Menus listing calories

Okay, some idiot has decided because Americans like to eat, that, I believe, it's certain chain restaurants are going to be required to have the calories of all their food items listed. This person or persons believes this will help the fat people stop eating so much, and make the slimmer people not eat so much. RIGHT.

Now people in America are too fat not simply because we eat too much, nor because we don't know the calories of what we eat. It's because the foods are not nutritional. Most families have mothers and fathers who work. The cook in the family cannot take the time to make a healthy meal that consists of a protein (meat or cheese), a starch (potato, bread, rice or pasta), a vegetable, a fruit, a fat (bacon, butter) and a dairy (milk, yogurt, cottage cheese). Instead they go to a fast food place, which isn't all bad. Or they get something already prepared, which contains chemicals, which is bad.

But, I really believe things need to be taken a step further. First, for all of us diabetes who count carbohydrates for taking our insulin, these restaurants need to have the carbohydrate count of every item on their menu.

Secondly, to make things fair for people with kidney disease, the grams of sodium, protein and potassium each food item contains. Because they can only eat so much of each of those per day.

Next on my list of my haves on the menus. We can't forget about those of us with either food intolerances or allergies. Under each menu item, you're going to have to have an extensive list of ingredients. Plus, letting us know what type of oil is used to fry the foods and if a non-stick spray is used.

How do I handle being a juvenile onset diabetic

The only diabetic forum I read, had a topic in one of the forums titled Someone who has the illness for so long, how do you stay positive and motivated to keep going. Instead of answering on the forum, I decided to do a post on my blog because I don't hold back when I talk about diabetes. I can be blunt and to the point. I don't hold back.

So what do I do to keep myself from getting depressed, or having what is generally referred to as diabetic burnout, over being a juvenile onset diabetic for over 52 years. Or how do I keep myself upbeat while having to deal with the ups and downs of living with juvenile onset diabetes, is a better way to put it.

I think the first reason is very simple. It's because I was only 5 when I was diagnosed. So I have lived with this disease or chronic condition most of my life. I don't know life without diabetics.

Secondly is because my parents didn't care about me. Basically, they hoped I would die because of my having diabetes. I attended two one week sessions of a diabetic camp where I learned how to give my injections by myself and how to fill up my syringe. This was ALL I learned. After the second session, at the age of 9, I was told all care and control of my diabetics was up to me. I was told I could no longer ask them for help with filling up my syringe or giving my injection. I couldn't ask for help with anything to do with my diabetes care, I had to do it by myself.

I had no lessons in how many calories I was supposed to eat. How much vegetables, fruits, starches, fats, dairy products, and proteins I was supposed to eat at every meal. They didn't tell me how to figure out how much insulin I needed to have when my urine tests were high and/or I wanted to eat a piece of cake. I had to figure this out all by myself. I wasn't allowed to see my diabetic doctor. The only doctor I ever saw was my family physician. Several times he told my parents I should see my Endocrinologist, but that never happened.

I know this because my childhood records were sent to my doctor as an adult. When he retired, he asked me if I wanted my records. So I got them. I got to see what was in my doctor records. I was shocked to see just how many times my doctor suggested that I should go see my endocrinologist. I never went to see him as a teenager.

I always wondered why my parents kept buying my diabetic supplies when I knew they wanted me to die. It took me a while, but I did figure it out. They couldn't do anything to me outright or the town would wonder what happened to me. But if I died due to complications from diabetics, they could claim ignorance. They could claim that the horrible disease that their poor daughter had killed her. Excuse me while I go vomit.

Cancer to me is so much harder than being a juvenile onset diabetic. At least with juvenile onset diabetics, you have insulin to help you keep your blood sugar levels where they belong. You have glucose meters so you can check your levels whenever you want to. With cancer, a lot of the time you don't have any idea you have it. All of a sudden, boom. You need chemotherapy, radiation and many times a slew of medications. Or in my case a 10 1/2 hour surgery that included a heated chemotherapy. I was never sick. I went in for a hysterectomy and they discovered the cancer. I had two abdominal surgeries in two months. That was much worse than anything I'd ever gone through with my diabetes.

I also don't like people who say that diabetes is a disability. NO IT IS NOT. It is a disease or a chronic condition, but not a disability. I want to scream and pound my fists into my monitor whenever I read where someone says their diabetes is a disability. How in the world are we disabled?

If you mean when we have insulin reactions, or as every other diabetic calls a hypo. Maybe you're having too many insulin reactions and your control sucks. If you're a new diabetic, or a teen who has just been given total control you get a pass. Insulin reactions does not mean you're disabled. A juvenile onset diabetic is not disabled. Nor is anyone with type 2 diabetes. You either have a disease or a chronic condition. You pick what you want to call it, but not a disability.

I really hate about having juvenile onset diabetes are the stupid CGM's. See I'm one of several people who have problems with them. Granted the Dexcom G4/G5 is better than the G4 was. But even so, it doesn't match my Contour Next meter very often. I'm a person who believes that the CGM and their meter should be within a 10% +/- all the time. The 20% +/- that Dexcom says is acceptable is not to me.

I hate the beeping, that is what I hate the most. That is probably the thing about being a diabetic that bothers me the most. If I had my way, I'd say fuck the CGM. I really don't see the need for it. I don't like wearing it. The CGM, either on my pump or the receiver from the Dexcom, can say I'm 68 when I'm really 95. Or it'll tell me I'm 55 when I'm actually 150.

The reason I'm wearing it is because for some reason my endo and husband think I should. They both know that it isn't accurate on me, but they wants me to wear it. Both of them believe I'm unaware of my falling blood sugars. No I'm fully aware of when they go low WHEN I'M AWAKE. The problem with me is, if I'm doing something, I want to finish it before I take care of my blood sugar. I'm been this way since my diagnosis, and I don't think it's going to change. And if I go low while sleeping, I go low with no warning other than the CGM. I've never been able to tell that I'm low while asleep, never since my diagnosis at the age of 5. How others can do it is a mystery to me.

I have never had diabetic burn out. I have a difficult time understanding the concept. I don't understand why anyone would become depressed simply because they have diabetes. To me it simply makes no sense. Diabetes isn't a death sentence. You can survive living with it.

Hollywood

Let's get one big and major thing straight. Men alone do not abuse women, girls and boys. There are women in the world who are horrible abusers too. Women who abuse their or other children, and those who are less powerful, are just as rotten as men who do.

You cannot blame all men for the rapes of people. Nor the placement of your position in a company. Women in power are more mean, ruthless and cruel to those who are in their way.

The women in Hollywood have gone nuts. They have decided that they are going tell things that happened over 40 years ago. Talk about things that WERE legal when they happened. If they were legal when they happened, you should not be complaining about them now. If you were of legal age, agreed to whatever you did. Shut up. If you didn't agree, why didn't your parents do something? Why? It was up to your parents to not allow you to date someone that much older than you.

I'm so sick of hearing about things that happened to women 40 years ago when they were teens, when it was legal where they lived. It may not be legal or acceptable now. But get over it. You don't have a reason to complain about it now if you didn't complain about it when it happened.

A lot of people had a much worse childhood than you did and they aren't crying over what happened to them. Instead of going on and on, go see a shrink or a social worker for talk therapy. You're richer than us normal average people. Just shut up.

Diabetic Forums with links to blogs/articles

I don't understand why some of the diabetic forums seem to enjoy linking to diabetic articles or blogs that tend to be full of downers. I mean I read two of them yesterday, that were just downers. The think that totally shocked me was I am the only person who thought that. The people got positive comments on what they wrote. I don't understand that.

This one tells you that most juvenile onset diabetics get depressed simply due to being a diabetic. I've heard that so often I want to scream. Why be depressed simply because you're a diabetic? I don't understand that. Diabetes is one of the easiest diseases/chronic illnesses to live with. You eat correctly and test your blood sugar and take your insulin. Watch where you walk, if you get a sore, make sure to treat it so it doesn't get infected. But then everyone should be doing everything we're doing.

Then this person goes on and on about how hard it is being a diabetic. Well life is hard. Being a diabetic isn't any more difficult than someone with stage four kidney disease, or cancer. At least we don't have to worry about losing our hair due to chemotherapy.

Then when people say that juvenile onset diabetes is a disability, I want to shriek a loud NO you morons. It is not a disability. It's a disease or an illness not a disability. There is no way in hell I want to be labeled as someone with a disability. Nope, no way no how. It's not going to happen. I've told people I'm a juvenile onset diabetic, but I've never said I have a disability. Not once. NEVER.

I've always told people about my diabetes. It isn't an embarrassment to me. Now maybe it's because I've been one since I was five and I don't know anything different. When I told one college friend about my diabetes, I learned that his sister was also a diabetic. I started writing her because of our diabetic link.

I didn't have people tell me about their family members losing legs or arms due to gangrene. I didn't have any family members who were also a juvenile onset diabetic. I am the only one is over 6 generations. Only me. No one else. Just me. And there was only one type two running around the family. Since these diseases are different, and she was in her 60's and I was a kid, we didn't talk. Nobody in my family nor did any of my friends try to tell me what to eat or what not to eat. Tried to tell me that I was going to die early, that I couldn't have children. None of that.

My being a diabetic really wasn't an issue. It was just a part of me. Why can't other juvenile onset diabetics feel that way too? I don't understand.

NFL has gone crazy

I can't believe the NFL. First Colin Kaepernick, that stupid QB, who wears socks calling police pigs. Then deciding he's not going to stand for the national anthem because he thinks police kill blacks more often than white people. That police officers are meaner to black people. Then the rest of the NFL doing the same thing. He's a jerk and not a very good quarterback.

Then any person who goes on their facebook face to say that the NFL players are babies, SOB's, ignorant, or just plain stupid, are called names. And they may be fired simply because they go on their private page to EXPRESS their opinion. That is FREEDOM of Speech. Excuse me but isn't this what the stupid NFL players are saying. If a person is fired for doing the exact same thing that the NFL players say they are doing, then what President Trump told the owners of the NFL teams was correct, Fire them for not standing. Because the NFL is a Business. It states in the rules that they are to stand for the national anthem and they are breaking the rules. I think the NFL players are stupid.

Now we have the Cam Newton, the QB of the Carolina Panthers being called names simply because he laughed at a question a stupid woman reporter asked him. When I heard the interview, I couldn't understand why anyone got bent out of shape. I am a female persona and I do not take offense at his laughter. I actually think it is right. It is funny hearing a woman ask any question to a professional male football player. It wasn't degrading to me or any woman who is sure of her femininity and sexuality.

I don't care if a women understands football, I do. I understand it more than my husband does. I don't like seeing a woman on the sidelines talking the any of the players or the coach. I don't like having to listen to a woman reporting the game. Most of the time these woman are not dressed correctly. I don't want to see their shoulders or how big their chests are. It's not a fashion show.

I don't like having women reporters in the locker room either. THEY DON'T BELONG IN MEN'S LOCKER ROOMS. I don't believe male reporters are allowed in women's locker rooms. So if men aren't allowed in women's locker rooms, women shouldn't be allowed in mens.

Insurnace Crap

I just learned today, September 18, ONE DAY after my 52nd anniversary of being diagnosed of Juvenile Onset Diabetes, that in all likelihood I will not be able to continue to use my Tandem T:Slim G4 Insulin Pump. Why? Because some jerk, at my husband's place of employment, who thinks they know something about juvenile onset/type 1 diabetics and insulin pumps, decided that the cartridges and syringes are not to be covered by his/my husband's policy. Customer support told me I could appeal this. So I'm waiting for an email telling me what all is needed for me to file the appeal. Needless to say, when I learned the cartridges were no longer covered, my blood sugar took a nose dive. The customer support woman was going to give me all the information over the phone, but I knew I'd never get it down correctly because I was so angry and with my blood sugar dropping, I knew I may make mistakes. Since she said she could email the information, I felt this was the safest way to get it.

Forums again

I've removed my membership from all but one of the diabetic forums I was a member of. I got sick and tired of putting up my suggestions, ideas and thoughts only to have them shot down by, a lot of the time, mothers of diabetics. A lot of the time, these parents, mainly the mothers, really don't know what they are talking about.

They seem to think, simply because they are the parent of a juvenile onset/type 1 diabetic, that they KNOW what it's like to actually live with the disease/chronic illness. Well they don't. Living with diabetes and being the caretaker or parent of one is not the same thing. Yes it's difficult to have a child with some sort of disease/ or disorder. It's not easy. It's harder on the person who has the disease or disorder. Especially when the person who is caring for them is a control freak.

Anyway, I found one forum where the parents don't post as often, and if they do, they listen to those of us who have had diabetes longer than most of these parents have been alive. We know what's it's like. We were alive before meters were used on a daily basis. We had to test our urine. We were lucky enough to use glass syringes and not the awful plastic syringes we are now forced to use if we use the syringe instead of the pen, which I won't ever use.

END OF THAT RANT.

I've been having a discussion with, I believe a type 2 diabetic who it looks like has Medicare, or about to go on it. Apparently Medicare is a bit upset with Dexcom because they only have FDA approval of the G5 mobile CGM for dosing insulin. So Medicare has told Dexcom to make a G5 receiver that cannot be connected to the mobile device.

This fellow is being really obtuse about my responses. He says he doesn't understand what I'm saying. I've said the same things two different ways. The last time being more specific. He's just being a jerk. I think he's being stupid because he thinks he's better than me all because I don't have a smart phone.

#1 my T:Slim G4 can't use the G5. It's still under the original warranty. So I can't get it upgraded to the new version of the X2 without paying around $500. So I'm keeping the G4. I'm not going to carry two diabetic devices just to monitor my blood sugar. AND, the top reason is. How do I know that the G5 will be any better than the G4 in what my meter reads and what the CGM gives me. I don't.

I can understand why Medicare is doing this. It's economics. If a person doesn't have a CGM or doesn't have the right type of smart phone and knows the only way "legally" they can dose their insulin is using the mobile app, there will be some who will actually believe that Medicare has to purchase the right smart phone for them. Granted not all people are like this, but there are some. So Medicare is trying to prevent this by forcing Dexcom to get FDA approval for the G5 receiver for dosing too. I don't know why they didn't do this too. Because everything I've read, the only FDA approved dosing is the mobile app.

NOT EVERYONE has the G5 or a smart phone. Is it fair to them that they can't dose from their receiver? Yes they can do it, and I'm sure a lot do. BUT if they are like me and have problems with the CGM the majority of the time being incorrect, they could give themselves more insulin than they really needed. And since the receiver hasn't had the FDA approval yet, would Dexcom be at fault? I think not.

So Medicare is just looking out for itself.