The Vanity Issue

OK, I'll admit it, one of the main reservations I had about transitioning to an insulin pump was vanity.  Pure, simple VANITY.  There, I've said it.  My name is Naz, and I'm slightly vain about random lumps and bumps underneath my clothes.  Or at least the ones that shouldn't be there! 

That was the main reason I did not want a conventional, tubed pump ever. I mean, first, I'd have random bits of tubing snaking through my body, and then I'd have this pump that would have to be attached to me at all times.  I wear dresses in the summer that don't have pockets or belts, so where would I put the pump?  In my bra?!  Well, I suppose I could have, and if anyone asks, its a tracking device!  Plus, let's face it, having to disconnect from the pump at certain, um, moments would really kill the mood! ;)  Not to mention that sleeping would mean I'd get tangled in tubing and things like that.  So, I ended up going for the OmniPod.

But guess what?  I'm still vain!  And whilst the OmniPod's not big (its an inch wide, two inches long and about half an inch thick.  Ruh-row, thought I!  Its still going to be visible.  People are going to see this lump under my clothes and stare.  I figured I'd use every trick in the book, patterned fabrics, baggy pants, flared skirts/dresses, the works.  But you know what?  It doesn't matter.  I've had this pod on my thigh now since Tuesday.  I've worn it with dresses, some of which have been rather fitted, I've worn it with gym shorts, I've worn it with cargo pants, I've worn it with a swimsuit.  And the only time it was ever noticed?  In the swimsuit, as you might expect.  I've noticed it under my clothes, with the tell-tale lump, but nobody else has.  Not even people I'd have expected to have noticed it.  My vanity is being pampered, I think.  Of course the best thing will be when I start the insulin for real with it, and I won't have to drag out the insulin pens and needles before I eat, merely press some buttons and listen for the reassuring clicking of the Pod doing its thing.  Just a few more days for that!! :)

And so the cyborg-ification process begins...

Or, how I'm now semi-hooked up to electronic devices to control vital insulin delivery!  There's only saline in the OmniPod on my thigh right now, in order for me to learn properly how to control it, and live with it without knocking it off, and figure out where it poses a problem, etc etc.

I had my first training session on the OmniPod yesterday.  Basically, its a tubeless insulin pump.  One bit, the "Pod" attaches to my body, has a reservoir of insulin, and inserts a cannula into my body.  Every three minutes, it gives me a tiny "hit" of insulin, just like a working pancreas would.  If I'm exercising or doing something strenuous, I tell it, and it reduces the amount of insulin I get per hour.  If its time to eat, I tell it my blood sugar, what I'm eating, and it gives me the required insulin.  Its waterproof, and so far after a day of work, turbokick, salsa and floating around a swimming pool, I haven't managed to dislodge it!

It also beeps at me.  Do you know how disconcerting it is to have your thigh beeping at you??  If I alter insulin delivery, I beep every half hour.  Once I finish bolusing insulin for food, I beep.  If something's wrong, you guessed it, I beep.  If the Pod's about to expire, it whines.

Fortunately, that's where the remote control comes in useful.  There's no buttons on the pod, its all controlled by a small device about the size of a Blackberry which tells it what to do, and tells me what's wrong with the Pod.  Am only pumping saline solution so far, and will be untill this time next Wednesday, at which point I'll start the insulin, and things will get fun.  For starters, no more shots!! \o/

OK so this OmniPod thing is going to take some planning

So, one of the things I do to unwind is to dance.  Mainly salsa, and a variant called rueda de casino.  Anyway, one of the moves we do, although not in that video involves the guy grabbing the woman's hip/lower back to stop her after 3/4 of the turn in a coca-cola, passing her behind his back as if he's doing a basketball behind the back dribble, and then spinning her out back into the basic dance move (guapea) by applying a torque to her hip to give her the momentum and direction to spin out.   You can imagine what's going to happen if a guy grabs my hip with a Pod attached there.  Yeah, that baby's gonna get ripped right out.  And OUCH!  So, its going to be planning time.  No Pods on the hips when dancing!

Oh, and if you're interested, this is what we look like when dancing rueda de casino. Yes, its a bit dark, but its fun. ;)

There is a lack of sushi in my life...

An abject lack of sushi.  And not because of a lack of availibility.  Alas, whilst there is pretty good sushi to be found in Huntsville, its a simple consequence of the fact that I'm a diabetic that I can't eat sushi rice.  It spikes my blood sugars like something crazy, presumably because the carbohydrate absorption rate is funky and the rise and fall of my usual rapid acting insulin doesn't match the carbohydrate absorption rate of the rice.  :(

So, I came up with a plan.  As I'm soon going to have an OmniPod, with the ability to more or less mimic the insulin output of the pancreas, all I need to do is find published carbohydrate absorption rate curves for sushi rice.  I mean, they should exist because sushi rice has a published glycemic index value (GI) and the GI value is essentially the area under the carbohydrate absorption rate curve.

But can I find them?  Can I heck!  I've looked everywhere, and no such luck, even Google is not my friend on this one.  I figure, OK, I'm a scientist,  so stand back, I'm going to try science!  I can make my own (crude) carbohydrate absorption rate curves.  All I need are 10-20 volunteers who are willing to eat a meal of sushi and then allow me to attack them with a blood glucose meter every half hour, for the next 3 or so hours.  Who's in?!

Bad Science! Or people just don't understand the nature of errors.

So yesterday, I bought a bottle of "Essentia" water that apparently is infused with electrolytes -- so basically Gatorade without the sugar.  I figure it might be helpful, given how much I end up sweating at the gym and when out dancing. I haven't tried it yet, saving it for tonight, but as I saw the label this morning, I feel compelled to post this picture:

WTF??!  I'm sure that purified waters do require a calibrated pH meter for testing, but there's still going to be an error, even if its "just" a random measurement error.  Its a measurement.  Of course there's an error associated with it!  Really, if you're going to try the science, you should do it properly!

The OmniPod

OK, so in my previous post, I talked very briefly about the new(ish) insulin pumping technology that I'm getting my grubby little mitts on this week called the OmniPod.  This is a fantastic pice of kit, IMO.  It comes in two parts -- a pod of insulin that you fill up with the rapid acting insulin of your choice, and what's known as a "personal diabetes manager" or "PDM" that sends commands to the pod.  The pod of insulin is basically taped onto your body, and when "primed" and activated, inserts a cannula under the skin, and stays there for three days.  Over that three days it delivers a continuous low-level stream of insulin to your body, rather like your own pancreas would.  When you eat, you tell the PDM you're going to eat, and it delivers the insulin you need for your food.  If your blood sugars go too high, you input your blood sugar and it calculates and gives you how much insulin you need to get your sugars down to normal.  Its essentially a semi-bionic pancreas, and because it attaches directly to your body, there's no need for tubing or anything like that.  My omnipod's supposed to arrive on Wednesday and really, I can't wait!  I'll be keeping you all updated. :)

A restart!

Yes, I'm restarting this blog... And a promise to actually spend more time updating it too!

So what's going on?  Well, there's a new location, where I've been for a year or so now (most of you know this though), and a bunch of stuff going on thanks to the diabetes.  An official type 1.5 diagnosis, together with confirmation that the three remaining beta cells in my pancreas have more or less quit working.  Apart from those times when Larry, Curly and Mo wake up from their strike and decide to help out!  And of course, this has meant insulin.  This is now my favorite molecule!

So, insulin huh?  Yep, injected, subcutaneously, 4-5 times a day.  Woo.  Not.  I have bruises from my midsection to my midthigh.  My bruises have bruises.  It is so not a good look!  So, I started looking into alternatives, and that's what the next post is going to be about... My transition from multiple daily injections to a tubeless insulin pump known as the OmniPod. :)