Vacationing with Diabetes.

I wish I could take a vacation FROM diabetes but no such luck. Not yet anyway.

Vacationing with diabetes is typically a pain. Diabetics are structured. Their care is controlled. The responsibilities are constant. Routine is their life. Vacations throw everything off balance…and the diabetic struggles.

I went to New York for 10 days. 10 days of family love. 10 days of friend love. 10 days of soul hugs. 10 days of being able to breathe. 10 days of real people, fall foliage, country comfort and full on happiness.

























But, also, 10 days of high blood sugars, occlusions, poor and unscheduled eating, not enough sleep, too much running around, not counting carbs, getting off track, blah de blah de blah.

Unfortunately, my Romney Pawed wasn’t scheduled for my travel plans. Omni users know that there’s a 3 day rule. There is no choice. On that third day, Omni quits. Kaput. I mean, you can take the pod off early…but that is a waste of pod & insulin. Lucky me, Romney quit on a tiny plane going from Newark to Albany. I had no room to move, seriously, none. It was like I was sitting in an old biplane. My bag was shoved on the floor, my feet on top of it, my sweater and purse on my lap. All I needed were goggles and a scarf.

























I heard Romney’s shrill beep and knew it was time. I ripped the pod off, threw it in my purse and debated leaving it off until I reached my Aunt’s house. I began mentally configuring the time….landing, luggage, rental, hour drive, dropping off my mom, getting to my Aunt’s. I decided I couldn’t last that long without insulin and started to insert. The only spot I could reach was my upper arm. Romney hurt like a mofo from the moment it was inserted. I left it in until I got to my Aunt’s where I just had to take it off. Don’t judge but I removed the insulin from the used pod and put it in the new. I’m not made of money, ya know.

Since I only packed 2 extra pods, I was down by one.

That extra one was used after my pod petered out on the way to Cohen’s Bakery in Ellenville, NY. Occlusion!! It screamed and immediately stopped delivering. I have a nice bruise where that pod was. Yay! My poor body is so beat up. Anyway. I was left with zero extra pods. Great. I told the Universe that I didn’t want anymore problems for the remainder of the trip. Thankfully, she listened and obliged. Oh, and btw, if you are headed to Cohen’s, don’t miss out on the Raisin Pumpernickel Bread. It’s famous and super yummy. Send me a loaf, too, please. Thanks.

























Speaking of the best Raisin Pumpernickel in the world, I also had constant high sugars. Hey!! I was on vacation! In NY! With family!! How could I NOT eat pasta, pizza, Chinese food, hard rolls, donuts, subs, ice cream cakes! NY!!! I was in carb heaven…..mmmmm.

Now I am back in Vegas, back in the desert, back to my prison, back to chicken, fish & veggies. Back into my little rut of living and eating. Blah. I can’t breathe here. I know that sounds weird but I can’t. Dorothy knew what she was talking about. There’s no place like home.












So, I don’t care that I fell off track. 10 days of being off track versus 24 years of being on track is worth it to me. My heart is full, my soul is happy, my smile is bright….and myshugana can suck it.

*Peace.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Welp. Here is the vlog I have been promising for a few weeks. Sorry it has taken me so long. I just have been super busy lately. I'm like a crazy person! Plus, the batteries in the camera died. I did not have any in the house..wink wink... and I kept forgetting to buy new ones. So, with new batteries in hand, tonight is the night.

Unfortunately, I am tired, cranky and look like a hawt mess. Plus, my videographer has no idea how the camera works. haha! Neither do I so I apologize for the bad quality, lack of editing, sudden stops and the black line across the screen. I hope you get the general idea in spite of it all. :)

I wanted to show the process for inserting my pod. I get a lot of curious looks and quiet questions about it so I thought it would make for a good vlog subject.

Two blondes were given a video camera........

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Hahaha! Why do I have a lisp?! Do I have that in real life? Anyone? Bueller?

*Peace.

Romney Pawed

I started the Omnipod on Tuesday. They had a great deal for Cozmo users who ultimately made a bad pump choice. If you weren’t aware, Cozmore stopped manufacturing and selling their insulin pump. This sucked because most insurances will not cover a replacement insulin pump until the current warranty expires. I have 2 years left on my warranty so I was out of luck.

I came across the Omnipod while doing some research on my soon to be obsolete Cozmo. They had a demo pod that you could try for free. I ordered one and away I went. Once I got the free pod, I didn’t wear it because I have enough crap on my body, but I gave it a good once over. ‘Tubeless.’ I thought while shoving my tubing back into my pants ‘Nice. I should have picked this one.’ I was sold.















Cozmo & all his tubing.

A few days later I received a call from Jason, a rep from Omnipod. Jason told me about a special offer Omnipod had for all Cozmo users. For the low, low price of $50, I could have the old Omnipod PDM. For the higher price of $200, I could have the new Omnipod PDM. Only difference? Color. Big deal. Gimme black & white. I’ll live.

Tuesday I went to my educator and she hooked me up. It’s funny because I have only been on the insulin pump for a year but it’s amazing how it has become a part of my life. I went *untethered Monday night. It was super scary. I ranged between feeling free and feeling like a part of me was missing. Oddly enough, I couldn’t remember how much insulin I used to take. What I had done to myself for 23 years magically disappeared from my brain cells. Weird. Werd. So, I erred on the low dosage side and went to sleep.

It was a freedom I had forgotten. I rolled over without rearranging tubing & Cozmo. I stretched without Cozmo slapping me on the stomach. I moved without laying on Cozmo. I slept without waking numerous times throughout the night due to Cozmo. I didn’t have to worry about unhooking to take a shower. I didn’t have to worry about where to hide it while I was dressing. I didn’t have to worry about it at all. It was heaven.

What makes me laugh is that it's 3 days later and I am still looking for my tubing when I go to the bathroom. With Cozmo, I would hook him on my belt loop or stick him in my pocket and shove the tubing down my pants. So, when I went to the bathroom I had to pull out the tubing and take care of Cozmo as I pulled down my pants. Otherwise, I would break Cozmo as he crashed to the floor or rip out my insertion site and that would cause a whole new set of problems. I can pee freely now, the tubing’s gone!

Yesterday I wore a dress without having a sweaty plastic box in my bra. Ahem. Life is good.

I changed Romney today and it was as easy as it was on Tuesday. I do have Cozmo in storage, just in case of emergencies. This is a good feeling for me. Safety. *sigh* I also have a phone call in for Doc B so he can tell me what my old insulin doses were, just in case I want to go *untethered again.

So, I am all cyborged up and off to Disneyland again with my two best modules. Romney & Dexter.















Dex, Romney & appropriate Disney attire.

Also along for the ride will be Amanda, Bill & George. :) That is the joy of being an annual pass holder with friends. We only have to pay for half a hotel room & food. Zip a dee doo da, zip a dee ay.

Stay tuned next week for another vlog!

Have a great weekend, everyone.

*Peace.

*Untethered was verbiage introduced to me by Kerri from Six Until Me . She’s awesomely knowledgeable and humorous. I heart her.