Favorite Pricking Spots

So I spent a fair portion of my time with my CDE talking about alternate sites for my infusion set, but it hasn't really occured to me that I need to be rotating my finger stick sites around.

I'm the very first to admit how poorly I managed my diabetes for years. 1 stick every once in a while to make sure I was... alive.

Now that I've gotten over my D-burnout and into a regular pattern of checking my bgs and remember my boluses, I've realized that my finger stick pattern has changed. MY favorite finger spot was the right side of my right ring finger. A few years ago the finger looked awful and gouged. For some reason, my new favorite finger has become my right middle finger. It's not in as bad shape as my ring finger was but it's getting there.

I've started adapting to using my left hand a little more often now, and I know that you can pretty much stick yourself where ever you think you can manage to strike blood (palm, forearm, etc.) I remember being not terribly shocked when the pamphlet inside the pricker device said not to use anything other than your finger tips for hypoglycemia or rapidly changing numbers (physiology says that the blood in your forearm lags behind the blood in your fingertips). Despising exceptions (because well, golly gee, IF I knew I was low, then that kind of defeats the point doesn't it) and already knowing how inaccurate meters can be (UGH & RAWR), I've always just stuck to my fingers.

So my question to all of you is where are your favorite spots, why are they your favs, and do you always pick your fingers?

Diabetes Wonder

I have gone from feeling like a diabetes burnout super-freak to feeling like the diabetic wonder-child.

Today, I visited a Certified Diabetes Educator in...3 or 4 years. My mom and I had an awesome relationship with my last CDE. When I outgrew the peds clinic and my parents moved to NH, I transferred to Dr. Awful and hadn't seen a CDE since. What that meant is that some of those awesome Diabetes skills I had acquired over the years (aka knowing what to do in emergencies, how to rotate my sites, tips and tricks) had gotten a little rusty over the years. For instance, my pump broke and I tried giving a shot into my arm muscles instead of arm fat. If you're really that curious, remember that I highly recommend AGAINST it.

Anyways, I had a few discussion points I was interested in: Alternate sites because my stomach is starting to look like Swiss Cheese; Adjustments to my Insulin to Carb Ratio: More tips for dual wave bolusing cause what I've tried so far hasn't quite worked.

All in all her answers while mostly textbook were all laced with the same theme: You're an empowered, smart, and motivated Diabetes patient aka wonder-child. She raved about how good everything looked and how I should stick to what I'm doing with some slight modifications here and there.

Now all in all, I haven't been anywhere near a good diabetic patient in years. What changed? I got a Dexcom and started reading more about awesome diabetics online. Actually, truth be told, the reading was probably what motivated me to switch to the Dex. Point is that behind every "good" diabetic is a lot of people: Doctors, Family, Friends. Ultimately, having someone who knows what it's like living with this crazy condition day after day really gives you a kick in the pants. It makes you aspire to be better and remember that you're human. So, thank you DOC for motivating me to take better care of myself.

Energy & Guilt

Will someone please explain to me why I wanna run rampant when my blood sugar is way out of whack and want to sit on the couch like a bump on a log when it's in-range?

So my struggle to eat healthier at home was made a little worse because I'm staying with my grandparents for a few weeks while my aunt's out of town. My grandma doesn't speak English at all so it makes it difficult to explain why I'm eating the way I am. All she can garner is that I want to lose some inches around my waist. However, because she's my grandma, all she ever wants to do for me is cook. Then, every night when anyone in the family calls, she tells them all about how I'm refusing to eat her cooking.

A few months ago I felt guilty for eating so much and now I feel guilty for eating so little. Despite this life being mine to live and enjoy, I like making my parents and grandparents happy. The little power struggles over eating make it hard.

So what foods do you eat that give you more energy? What are foods that are supposed to give you energy and don't? Any healthy happy mood foods?