Save A Life

APerfectLie · #1 11-02-2010, 11:27 PM

So as you may or may not know, I am a type 1 diabetic and November is World Diabetes Month. Roche Diabetes Care has decided that for every view this video gets, they will give a child a week's worth of life saving insulin! It is less than two minutes, so watch it and share it!

BTW, any other diabetics here???

daniellaaarisen · #2 11-02-2010, 11:28 PM

My good friend is a type 1 diabetic so I forwarded this to him and he posted it on his wall. Love it!

Nikolaj · #3 11-02-2010, 11:55 PM

APERFECTLIE!
My Mom has been diabetic for about 36 years. She takes Novaflex Insulin 3 times a day before meals, then after a bedtime snack, she takes a second Insulin, called Lantis. She really dislikes the testing before the meals, and her numbers run high which her doctor prefers to her having horrible lows. Twice this year she was admitted to the hospital due to diabetic lows, the first time her blood sugar was 27, which she could have died from. She only had to stay overnight though. I was still living an hour away then, and the second hospitalization happened within a few days, but she got to come home after a few hours. In past months, her doc has changed her 'sliding scale' as he wants to avoid lows at all costs. When she tests, she usually is around 300 (which of course is high) and takes 6 units of the Novaflex, which looks like a big blue pen. Now, I live 2 doors away, and I really feel for people who have to do this for many years. My Dad is still better at operating the tester for her than I am, though I'm pretty good at it now.
I'M SORRY you're diabetic, being so young. Are you able to take a pill for it, or are you Insulin dependent? If you're on insulin, mind telling me what kind? If you 'test' before meals, is there a 'tester' you recommend? I think she hates the testing more than taking the shot.
Thanks! I gotta look up your name, I wanna say 'AStolenLife' but I know that is wrong, it's actually the title of an old Bette Davis and Glenn Ford movie, many years, decades, before I was born!
I remember you well, though! Ever hear from --ummmm .... Sara Rue??? Take Care! (I did my edit at the top, APerfectLie! Sorry! Memory and all....)

APerfectLie · #4 11-03-2010, 01:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

APERFECTLIE!
My Mom has been diabetic for about 36 years. She takes Novaflex Insulin 3 times a day before meals, then after a bedtime snack, she takes a second Insulin, called Lantis. She really dislikes the testing before the meals, and her numbers run high which her doctor prefers to her having horrible lows. Twice this year she was admitted to the hospital due to diabetic lows, the first time her blood sugar was 27, which she could have died from. She only had to stay overnight though. I was still living an hour away then, and the second hospitalization happened within a few days, but she got to come home after a few hours. In past months, her doc has changed her 'sliding scale' as he wants to avoid lows at all costs. When she tests, she usually is around 300 (which of course is high) and takes 6 units of the Novaflex, which looks like a big blue pen. Now, I live 2 doors away, and I really feel for people who have to do this for many years. My Dad is still better at operating the tester for her than I am, though I'm pretty good at it now.
I'M SORRY you're diabetic, being so young. Are you able to take a pill for it, or are you Insulin dependent? If you're on insulin, mind telling me what kind? If you 'test' before meals, is there a 'tester' you recommend? I think she hates the testing more than taking the shot.
Thanks! I gotta look up your name, I wanna say 'AStolenLife' but I know that is wrong, it's actually the title of an old Bette Davis and Glenn Ford movie, many years, decades, before I was born!
I remember you well, though! Ever hear from --ummmm .... Sara Rue??? Take Care! (I did my edit at the top, APerfectLie! Sorry! Memory and all....)

Ah, sorry to hear about your mom! But hopefully I can maybe help out some? I am a type one, so I am insulin dependent. I was diagnosed when I was 14, seven years ago. Right after diagnosis, I was taking shots. I took two different kinds of insulin, Humalog and NPH. I had a wide range of highs and lows on shots, but nothing too life threatening. However, in 2006 I went on an insulin pump. Now I only wear the insulin pump and I only use Humalog insulin. The pump has made my life so much easier. Instead of shots, you just inject a small tube in you once every three days. It constantly gives me insulin, so I no longer have to take slow acting insulin, and it also gives me the freedom to eat whenever and whatever I want. It really reduced my highs AND lows, but low blood sugar does still remain a threat. In May 2009, my blood sugar dropped so low I had a grand mal seizure which lead to nausea and dehydration which caused me to have acute kidney failure. A week in the hospital and a month of recovery and I was back to normal, but it was a very scary experience. However, because of that severe low, my insurance company approved me for "continuous glucose monitoring". Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) is a feature on my insulin pump where you inject a sensor into your abdomen and it monitors your blood sugar all the time. You can look at your insulin pump at any time and see what your blood sugar is! It will also warn you if your blood sugar is going high or low! The only problem is you have to inject a new sensor every three days, and they cost $10 a piece, so it is costly. That is why I never used that feature on my pump until my insurance company approved me for it! Now that they cover it, it is much less expensive. Since your mom is insulin dependent, she should be able to get approved for an insulin pump and since she has had such severe lows, she should be able to get approved for the CGM. I do have a question tho. What kind of doctor does your mom go to? Does she go to an internist or a family doctor or an endocrinologist? If possible, she should go to an endocrinologist who specializes in diabetes. With my experience with doctors, most general practitioners are simply not that well versed in insulin dependent diabetes. As far as blood sugar meters, or "testers", I prefer the OneTouch Ultra products. There are several different ones, UltraSmart, Ultra2, UltraMini, UltraLink, and they all have different features. The UltraSmart has a lot of amazing features but it isn't worth the money if she isn't going to use all the features. The Utlra2 or Mini should be sufficient just for checking her blood sugar. However, the reason I recommend these is because you don't need a whole lot of blood, it takes five seconds for results, and you can prick your arms and palms instead of fingers. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!
And I never did hear from Sara Rue. :[

Nikolaj · #5 11-03-2010, 12:32 PM

Wow, thank you so much, APerfectLie. I am going to have to print out all the vast information you provided me with, most of which I had no idea about! She has so many doctors, but her general MD controls her insulin, and I think you're right- she needs one of the specialists you mentioned- I think you listed three. Like I said, I need to print the info out and blow the doctor's mind, who already is amazed by what I 'know'- which isn't that much, really, but I'm invested in helping my mom. so I learn fast. The 'pump' and built-in monitor (forgive my inaccuracies, I'll get it right after I read it a few times and print it out) you mentioned sound perfect for her.
I'm excited. To think that after all these years, there is a less invasive way for her to get the insulin she needs, it could help make all the difference in adding years to her life. I think shooting herself up for more than 35 years has made her feel like she has this albatross she can't get rid of, and now an incredibly informed 21 year old tells me of something I should have known about and I'm ashamed that I didn't. There's so freakin' much to learn!
I really thank you.

APerfectLie · #6 11-03-2010, 01:19 PM

No problem! Here are some websites with info about the insulin pumps.

I use the Revel by Medtronic Minimed

http://www.minimed.com/products/insulinpumps/

However, these two are also highly used and recommended.

I highly recommend watching the videos on this insulin pump site.http://www.animas.com/about-insulin-...uch-ping-video That pump does offer continuous glucose monitoring thru this company http://www.dexcom.com/

http://www.myomnipod.com/about-omnipod/system-overview/

jaycee · #7 11-05-2010, 08:14 PM

Bump......

APerfectLie · #8 11-12-2010, 02:02 PM

Bump... Only two days left!