Lil' Dean Fam

These are for you, uncle Stuart. Hope they are new ones!

Today I had a break through with one of my students. He is from Korea and has only been in the United States for about five months. Sometimes I really wonder if his English is improving at all. He understands a lot about what is going on. I have no doubt about that. He gets along well with the other students and is actually probably my class clown. However, I just really worry about his reading and writing. He has a difficult time reading anything and his pronunciation is awful. I wonder if he even understands anything about what he's reading. He takes lots of notes although his handwriting is barely legible. I wonder if he even knows what he is writing or if he is simply copying and is only gaining the handwriting practice. However, today was the big break-through. We were doing our literacy rotations this morning when he was looking bored and wanted to come read with me. So, I let him. Sometimes you just have to give in. Boy, was I glad I did so today. He sat down and began readi...

I saw my diabetes specialist today. The news was pretty good. My weight has remained the same in the last 4 months and my blood presure was great. My HbA1c was at a 7.1, up from 6.8 at my last visit. He did say though, that I am still in good control and that I'll just need to monitor my sugars a little more closely. He reminded me about writing down glucose levels which is something I used to be very faithful at, but haven't done in over 2 years. One topic of discussion that came up was the continuous glucose monitor (CGM). This is a device which is fairly new to the public market that monitors glucose levels continuously- hence the name. So, this means it is taking a reading subscutaneously (under the skin) without a finger prick. But, this does not eliminate the need for blood testing because this must still be done about 3 times a day to calibrate the monitor. The crappiest thing about this though, is that insurance is not covering the monitoring at all yet, so it is very e...

This is the third year we've been to the Utah International Auto Expo at the South Towne Expo Center. We've enjoyed seeing all of the new cars each year. I like to look at the concept cars, although I didn't take any pictures of them. We also have a fun time looking at and sitting inside of the cars you know you'll never be able to own. Ryan had a blast this year running around and playing with the steering wheels. The Lexus LS 460 GL. This is the car that can park its self. There were constantly people in all four seats of this car. The girl doing the demo pointed out some awesome features like the shiatsu massage in the back seat. One of the Mustang timeline display another old mustang Colin inside of the Camaro Colin inside of the Lexus One thing we noticed while sitting inside was how quiet everything was. The glove compartment, the door switches, nothing made a noise. Ryan was running around enjoying himself Me & Ryan in the Malibu Maxx SS. I love this car...

The following is a series of posts I've created to document one day in my life with diabetes. I hope that you will find them interesting. I’ve enjoyed putting this together and I want to thank my husband, Colin for helping me take these pictures throughout the day. Diabetes is such a huge part of my life, and I guess I just want to share some images and words with you so that you can maybe realize the impact that it has on me each day. I was diagnosed with diabetes in April of 2001, nearly 6 years ago. It has been a struggle at times, and at other times it has been a blessing. I think I’ve become more aware of my eating and exercising habits because of the disease. I’ve also probably become a little more stressed out and perhaps more obsessive-compulsive about other aspects of my life because diabetes is something that is so difficult to control. I am not mad that I have diabetes, but some days I wish I could take a diabetes vacation. The star of most of the images that w...

My lunch may seem like an ordeal to you, but this is so normal for me. I'm very used to it. my meter in it's case. It holds (as you can see below) the meter, the lancet delivery device, the test strips, and whatever I want to put in that little mesh side pocket, usually more lancets and alchohol srtips. The "tester" as I call it, open and ready to use needs a new lancet and bottle of test strips. The official name is glucometer. Mine is the One Touch Ultra and I love it. lancet delivery device with cap off, old lancet inside has to be taken out and properly disposed of empty lancet delivery device, needs a new lancet new lancet Lancet delivery device is ready for pokings. finger prick, left hand ring finger. milk finger to get blood drop and apply to strip for reading, then wait 5 seconds PB&J, 2 slices of bread 15 carbs each, 2 Tbs PB= 0 carbs 2 Tbs Jelly 8 carbs. Total 38 carbs. Deliver 2 units to bring my high blood sugar down, and 5 for the sandwich, the tot...

Ryan and I do some Dance Dance Revolution to get some exercise for the day. This wasn't a great session of exercise, but exercise is an important part of diabetes care. This is probably where I can use the most improvement. I just don't do it enough. I find it difficult to fit into my schedule of being a full-time teacher and mother. A high reading is not what I was expecting, which is why you should always "test, not guess" as they say on dLife. So, I'll take 3 units to bring my blood sugar down to normal range. I take 1:33 for lowering blood sugars above 100. This means, for every 33 points above 100, I have to take 1 unit of insulin to lower it the 33 points. I usually don't take any extra unless my bg is over 160. excellent reading! 1 regular sized bannana (small) about 20 carbs. Don't forget to bolus, even if it is just a snack. I can usually tell though if I don't need to bolus for a snack, which can happen like before exercise or if I feel l...

Testing on my left hand index finger for dinner. a normal reading. I will not have to take any extra insulin at this meal, only that needed to "cover" the carbs. Half of a Cafe Rio grilled chicken salad with rice, pinto beans, tortilla strips, lettuice, tortilla, tomato, and creamy tomatillo dressing. I'd guess about 50 carbs so I took 7.0 units of insulin to cover this meal. 2 oatmeal cookies, about 35 carbs. Deliver bolus of 5.0 units