For those who don’t remember, and maybe just for word count sake (j/k), I had an endo who was a good guy but really was not to swift when it came to type 1’s. Especially fat type 1’s. So I found a new doc that I am digging big time.

The only tough part is that he wants me to see him every 2 weeks until he sees numbers that he likes. He helped me get in to see a CDE. He ordered some lab work. He seems to know a lot about technology and even helped me get upgraded to the new Revel pump. Cool dude indeed.

So I went in this week for my visit and I was curious to see the results of the blood draw last week, and the embarrassing urinalysis. After being weighed (worst part of every visit) I went into a room and waiting for the doc. My blood pressure was still a little high even though he upped my dosage of Lisinopril last time. We may need to try something different but he will see how my BP is next visit.

My nurse took my pump and downloaded all the readings into the PC so the Doc could look at the readouts. When he came in he wanted to change some basal rates in the evening and through the night. He was about to take my pump and do it and said, “Wait, you know how to do this stuff right?” I said yes of course and he watched me put all the info in. That was cool.

He pulled out my lab results and said that my cholesterol was quote “beautiful” so I gave a quick fist pump to Lipitor. It’s nice when drugs work the way you want them too.

“Everything looks good here except for your testosterone levels are low.”

“How low?”

“Well high is 800 and the low is 250. You are at 243. I want to have you do another blood test and we will see where you are at when you come back in two weeks.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Honestly though, after a few google searches it’s surprising what out of wack testerone will do to a guy and a girl! Read up.

In men, the test may be ordered when infertility is suspected or if the patient has a decreased sex drive or erectile dysfunction, all of which can result from low testosterone levels. Some other symptoms include lack of beard and body hair, decreased muscle mass, and development of breast tissue.

In females, testosterone testing may be done if a patient has irregular or no menstrual periods, is having difficulty getting pregnant, or appears to have masculine features, such as facial and body hair, male pattern baldness, and a low voice. Testosterone levels can rise because of tumors that develop in either the ovary or adrenal gland or because of other conditions, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Testosterone level huh? The first thing I question is my inability to grow a beard. Maybe that’s why? And my lack of muscles. That’s probably because I don’t exercise. But what about these man boobs? Moobs? Those would be from too much bacon I am sure.

For guys talking about ED and decreased sex drive can be so embarrassing that even mentioning it to your doctor feels like you have something to be ashamed of. There is a lot of stuff going on inside our bodies and a lot of stuff that can go wrong. This is why finding a thorough doctor is such a blessing. Who knows how long I have had this issue and who knows what could have been helped had it been at the correct level.

He did say that weight gain is a symptom and that increasing your testosterone can help some of the drugs I am taking work better. Cool.

All and all it’s about what you know and when you know something you are on the road to being able to do something about it!

I hope this post wasn’t too TMI.  

Something is heavy on my heart right now and I want to write about it.

On my way to the doctors yesterday I noticed a police car parked sideways on the other side of the Freeway. He has his lights on and had all of the South bound traffic at a stop right before an overpass. As I got a little closer I also noticed that there were several police cars on the overpass stopped with their lights on, and then I saw him.

A man with a full head of gray hair standing on the outside of the overpass fence, holding on with one hand over his shoulder waiting to jump.

It was only for a second when I saw him but I could see in his eyes that he was not sure this was the answer. He had a look of total defeat and I guess you would have to be in that state to be where he was.

As I drove pass I started to think about giving up and how many times I have contemplated ending it all. There was a time after my dad died that I really felt like living was too much for me and that I was done. Heck I tried too much insulin once but as soon as I started to get low I decided to treat for it knowing it was not right. Suicide is never the answer.

Remembering back to a very close member of my family that killed himself and how it effected the people I love made it clear for me that nothing is worse then losing someone to suicide. The emotional rollercoaster you are left with is almost too much to bear.

You feel confused. “Why would they do such a thing?”

You feel guilty. “Why didn’t I notice they were hurting?”

You feel angry. “How could they be so selfish?”

You feel depressed. “Why wasn’t I enough of a reason to stay?”

You feel sad. “I miss him so much.”

I thought about this man and what he must be going through and all the people that love him and would do anything to help him. I thought about the millions of people who have it worse than he does and how could anyone, in this great country, give up hope? That is what we are all about, overcoming obstacles and having faith that we can do anything.

And then I remembered something my father always told me. He would say, “Son, what is a pebble to you could be a boulder to someone else.”

We cannot assume we completely understand someone’s feelings or know exactly what they are going through. There is no way to do that. All we can do is empathize, love, support, and show those we love that we will be there for them no matter what.

We have the power to love and hopefully that will save the people in our life from ever ending up where this man on the overpass was. I don’t know what happened and frankly I think I am just going to assume he got the care he needed and is now on the road to finding some peace in his life.

So when you are thinking about this post and about loving those people in your life, don’t forget to love yourself.

If you don’t do that, you cannot truly receive the love those around you are offering.

Just love.

But if I knew I could find some shoppers like this at WalMart I would be there all the time.

Enjoy.

It was just for the high school aged kids and they went to Lake Mead to stay on a House boat. They spent each day having fun, growing closer together, and growing closer to God.

My son came home last night and besides looking 2 years older (why is it always like that when kids come home?) he was grinning from ear to ear. He told me all about his trip and how awesome it was as well as emotional. I think his official words were, “I think my tears ducts are pretty cleaned out after that trip.”

He talked about one thing they did as a group. It was called Affirmation Night and it involved all of the kids and the adult leaders. It started with one person holding the end of a rope and that person was not able to speak at all. Then while it was their “turn” the rest of the group would tell them all the good things they feel and see about that person. When everyone was done, that person handed the length of the rope to someone else, while still holding onto the beginning, and then that new person would be the one to receive the affirmations. They kept going on and on until everyone had a turn. When it was all said and done you had this rope going back and forth and in and out of the group and yet they are all holding a part of it. A small but important community that cared for and lifted one another up. It really was the final bonding of this group and an awesome exercise.

My son told me about it and how hard it was to hear all these nice things, especially to hear how much people loved him. Some people he didn’t even think thought much about him said some amazing things. He said he just let the tears flow and let all the love they were sending fill him up.

When I heard this it made me think of our community and the way we lift each other up. I am not the best commenter in the world since most of the time I cannot think of a response that differs from the responses already on the blog. But you know what, people don’t know they are loved and appreciated unless we let them know. We owe it to each other I think to raise one another up and continue to have a community that supports one another. So with that I think we should really do our best to comment on every blog we read. Even if it’s just to say, “good post,” or, “I understand.” Some way to show that we support one another.

It only takes a second and honestly, something as small as a “Good Post” makes people feel good and encourages them to continue to be an active member of the OC which is a very VERY good thing.

I am guilty of reading and not commenting and I am not going to do that any longer.

Who’s with me?

 

So yeah, I made these and they were amazing. First the ingredients. This is for 6 burgers. 

• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon ketchup (20 for Scott)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 pound ground beef
• 6 slices bacon
• 6 Wheat Sandwich Thins

1. Fire up the grill and have a beer ready. I rarely drink beer but have to when barbecuing for some reason.

2. In a bowl, mix together the Cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, onion, egg, ketchup, salt, & pepper. Throw in the ground beef, and mix together by hand. Form into 6 patties, and wrap a slice of yummy delicious bacon around each one. Secure the bacon with toothpicks, and not those frilly ones k?

3. Put them on the grill and cook them just like you would any old burgers. About 5 minutes per side.

4. Add any fixings you want like tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, mayo and whatever. Throw them on a Wheat Sandwich Thin (21 carbs) and get your grub on the way Ninjas do!

You do need to be careful since they are a little fragile and bacon should always be treated with the highest amount of care and respect. It is "meat candy" after all.

Carb wise, I really only count the Sandwich Thins although I guess I should have figured in the Ketchup and the Beer. Hope you enjoy it, I know my family and friends loved them! 

Since I am not a fan of sticking needles in me, I don’t change my infusion set every time I refill my reservoir. I actually change it after two refills.

So doing the math, in 5 days I have gone through 1 set and 2 reservoirs. 30 days in a month, 6 - 10 sets, 15 reservoirs!

As you may have guessed this practice is catching up to me. I now am down to my last box of reservoirs and I have several infusion set boxes still unopened. Way too many to be honest.

I called Minimed yesterday to order some more reservoirs that I figure I will just pay out of pocket for and I was told that my automatic order already shipped! So today I am going to get more reservoirs (awesome) and more sets (not so awesome).

Should I send them back? Do I just hoard them? Insurance pays for my sets so it’s not coming out of my pocket. Should I have them change the ratio of sets to reservoirs or is that something my doctor has to change?

I would love your advice on this or if you have experienced anything like this. (And if not, maybe I can help out a PWD who is in need of Quik sets, lemme know.)

“Hello,” I answered.

“Hello Mr. Simons?”

“Um, Simmons, yes this is George Simmons.”

“Oh Mr. Simmons. This is [insert the first name you think of] from Medtronic and I wanted to let you know that you were approved for the upgrade on your insulin pump.”

“Great! That is great news. I am just about to board a plane [the plane ride from Hades] so I just have a few minutes,” I did not want to miss my chance for my carry on to have a spot in the overhead.

“No problem, I just wanted to make sure we can go ahead with the processing and make sure it was a go with you.”

“Yes! Let’s do it!”

So after a few other things like payment plans and all that, I was off the phone and on the plane happy my day [soon to be ruined] had started off so well.

Skip ahead to Monday afternoon. On Monday I met with my pump trainer to get all set up on the Revel. It was cool since she was the one who got me started on my first pump and on the CGMS. We felt like old friends, not to mention she is a type 1 with 17 years under her belt. Needless to say, our training sessions are always filled with lots of “I know what you mean” and “I hate that too!”

We got the pump all hooked up with my setting and went through some of the new features. Granted most of them did not change much but some of the stuff is cool.

They have some Predictive Alerts that tell you when it looks like you are going to go out of range either high or low. Kind of a cool feature. Also, more info which I love with 3, 6, 12, and 24 hour graphs of your CGM. Very cool too. Not that I would use it but I like that you can dose a smaller amount of insulin for basals, down to .025 units per hour. This is good for real sensitive people. I like that.

All and all I am just thankful that insurance paid for most of the pump and that I am not covered under warranty again. Sure I am locked in for 4 more years but honestly, now that I have figured out how to insert my CGM for the best readings, I am quite happy with it.

Still no name for it though. I don’t think I am gonna name this one. It was hard saying goodbye to Master P although he did try to take me with him when he died remember?

Bah, who knows? If you have any good ideas for a name let me know. Maybe I will name it. Heck it’s with me all the time and at least when I yell at it I can call it something. 

I am also a dad so when pets and kids play together, it cracks me up. I just love it.

Enjoy.

Maybe I was scared, cold, tired, hungry, or just out of it. I am not sure but it was embarrassing.

I know this is a total TMI but come on, twenty minutes of trying and nothing. Typically I am ready to go the second I get in the door!

So now I am going to go back at lunch time and try again.

I guess I should explain a little better.

This morning I had an appointment at the lab to have blood drawn and give a sample of urine, you know typical diabetes stuff. And I, for the life of me, could not go.

What was the most embarrassing part is that the door to the lobby was open and people saw me walk into the bathroom and stay there for 20 minutes. Who knows what they thought. Anyhow, I have a specimen cup with me now and I am going to have to fill it and drive it back to the lab at lunch. Great!

Since I was fasting this morning I didn’t know if I had to give the sample right then but the nurse assured me it was not necessary and that I could come back later.

Thank goodness. Next time I will chug a gallon or two before I leave for the lab.

I’ll probably end up wetting my pants instead. 

Even though we never “made it” I think we were pretty successful. Just in the fact that we wrote many great songs and we played some pretty cool venues. The coolest being The Troubadour in Hollywood. Where so many other amazing musicians have played. All and all it was a great experience and I am glad I got to do that for so long.

But one thing was missing. We never recorded any of our great songs.

Granted, when we started out we made a 5 song demo with our very first songs and honestly, they were pretty good but not as good as the ones we wrote later on as we matured as musicians and people in general. Those songs never were professionally recorded.

Until tonight.

After years of talking about it, we are finally going back in the studio to record all of our songs professionally. The guitar players brother has a studio and is willing to do it for free (since he was a fan) so we have no excuse.

I’m mostly excited for my kids and my grandchildren one day. I want them to hear the music that we made. Sure it never got played on the radio and I didn’t make my living playing in a band but it’s music and it’s ours. That to me is something special. Like a painting you made that people enjoyed. Wouldn’t you want to be able to pass that down or at least have some catalog of it?

Anyhow that is how I am thinking about it. Not that we are going to get back together and start playing again. That is not going to happen but to finally be able to have a copy of those songs we wrote is a big deal to me and I am looking forward to tonight and this first session in the studio. I just hope I can still sing the way I used to.

Wish me luck!