Happiness!

Hey guys! As you know, I was a little worried about the new artificial pancreas stuff. Keyword: was. I don't really know what was going on, I must have just been feeling a bit weird that day. Because now, I'm just feeling excitement!!! I mean, a new pancreas?? Sweet! And not only am I just getting a normal pancreas replacement; mine glows! xD. I'm so HAPPY!!! It's like the closest thing to a cure us diabetics will get for a while, I'm guessing. And we won't even need to check our blood sugars so often! It's gonna be GREAT!!! Just wanna let you guys know that it doesn't bother me any more. After all, a disease isn't what should define me; my personality is what makes me who I am!

"Psssssssh!!!" (That Was the Sound of my Brain Exploding)

   (This will be worth your time, I promise.) Whoa! Okay first off, I want to let you all know that I'm very odd. I love standing out and being unique, especially with diabetes. I proudly announce that I have to prick my fingers with a needle eight times a day, that I must have multiple medical devices inserted with needles in my at all times, and that I've had to go through it for a good year and a half. It's like the quote that says, "Never be ashamed of a scar, it just means that you are stronger than whatever tried to hurt you." In this case, diabetes! So, I've always kind of wanted to keep pricking my fingers; it makes me who I am and shows that I am winning a battle against disease. Now, here's the brain explosion-worthy news that came out at 4:41 PM today!
   (Quoted from UPI Health News) "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first automated insulin delivery system -- a so-called "artificial pancreas" -- for people with type 1 diabetes"
   "Figuring out exactly how much insulin to give is no easy task. Both too much and too little insulin can have dangerous, even deadly consequences. And that's where this new technology will help. The device has a continuous glucose monitor that constantly measures blood sugar levels. A sophisticated computer algorithm then figures out if someone's blood sugar levels are too low or too high, and when too high, will give the correct insulin dose to bring the blood sugar level down. If blood sugar levels are too low, the device will shut down insulin delivery."
   To sum things up, the artificial pancreas was approved for release, and will come out during Spring of 2017 at the latest!! Now what is the artificial pancreas, you may ask?
   (Quoted from FDA Health Devices) "The Artificial Pancreas Device System is a system of devices that closely mimics the glucose regulating function of a healthy pancreas.
Most Artificial Pancreas Device Systems consists of three types of devices already familiar to many people with diabetes: a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGM) and an insulin infusion pump. A blood glucose device (such as a glucose meter) is used to calibrate the CGM. A computer-controlled algorithm connects the CGM and insulin infusion pump to allow continuous communication between the two devices. Sometimes an artificial pancreas device system is referred to as a 'closed-loop' system, an 'automated insulin delivery' system, or an 'autonomous system for glycemic control.' An Artificial Pancreas Device System will not only monitor glucose levels in the body but also automatically adjusts the delivery of insulin to reduce high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia) and minimize the incidence of low blood glucose (hypoglycemia) with little or no input from the patient."
   That was a great big chunk of info for you to read xD. Anywho, AWESOME, RIGHT??!! I bet all diabetics out there are screaming for joy!!!! It's the closest we will get to finding a cure for quite a while! It's so cool, and I'm very excited!!
   Except...here comes a shocker. You ready for this? Okay. *inhales dramatically.* When I heard this news, the first emotion I felt wasn't extreme joy, but it was actually sadness.
   I can practically hear the gasps! And I know what you're thinking: Is she insane? She's practically found the best thing in the whole entire world of diabetesness! Which is true, yes. For most diabetics at least. But I'm not exactly most diabetics. Remember what I said earlier about how I love a challenge that can make me different from everyone else? "Challenge" is the keyword there. I've always thought of diabetes as the one thing that can make me different. Unique. A warrior. A warrior that can stand apart from everyone else in pride, telling them her tales of the greatest battle of her life. And in order for it to be the greatest battle, it's gotta be a challenging one, right? So challenging that you constantly have to stab your fingers and let them bleed 8-10 times a day, and constantly explain to people why you're doing it! So challenging that you go to bed each night, hoping that your blood sugar won't roller coaster on you. A warrior worthy thing, indeed.
   But then comes a shortcut for it. Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited for it! But it just kind of makes my heart sink a little bit. Having diabetes has probably been the best thing that has happened to me; it's challenging, and this girl right here loves a good challenge. But the artificial pancreas sounds kind of like something that will just make me feel lazy, and not nearly as brave as before.
   I mean, sure, it's practically a heaven on earth. No pricking? No extra devices stuffed into your purse? Awesome! But once again, I'm just having some mixed emotions about it. I really want it, but I'm also afraid of what will happen to me if I did get it. Would I be as strong as I am now? Or would I ever be able to feel the same braveness that comes with these challenges ever again?
   So that's my super long and weird thought for the day! I'm super happy but at the same time I'm super worried! Let me know if any of you feel at all the same way, or if I'm just strange xD. Sorry if I sounded too prideful at all; I'm just a little worried about what this will do to my reputation if I ended up getting it. But, don't worry, I'm still excited! It'll be nice to have a lot less of the stress I usually get from diabetes. What do you guys think?

The Artificial Pancreas

 

Super Duper Happy and Nervous at the Same Time!

Home Sweet Cabin!

   Hey peeps! Guess what?! My fam's moving to the cabin! I'm pretty sure I've posted about the cabin before, but basically, we've owned a cabin in Cashmere for I think four years...? Cashmere is a place right in between Wenatchee and Leavenworth. So yeah! I'm mostly excited, but a little bit sad. I'm sad because, of course, my friends are all staying in the Tri-Cities, and I'll also miss the music teachers that I take lessons from. They're so sweet and helpful, and I feel bad for leaving them. Also, I literally know no one in Cashmere. So yeah, those are my major concerns. But I'm excited because I LOVE our cabin so much! The air there is always so clean and smells like blossoms, and there's so much wildlife. And it's just so quiet and peaceful; it's like a fantasy home, I tell you. So yeah! It'll change my life a lot, but it will be worth it in the end, I'm sure. We've prayed hard about it, and we just feel like it's the right thing to do. So yeah! :)

The Amazingly Amazing Camp Stix!

   Hey peeps! Oh my goodness, Camp Stix was seriously worth getting diabetes! I felt so normal there when everyone checked their blood sugar and counted carbs and things like that. I made two really good friends: Page and Brenda. But I became friends with everyone in my cabin. Paige has a lovebird, and her mom brought it to camp when she picked Paige up. She was so adorable! Her name was Kiwi, and she was sea green with a peach-colored face. She was so sweet and cuddly that it made me really, really want a lovebird xD. Anyway, it was AMAZING. Every day we would wake up, say grace (actually it was a song about how the Lord blesses us), eat an awesome breakfast, then we'd do a group activity like A-Wall (super intense hide-and-seek), say grace and eat lunch, then we had low-key cabin time for thirty minutes. During that time I would usually write letters or write in my journal. After that, we had two sessions of open activity. You could choose between swimming in a pool, paint-balling, zip-lining, arts and crafts, archery, riverfront swim, humongous slide, and canoeing. I zip-lined on the first day. You zip-lined with a group of four people, and my group consisted of a 9-year old boy, a fourteen year old girl, Alaina (a girl from my cabin), and me. We were the only group that screamed on the zip-line xD. The fourteen year old was hilarious. She was this super outgoing Star Wars fan. We became friends afterwards; it was so much fun! I mostly swam in the pool, went on the slide, and did arts and crafts. In arts and crafts they had temporary tattoo artists. I got a wolf on my forearm, a dream-catcher on my left lower shoulder, a Camp Stix song quote on my calf, and a Sheikah (a tribe from Zelda) symbol on my right shoulder xD. So yeah! After open activity, we would say grace and eat dinner, and then we went to campfire. At campfire, the counselors would put on a skit. They were always super funny and weird, and they always had at least one thing about diabetes. In between the skit, the counselors would have everyone get up and sing a few camp songs. They were so much like girls camp songs. They were amazing! After the skit was over, we would all sing one more song called "Friends With You." We would all hold hands and sing it. It was super touching and emotional, especially on the last day. Oh my goodness, on the last day I was so emotional. We had what's called a Stixeremony. Everyone would grab a stick, walk down to the fire, and if they wanted they could say something about camp or diabetes, and then throw the stick into the campfire.  Some people had really emotionally inspiring things to say. My friends and I were crybabies the whole time xD. It was seriously the coolest camp EVER!! I'm so glad I went.

Randomness!

   Hey pals! If you haven't already checked out my nerdy blog, please do. It's cosplayerwithtype1.blogspot.com and it's all about my nerdy cosplay things! Also, my brother left for his mission. In my religion, young men at the age of 18 go somewhere for two years on their mission, whether it's Iowa or China. My brother went to Germany, which is where my mom's side of the family is from. That's super exciting for us! :) Okay, back to diabetes. So one night I was supposed to change my site, but I forgot to. I was just like "Okay, I can change it tomorrow morning..." And I had to go to school in the morning as well. So when I woke up, I ran downstairs and quickly changed my site, and rushed to start getting ready. But as I was getting dressed, guess what my injection site did? It ripped out. I got super frustrated and sprinted back down the stairs to change it again. So that's random story number one, which was very frustrating... Onto random story number two! Just last week, we went on a trip to our cabin. On the car ride there, my mom and dad asked us if we wanted DQ for the way there. "Sure!" we both replied. Everyone was getting mini blizzards, and being me, I was like "Oh, I never get treats like this anymore! I'll just get a mini blizzard and it will be fine!" Big mistake. I got a mini banana split blizzard, and it was only 47 carbs, but sugar was the problem. My blood sugar kind of flew into the sky and didn't come back down. It was to the point where my dexcom (his name is now Dexter) couldn't even read it (it goes up to 400), so it just said "HIGH" on the top of the screen. Fun stuff. Not. We had to get up at lease six times during the night to check my blood sugar, give three units of insulin each time, and go back to sleep. That was...adventurous. So yeah, that's all fun and dandy. And guess what? This year, I'm going to Camp Stix! It's a diabetes camp in  Riverview Bible Camp on the Pend Oreille River near Cusick, Washington. It's a very active diabetes camp, and I'm super excited! :D I'll try to post more often, but that's not a promise. I always forget that I even have a blog xD. Have a fantabulous summer!

Happy Diaversary To Me...

I totally forgot to post on my Diaversary! Anyway, my Diaversary is on March 3. So I just had my Diaversary celebration with my girl cousins at my cabin! It was so much fun. But we didn't do anything diabetes related xD. We went to Leavenworth on Saturday, and I got a hat with the Imperial symbol from Star Wars (I kept telling Maren to get a rebel hat...darn.) Then we all made terrariums out of mason jars and moss and other stuff, made Harry Potter wands, and just hung out. Thanks for the amazing time guys!!! :D

Nerd Convention

Being the nerd that I am, last night, I went to RadCon! For those of you who don't know what RadCon is, it's basically where a bunch of video game, anime, and movie nerds put on homemade costumes from a show or video game they like and come together (that's why the title of this post is "nerd convention") :). Since I like the game The Legend of Zelda, I made a Princess Zelda costume (I don't think all of you know who Zelda is but that's okay XD). My brother was with me as a sith from the Old Republic. When we got to RadCon, which was in Red Lion Hotel, we had to wait in line for a loooong time until we finally got our registrations. Once we got them, we ate at a delicious restaurant! And as we were walking around the hotel, people would ask for my picture! It was a really nice feeling. Later on, we found a piano in the hotel for anyone to play. So, I sat down to start playing songs from the game my costume was from. Slowly but surely, small crowds of people would come and listen! It was such a magical experience, because people dressed as another character from my game (Link) would come talk to me, some would have song requests, but most just listened. Just when I was about to leave, a sweet old man in a wheel chair came up to me, hands shaking uncontrollably. Very quietly he said "Would you mind playing a little more for me?" I sat back down on the bench and started playing most of the songs I knew. Then I started playing the song Glorious, and his hands stopped shaking nearly as much. It was such a wonderful experience!

Hot Sun and Sandy Toes :)

Hello! About two weeks ago, my family and I went on a vacation to Hawaii! We stayed in Honolulu, Oahu. And the best part was that I didn't have one single high or low blood sugar!!! It was paradise. Even though diet and exercise don't cure type one diabetes, they definitely help regulate our blood sugars. And believe me, I got plenty of exercise. My blood sugar was AMAZING, my pump sites never came off in the water, my dexcom never failed me, and I had a great time! Although, whenever I changed my pump site, I would find sand under the adhesive. Anyway, a couple of things my family did were going to the beach, eat malasadas from Leanord's (a donut shop), snorkeling, souvenir shopping, eating at DELICIOUS restaurants, and my favorite was the Polynesian Cultural Center. A the very beginning, our tour guide gave us each a lei, and told us to not put it on. Then, he told us to find someone in the group to give your lei to (not a family member). When we did so, we had to talk to the person and tell them about ourselves. My partner was a sweet older man. And through out the whole tour, we talked to each other and did a few things together. He was very nice. We watched an awesome movie that would get us wet or shake our seats (depending on what part the movie was at). We then saw people from all different types of Hawaiin cultures, and my favorite was New Zealand. After that, we played a few games, went to an AMAZING luau, and watched a really cool dance/play called The Breath of Life. Overall, it was a thrilling vacation!