Scott's Diabetes Blog

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Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in April of 1980. I recognize the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes. I hope to share my struggles, my successes, and everything in between.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Tag, Tag, Tag, Tag, and Tag

UPDATE: We have a winner! Heidi over at D-Log Cabin guessed my middle name! Drumroll please.... "Karl" is my middle name. Karl is my grandfather's first name, and so following the tradition that my dad started, my son's middle name is my dad's first name. Allison was the only other person in the OC that knew what it was.
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In doing my very best to keep up with my long distance brother G-Money, I'm FINALLY posting my tagged meme! Better late than never right?

I've been tagged (in order of appearance) by Gina at Diabetes Talk Fest, Cara at Every Day Every Hour Every Minute, Bernard at Bernard's Diabetes Blog, Heidi at Diabetic Dane, and Khurt at "honey sweet". Phew! Did I miss anyone? I'm sorry if I did.

I'm not sure how many times before I've done this "random facts" meme, but I am sure that I'm running out of interesting facts to share!

I am sure that you all know the rules by now, so I'll dive right into the facts! I promise you'll be asleep by the end... Speaking of sleeping, I'm a bit too lazy at present to go back and see what facts I've shared before, so I hope I don't repeat any of them.

1) (motivation for this one comes from Sarah) When I sleep on my side, I don't like my knees touching, so I sleep with a pillow between my legs. I must also have my blanky...

2) I love playing video games, but hate how I feel afterwards. I have a PSP (play station portable) so I can play the types of games that have questionable content for my little kiddos to see (Grand Theft Auto, Killzone Liberation, etc). I can waste away hours with these stupid games. But when I get done, and the day/night/weekend is gone, I think about all of the more productive stuff I should have been doing instead. It's a real love/hate relationship.

3) There is one single person in the Diabetes OC that knows what the "K" in "Scott K. Johnson" stands for. Any guesses on who that person might be?

4) I'm quite anti-social, and really dread going to social events. Until I get there, then I actually have a good time. Along those lines, I don't know my neighbors very well. When I get home from work, I just want to get home and decompress. I don't talk with them more than I have to, although I know that on three out of four sides they are actually quite nice and I would enjoy getting to know them more.

5) I like wearing new clothes, but hate shopping for them. I would rather spend a couple hundred dollars on some gadget I don't need than to buy a few items of clothing. I often wear my old clothes until they literally fall apart and I'm forced to buy something new. If you ask any of my co-workers, you'll find that I am routinely spotted in a shirt that has some sort of hole in it. And we're not talking for "casual Fridays" either... Combine that with my negative "fashion sense", and I'm a walking disaster.

6) I'm a huge boxing fan. My father-in-law and I will watch boxing on TV almost every Saturday night, and have even gone to a few live events around here. The last one we went to was at a nightclub. It was terrible. We paid $30 to get in, only to find that it was standing room only. We ended up finding a couch in the back and watching it on the television. What a rip!! After that we went back to his house and watched good boxing on cable for a few more hours.

7) I love it when my kids sleep with me. They are getting to the age where they don't like to cuddle much anymore, so I treasure any opportunity I get! As far as I'm concerned they can sleep with me until they don't want to anymore!

That's about all I've got this time around. If you have not been tagged yet, and would like to participate, consider this an official tag!

Thanks everyone!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Byetta and Type 1 Diabetes?

I'm just not sure what to think.

When that happens (being not sure what to think) I often turn to you (the blogosphere).

I had my quarterly endo appointment recently. After arriving ten minutes early, I got into the exam room quickly, had a nice twenty minute nap, then saw the doc for a little less than five minutes.

My A1C is exactly the same as last time, which I take as a good sign because I was expecting it to be higher than last time.

I expressed an interest in starting Symlin, which he pretty quickly dismissed. He said we can talk more about it next appointment (in three months). "What's wrong with this appointment?" I thought to myself...

I was taken back by his quick dismissal, and am not too sure what to think about it.

Since I am not interested in starting it until it is available in pen form, I didn't press this too much. I'll make another call and appointment (and co-pay) once the pen is launched.

He then started talking up Byetta. I thought Byetta was more commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, and was not used with type 1 diabetes.

Is that true?

Are there any of you out there that are type 1 and are using Byetta? What have your experiences been?

When I left the office I wondered if the Byetta rep is better looking than the Symlin rep. But then I realized that both drugs are from the same company and would then probably have the same sales rep. Where the heck are this doc's motivations coming from then?

Looking back on Amy Tenderich's post on Byetta back in June of 2006, two of the three actions caused appear to be pretty dang close to those of Amylin (slow gastric emptying and reducing appetite), and the third would not affect me (stimulating beta cells to make more insulin).

If that is the case, what's up with all of the stuff I see on the web about Byetta not being used for those using insulin? Is it dangerous to use with insulin? What's the difference between the two (Byetta and Symlin)? And why the heck does the doc feel so strongly about Byetta?

Color me confused. Again.

Friday, November 09, 2007

D-Blog Day!



I really can't express how much the OC has changed my life. You have all made a real difference for me in how I manage my diabetes and how I cope with the mental challenges that it presents. I consider you all as a very important resource for my well-being. Thank you!

A special "shout out" to Kathleen Weaver who was perhaps the first diabetes blogger. Kathleen - you opened up a whole world of good for us, and I am so glad that you did. Thank you!

Monday, November 05, 2007

Momentum

At times momentum is my greatest leverage against all that reaches to pull me down.

It can also be my worst enemy when partnered with out of control blood sugars and high carb eating rampages. It attacks my motivation to crawl out of the hole, and saps whatever energy I have. It makes me want to just sleep it all away.

There's a visual that I always see when I'm thinking about momentum. A giant snowball and a big hill.

The tip top of the hill is neutral ground. The big snowball of momentum is resting, perfectly balanced on the top. It's not moving down the negative side or down the positive side.


Now think about what happens if that snowball is given a chance to start rolling down the "BAD" side of the hill. It starts rolling faster and faster, getting bigger and harder to stop each second. Before too long - SPLAT!

I know you are picturing the same thing I am... Getting run over and swallowed into the snowball - just like Scoob & Shag in the cartoons.

The task of fighting out of the snowball, bringing the negative momentum to a stop, then pushing that gargantuan snowball back up the hill... seems downright impossible.

Good thing for us, that energy is just as powerful when you get that snowball moving down the positive side of the hill! It takes some real substantial work (conscious or not) to move that snowball back to the negative side.

But how the heck do I do it? Tell me HOW I can move the giant snowball.

Small steps Johnsonson, small steps. And lay off the cheesy tots...