October 19, 2011
So recently my body decided it was going to go wacky on me. My diabetes was just not working with one type of insulin shot. I ended up in the ER because of this. My sugar was over 600 and I was scared. The ER doctor was a jerk and more or less guaranteed I won’t go back to an ER for sugar problems.
Now ever before all that my sugar was going wacky. My family doctor decided it had moved beyond what she could help me with and scheduled me to see a specialist in Grand Rapids. I’ve met with a doctor, a nutritionist, and an RN that were all far above my expectations in what I thought they’d tell me. Like my family doctor, they genuinely seemed to care about me (unlike the ER doctor and nutritionists I’d worked with previously).
My last appointment was with the RN and one of the main things discussed were insulin pumps. I always thought of insulin pumps as a double-edged sword. On one hand it means I don’t have to give myself shots numerous times a day, which is a good thing, I HATE NEEDLES. I don’t care who says it, my shots hurt almost every single time I take one. On the other hand though, I always thought of it as losing. That I was unable to defeat this thing taking over my body.
The RN made a very good point to me. Its not losing, its just moving on to fighting with better tools.
On Monday night I faxed the forms requesting to be setup with a pump to the manufacturer. By Tuesday afternoon I had received a call from the local representative stating he had already contacted my doctor and my insurance company and that my insurance would cover a pump and a continuous glucose monitor (ie. I don’t have to check my blood sugar 4-8 times in a day, just 1-2). Also, because I was past my deductible for the year, my insurance would pay 90%. On top of that, I was only $532.30 from my annual out of pocket expenses before the insurance company would begin covering 100%.
So, I was told I’d need to pay the $532.30 to cover my pump, monitor, and a 90 day supply of disposable bits and pieces. That’s when my heart sank. I’m unemployed. I’m a full time student. Stay at home day. My only source of income is my wife, and we have many bills.
I’ve decided to repurpose my Donation button. If anyone would feel kind enough to help me raise this money I would be very appreciative. If anyone would also like to reshare this blog post, again I would very much appreciate it.
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August 17, 2011
Wow, March 2010 was my last post … I’ve been a bad blogger.
Anyways lets get started!
SOME UPDATES
Well in the past year and a half I have:
- applied for school
- been accepted
- been denied after the fact
- had to move
- paid off big bills
- celebrated Alan’s first birthday
- finally got back in to school
- learned to hate money even more than I already did
- and having to deal with a family member losing their job
So there are a few updates. I’ll probably add more at another time.
MY FUTURE
Since I started back to school I’ve been working on my Bachelor’s in Computer Science. A good all around degree. But, like most students, I’ve found myself falling farther and farther away from the general and have found an area I would really love to focus on. Networking. Specifically Cisco Networking. The problem? I can’t change my degree or I’ll lose all of my financial aid. So I’m stuck in my current program for another year until I can graduate and reapply.
The big catch is I can actually teach myself the information and take certifications that say I’m competent enough to do the work. The problem with that is it can be quite expensive between the tests and the equipment needed to study. All of this brings me to ….
A REQUEST
The certification exams I would like to take over the next year will cost roughly $725 and training equipment is roughly $300-500.
What I am hoping is that maybe my friends out here would be interested in giving a little or at least passing my page on to others that might be willing to help. I’m going to have a PayPal “Donate” link setup on my page and anyone that would like to donate should feel free.
I am open to any questions you may have. There is not much I can really give back but my thanks and updates of how my training is going.
Thank you all for reading.
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March 3, 2010
Right now I look down at my clock and it says “9:03 AM” and all I can do is think … “crap, three more hours”. Today is the day I start insulin treatments for my diabetes. Of the few people that read my blog I’m sure you all know that I’ve been diabetic for about five years now. Type II. Meaning I only had to take pills and work on my diet and exercise. Well now I’ve been promoted. I’m not exactly sure if it’s called Type I for me or insulin dependent Type II.
A couple of weeks ago I had to get my blood work done for my annual physical (which I had last week). All seemed to go well, I had been feeling tired, but nothing out of the ordinary. On Tuesday of last week (the day before my physical) I received a call from the head nurse at my doctor’s office saying she needed to talk to me before my appointment. Having already missed the opportunity to call back that day (by about ten minutes), I began a long, hard, thirteen hour wait until I could call in the next morning at 7 AM, only two hours before my physical.
I spent those thirteen hours more or less making lists of what could or could not possibly be what she wanted to talk to me about. After a couple of hours I had it pretty well settled that it was going to be a warning that the doctor wants to put me on insulin. It’s really the only thing I could think of that the receptionist just couldn’t tell me. Sure enough the next morning I pull myself out of bed and call the office at 7 AM sharp and what was I told? “Andrew, Doctor Roy wanted me to call you and let you know your A1C reading was extremely high and she is going to be talking to you about starting insulin treatments when you come in for your appointment.” It took ten seconds and felt like my life was going to end.
Sure enough, when I got to my physical I looked at my “report card” and my HBA1C was 11.1. For those that haven’t had that tested, yes, that is high, that is very, very high. Your A1C should be below 7, my last check was 8.4. The doctor said it meant that my sugar averaged over 400 a day, when it needs to be around 100. The biggest thing that this leads to is the likelihood that my pancreas was more or less shutting down and no longer producing insulin. The tests also showed that my kidney function has begun to deteriorate, which is also very bad. On a bright note, my cholesterol was good at 95 (needing to be below 100) for the first time in years.
I left the doctor’s that day with no modified prescriptions and two new ones. Anti-depressants (which I’m having problems with – not with the pills themselves, but with my insurance not wanting to pay for them) and my insulin. I also left with slips for three new appointments, one for today – my insulin education “class”, one for next week to double check my blood pressure and one for the week after to see how I’m doing on insulin.
I want to take a moment to publicly thank Jim Hines. Every now and then in his blog he writes about diabetes, as he’s had Type I for a number of years. I’ve read and re-read those blogs and they’ve helped me a lot. Especially where he reminds everyone that having to be on insulin isn’t losing its just the next stage of the game. It’s a hard thing to come to terms with and he helped me a lot. Jim is also an author from the East Lansing/Holt area that has written a number of great books (I’ve reviewed at least one on the site) and I recommend you check him out at
his blogI always say I’m going to try to write more and maybe I will maybe I won’t. I will get an update since as many know seven weeks ago today my son Alan Scott was born and I’ve had so many things I’ve wanted to say and do about him that well I don’t know, I’m rambling a little now. Here’s to another update, hopefully less than five months from now.
Posted in Life | 2 Comments » | Tags: diabetes, Jim C Hines, Life
September 4, 2009
Many who read this may or may not know that I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes around five years ago. Since then I have done very poorly at remembering to take my medication or check my blood sugar.
Enter [url=http://www.rememberthemilk.com]Remember the Milk[/url] and my nifty new glucometer. I’ve been using RtM for roughly three weeks now and I can’t recall I day that I’ve missed my pills. I use the note feature in it to keep track of my blood pressure and my blood sugar as well. The site is great on it’s own or you can integrate it into gmail (and possibly other e-mail clients), an iPhone/iPod Touch, or even most Smart Phones.
I’ve only been checking my blood sugar now for five days and the results always seem bleak. So far they’ve ranged between 223-281 in the morning with one fluke of 181 and between 292 and 367 in the evening a couple hours after dinner and before bed. In the morning the results should range between 80 and 120 and two hours after meals it should be 160 or less.
On a bright note my morning readings have been getting increasingly lower with the 281 being the first day I checked and the 223 being this morning. My evening results seem to hover between 290 and 300 for the most part.
Now admittedly I was in denial for probably the first two years of my diagnosis because I’m fairly young and I like to eat. And liking to eat is my problem. You cold even say it’s my bane.
Now it’s not that I like to sit around and eat all the time, but I do like good food and I do like to go out from time to time.
I’ve learned when going out your best bet is to get water to drink. Most resturants have a very poor selection of sugar free drinks: water and diet cola. Ok so water it is (unless the place has particularly good Diet Coke – which I only know of one anymore). The next thing up is what to eat. My favorite foods are Chinese and Italian – both are a nightmare for diabetics. The rice and pasta turn into glucose and up goes your levels (in fact that 367 was after a dinner at The Olive Garden). Now the obvious answer here is probably to just not go out and eat these things. I can better select what I make at home.
This brings me to an even bigger problem. I’m diabetic, my wife and roommate are not. So what do we commonly end up eating. Usually cheap and easy pasta dishes (mac and cheese or knock-off Hamburger Helper). There have been many times I’ve just wanted to throw all the bad things out, but they’re so good.
You’re body does need so many carbs everyday and smaller more regular portions are better, but have you ever seen how much is actually in a serving of pasta? About 1/2 cup. I’m 6’5″ tall and I weight about 280 lbs. A 1/2 cup of pasta is actually about the size of my fist, maybe a little less. And I’m one hungry guy.
I’ve tried following appropriate diets in the past, but with two people that never seem to have to worry about how high their blood sugar goes compared just one of me, I tend to cook for the masses. I don’t like inflicting what I have to go through on them.
Lately I find myself being asked “What’s for dinner?” and my response is to look over at my testing stuff (glucometer, lancer and my blood pressure cuff) and just say “Nothing, eat what you want.” Why? Because my brain says “if you eat, you’re sugar will be high and you’ll be depressed all the next day.” Do I go without eating? Not generally, in fact when that happens I eat too much. Kraft needs to learn to make 1.5 box sized boxes of mac and cheese since 2 boxes is too much for three people, but one is not enough.
What I find amusing is that it costs far too much money to do the healthy thing when you are sick. I can get a bag of cereal that is full of carbs (and lots and lots of sugar) for about $2 and it’ll last me three weeks or more, or I can buy and carton of eggs for about $1.29 and it won’t even last a week. Foods that are good for you like raw vegetables I can’t eat, they make me ill. I do so wish I could eat a salad. Fresh fruits are high in sugar, and while that kind of sugar is better and your body can handle it easier, it’s still too sweet.
Well enough of the rambling. There may be health updates as things go along. Hopefully next up will be a review of District 9.
Posted in Life | No Comments » | Tags: cooking, diabetes, family, food, health, Life
August 11, 2009
On Friday night I decided my wife and I were going to see an early showing of the movie Julie/Julia. We’d wanted to see the movie since we saw the previews. I mean who wouldn’t want to see a Prada wearing witch turned french chef and an animated princess turned housewife.
Meryl Streep does an absolutely stunning job as Julia Child. She was fun, amusing and kept me enthralled. Amy Adams was also divine as Julie Powell. While I enjoyed the parts about the blog that led to the book and movie the scenes in the fifties and sixties are what I kept waiting to go back to.
I firmly believe that after watching this movie you will have hundreds of urges to cook. And do you know what I have to say to those urges? DO IT! Just don’t burn down your house or make hot dog noodle soup.
I definitely give this movie a rating of 5/5.
Just remember, I laughed, I cried, I got fat, and you will too.
Bon Apetite
Posted in Review | 2 Comments » | Tags: cooking, Julia Child, Julie Powell, movies, Review
August 8, 2009
For those who read my earlier posts thanks. I’m sorry I’ve been out of sync with writing. Every time I sit down to write the internal editor says “NO!” and deletes it.
There have been a lot of things to happen since my last post and I’ve just been overwealmed to say the least. Many, if not all, who read here have seen or heard that my wife is pregnant with our first child. That experience has led to a lot of self searching and depression that I’ve been working through. But those parts are a story for another day, or likely not because I’m sure no one really needs to read about the destructive nature of man.
I’ve believe I have three reviews I’m currently working on, although I might try something interesting with one of them. Plus I’m starting a couple of projects and while I’m not exactly sure how I will get them out. I will notify on here first.
A couple months back in my post titled “You Make Me Want To Be A Better Person” I mentioned that I needed to take my pills. Well I’ve remembered about fifty percent of the time now. But it was kinda hard writing that post when I couldn’t say that my wife was pregnant. I still go through a lot thinking that my health will lead to problems for me where I worry I might not get to see my children grow up. So I’m gonna try and do this. And if I can lose about fifty more pounds the doctor thinks I’ll be off at least one pill.
My reason for mentioning this again is to ask if anyone has any ideas for tracking and reminders. I’m horrible at it (unless it’s my money).
Well to better days and hopefully reviews for next week.
Thank you everyone and good night.
Posted in Life | 2 Comments » | Tags: Random Gibberish
June 27, 2009
We’ve all heard the tales of the Fairy Tale Princesses – Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. I’m sure as kids some of us may have even “played pretend”. One thing I will say is these are not the princesses you grew up with, and I think that’s a good thing.
So many people seem afraid of reimagining things. In the recent years we’ve had a reimagining of Battlestar Galactica where the Cylons (at least a few of them) are human looking, a new Knight Rider, which honestly I cannot comment too much on as I didn’t watch it, and even a new Star Trek that seemed to surpass even those who have been involved with the older series expectations. Jim Hines has brought a reimagining like nothing I’ve seen before (well maybe in one small scene in Shrek 3 and the character isn’t right anyways).
The Stepsister Scheme brings new life to old classics. When Cinderella’s husband is kidnapped, she has to team up with pale white sorceress and a hot tempered, light on her feet beauty to travel through various kingdoms in search of the prince. Throughout we meet members of the fairy lands, with my personal favorite being a drunken gnome – how I love gnomes.
I thouroughly enjoyed this book. It has by far been the best book I’ve read this year. This is the first story I’ve read by Jim Hines and I can definitely say I look forward more. I cannot wait for The Mermaid’s Madness to come out later this year.
Posted in Review | 1 Comment » | Tags: Fairy Tales, Jim C Hines, Review, The Stepsister Scheme
June 12, 2009
I’m sure most people have seen the movie “As Good As It Gets” with Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear. If you haven’t, I’m sorry, the movie is over 10 years old so I’m not going to worry about spoiling anything for you.
So near the end of the movie Nicholson tells Hunt “You make me want to be a better person” during this sob story about his pills. Have you ever felt like that or a had a person fill you with such joy that you want to change something about yourself?
Today I recieved a letter from my doctor. I am evidently past due for my diabetes checkup (although I was informed in January they didn’t want to see me until August). It made me realize I am horrible at taking pills. I hate taking pills. I’m supposed to take at least 12 pills a day. That’s a lot of pills. 2 for sugar, 1 for blood pressure, 1 for a fast pulse, 5 for pain, 1 for high cholesterol, an aspirin for heart protection and a vitamin. That’s a lot of fraking pills.
I admit that I forget a lot. In fact I don’t think I’ve taken them for two weeks. Why is that? Because I too lazy to keep my pill bottles prepped. I had a wonderful system of these nifty little vial like plastic tubes that I could fit a dose into. I set them up to have morning and evening bottles. I’d take each dose and then I’m supposed to toss them in a box so I can start refilling them … and well I don’t know where most of them are now.
I know I need to take my pills. I know I need to lose weight – doing so means I don’t have to take my pills because my body should straighten itself out. I want to be a better person. I want to be around for my wife, my kids (when I have any), my family and my friends.
So now I sit here trying to figure out what to do. I find myself sitting alone a lot lately. I try to do constructive things (this blog for example). I try to make things. I try to do so many things. In the end, I feel like I’ve done nothing. I’ve always chocked this up to “It’s Life” and deal with it. That may or may not be best way to handle, but until better things get figured out that’s how it will be.
And I’ve now realized that I’m moving farther and farther away from my thoughts when I started this post and should probably stop. I’m going to try to write over the weekend, but I hope to have a new review up on Monday and hopefully going into the next week I’ll get better plans for what’s going to be posted regularly on track (or at least started).
Posted in Life | 2 Comments » | Tags: health, Life, move references, Random Gibberish
June 9, 2009
So I was thinking that having a couple of posts a week that are just general thoughts and ideas and well randomness probably wouldn’t be a bad thing. And well this blog is titled “Random Ramblings …”
On my way home from lunch today I was listening to “The Moody Blues” and one phrase from a song has just been running through my head.
“When the music plays, when the words are touched with sorrow.”
Music has always been a very driving force in my life and I’ve always thought of it as an absoluetely awesome way a good song writer can depict emotions. In fact if I don’t feel something from a song I don’t feel it’s a good song, nor usually a song worth listening to again. Oddly enough it doesn’t matter what the song is, it will cause you to feel something. That feeling may be boredom but it’s a feeling nonetheless.
Lately I’ve found myself listening to more instrumental music than I have in the past. Now granted when I say instrumental, it’s likely heavy synth and rock instrumental as opposed to classical. I’ve found that instrumentals have more of an effect on feeling than songs with lyrics, and yes I do kinda put a difference between feeling and emotion.
Well I know find my train of thought failing (in fact I started this around 2PM and it’s now 8:30PM), so I hope my little bit of writing has been interesting. Until next time.
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June 8, 2009
Alright, this is kind of a cop out I know, but I’m going to start my Monday reviews with a repost of a review I posted back in September. Some may have read it, but those new to the site (or at least my blog since really everyone is new to this site) I hope will enjoy it. Without further ado I present to you the repost of my review of “Blackstaff Tower” by Steven E. Schend.
Here’s the first in my hopes of many future reviews.
Blackstaff Tower
by Steven E Schend
Right now I sit at my in-laws. It is 10PM CST and I have just set down Blackstaff Tower, finishing it’s Epilogue with a great smile on my face. This book and Mistshore by Jayleigh Johnson are the first books to give us an inside view of Waterdeep — The City of Spenldors, as it appears in the 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Now I hope that last statement does not turn anyone off to this wonderful tale. Whether you love or hate the changes to D&D or the Forgotten Realms, this book is well worth reading.
After the shock that hit me during the Prologue it was actually about two days before I was able to move onto Chapter One (but for that I do truly blame work). I fell in love with Renaer Neverember. He reminded me of me, which one always sees as a positive when picking up a new book. Renaer likes to know things, he researches, he collects, but in the end it’s all about the knowledge and its what makes a difference.
Now for those who are coming in fresh, Khelben Arunsun is dead. He died in the year 1374 – The Year of Lightning Storms while participating in a ritual of high magic to bring about the City of Hope — Rhymanthiin. Upon his death, Tsarra Chaadren took up the mantle of the Blackstaff leading us into the whirlwind that begins this book. I’ll avoid the history lesson further (while I may post some later) except to say at the beginning of the book, Samark Dhanzscul is the fifth to hold the title of Blackstaff.
I went into reading this book sitting of the opinion that I was reading it purely for information … I had no interest whatsoever in what has happened to the Realms. I was expecting the same rich and informative writing that Steven has brought to us in his previous novel (Blackstaff) and his other game materials. I went into this book hoping to see the history of Tsarra Chaadren. Well what can I say except that I was thrown for a loop.
Steven has continued to impress me with his fiction writing (as opposed to game writing — which tends to blur together at times). His references to minor characters of the Realms’ past have always driven me to research … I like knowing what I’m reading about, and this book was no exception. How many people can make me constantly wonder about a penguin?
As for information on Tsarra? It’s there, but as I previously mentioned the book begins with the fifth Blackstaff … it was a small shock to me, but knowing how some things have been torn apart recently it wasn’t completely unexpected. The fact that her history was still gotten across decently with her being deceased for such a long time was impressive.
Now I get back to my previous mentioning about the Forgotten Realms of 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. I had no interest in it, and still have very minor interests. Upon finishing this book, not only do I want to do some research on some of the mentioned characters, but I want to dive straight into Misthore, re-read this book, and am seriously considering checking out the rest of the “Ed Greenwood presents Waterdeep” series.
My only complaint on this book is it seems too short. It’s wet my appetite and I want more. The characters were all intriguing and I would love to see Steven write more about them. They are far too interesting to be left alone.
I give this book a 5 out of 5. It is by far one of the best pieces of fiction that was not a sequel that I have read this year. It also includes something unseen in most current fantasy books … a Glossary.
Bravo Steven! As Ed Greenwood says in his introduction — “I couldn’t wait to read it the first time through — and when I was done, I couldn’t wait to read it again.”
Posted in Retro, Review | No Comments » | Tags: Blackstaff Tower, Retro Review, Review, Steven E Schend