I stole this from Alison since I thought it was fun!  And no it’s not diabetes related 🙂

Current Book (on my Kindle): The Girl who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest.  It’s the third of Stieg Larson’s Millenium trilogy and I would highly recommend these books to anyone.  If I had to rate them all, I think the second one is the best but they’re all very good.   

Current Playlist: I have a wide variety of music on my iPod but usually like upbeat, dance or pop music.  At times I can be in a Creed or Kings of Leon kind of mood.

Current Shame Inducing Guilty Pleasure: I have been craving cupcakes since last week.  I have not yet given in but I may just do that in the near future!

Current Color: My color is always grey.  Simply put.

Current Drink: Diet Dr. Pepper.  I can’t seem to get enough of it lately.

Current Food: I had a chopped salad for lunch yesterday and am wanting another today so I guess it’s chopped salad. 

Current Favorite Show: Bones.  That is my all time favorite show.

Current Wishlist: I am currently really wishing for my leg to get better.  I’m getting sick of being in constant pain and having to limit my activities.

Current Needs: I need a vacation terribly.  My stress level is at an all time high.

Current Triumphs: I’d have to say my most recent triumph was successfully (and finally) closing on our apartment.  That process was so grueling and tedious, I always thought I’d count that as one of my biggest accomplishments if it ever was completed.  Well we closed about 2 months ago so yay accomplishment and triumph!

Current Bane of my Existence: I’m going to plead the 5th on this one.

Current Celebrity Crush: Dwayne Johnson.  Always.

Current Indulgence: I indulge in sleeping late every chance I get!  You can count that as indulgence right?

Current Blessing: I am blessed with many things.  If  I had to choose one that has been recently obvious, I’d say my health insurance.  I know so many people who don’t have insurance at all or aren’t covered for much or have to fight with their companies constantly, I feel extremely blessed for the good coverage that I have. 

Current Outfit: It’s the winter so if I’m not in work clothes, you’ll find me in a velour suit + Uggs 😉

Current Excitement: Thinking of using the spa gift card that my sis got me for Christmas.  Massage, here I come! 

Current Link: I just love cute, fuzzy animals.  So it’s no surprise that I love videos like this one.

I don’t know if now is the best time to be posting about this since for some reason I am feeling very down.  But as I thought about passing on the idea, I thought that maybe writing something after the fact, wouldn’t have the same meaning.  So here I am.

29 years ago today, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  Some freaking Christmas present huh?  The first thing I think is wow,  I feel old.  I’ve had diabetes longer than most of my analysts at work have been alive.  I’ve had diabetes longer than a lot of people have been alive.  Wow.  I know there are many people around who have had it longer than I.  But 29 years is nothing to sneeze at.  Thinking back on the day doesn’t bring back memories of any kind since I can’t really remember.  But I do know the story thanks to my parents.

It was Christmas eve and my family had started arriving at our house for the holiday.  I was constantly drinking and peeing.  Since my father was a type 1 himself, he recognized the symptoms right away.  This was before blood glucose monitoring was available to patients at home, so my parents tested my glucose level with a urine strip.  And it was dark.  They called my father’s endocrinologist and were told to bring me to the emergency room.  Which they did, having to leave my poor twin sister with relatives.  When the hospital was informed of a 5 year old with high blood sugar coming in, they expected a very sickly child.  Instead I was walked in holding my father’s hand.  If I remember the story correctly, my actual blood glucose once at the hospital was high 300’s so there was no doubt diabetes was what I had.  But it was nowhere near as high as it could have been, if it had gone undiagnosed for a long period of time.  Long story short, I was admitted for about a week then transferred to a different hospital where the pediatric endo my parents wanted me to see practiced.  Again I don’t remember any of this but I can only imagine what my parents and sister went through.

Overall I am doing good all these years later.  I’ve had some minor issues that could be related to diabetes (but not proven).  And I find the longer I am living with it, the more it is weighing on me.  I think what bothers me the most about “celebrating” so many years with diabetes is the unknown future.  I know of all the things that could happen.  And that truly scares me to death.  So I do what I have to do and try not to think about those things.  What I have in my favor are all the advancements that have been made in the treatment.  I used to take just 1-2 injections of insulin a day.  And tested my blood sugar only 1-2 times a day.  These days, I have a continuous delivery of insulin via an insulin pump which acts more like a real, working pancreas.  And not only do I test my blood sugar 8-12 times a day but I also have a sensor under my skin which feeds glucose level readings about every 5 minutes from my interstitial fluid.  Now that is advancement!  I know there are organizations working on finding a cure for diabetes.  And not to sound pessimistic, but I don’t feel that I’ll ever see that day in my lifetime.  My father and I were told probably not long after I was diagnosed that a cure was 10 years away.  Well here it is 19 years after that and still no cure. But I am still grateful for their hard work.

As much of a thorn as diabetes is in my Christmas eve, I do have a lot to be thankful for.  I hope that I will have many more Christmas eves to reflect on years past.  I know some of my D friends don’t know the exact date of their diagnosis.  I unfortunately, can never forget.

***I wish all my friends and their families a very happy holiday.  And best wishes for a healthy, happy 2011 for everyone***

I have a few topics in mind to share on my blog but was more in the mood for something fun and not exactly thought provoking.  So I stole this from Allison.  Enjoy 🙂

-1- What kind of camera do you have?  a Sony Cybershot point + shoot and a Nikon digital SLR

-2- You just won $1,000 and you have to spend it on yourself on one item. What do you buy? Hmm that’s a tough one.  I love to shop!  I could probably go for either some electronic or a really expensive handbag!

-3-  If you had to choose would you rather live with your parents in the same house forever or 5,000 miles away? Although my mother can get to me at times, she is the only living parent that Joe and I have so I’d rather have her close to us and live in the same house.

-4- Is your Christmas tree up yet?  Nope.  Hopefully in the next week or so we’ll put it up.

-5- Do you bring reusable bags to the grocery store? I should but I don’t.

-6- Which would be worse: listening to the same song on replay for the rest of your life or having to eat the same meal every day for the rest of your life?  I’d have to say eating the same meal every day for the rest of my life.  I don’t even like eating the same thing 2 days in a row, never mind forever!

-7- Name three things you are thankful for this season. Our new home, my family + friends and my “health”.

-8- Do you dye/highlight your hair? If so, do you do it yourself or have it done at a salon?  Contrary to what some people think, I have never gone near my hair with any kind of dye or highlights.

-9- Would you rather watch a movie at home or at the theater?  I like the theater scene with the giant screen, loud sound effects and of course all the movie goodies but I do like being in the comfort of my own couch too.  I’d say at home.

-10- Would you rather win $1,000 a week for life or $5 million at once?  Give me a $1,000 a week for life please 😉

I had the honor of being asked by Cherise, our wonderful moderator, to contribute a guest post over at Diabetes Social Media Advocacy as part of Diabetes Awareness Month.  Go on over and check it out 🙂

How Things Change