Back to the future moment

Morning blood sugar: 6.0 (woke up starving, was sure I was low, but thankfully not)
Episodes of low blood sugar today: a big fat zero :) thank you insulin pump-you are my new best friend.
C's mood today: Good. Woke up singing a wordless version of "The ABC's" song complete with 'Yay' and self-clapping following his rendition. This toddler kills me...what a ham.
Workout today: Rest day from running. 18 holes of golf with my hubby, with a cart (does this count as a workout?)
Clean eating today: Well?!....it was a great day full of healthy snacks (almonds, apple, homemade protein bar) but we celebrated Father's day a weekend late out for breakfast, and topped off the evening with a Finlay tradition (my maiden name) with Friday night Pizza. So in other words a cheat day was had in my house...but hey I tried to eat well 80% of the day and had some treats 20% of the day-it's called balance people. That is important.
Donations: another anonymous donation came in this week. Fabulous! But why are they anonymously donating? Half the fun of this is so that I can write the donator a fabulous 'thank you' email' after the fact. This anonymity thing kind of throws me off! So thank you, whoever you are!!! :)

Jeff and I got out today for a wonderful round of golf. 18 holes in fact; this is typically something I have to be convinced to do. 18 holes of golf takes up a heck of a lot of time especially when you are a mom,  a wife, a half marathoner, and a part time physiotherapist. But I somehow found the time today, and it was fabulous. Amma and Daideo babysat for us, both C and dog, which was greatly appreciated (Amma is Icelandic for grandmother and Daideo is Celtic for grandfather-yes, we are new age here people. But you know what? It works for us. We have another set of grandparents that go by Gramma and Grandpa so these 'foreign' words actually create less confusion for C which is great :)
I had a "Back to the Future" moment today when we were introduced to our golfing partners. Anyone that golfs knows that in an ideal world when you make plans to golf with your partner you get to golf only with them; this rarely happens as courses are busy, so you are often 'foursomed' up with another couple whom you have never laid eyes on in your entire life. Somehow in the game of golf this works-but it goes without saying that playing a sport with people whom you have never met always makes for some interesting moments.
Let's just say that "Robert" and "Marie" (I'm using their real names here as I am pretty sure they won't mind, nor will they ever get their hands on this piece of writing) were basically Jeff and I 40 years in the future. Overall they were a pleasant couple- friendly and presented with the niceties you would hope for in a social situation; as the game got underway, their true selves started to shine through. They were intense, competitive, and a wee bit crotchety. At first I thought, "jeez, they need to lighten up" and later I thought "crap, that is totally us-but 40 years from now". So when it was all said and done, we enjoyed a great day of food, golf, and fun. And I think some higher power (or Micheal J. Fox perhaps) was telling me to lighten up and not always take life so seriously sometimes! So what? You're in the bunker? You are on beautiful Vancouver Island, golfing with your fit and fab husband, while your cute kid is being looked after by wonderful grandparents! Smile, laugh, and enjoy your life. It is far too short to be mad about your stupid golf score. :) Lighten up and have a great weekend. (that goes for all of you too!)

Golf anyone?

Hello beautiful!

Morning blood sugar: 6.5 -a little high-I have been wearing my pod in a different place lately (the upper buttocks if you must know!) and am wondering if the catheter is getting kinked a bit-this is likely TMI but when you wear the pod in a place with more fat it obviously jiggles and moves a bit more than say on your arm or leg-hence more of a chance of a kink. I have had some higher number in the last few days. A kink can stop the insulin from flowing properly and hence give me some weird readings. The readings have not been high enough to concern me but high none the less-we'll see if this butt placement is a no go or what. :)
Episodes of low blood sugar today: none-as a result of the suspected kink obviously running a bit high. Bonus here-no need to run for the skittles. Or is this a bonus? Jury's out.
C's mood today: Good! What a character-he insisted on wearing his 'shark hat' out for errands. A small victory was had when he wore shoes (not boots!) to go out. Took him to the doctor for a quick check, then to Target and very little attitude overall. Good day so far. He has been napping now for almost 2 hours. Good day indeed. :)
Donations this week: No longer need to worry about this. Target acquired. Woot woot!
Workout today: 6km Tempo run-2km warm up, 3 km at 80% effort and 1km cool down. This was followed by some much needed stretching.
Clean eating today: Isagenix protein shake for breakfast www.isagenix.com Jeff and I are on day 21 of a 30 day program with Isagenix. I won't dive too far in to the topic as I could likely write a novel here but I will say that we were introduced to the products a month ago by my great friend and former colleague Angelina-she is a consultant with the company and offered to get us set up with a trial run. She loves the products as she has had amazing results losing weight (particularly belly fat), improving her sleep, and her energy levels. I started the program primarily not to lose weight but for more energy and improved sleep-so far I have had some great results. I will most certainly share more in the weeks to come on this topic.

 C and I had a bit of a rough night-he was up twice for some reason. Jeff and I were both up with him at 11pm; not sure why he was up. Molars maybe? Nightmare? If anyone knows please fill me in, I would love to know- we were quite a sight sitting watching Disney channel for 20 minutes to get C settled back down. Got him back down only to have him wake again at 12:45am. Arrgh! I was NOT happy. Anyways, long story short is we slept until 7:30am-yes, for those non parents out there that is a 'sleep in' (take a minute to absorb that)....by the time I got up Jeff had gone out for a run (seriously, that man is a machine when it comes to getting up before 7) so I did my workout on the treadmill. That was ok, my feet are still hurting a bit so I thought it would be good to give them a break from pavement. I started at 8, and even though it wasn't that hot in the basement I was a sweaty mess by the time I was finished. I guess it was a bit muggy in the house!

Hello you beautiful, sweaty mess-post workout. Hope Wonder Woman doesn't mind.

 

 

The infamous shark hat and toddler who likes to watch late night TV

Where did May go?

Morning blood sugar today: 3.3-ouch! not a good way to start the day-apparently should have set a temporary reduced rate overnight on my pump. Thankfully because my husband went grocery shopping Thursday we had a fresh box of OJ in the fridge-this came in handy.
Episodes of low blood sugar today: 2-including the above. Went out with C to do some shopping later in the morning and tested a 3.9 before driving home. What the heck? I have had so many less incidences of LBS since starting the pump 2 months ago that days like this are extremely rare.
C's mood today: he has not been sleeping well lately, I have no idea why. He is napping currently and just surpassed the 3 hour mark! I know, that is a crazy long nap, but he needs it. All things considered he was quite a fantastic shopping partner this morning-quiet and sat in the stroller for the whole excursion. Amazing! Things started to go south at lunch where he proceeded to throw his cucumber sticks at me-this resulted in a 'time out' in his room in which he laid quietly in his crib for 5 minutes while I finished my lunch. I know! Seriously-2 year olds are crazy unpredictable. They are wonderful one moment and emotionally draining the next.
Donations: last Friday night I received a $250.00 anonymous donation which helped me to surpass the $6,100.00 mark-this is a huge benchmark as it has qualified me to run in Iceland. Amazing! I still can't believe it. So thank you whoever you are! I wish I could thank you personally and not on some blog entry!
Workout today: Crosstraining day-"The Saturday 1000"-10 different exercises repeated in succession with a break of 1 minute, repeated 10 times. In truth, my feet have been sore lately so I did the Saturday 700 instead...and stretched the be-jesus out of my legs and feet to finish up. Gotta take care of these feet!
Clean eating today: 12 days ago Jeff and I started a new nutrition program thanks to our friend A-I will write further on this in the days to come as we are still in the early stages but so far I am sleeping better, have far less indigestion, and more energy! A passed on a recipe to me which is my new favorite snack-No bake, banana coconut homemade protein bars. Can you say yum? Yummmmm. :)

Oh man, life has been busy lately. The weeks are flying and I really don't know where they are going. I have been working, parenting, fundraising, trying to be a present wife and daughter, and this all adds up to no blogging for weeks. Of course my Type A self thinks "you need to make time to write!" Well these days extra rest and relaxation takes priority over everything else.

Having reached a huge fundraising goal it certainly feels as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I have managed to climb one huge mountain-I have to say a huge thank you to my mom who was an integral part of me reaching my goal. Her and I certainly have gone far outside our comfort zones in the past 6 months.

Anyone who knows my mom knows that she is a quiet and introverted woman; those that know her really well know that when she became a mother almost 34 years ago she became a "Mama Bear'' in every sense of the word. No one, I mean no one, was going to stand in her daughter's way to success. For Carol, this meant phoning and writing to relatives she hadn't communicated with in years. She did it though! And she did it for me! So thank you Mom. You are seriously wonderful! :)

Recently I read a quote that really captured what I have been through in the last 10 months. I have listed it below:

"Life has its ups and downs. It can be both brutal and beautiful. You can hole yourself away to avoid life's pain, but then the beauty seldom finds it's way in. It's only when you attempt to go where you cannot go, or do what you cannot do, that you can achieve what you are truly capable of doing. Sure, you might tumble, you might fall. So what? Take a chance. Go way out on the limb. Dare to try - even if it's just a shot in the dark.


Is it hilarious or irony that this came from a wine label? I say as a wine lover it was fitting. :)

The delicious wine that the above quote came from

A forbidden glass

Too stuffed up and fed up to write a proper post today. Have been fighting a wicked cold the last five days- via my son, via-via my nephew ( it's ok J, my love for you is unconditional,so not to worry). So I've decided to post a few pics of my evening. This is the first illness I've had that has royally messed up my blood sugars- hence being fed up. Fasting blood sugars of 10-12 are not normal for me, especially when I have skipped snacks due to lack of appetite (hence being fed up). Thus, this has left me grouchier than hungover Leafs fans today (sorry, too soon?).

These pictures were following a much needed 2 hour nap- my son clocked 3! Hence how I was able to accomplish the pictures posted below and thus once again feel human after almost a week!

Healthy baked ziti for dinner- added spinach and ricotta and not so much fatty cheese-if you look closely I did a mom substitute of marble cheese on top (aka I forgot to buy mozzarella- these things happen when you can't breathe, taste or hear).

My sous chef! Ie. he slept while I made dinner and posed for pictures once all the work was done. Will take this anyday over holding a thirty pound cutie in one arm while trying to stir, mix, schlep food around. Thanks C for the marathon nap.

C smiling with his untouched Ziti. What did he eat for dinner? Yogurt, red pepper and carrots, and about three tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (hope that isn't bad- there are worse things he could eat I suppose) :)

I decided last week that in the spirit of my last 14 weeks of training for Iceland I would abstain from my ( almost) nightly glass of wine- limited to only twice a week. Well lets just say I am enjoying a forbidden glass tonight with my ziti ( because really who doesn't drink wine with pasta? ). This cold has derailed a few things- promise to be back on track in a few days. Really, why do I set these rules for my self?  Something about striving for excellence, yada, yada. 

Here is hoping for clear sinuses tomorrow! 

Ps. Broke $5,000.00 yesterday for donations- thank you to my 2nd cousin ( an Icelander of course!) and my parents' generous neighbour- my total today is $5,135.00 Not bad for someone that can barely breathe :)

I feel better! (kind of?)

Morning blood sugar: 5.8
Episodes of low blood sugar today: zilch, nada
C's mood today: one 'wig out' this morning (this is technical speak for when your toddler loses his mind for a few minutes, often over something mysterious that parents have no clue about. This often involves crying and screaming "NO!" when they are offered something comforting like a glass of water or a pair of pants), and then quite good actually. Managed to get a few errands done with little drama- a successful day so far. Extra points for cuddling me in Walmart while we shopped-he fell asleep in the car on the way there (at 10:15am)-guessing he woke up too early and needed a power nap. Long story short, he was uber cuddly in the store so I made use of my amazing Ergo carrier and enjoyed the snugle! www.ergobaby.com
Donations this week: 1 from an amazing client of mine-she has been through so much but has the best, most positive attitude. And she is generous-my kinda woman! :)
Eating clean menu: I am not a huge advocate for packaged food. I try to shop the perimeter of the grocery store, fresh food as much as possible, yada, yada. I was watching Dr. Oz last week and the 'expert' that was on that day mentioned "only eat foods that you can sit down at a table to eat". I don't disagree with him, but have to say that is a good principle on paper but in reality that just doesn't fly! Especially when you are a mom. Let's face it, you need snacks sometimes, ok, all the time. I find it really challenging to find snacks that you can carry that won't stain your purse or are not loaded with sugar. 
I made a fantastic discovery this past weekend at the grocery store-The Simply Bar www.thesimplybar.com It is actually a bar that tastes good, not too sweet, but feels like a treat, and I can pronounce all the ingredients! I read the package today in the car while Charlie was sleeping (aka.mini Mom holiday) and was so happy to see they are made in Canada. They pack only 10-12 carbs per serving so great for blood sugar too. Holla! Could these get any better? :)
Workout today: 40 minutes of Jillian Michaels Kickboxing (www.jillianmichaels.com)with my fit and fabulous hubby (love you!). He works late Tuesdays but thankfully doesn't start until 10am-working out together is some serious QT people!

Snuggle buddies

   I can't believe it has been a more than a month since my last post-life has a way of getting away from you when you are busy running around, doing what seems like a million things in one week.

Last week my Achilles tendons started to ache a little. 'Uh oh' I thought. This was following a run on the trail by our house. I live in a beautiful place-the downside is that nothing is flat here! This trail is uphill basically all the way out and downhill all the way back. Not so good for my aching muscles-I guess my left calf has had enough.

This aching also made me reconsider my training plan. Living in a small city they only have so many running clinics to offer. The Vancouver Marathon was this past Sunday and 90% of my running group completed it-our clinic was geared around it. What an anticlimax to finish a training program and then not actually complete the race-now I am suppose to start another program all over again.

So my answer is to take this week off entirely of running, do some cross training, rest my aching muscles, and start fresh next week. Being the crazy physio that I am I have been treating my calves myself-yes this includes acupuncture, yes that involves needling myself. I feel better today too. Less aching into the tendon, more tension in the muscle belly which is a good sign. Because I feel better I can't get this song out of my head-of course it is from a children's program called Doc McStuffins. Since I can't get it out of my head, I thought I would post this video to get it into your head so that I am not alone. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BqBW0MvshK4

I'm going to close today's post on an extremely sad note. A former classmate of mine from University lost her young son this week. Unbelievably he became tangled in cords from a blind and succumbed to his injuries a few nights ago. This is such devastating news that to tell her that "I am sorry for your loss" feels more than a little inadequate under the circumstances. We have primarily kept in touch over the last few years via Facebook, as so many of us do these days.

A is a physiotherapist in Fort Mac; I have hugely enjoyed recent FB posts on her vegan lifestyle (she adopted this lifestyle as a result of digestive issues and found the vegan diet to be extremely helpful), a more holistic approach to medicine including the use of acupuncture and its benefits (I use acupuncture regularly in my practice and love getting treatments-hey, even needle myself sometimes), and of course photos and videos of her two gorgeous kids. You can tell this woman has a passion for life and a true passion for her kids. She brightened my morning a few months ago with this skit from SNL encouraging a vegan lifestyle from none other than Justin Timberlake. If you haven't seen it-take a peak. If you have seen it-watch it again, Justin Timberlake is hilarious and amazingly talented.
 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xy35qv_justin-timberlake-bring-it-on-down-2-veganville-veganshake-snl-3-9-13_music

I am a huge believer that laughter and music have therapeutic effects, this video involves both. Sending love and support to A this week and of course to her family- I truly am sorry and can't stop thinking of you.

Houston we have a problem

Morning blood sugar: 6.3
Episodes of low blood sugar today: 0 (that's right!)
"C's" mood today: good, woke up singing. All was going well until we needed to leave the library and he didn't want to (did I mention we had been there for an hour and a half?). A small tantrum followed but I was prepared with a snack in the car-thank goodness my kid likes to eat!
Donations this week: woke up yesterday to an e-donation from someone I have never met..a friend of my sister's donated $50.00-her young son has Type 1 as well. She told my sis she thinks I'm "an inspiration for her son" with running half marathons, aww shucks. Made my day!
Clean eating today: lunch was leftover stirfry from last night-loads of veggies with brown rice and (lightly breaded) shrimp-a fine balance.
Workout today: 7km Tempo run-was not my finest 40 minutes but I have me reasons (see below) .

So I had my follow up with my favorite healthcare provider at the Diabetic Education Center yesterday. Things are going well-we are still fine tuning things but she gave me the go ahead to try a workout (woot! woot!). Since I have missed five days of training I was anxious to get back. Also anxious to try out this pump whilst exercising.

7km Tempo run was on my training schedule (ie. 2 km warmup, 3 km at 5:15/km, 2 km cool down). These workouts are notorious for requiring more carbohydrate as the intensity is higher so I put on my 'fuelbelt' (aka. fancy runner's fanny pack), had a snack, checked my blood sugar and off I went.

My first concern came about 200 metres in-it felt like my the belt was rubbing against my pod, not good. You are suppose to avoid waistbands and other articles of clothing hitting up against a pod as this can dislodge the little catheter/cannula that is sticking into my skin and feeding me insulin. If the cannula gets displaced it can stop me from getting insulin-again, not good either.

The pump is great but there are a few things that have caused me some high anxiety in the last 5 days. While I have always watched for low blood sugar, on the pump you also have to watch out for highs. A pump only feeds you fast acting insulin, there is no slow acting insulin in my system now. To all of you lucky ducks that have functioning pancreas' your body automatically generates both a basal (long acting) and bolus (at meals) insulin to keep you nice and steady at all times. Your basal insulin keeps you from going too low for when you are sleeping or skipping a meal and your bolus/fast acting insulin is secreted when you want to have a nice big juicy cheeseburger (you bastards!). Amazing what the body can do without you even knowing or caring!

So if my pump malfunctions and I have no long acting insulin in my system the result can be extremely high blood sugars, extremely fast; this can lead, if untreated, to something called Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Yes, the is as scary as it sounds, and can make someone like me very ill. Symptoms include-nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, and fruity smelling breath (?). I know, the last one is the most frightening of all (just kidding).

So needless to say I was stressed the whole run, ended up wearing my belt over one shoulder with one edge of it chaffing my neck, and holding my water bottle in one hand, as paranoia and anxiety (aka. P&A) had completed invaded my head. No wonder I came home and tested an 8.2-damn that P&A-it's not good for blood sugar either.

My pod also was starting to lose it's adhesive as a result of perspiration. How dare I perspire during a hard 7km! I'm sure there is something I can do to improve the adhesive with some skin prep stuff but needless to say I was a bit frustrated post-run.

I know I shouldn't hesitate to change a pod when I need to. If it is irritating my skin, or I am worried about it malfunctioning I should change it. My insurance will cover 10 pods a month and they are (under ideal circumstances) suppose to last 3 days each but I have already had to change one because it was uncomfortable and now I am considering changing this one because of this mornings events. That ain't no 10 pods a month! Did I mention they are the equivalent to 50 dollars each? Uggh.

Growing pains I know. And a bit of P&A taking over as well. I know these things will be figured out in time but today I needed a good vent-it keeps P&A at bay and it helps me troubleshoot. Houston's going to be busy for the next little while.

Rainy day-perfect for the library

Pumping and dumping

Morning blood sugar: 5.7
Episodes of low blood sugar today: none, in fact none in the last 4 days, if you can believe it. Thanks Omnipod!
C's mood today: good, no tantrums so far=amazing! He even helped me make healthy banana muffins for lunch- he 'stirred' ( I use this term loosely, he is 2 after all) and filled one muffin tin with batter. Looking forward to more cooking and baking with my little man in the months and years to come.
Clean eating today: breakfast was whole oats with protein powder and a scoop of natural peanut butter- if you have never tried this you are missing out!
Donations: in the last 2 weeks I have collected another $260.00, bringing my total to $4,605.00, pretty great if you ask me.
Workout today: 20 minute stroll on the treadmill with a stretch and some crutches. That's right, a stroll-I have been advised to take at least 5 days off because of my pump start (see below for more details). This is day 5 of 'no exercise' and I have to admit I am going a bit squirrely, giving stank eye to the joggers I see, and dreaming about the 18km I missed this morning-alas, this will all be worth it in the long run (ha! no pun intended).


It has been a crazy few weeks. I have been working, looking after C, attending appointments with lawyers and accountants (as many people do at this time of year),training, and getting ready to start my insulin pump-ie. studying the manual on how to use it and learning what to do in emergencies, etc. All in all I have been exhausted both physically and emotionally and hence why I haven't posted anything for the last 3 weeks.

I started my pump this past Wednesday. I keep telling friends and family, I am not sure if it is simply the placebo effect but I feel like myself again. As in, I feel like I did two years and 10 months ago, pre-pregnancy, pre-newborn, pre-toddler, pre-diabetic.

I'm still learning about all the ins and outs of the Omnipod system (www.myomnipod.ca)- I have been placed on a basal rate basically just to see how I respond. This also involves testing a lot through out the day and even 2 times during the night (good times setting an alarm for 12:30 am and 4:00 am-almost like having a newborn again-not quite; I'm not my husband's favorite person right now but oh well, it's just temporary and it will benefit him tremendously in the long term). 

To anyone who gets the creeps thinking about having some small piece of plastic attached to you at all times-believe me I was in the same frame of mind as you 3 months ago when I started to research an insulin pump. I couldn't imagine having some foreign thing always sticking to me. I would hear comments from pump users like "I would never go back to injections" and "the pump changed my life"and would think, there has gotta be a reason that all the benefits outweigh the cons.

The benefits include but are not limited to:
1) 1 injection every 3 days rather than 5 injections a day (I know, huge!)
2) The ability to exercise on the fly rather than planning hours ahead-with a pump I can set a reduced flow of insulin and exercise when I want; with injections I had to reduce my insulin the night before sometimes with longer workouts, and half my insulin dose at the meal before exercsie
3) Taking a dose of insulin at meals now looks like I am texting-no more having to go the washroom to inject, more having to worry about easier clothing to take injections with.

The one downside is wasting insulin. A pod has to be changed every three days with the Omnipod system and needs 85 units minimum to "prime" (ie. to flow insulin)-because I am extremely insulin sensitive and have low insulin needs I only use 30 units over three days max. This means I am dumping 55 units of insulin down the drain every three days. The pros still outweigh the cons! Pumping and dumping. :)

Banana muffins a la C & Amy

A shot of my insulin pod