I won’t bother trying to describe the ‘plot’ of the show we saw. Suffice to say there was something of a love pentagon that resulted in nearly every principal character dying. But, the guy did get the girl in the end. Since I have neither the personal experience nor the long-standing ballet-going expertise to rely on for commentary, I’ll just offer up a few bullet points that collected in my mind during and after the show.

• If this show was any indication, we were not the target audience for this kind of thing. I think the audience was mostly composed of two mutually exclusive age groups: 10-13 and 50+. This isn’t meant to be a slight on the people that came, but it was clear we did not fit in with the rest of the crowd. It is entirely likely that this is the type of crowd that goes to a matinee, but this being my first ballet – I got nothing.
• There was actually one legit spill on stage. At the end of one of the lead performers spotlight moments the spinning took its toll. It was a bit awkward, especially because she was supposed to factor into the story before the curtain came down on that act. Everyone on stage recovered nicely and things progressed fine after that, but still. Face plant.
• There were a number of moments that I noticed things were not exactly in sync. With so many people on stage doing similar motions that are clearly crafted to be performed in unison, one misstep or shaky leg really stands out. I asked Dayle after the show if she noticed similar moments of non-sync-ness to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. She agreed that some of the movements were not as precise as they should have been. It didn’t take away from the performance but I found it interesting that I noticed aspects of the performance that could have been considered trivial.
• At the end of the day, I think ballet may be one of the most pure of all athletic activities. The balance, precision, and body control required for these moves is insane. Even the moves that traditional dancers may consider warm up or entry level stuff is not to be taken lightly. Particularly with the male lead and his ridiculously tight pants. You can see the muscle definition. This dude is no joke. Then you watch him run and leap, quite gracefully, through the air. Over, and over, and over again. These people are good.

I’m glad I pulled the trigger on ballet tickets. I’m not sure when we are going to go again, but I’m not adverse to another round of [insert ballet vocabulary here].

Our time in our Nation’s Capital also included dinner at a restaurant from Eric Ripert (this one)…thumbs up. And brunch at a place that doesn’t really deserve a pageview. The experience was fun, the company was great, but we both agreed the food was missing that Brett Favre intangible to take it to the next level. (I think I watch too much Top Chef).

I feel more cultured. This is a good thing, right?

Fact: You Can Do This.

Blunt Lancet rocks in professional work settings too.

Advocacy comes in many forms. In this instance, it fits in in a space about 8.5 inches wide by 11 inches tall.

Have a nice weekend.

For some strange reason I decided to get on a soapbox about racial identity and detailed my frustration with the fact that I was instructed to “choose one” race or ethnicity. I marked African American on the application because I knew an minority candidate would have a better opportunity of getting into the College of Engineering than an equally qualified candidate that was white. Fair or not, that is the system we live in and I chose to use every natural advantage I could to secure my future. I bring all of this up because February is Black History Month. Apparently it’s also [source]

• Age-Related Macular Degeneration Awareness Month
• Body Awareness Month
• Electrical Safety Awareness Month
• Heart Disease Awareness Month
• Heartworm Awareness Month
• Low Vision Awareness Month
• National Cancer Prevention Month
• National Pet Dental Health Awareness Month
• Safety Awareness Month
• School-Based Health Center Awareness Month
• Sinus Pain Awareness Month and
• Termite Awareness Month

I’ve often thought about what it means to be both black and white in today’s society. Ultimately, nothing. There’s nothing special about me or my ethnicity. I feel like I’ve been pretty comfortable in my skin over the last decade or so. I don’t feel any pressure to conform or not conform to stereotypes, I just…am.

Of course I would be lying if I said I didn’t get the ‘head nod’ walking around Blacksburg, secretly acknowledging that we (black people) would get each other’s back when the revolution started. I definitely got those. But I don’t think this made me any more or less white. It just made me.

There is no conclusion to this post. February is a month specifically devoted to the accomplishments and achievements of black people around the world. Who knows where I would be if it weren’t for the path laid by their sweat and tears. But that’s only part of my story, and it would be foolish to dismiss whatever else makes up my character, look, outlook, demeanor, or any other adjective. I’m a sum of my parts – all of them. And happily so.

You can find the latest Marvel happenings, including the ‘This Week in Marvel’ Podcast at Marvel.com and be sure to follow Marc on Twitter @Strommy.

Run Time – 1:04:15

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One..Two..Fee...Fo...Fi...Fum?

Routine is something that diabetes doesn’t take too seriously. The same amount of insulin for the same meal at the same time of day will likely render diametrically opposite end results diabetically speaking. It’s a shame really. A disease like this takes a toll on us mentally, especially when things consistently do not make sense. An absence of logic is one of the few things I can rely on when it comes to managing this disease.

There are a few things I can control despite the ups and downs of blood glucose readings. It’s simple and probably a bit juvenile, but I always put six fresh pen needles in my right pocket before I leave for work. Each time a needle gets used it gets magically transformed in to used-needle state (far left) and then moves to the left pocket.

On a good day I will go through three needles by the time I get home. One for my morning Lantus shot, one for breakfast’s Humalog and one for lunch’s Humalog. In theory the other needles are there for the days that lack logic, and blood glucose control. Some days I’ll head home without a single fresh needle to use. Those days suck. But at least I’m not afraid to correct any more. There was a time when I saw a 1 or 2 unit correction as a “waste of a pen needle.” I’m glad those days are behind me.

I’m sure this post does nothing for the pump users out there, but I’m sure you all have similar packing routines in the morning before work, right? Help me out here. I can’t be the only one that behaves this obsessively.

Before.

Maybe there’s a part of me that wants to remember these moments so I stay humble during the rare “easy” moments with diabetes.

Maybe I think there’s some greater good in sharing the low moments of diabetes, to let the occasional passer-by know that they aren’t alone in dealing with this nonsense.

Maybe I ran out of time before the day ended and I didn’t have anything else to post.

Maybe I just really love Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.

Maybe, and most likely, all of the above.

This blogging thing is a funny adventure. The willingness to open up and share moments where I’m at my weakest with the rest of the world is a strange phenomenon. I genuinely believe there is a kind of pay it forward aspect to stuff like this. You never know who may come across this or someone else’s post like this and reach some kind of acceptance with their disease. This speaks beyond just diabetes, even if that’s what this blog is supposed to be about. Acceptance was a crucial step on my path to a healthier life. If showing pictures like this has the chance to help someone else to take that step then it’d be selfish to not share these kinds of experiences.

Maybe that’s going a bit far, but I owe enough to the diabetes online community that I feel it is my duty to try to contribute in whatever way possible. Today’s contribution is ice cream. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

After

It’s not directly about the pageviews. It’s about the connections that can come from those pageviews. One single pageview could put a person down a path to a happier, healthier life. It’s a bit hyperbolic but that’s the power of this community. That’s the power of support. Sure, it can be about the numbers, just make sure you’re focusing on the *right* numbers.

-Me

Have a nice weekend.

Across the Internet you will find countless success stories about the Dexcom CGM. Scary lows avoided, A1c’s lowered, pregnancies a little bit easier to manage (because giving birth is easy, right ladies?), and ultimately quality of life has been raised. For those of us with insurance living in the now, this thing is great. I know Dexcom is working on, among other improvements, a 10-day sensor but that isn’t what I want out of the next-gen Dexcom. Although, the thought of getting a single sensor to last a full month does sound like a nice achievement.

Since Dayle and I started hanging out way back when, diabetes has always been something of a shared experience with us. We’ve dealt with failing OmniPods, forgotten test strips, I’m-out-of-lantus-pen situations, and plenty of low blood glucose readings. We both work pretty damn hard to get things right diabetically speaking. It’s her “fault” I’m eating healthier and ultimately using the Dexcom CGM. I’d like to think I’m part of the reason she switched to insulin pens after a number of consecutive bad experiences with her OmniPod. If one of us forgets our CGM charger on our way to work, there’s a good chance the other has one in their bag (She saved me on that one today). Included with this shared experience are the Dexcom alarms.

Despite what the pictures I post on Twitter may suggest about my diabetes management, I’m not perfect. Highs and lows are a frustratingly persistent recurring theme of my life with diabetes. I do what I can to minimize the bumps in the road, but it’s never a smooth or easy process. Most of the time it’s “Oh, you’re low, would you like some juice?”, “Can I have a (pepper)mint (patty)?” or the dreaded “that’s your high alarm. Again.” That last one is the kicker.

During the day I can do a pretty solid job of staying on top of my blood glucose. I think being at work helps focus on the important things of the moment, namely 1. whatever report I have to complete at the moment and b. what my blood glucose reading is. By the time I get home, make and eat dinner and watch last night’s Jimmy Fallon my brain is fried and I need sleep. It’s those hours between 11pm and 5am that lack my full attention diabetically speaking – naturally, I’M TRYING TO SLEEP. The last thing I want to do is (half) wake up, find an insulin pen needle and deal with another injection at 2:30 in the morning. Sometimes I treat high or rising blood glucose levels immediately and with swift justice. Other times I just acknowledge the alarm and try to make the most of sleepy time before the morning routine begins.

If I don’t treat the high or at the very least acknowledge the alarm then the Dexcom receiver gets angry and starts yelling. BEEEEP BEEEEP. Sometimes I hear it. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes Dayle hears it. Sometimes she doesn’t. No matter what happens, there’s a chance I may wake Dayle up and that’s not fair. We may share some of our diabetes experiences, but this is one I wish I could bear on my own. Yes, my blood glucose is high. I’ll deal with it at some point but please leave her out of this.

What I want, back to the point of this post, is a way to set alarm thresholds and alerts throughout the day based on the time – much like basal rates for an insulin pump.

During the day I could probably do well to lower my high threshold from 180 mg/dL to 160 mg/dL, assuming I have the motivation to stay on top of things. But at night I want a little more flexibility. Not that high blood glucose readings should ever be tolerated but let me move the threshold up to 200. Or, let me keep the high threshold at 180 and have a secondary “okay, you really need to do something about this” threshold set above that – like the 55 mg/dL on the low side. Give me an initial high threshold of 180 with a 2 hour snooze and a Super High threshold of 200 from the hours of 11 to 5, or something like that and we’ll be set.

Yes, I can manually change these settings each time I wake up and before I go to sleep but you pump users aren’t manually changing your basal rates every hour, are you? It’s not unreasonable to think the same is possible with a CGM, is it?

If I can manage the different thresholds depending on the time then maybe nights would be a little more restful and more importantly I can respect the fact that I’m not the only one having my sheep counting disturbed at night.

So what do you think? Time-based Dexcom alerts that you set and manage similar to a pump’s basal settings?

[Girlfriend's Note]

Hi. Dayle here. Three things I’d like to add:

1. Let’s not forget that my CGM goes off in the middle of the night, too, and no doubt wakes you up from time to time, so it goes both ways. Although I don’t think that diabetes is what keeps us going (despite my grandma’s comment last month as we pulled out our insulin pens at the dinner table that “those who stick together, stick together”), I do think it’s nice that if my CGM is going to wake up someone else in the middle of the night, at least it’s someone who understands a gazillion %. I know that you won’t judge me for rolling over and snoozing another five minutes. Not sure if that’s because you wear a CGM, too, or if that’s because you’re you – and the best man I know.

2. While I like the idea of time-sensitive threshold shifts, I also like the idea of controllable volume settings. Combine the two, and you could have the volume change for the hours at work, at home, in class, and while you’re asleep. Maybe rather than worrying about waking up our significant others, the “while you’re sleeping” alarm could be more assertive and really say, “Wake up Chris, you need to do something.”

3. To take the idea a little further… if Dexcom doesn’t want to take their technology in that direction, maybe they could create a buddy system with mobile health tools. They are probably looking into bringing readings up on a cell phone already (as the FDA continues to define what a mobile medical app is), but what about alarms? Maybe I like my job too much, but there really could be an mHealth opportunity here: program the CGM to trigger the phone, with its advanced ability to buzz and make all sorts of sounds with volume control, so it’s your mobile phone that wakes you up. Might not be as direct as we’d like, but it’s a thought. You could even combine it with our boy Jimmy Fallon’s mobile app so that when you’re blood glucose gets too high, it’s Jimmy Fallon calling you and telling you that it’s time to get up[and take a correction bolus].

And, for the record, both you and keeping your blood glucose in range are worth waking up for – any time of day or night.

Keep up with the latest in Quinn’s world on her website at quinnnystrom.com and on Twitter @QuinnNystrom.

Run Time – 57:38

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In case you wondered what it’s like to have a small rotisserie oven in your home.

This was from this past weekend.

Hungry?

PS. Happy Birthday Mom!