Diabetic Brunch

I have the coolest family/friends! Hannah, my sister-in-law organized a breakfast party with some friends and came over on Saturday morning. She brought bacon and eggs (carb free!) and they all came over dressed as famous diabetics. Hannah is supposed to be Billie Jean King, and Liz is Mick Fleetwood. The skewers are drumsticks. :) Liz printed out pictures of all of them, and I was amazed at how many famous people are diabetic! Halle Berry, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Thomas Edison, Ella Fitzgerald, et al. Wow!

Here's Allison and me in our sweet necklaces!

A self portrait by Liz.

I took all of my diabetes paraphenalia out of the "diaper bag," and it took up the whole table! I don't carry around everything, but now that I look at it, it's just a LOT of stuff. I had to stand on the couch just to get it all in the view finder!

Thanks girls for the encouragment!

The First Shot

This is my fake "I don't wanna do this!" face. It's pretty much how I felt inside though.

First, I washed my hands to prepare to check my blood glucose level.

I pricked my finger and touched it to the end of the little black strip.

This was my reading, 314. A normal reading is between 70-110. Yikes.

I stalled for time and changed into my PJs. Then I took my time reading the instructions.

I got the needle on the insulin pen, and I flicked the pen just like they do in the movies.

This is me and the pen having a staring contest. My heart was pounding by this point.

After an hour of avoiding the inevitable, Nathan did the injection.

This is my real face... pretty pitiful, huh?

Thanks to Allison for documenting everything. She said she felt like a voyer for snapping pictures at such an intense event, but I'm glad I got it on camera. She lightened the mood. :)

Taylor Homecoming

I got to meet Cooper, Hannah's new baby, for the first time!

Jessica (J-Bell) and Jeff were on my Trinidad missions trip in '02. Dear friends!

This is Nathan and me with Dr. Heth, my Bible teacher, and father-in-law to both Hannah and Heidi.

This is the beautiful new prayer chapel. I was so impressed with the spirit of the building.

This is Nathan relaxing under a tree near the music building. Shortly thereafter, he jumped up because he found a spider crawling on him, which got his blood pumping again.

Heidi and I dressed up as twins for Halloween when we were in college.

Kristi and I got to hang out for a few minutes before leaving for Tim's grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary celebration.

My Awesome Husband

In the craziness of the past few weeks, I totally forgot to blog about this!

Nathan and I have date night every Monday night, and we take turns being in charge of dinner and the evening's activities. About three weeks ago, Nathan was in charge, and after his dinner of spaghetti and salad, we went for a walk by the Chattahoochee River. We took the camping chairs and sat down by the bank. In his usual boyish fashion, Nathan took a stick that was lying near where we were sitting and began to dig. Soon, he had dug up a plastic bag.

"Gosh! People can't seem to throw away their trash. Litterbugs!" he muttered.

"Hey!" I said. "There's a note inside it! What if it was written by some guy proposing to his girlfriend? We should leave alone."

"It's probably wet," he replied, and stuck his hand inside the bag. "Nope. It's dry!" He looked at me with eyebrows raised in anticipation. "Wanna read it?" he asked.

"Yeah." I took the bag and reached in for the note. I unfolded it, and to my great surprise, it was written in Nathan's handwriting, and it was dated that VERY day!


Nathan had written me a very clever poem that described the evening's surprise, a scavenger hunt. We ended up at the cemetary nearby and I found another plastic bag, and inside was a movie Nathan had borrowed from the local library, "Liar, Liar." We went home and watched it and ate popcorn. Isn't he fun and oh, so romantic?




I love him.

Small Update, No Pictures

This is just a small update promising pictures tomorrow. I am still behind at school and home, so I would appreciate your prayers for me to maximize my time.

My friend Allison is leaving today (so sad!), and her visit could not have been better timed. We just made lots of memories together: my first shot, a Whitefield pep rally and football game, brunch with friends, dinner with in-laws, church, the World of Coke museum, dinner at our favorite pizza place, etc. I've got pictures of almost everything!

One last thought... I feel like getting out of the house, getting ready for a meal, etc. takes FOREVER! Allison and I went to Willy's and got lunch on Saturday, and by the time I took my blood glucose reading, recorded my scores, gave myself an insulin shot, and drank my Reliv shake, she was halfway done with her meal (although she was trying to eat slowly). I've been late for school because my routine just takes longer. I get most frustrated at night. Sometimes I'm so tired I just want to skip brushing my teeth and go straight to bed, but I just can't! I have to go through the whole 30 minute beditme routine, with most steps having steps themselves. 1) Check blood sugar, 2) Record levels in log book and on paper to fax to doctor, 3) Give myself insulin shot, 4) Drink Reliv shake, 5) Take BC pill, 6) Take out contacts, 7) Brush and floss teeth, 8) Brush and put in retainers, 9) Put on MI paste (from the dentist), 10) Wash and moisturize face, 11) Fall into bed!

Also, I feel like I'm carrying around a diaper bag everywhere I go. Needles, insulin pens, blood sugar meter, Kleenex, charts, Reliv powder and cup and straw, emergency glucose shot, glucose tablets, snacks, etc. Maybe the Lord is preparing me for the future stress of remembering all the important equipment that babies need. :)

Thanks to my faithful readers. I feel loved by your comments and e-mails and phone calls.

It's for Real Now

My appointment went so, so well. I was nervous while I was sitting in the waiting room with Nathan for over an hour, but as soon as I got into the examination room, I was filled with the peace of God. Thank you for your prayers!

The nurse practitioner, Pat, we met with was wonderful. She did some basic checks. My eyes, nose, ears, blood pressure, etc. are fine. She did the reflex hammer thing on my forearms, elbows, knees, and ankles, but nothing happened except on my ankles a little. I'm not sure what that means, exactly, but I'm going to find out. Next, they took my blood glucose meter and got all of these charts and graphs from it. It was really cool. She explained everything, and it was clear that I have type I diabetes. I felt very calm and was able to focus and listen while she was talking, which I feel is a direct result of your prayers. She even stopped and said, "You're taking this news very, very well."

We met with the very Southern bowtie-sporting, monogrammed crisp white shirt and linen pants-wearing endocrinologist, Dr. Welch, after that, who just introduced himself and said that he concurred with everything the nurse practitioner said. He signed off on the prescriptions and went on his way.

After that, we went downstairs to get trained for the shots. A really great nurse, Jane, who we met last week at the diabetes class, showed us how to do the injections. She is so wonderfully funny! She's a very witty Irish Catholic lady from Boston, and she told me to be careful with the "wicked sharp" needles with her thick Massachussetts accent. :) I have to measure my blood sugar and take an injection before every meal and before bed. I was just smiley and fine the whole time! Praise God!

I picked up my friend, Allison, from the airport a few hours later, and we had fun chatting it up. Before we knew it, it was 10:30, and I was super tired. However, I had to give myself my first injection. Allison got the camera, and we decided to document everything. I, of course, forgot to bring the camera to school today, but I will post pictures and videos soon.

It took me over an hour to gear myself up for the shot. I paced, gave myself a pep talk, tried to distract myself, cried a little, etc. Finally, when Nathan came home from his brother's house at 11:30, I just had him inject the insulin in my hip. I held on to Allison while he stuck it in. He kept saying, "I haven't even done it yet!" but I knew he was lying because I felt the little prick. We all had a nice group hug afterwards, and I was exhausted!

This morning I woke up nervous knowing that I had to do the injections myself today. God is good, because my 6th grade advisee girls brought a yummy breakfast, and I was hungry, so I knew I had to just DO it and get something to eat. I checked my blood sugar, which was down to 136 (my lowest reading ever!), they prayed for me, I went into the bathroom shaking and did the injection in my stomach, and I came back and had a muffin. :)

And here we are... I just want to thank you again for your prayers. I am still getting used to this stuff, so please don't stop!

PTL Plus More Prayer

Well, Renita worked her magic and I will see an endocrinologist tomorrow at 4 p.m. I don't have to schedule a sub, and I got in THIS week! Praise God! Thank you for your prayers.

Please continue praying for me, as I've been just sick to my stomach thinking about more needles and pumps and... ugh. I get shaky just thinking about it. Anyway, I will see a P.A. and the endocrinologist and hopefully get a clear diagnosis. Renita said that they'll most likely start me on insulin shots tomorrow.

Thankfully, my very funny friend Allison is flying into Atlanta tomorrow night, and she'll be hanging out with me for the weekend. I'm so grateful that God ordained this trip to happen at just this time. I need to lighten up, and she's just the gal to make that happen. :)

I'll try to post pictures of Taylor's homecoming (and my 5-year reunion). It was such a blast! I got to spend time with Kathy and Bob Blume, who told me about Taylor and about Nathan. I saw lots of good friends and got to soak up several days of Indiana fall. Beautiful.

Thanks again for your prayers, y'all. I'll keep you posted.