabetes this is essential. I’m also reminded of the idea that what we think about expands as well as Henry Ford’s quote, “If you think you can do a thing, or you think you can’t…you’re right.” Note Ralph’s last sentence and how “right” it is for us.

In my experience, the single most important element in achieving effective diabetes self-care mastery is attitude. We can all learn to gain control of our thinking and when we do, the dividends are enormous.

Thanks, Ralph

I’ve been thinking about Symlin for a while and a visit to their booth at the AADE Convention convinced me to discuss this topic with my CDE. From my research, I learned that Symlin, a hormone, works with insulin to help control BG after meals. In addition, their literature claims that this product slows the movement of food from one’s stomach thus slowing the buildup of sugar. They also say that it provides amylin which is needed by the digestive system and is not generated in many people with diabetes. Finally, and possibly the best benefit, Symlin is advertised as generating that “full” feeling after a meal.

I met with my CDE this week and she agreed that taking Symlin would be a good experiment to work on my after-dinner glucose readings which have been above normal. She gave me samples of the product and instructions on how to inject it into my body about 10 minutes before my evening meal. I was instructed to contact her in a week to check in and report on the results of this experiment.

I started injecting Symlin three days ago and the initial results are positive. I’ve experienced no nausea, the most common side effect and have observed that my post dinner BG readings are lower. As with most changes in my diabetes regimen, I keep detail records and then correlate them with actual results. My gut says this is a great product and my expectation is that this will enable me to move to the next higher level of sugar control mastery. I’ll report in a couple of weeks on my analysis of Symlin working in my body.

Over the years I’ve learned that what I think about expands and if I’m thinking negative thoughts, they just get bigger. I’m also learning that I’m in charge so when I’m in a foul mood, I need to check my thinking. I’ve discovered that when I’m down I’m thinking negative thoughts and I have the capability to change my thinking. And, as a consequence my mood brightens. I’ve changed my belief as a result.

I typically monitor my self-talk and when it’s negative; I thank it for sharing and move on. This idea comes from “Taming Your Gremlin” by Richard Carson. The more I can maintain positive thinking, the better I feel and that’s clearly one of my goals. After all, I call myself The Joyful Diabetic so feeling joyful is important and it all starts with my thinking where I’m able to exercise control.

I’ve heard fellow diabetics say, “I can’t achieve an A1C less than 7, or I can’t lose weight, or I’m unable to exercise.” These statements remind me that our beliefs (just a habit of thought) have an enormous impact on the results we achieve. The title of this post is a slogan I’ve had for many years and I know it works. For example, I believed that I could manage my BG to be less than 6.5. I did it; however, there was a downside to achieving this goal. When my A1C was below 6.5, I had too many lows and my Endocrinologist, Jill Abelseth has encouraged me to increase my goal a bit since lows can be harmful to my body in the long run. She’s adjusted my pump settings and the results are stunning. I had my A1C tested at the AADE Convention and it was 6.6. A review of my log shows that in addition, I’ve had very few lows. I’m convinced that this is an appropriate goal and I Dare to Believe that I can continue my BG management to achieve a long and healthy life.

From a distance, I spotted the Extend Bars sign among about 300 vendors on the show floor. Having thoroughly enjoyed their products over the past year, I went there directly.

The greeting I received was memorable as Kensey Turnbaugh greeted me with open enthusiasm. She expressed delight in meeting me, saying, “I really enjoy your blog site and have read many of your entries. You’re a very good writer!” Needless to say you could have knocked me over with a feather. We continued with a super conversation that touched on many aspects of living with diabetes and their product value. I too expressed my joy in meeting her and being able to tell her and others at their booth how much I enjoyed and appreciated ExtendSnack products.

I also met Jonathan Lindberg, Assistant Marketing Manager. We’ve had several phone and email conversations, but it’s always great to meet people in person. On his direction, Kensey recorded a video testimonial from me with their booth in the background. I felt like a celebrity.

For those reading this post, please consider trying Extend Snacks. I’m always interested in using products that taste great, don’t jack up my sugar and produce a lasting, full feeling. I’ve found Extend Snacks meet all of these requirements. Now that I’ve met some of the company staff, I can also say that they’ve got charming and committed people…always a treat and not found in many companies.
Please see my previous post, “Extend Bars Really Work” and if you’d like to try these very useful products, please click on the Extend Bar graphic in the left column of this site.

I’m off today to San Antonio today for the annual convention of the American Association of Diabetes Educators. I’m one of the few non-medical members of the organization and am privileged to be participating on a concurrent session on Friday, August 6. Our session is entitled Conversations that Matter: Living with Advanced Duration Diabetes.

About 18 months ago, three Registered Nurses and Certified Diabetes Educators (Claire Blum, Cindi Goldman-Patin and Connie Hanham) began work on this session since they were aware that only minimal resources have been utilized to support individuals who’ve had diabetes for a long time. I was invited to join them to present a non-medical story of my 31 years with type 2 diabetes. Claire, Cindi and Connie have all had type 1 diabetes for more years than I and are sure to present an outstanding program.

I am very excited to participate in this year’s convention and eagerly await a positive reception from 200 to 300 CDEs who are expected to attend our session. I’ll have my Flip Video with me to capture the moment and will report on session results in a future post.

I was very lucky that a passing motorist stopped when I held up my hand to indicate I was in trouble and needed help. He drove me the last half mile and I made it home where I immediately consumed carbs to bring my sugar up.

This very scary event provided an important lesson for the future…to NEVER GO ON A WALK WITHOUT CARRYING PORTABLE SUGAR.

Due to the back pain I’ve had over the past two months, I had been unable to do my daily walks and was just getting back to my previous level of 4-5 miles per walk. Yesterday seemed like the perfect day to push from my previous 2.5 mile walks to 4 miles. When I left home, my BG was 117 so I entered a temp basal rate of 50% so that I wouldn’t go low. About halfway through my walk I sensed that my sugar was rapidly dropping, but I didn’t have any life savers or other forms of sugar with me!

As I climbed the hill toward home my low became very frightening. I used Reiki on my liver to coax it to deliver glucose into my system and I stopped several times to rest and deeply breathe. During my last stop, I had severe tunnel vision as the landscape appeared to be drifting away from me. That unnerving symptom triggered me to suspend my pump. At this point I swallowed my pride and gave up my goal of completing the 4 miles. I stood along the side of the road and flagged down a pickup truck headed toward my home. He knew in an instant that I was in trouble and I told him I wasn’t drunk even though I’m sure I looked like I was.

Rich Herrington drove me to my door and I wobbled my way into the house where I loaded up on carbs. Although my BG was only 59, this was one of the most severe lows I’ve ever had. My full consciousness came back in about 30 minutes and I next lay down for a recovery nap.

I have previously shared that it takes my body more than 24 hours to recover from a severe low and this episode was no exception. At more than 27 hours since the low, I’m now feeling pretty good. I am grateful that I’ve never gone unconscious in my 31-year diabetes journey, but this is the closest I’ve ever come.

I delivered a presentation to the Diabetes Educators of Eastern Massachusetts (DEEM) on June 16, 2010 and was delighted to receive the following feedback from the Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) responsible for program management at monthly meetings.  DEEM is a chapter of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE).

”Your exceptional public speaking skills, personal experience with diabetes and most importantly your radiating attitude made your presentation a pleasure to attend! Having worked in the diabetes field for three-years I have been faced with countless individuals whose attitude towards diabetes is their biggest enemy. Sharing your energy, attitude and insights is truly a gift.”

As I sit at my desk experiencing almost no back pain, I’m wondering what took me so long to re-read Dr. Sarno’s book, Healing Back Pain. If you’ve read my earlier posts on this topic, you know that I’ve been incapacitated by severe back pain.

About 10 years ago, I had serious back pain and read Dr. Sarno’s book that enabled me to understand the cause of my pain and to heal it. This time, after seeing 3-4 medical people (actupuncture, physical therapy, Osteopath) my wife helped me remember to check out the “back book” again. I had loaned my original copy to a friend and can’t remember who has it. Susanna purchased the book for me last week. I’ve now read it again and as if by miracle, the pain is nearly gone.

Here’s the theory:

·       When we have intense emotions like anger or fear that we want to push down, the brain obliges our wanting by decreasing the amount of oxygen going to our back muscles.

·       Once deprived of oxygen, back muscles generate immense pain that cannot be ignored.

·       The victim of this pain now focuses on the pain and not on the blocked emotions.

·       Once we understand what’s going on and start processing the emotions, the pain goes away since it has failed in its effort to block the emotions.

So, if you’re experiencing back pain and there’s no known injury or congenital problem with your back, try reading Dr. Sarno’s book. It’s now worked for me…twice!

I’ve been in severe back pain for the past 6 weeks and have thus been much less active online. Using the keyboard and mouse have been painful.

Due to this back condition, I’ve also not been exercising and my concern was that I’d add weight to my body. I’m happy to report that my weight has remained largely unchanged and I credit Extend Bars with helping me control my intake of carbs. I knew that I would have to reduce the amount of food I consumed while I was unable to walk and my routine has been to have at least one meal per day of an Extend Bar.

Extend Bars contain 21 grams of carbohydrates and do very little to raise my BG. I love the taste and enjoy the benefits of a full feeling for many hours plus helping to control my BG. Now I’m happy that regular use of the Bars has enabled me to keep my weight in check.

Please note the link in the side bar on the left. Clicking on this link will enable you to take advantage of a special offer from this company. You can try the bars by ordering a 15-Serving Sampler Pack for $15.99 and the shipping is free. You can mix your order to include different flavors of Bars plus a selection of Crisps (wonderful, low carb snacks) or Shakes that I’ve found are superb for breakfast.

Do yourself a favor by trying these products. I’m confident you’ll appreciate them as much as I do.

Did you know that only about half of the 24 million diabetics in the US have had any diabetes education? Let’s understand:

·       Most of us will have diabetes for the remainder of our lives.

·       Managing diabetes is complicated with a large number of variables.

·       We’re the only ones who live with diabetes 24 by 7 and thus the only ones who can effectively manage this baffling and cunning disease.

·       Untreated diabetes is ugly.

·       Education and commitment are critical for success.

I believe to my core that we can close the educated/non-educated gap by helping each other. I’m proposing the following:

·       Organizing and running Diabetes Jamboree events around the country.

·       Developing Peer Diabetes Educators.

·       Using Peer Educators to multiply the impact of our Certified Diabetes Educators (CDE).

·       Forming peer-run support groups.

I plan to start this plan next Wednesday, June 16 when I present to members of the Diabetes Educators of Eastern Massachusetts, a chapter of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE). My purpose in this speech is to get agreement on the scope of the crisis and to encourage their support of this plan.

Next, I’ll schedule a Jamboree for the fall in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. I will also be presenting to the annual convention of AADE on August 6 in San Antonio, TX. I am one of the few non-medical members of this organization.

If we don’t take action, the number of new cases will be even more overwhelming for our CDEs. Please know that the number of new cases is growing MUCH faster than the number of new CDEs. The plan I’ve articulated above is the only idea I’ve come up with over the past year and I encourage those reading this post to comment. Please share any thoughts and ideas you’ve got. We’ve got to take action to help each other.

Many thanks.