48 Questions of Use(less) Info About Moi

 So apparently EVERYONE is doing this on their blog, and I am not usually a bandwagon jumper, usually I have a toe on the general bandwagon and most of my body on a completely different wagon than everyone else.

Hopefully this explains a bit or a lot about me, you choose ;o)

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
i was supposed to be named Holly but when I finally made my appearance into this world, I was a Kelly.  Still unclear as to how one goes from a Holly to looking like a Kelly...weird.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Yesterday.  I woke up from a nap with my wee little one and my shoulders were literally "stuck" and it hurt so intensely to move them, or try to, in order to get out of bed.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yes I do!  I am a south paw and typically we have messy handwriting but mine is quite neat and fun, I like it.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT?
Hmm, prolly Dijon Turkey Breast.  I used to be a huge lover of the big 'ol Deli Sandwiches (the New York kind with pickles and cheese and yummy condiments) but since my GI diagnosis...lunch meat just isn't the same on a rice cracker.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Yes, I do.  Three lovely little boys.  My first born, Caleb would be 9 years old but sadly passed away when he was just under a month old. My heart aches for him everyday, I miss him with each breath I take.  My second born, Tayten (means beautiful happiness) is 8 years old and is my T1D son. He is an avid hockey and lacrosse player with a gorgeous smile and kind heart. My wee little one, Callum is 3 years old and a little minime. Small and fast. he'll be the ultra runner for sure!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON< WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I think yes!  I am a very loyal friend who is always there, for an ear, for a hug, to be honest to you, to pick your kids up because you're stuck in traffic but I am also good for a few good laughs with my sarcastic/smartta** humour and I am very "glass half full"- meaning I can always see the lining to the dark cloud and help you see it too.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
WHO me?  Nah...not at all... <insert> sarcastic smile.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Sure do!

9.WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Aahh, nope.  Not a chance.  Fact you should know, I have an intense fear of heights and only get on planes telling myself that we aren't on a plane and close my eyes for take off and landing.  Bungee jumping would not happen, I wouldn't even want to go there mentally as my stomach would come up through my throat and be standing on the ground with arms crossed waiting for me.

10. DO YOUR SHOES UNITE WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Yes, I like to have them together.  I am very linear when it comes to things like this.

11. FAVOURITE CEREAL?
well since the GI business about 2 years ago I don't eat cereal at all.  What I do eat and count as cereal is Steel Cut Oats and that would be everyday for breakfast.  I make a huge pot of them on Sundays and then I have breakie all week!  Throw on some berries and banana's and there you have it!  Before I had to cut G foods out, I was a good 'ol Cheerios girl.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Physically, yes...I could kick some butt if needed and I have endurance so I think that makes me strong.  Emotionally, some may say yes, because I've survived a fair amount in my life so far and I have come out pretty good.  But I do cry when things get too much and I have a soft spot for my boys, they melt my heart, I can't help it.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM?
I have 2, \Baskin Robbins PB and Chocolate and Coconut flavoured from Edaleen's Dairy in Lynden, WA.  Hands down. 

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their eyes and whether or not they make eye contact.  I don't trust people who cannot make ye contact and your eyes always hold so much more behind them.

15. RED OR PINK
Depends what you are referring to.  But mostly I would favour pink, only classy shades of it though and small snippets of it too.  I always have something small on that is Pink, it's my estrogen reminder in a house full of boys.

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
Hmmm, I am always too hard on myself.  I need to ease up on my self expectations. Oh and I have a phobia of spiders, like an insane phobia- thank gosh they don't fly!

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My son, Caleb.  I wish he was here to be in the mix with my other 2 boys.  I frequently stand back and watch them playing and wonder what he'd be saying or doing right then.  I wonder how he'd look as he would have grown, more like Tayte or Callum or a good mix of both? <insert> Tears....

18. WHAT TECHNIQUE DO YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST?
Knowing when to bite my tongue. I have a lot of holes in it already but i sometimes just say what's going on in my head and that can be disastrous.

19. WHAT COLOUR OF SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Umm, none, barefeets! I hate shoes, and would rather be in barefeet or some Sanuk's in the winter and flip flops the rest of the year when footwear is essential.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Seeing as I haven't had breakie yet, it would be last night and I had Popcorn with the kidlets.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
My oldest son singing Will.Iam Scream and Shout, and my wee one shakin' his butt!

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE?
I think I'd be yellow...a little bit of sunshine all the time.

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS?
My boys when they are fresh outta the tub, coffee- YES COFFEE, and that random guy at the grocery store a few weeks ago-not sure on the cologne but darn it smelled good!

24. HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS TO YOU?
I am passionate about my views but don't push them on anyone.  We can all have different views but ultimately we're on the same ship with the same captain.

25.MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY OR BEACH HOUSE?
Beach House. Hands down.  It encourages my barefootness!

26. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
I grew up watching hockey with my Dad so I do enjoy hockey.  Since entering the world of cycling a few years ago I absolutely love watching cycling...

27. HAIR COLOUR?
Brown with golden/reddish lites.

28. EYE COLOUR?
Green, very green/blue some days and very green brown when I'm sad.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
I used to but my allergies are a 365 feat that I don't seem to win at so I wear glasses most of the time.

30. FAVOURITE FOOD?
For all who know me...Peanut Butter all the way.  Spoon in jar.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Umm neither.  Scary movies just feed your subconscious with fear and happy endings are unrealistic.  Keep i t real and give me a REAL ending with some scary sh*t in there too.

32. LAST MOVIE WATCHED?
Well it was movie night with the boys last night so sadly I need to put Rio as my last movie watched, for the 80th time.

33. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue, like a purple blue.  It's my pj tank top.

34.  SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer for sure...sun, great running and cycling weather, picnics with the kids, playing at the park, just generally being able to be outside at any given time. 

35.  FAVOURITE DESSERT?
I don't really like sweets, being D and all...but if I was held down and had to eat something for dessert...prolly a red velvet woopie pie.

36. STRENGTH TRAINING OR CARDIO?
This is a question that I feel very strongly about.  You need both ladies!! I have done strength training since my early 20's and it's why I am strong today.  Cardio helps your cardiovscualr system but you might want to have some strength to your body while you're at it!

37. COMPUTER OR TELEVISION?
I am not really a TV watcher.  I will watch it the odd time, but really it's not oftern.  I'd have to favour the computer...there is so much at your fingertips!! How can one resist?

38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW?
http://www.roomthebook.com/inside/ This one...it's weird but intriging, perplexing and leaves you wanting to turn the page for more.

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSEPAD?
What?  Does anyone use those anymore?

40. FAVOURITE SOUND?
The boys saying "Momma" or "Mommy"...sweetest sound of all....

41. FAVOURITE GENRE OF MUSIC?
Toughie...I like all sorts of music and it depends what I am doing when listening to it.  Running- I need a good beat to keep the tempo and pace, cycling- I like the same as running with a few slower tunes in there, and for driving or all other times- mainly alternative, indie, some 'ol skool Run DMC, Led Zeppelin. If you looked at my ipod I have a good mix of tunes on there...something for everyone, just no country-notta, never happening.

42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Depends what my landmark of home is.  I grew up just outside of Toronto, ON so going from that landmark-San Diego would be the farthest.  Living the last 16 years in the West Coast in the 'burbs of Vancouver, farthest from home would be Montreal.

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I am good with numbers...like a human computer.  I think that developed from carb counting for so many years.  I can also draw...and quick sketches.  Like little characters with funny eyes and weird pants. 

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Peterborough, ON, Canada. Otherwise known as P-DOT. Beautiful little city with a highly active community and healthy lifestyle. Hmm, why did I leave at the ripe age of 18 again?

45. WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW?
Pitt Meadows.  Suburbs of Vancouver.

46. WHAT COLOUR IS YOUR HOUSE?
It's the burbs, of course it's beige!  Just like every other house in the burbs!

47.  WHAT COLOUR IS YOUR CAR?
Navy Blue VW Golf Sportsline.

48. DO YOU LIKE ANSWERING $* QUESTIONS?
It wasn't painful.  It was actually kind of fun.  Poked at a part of my brain that had been sleeping.

So there you have it!  Me, from 48 views. 

Cheers
K







 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running From Typical

This is a very delayed post...only because I have been exceptionally busy the last few days and have not had time to sit down, without falling asleep, and writing.  So my apologies :)

As I watched the Golden Globes on Sunday night I was taken back by a quote from the phenomenal actress, Jodie Foster.

   "Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from" - Jodie Foster

This resonated in my mind after the showed continued on and I couldn't help but parallel that into my own life, as a woman, as Mom and as a Diabetic.

I have spent my entire life trying to be anything but normal.  I didn't have pink or green hair, wear clothes that were from another planet or even partake in unusual activities.  I don't let my children stay up to  ungodly hours and I certainly don't let this D thing get to me and give up.  My definition of being atypical or abnormal is different.

Being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 4 and in an era were glucose testing was not yet, I was atypical to begin with.  The only child in my city for a number years, living with T1D. A few children in my city were later diagnosed but I believe I was one of the first in my community, and youngest. Since the dawn of my diagnosis it went like this: You have Diabetes now get on with it. My family adapted very quickly with the routines, both time and nutritional, needed to manage Diabetes when so much knowledge had yet to be discovered.  There was no carb counting or even food values.  There wasn't even blood testing for that matter!  I tested urine.  Yep, that's right, urine.  Peed in a glass, dropped a funky looking tablet in that changed the contents a "colour", one of 4 shades to determine where your glucose levels were at.  Sounds great, doesn't it?  Can you imagine how delayed these values were?  It's like "thanks for telling me I am yellow (low) but I already knew because I'm shaking and sweating."

At 5 years of age, a year after I was diagnosed, I was awarded the Participaction award.  I was crowned the healthiest, fittest 5 year old and I was also living with T1D. A lot of children living with Diabetes were not encouraged to exercise as it changed your glucose levels so randomly and seeing as urine was how we were measuring our glucose...it seemed sensible.  But not in my life.  I was playing soccer, competing in gymnastics and running...of course I was running! Anything but a typical Diabetic, was I. 

Through my adolescent and teen years I furthered in my athletics and ran cross country, track, played soccer at provincial level and also played volleyball, lacrosse and field hockey. I continued to challenge the D and was able to manage well as a young woman, being very active, more than the normal female my age, with or without T1D.  Countless health professionals would  be baffled at how I seemed to be doing so well....this irked me.  How was I doing so well?  Was I not to be doing well?  Just because I was living with the D?  I always responded with the same.."I just am who I am and do as I do, but I also have Diabetes." It stirred determination inside of me, in a good way,  every time I had stellar a1c's and was living so well.  I knew I was anything but typical, I was atypical and happy to be!

When I got married and decided to have children I went and consulted with the top Endocrinologist in our area and gathered a team together of Doctor's that were going to help me do this.  Again, it was normal to be Diabetic and not have children, because of the risks.  But I was not willing to accept that.  I had been anything but normal thus far in life and I wanted to have children. Long and short of child bearing was that I had 3 beautiful little boys, all perfectly small (between 5pounds 1 oz and 6lbs) with no Diabetes related complications and I was a model diabetic to other expecting Mom's living with T1D or gestational. |Yes, thank you...I"ll kept on running from normal.

After having all of my boys I gave myself a year of being full blown Mommy before I decided it was time to get back into it.  I began training for my first Triathlon.  Forget small ventures, maybe a 10k or a half marathon..done before but not since rearing children, I'll go big or go home! I found a great balance between a strict training schedule and Mommy hood/domesticity. Sure, my floors had a few more dust bunnies on them, my kids saw clothes from their closets in stead of off the freshly washed laundry pile. But ultimately, I was training and caring for my family, balanced.  Oh and might I add...this was the start of effortless, phenomenal blood sugars.  Anything but typical.

I remember race day like it was yesterday.  I was anxious and more because the start times were staggered which meant I didn't EXACTLY know when I would be starting the swim.  After chasing down many race volunteers and getting nowhere, I finally explained that I needed to know not because I was like every other triathlete anxious, but rather I was a Diabetic and I needed to know for fuelling/blood glucose level reasons.  At each transition point my sugars were bang on...exactly where I wanted to be. I cleared the finish placing 3rd in the women's division and 4th overall.  The Paramedics were all astounded that me, a T1D could race and place as I did...with no hypo/hyperglycemic episodes.  It was like they had just witnessed gold in water.

Since then I decided that I am embracing my atypicalness or my abnormalness. I don't even think those are proper words, but they describe me perfectly.  I like managing my Diabetes through intense exercise, eating very healthy (of course I indulge in some chocolate, cheese and wine when needed!) and testing a crazy amount of times per day.  Not the usual 4x a day that is recommended.

I found a group of individuals through an organization called Insulin Dependence, who all share the same philosophy as me.  Be different, challenge yourself beyond what you know and run from the typical ideals of how to manage T1D.  Instead, we run marathons, half marathons, 200 mile marathons or compete in tri's as a Diabetic team.  Setting the example for many people living with Diabetes to be abnormal and non textbook...beat the odds and challenge it!

I have said this in a previous post but I will say it again, I am proud to be a Mom raising a child living with T1D because I get to show him how to run from typical.  I am confident when I send his uber healthy lunches that he requests each day full of quinoa, kale and no junk at all!  He has been given the message that Diabetes is good, and yes you are atypical but not because you have the D but because you are living healthy and challenging it everyday.  Treats are appreciated but not sought after.  He would rather hop on his bike and ride beside me as I run, and that makes me happier than handing my child a brownie and bolusing him for it.

So there you have...I am a runner..in many forms..but mostly..I am running from being typical.  I win that race everyday!

Cheers
K

Luck Be a Diabetes

Some may wonder how I find luck in having Diabetes, but I do.  And there are many reasons that I see and experience everyday that affirm my views of being lucky to have the D.

As a Mom, we have a closeness with our children and a bond that is indescribable until you become one.  You develop a gut instinct for how your child is feeling and when to listen to it.  As a Diabetic Mom to a Diabetic child, I have always felt a small sense of guilt that it came from me, and my coin pocket in the gene's.  I am lucky to have that insight into how he feels and being able to talk him through the feelings of a hypo, instead of feeling alone as your blood sugar is dropping and everything seems confusing enough as it is. But more importantly, I feel lucky that he is my son and that I get to raise him with Diabetes and educate him about our condition. We are never given more than we can handle. That's why again, I say I am lucky that he and I were diagnosed with the D as it is the only condition that is 100% in your control.  He and I decide how long we live and how healthy we will be.  Every other condition, in my opiniion, your fate is decided for you. 

Today was a site change day and it was time to move it to T's stomach.  For any of you reading this that do not know what I am talking about...here is a picture of what a "site" is in regards to being on insulin pump therapy:

http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/pumps/sets-inset.htm

Sites are changed approximately every 3 days or sooner if site is not infusing insulin properly.  The toosh is the preferred spot for both T and I as we have been blessed with a solid booty.  The stomach however, is not.  With both of us being lean in this area, it presents challenges with insertion and also discomfort due to lack of fat or cushion for the insertion needle/cannula to be introduced into.

When T knows it's a stomach site change, the anxiety starts to build quickly.  We have a routine, all in his control, that has to be followed in order for him to feel "calm" and ultimately just in control.  Today was no different, pillows stacked behind him as he sat upright on the sofa in the playroom.  Me, kneeling in front of him and trying to pinch any skin that I can in order to insert the site.  We count down...3..2..1 and then he exhales a hard breath as I release the trigger on the inserter.  Usually there is a wince from him, and it pains my heart every time I hear that from him, as I know that feeling, truly, I do. As he looked up at me, with his big beautiful brown eyes,  he smiled and said "wow, that didn't hurt at all!  I feel so lucky to have you Mom, you just get this Diabetes thing".  I smiled back as I fought off the tears and replied "yes, I suppose I do get this Diabetes thing pretty well, don't I".

So who is the lucky one?  Both of us.  We have each other to lean on and travel the road of D with.  A road trip is always better when you've got someone with you! Even if they are still in a booster in the backseat of the car. 

K 

All Things D

I am a newbie at this so I send my apologies now for any mishaps (I am well known for these) or errors (I am guilty of these on occasion too).

Let me start off by saying Hello!  and Welcome!  I decided to do a blog because I constantly have people, friends, family and acquaintances,telling me that I should blog about my interests.  So apparently I am interesting...  I will share what is happening in my life and hope that you can grasp something from it too...or maybe I 'll learn from you!

My life revolves around D - Diabetes and D - Domesticity.  Diabetes because I am a Type 1 Diabetic and my 8 year old son, we'll call him T, is too.  Diabetes never stops, not even when you are sleeping because having a child with D means you are always in a light sleep waiting for their voice in the night, asking for help, or it's time to get up and test.  As for Domesticity, I never escape this because living in a house with all boys means I am always on duty.  My escape is training...and that is running, cycling or swimming.  Running and swimming are taking a back seat and so is training due to a car acident 6 months ago that left me with 2 injured shoulders and crazy rehab.  So for now, I sit, and I cycle whether it be on a stationary at the gym or in my garage on a trainer on my own bike. 

Some may ask, why still cycle?  Well....because I love it and also because when you have an injured area on your body it is deprived or lacking oxygen.  When you have an aerobic component to your day you increase your circulation and therefore force any oxygen to the injured area through the capillaries.  You basically are giving the area the most there is potential for.  It's hard most days to get on the bike but I feel so much better after.  Don't get me wrong, it doesn't improve my range of motion or make me "better" persay, but mentally and physically I feel relaxed.

As for the D today...not much domestic happened...lunches were made and kids were happy with the surprises I snuck into their lunches.  Notes from me telling them how I will miss each of them while they are at school and how I enjoyed having the last 2 weeks at home with them.  Gosh I love those boys!
In the other D corner, Diabetes corner that is, Bg's were golden today!  Not a low or a high!  And as for the T the D...stable as can be at school today.  Somedays I feel like I've got this...well at least for now! 

I will post as often as I can and make you laugh as often as I can too!

Cheers for now!
K