Holiday Party

                     I was at my holiday part yesterday and most of my department did not go. Some prefer not to attend the events. I  like to go and chat with people I normally do not get a chance to very often. I was sitting with another department and someone asked me what it is like having Duchess. I of course spoke about all the great parts of having a service dog but I also had to include the bad. I was telling some of my stories of my interactions with the general public over the past two years and they were really astonished at how rude some people can be. I know when I started out I thought the same thing but I am starting to handle the situations better the longer I have here but it still will bother me how a perfect stranger can be so rude, I talked about my weekend experiences at target and how the guy wanted to bring his cat and dog next time. I know they all said they have seen so many people in Austin trying to take their pets everywhere but they did not realize how difficult things could be for me because of all the fake service dogs.

                      They also were telling me how nice it was having a service dog in the office. I know they said they felt less stressed. I know Duchess can have a very calming effect and also is quite entertaining at time even for me. She is usually chewing on her bones or sitting on the floor playing with a toy. She has a very big personality that even see's but. even more so when she is off duty. Nice to know that everyone seems to benefit from Duchess's presence I know I do. I know after my scary seizures at work I think most of them know that how much I need her.

Isolation

                     I have been feeling very left out in some ways recently. I was diagnosed with Celiac's disease over a year and half ago. I do tend to not eat out as much and prepare most things from scratch which is good. My friends were pretty good about things for the most part but I stopped getting invites to go out to eat and such. I know I do have restrictions on what I can eat but most of the time there is some things I can eat. fast food is not usually an option but I have even been to a festivals and was able to find things that were safe and had no reactions from what I choose to eat. It has been so isolating in some ways but I also feel so much better. I just never thought I would not be so hard to handle at times. I know giving up gluten is not easy but things are getting easier with more and more restaurants offering gluten free items. I am hoping things will get better but it has been a rough road of learning and researching. I know it is so easy for cross contamination to happen. Most of the time just touching an item containing gluten and touching a gluten free item can contaminate the item. This has happened to me at a restaurant before and I was sick for several days. I don't want my friends to have to worry about it and I have learned some great places that we can all eat but it did take me a while to even eat out after my diagnosis.

 I am still learning a great deal about Celiac's disease and how to avoid cross contamination. I know a friend invited me to Thanksgiving and it worked out well there was plenty I could eat and nothing was cross contaminated which is what I aim for. My friend has another friend who is also gluten free and they sent me txt message with the ingredient lists to make sure that it did not have gluten. I really appreciated all her effort to make it safe. I know most people are overwhelmed by it and I can see how that could deter them from wanting to go to lunch.

Shopping Adventures

            I was out shopping like every other person this weekend. I always get stopped frequently because of Duchess as usual. I got stopped by a couple who wanted to know who Duchess is being trained for and if she was a seeing eye dog. I told them that she was a medical alert dog and they were kid of surprised. They did not ask much more than that I think they were slightly embarrassed because she was not a seeing eye dog. I have never meet so many people as I do today until I got Duchess is really quite a beautiful dog. It can be quite deceiving because she does look like a puppy until you lift up her chin she has grey hairs on her chin which so her age. She will be 5 next year which is hard to believe.

              I was in the Target shoe department this weekend looking for a pair of boots for my trip to Seattle. I was trying the boots on when I was approached by security. The security guard looks at Duchess and say she is a service dog correct. I said yes she is. I guess a shopper thought she was a pet and approached the security guard and told him he was planning on bringing his dog and cat with him next time. Since now they allow pets. Which is not the truth. I actually hear this all the time from random people oh I did not know you could bring you dog to the store with you. That would not work out well at all. The store would have dogs running around getting into things. I know Duchess was behaving quite well that day in Target so I was shocked the person assumed I was bringing my dog with me. I think the security guard new when he approached me that she really was a SD he says she has a big enough patch with her job on her vest. I know he was surprised the guy did not notice the patches but I know most people tend to ignore the patches as times.

                 I tend to go low when I shop at Target for some reason and I go there frequently. I was dropping pretty quickly when I was shoe shopping and Duchess was on top of alerting  as she always is. She did not miss one which is good. She made me very proud of how much her alerting is back on track even in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

              

            

Changing Minds of Family Members

            I have an up coming trip home and have not been back in quite a few years. I know some family members have not meet Duchess yet. It will be interesting to see their reactions when they see how well she does alert. I know some family members feel that Duchess has no reason to be with me but I highly disagree. Mind you they do not read my blog or know about all my bad lows or seizures. I have found when I do discuss them they seem to think things are the same as before. I know seeing Duchess in action is impressive at times and she is very accurate. I am hoping that she can make them see how much she is needed. There is a big portion of my family such as my brother, sister and my grandmother who really support me having her. There is so many things that have changed I know until you actually experience some of the lows or seizures you might have trouble digesting how much my life has changed from 4 years ago when my hypoglycemia unawareness took over my life. I think hearing my stories is scary but living them is even scarier for me. I know some of my family members have seen me recover from so many issue over the years I think they take it for granted that you can't count on that. It seems to me that my lows have done nothing but get more scary recently. I am out of the seizure pattern but no completely out of the woods. My diabetes has never been easy to control and it seems the longer I have it the harder it is getting.

             I am hoping meeting and getting to know my angel Duchess will persuade my other family members to see how amazing she is. I know my father will be the one who does not support me having her but I think that won't change. He seems to think if I moved home that all of this will go away but I know other wise.

                     

Equipment Frustrations

            There has been a real love hate relationship the last couple of months with my Dexcom and my insulin pump. Last night my Dexcom was driving me crazy. It kept alarming when I was actually 90-120 range and not low. I finally got so frustrated i decided to do a temp basal which ran me in the 130 range last night all so I could sleep. This current sensor this morning is now where is saying I'm high when I am actually in the 90-120 range. I love some parts of the Dexcom but other times I get frustrated by the fact that it can be off and keep beeping at you. I did enter my blood sugars to correct the Dexcom  but that did not seem to help. Hoping my next sensor will cooperate more. I know the new Dexcom should be here soon. I am looking forward to more accuracy when it comes to the sensors.



            I have been doing better with my insulin pump but every once in a while I will have issues again with the sites but nothing like before sometimes I will only get a day out of a site but so much better than a couple of hours. I am thankful my insurance will cover the extras supplies I do love the insulin pump but the site issues can drive me crazy at times. I now have to carry more supplies around just in case I go through them quicker than normal. Overall the pump issues are much improved. I love what the technology can due but sometimes when they don't work as well as they should I start to feel why do I bother to an extent. I do know why I bother especially with the insulin pump. Number one reason for me is that I have more control with temp basals, less lows and more flexibility when it come to my schedule. I know yesterday I did not take a lunch and ate at my desk as I was working. If I was on injections that would of caused havic because I did not eat lunch til 3pm. So the pump does have it benefits but times it can be frustrating.

Night Lows

             I don't normally have lows at night but recently I started to have lows at night. I have the Dexcom and Duchess at least. I know my long days at work is not easy for Duchess so I try to have another option at night even though she will alert. I was awoken by Duchess in a complete sweaty mess at 1:10am. I felt like I had a shower in sweat which is really less than ideal. I tested and it was 38. My Dexcom was showing I was 98. So it had not alarmed yet. I had my skittles by my bed and I normally eat them at night if I do go low but I really wanted juice which is unusual for me. So I start to get out bed and my legs buck underneath me. I hit my head on the floor. I now have a bruise on my forehead a scratch on my nose and a swollen cheek bone. I also had cuts on my feet. I did eat the skittles as I was lying on the floor. Then I got the strength got up and went and had some juice because I really wanted juice. So I then proceed back to bed and bolused for the juice which was over what I needed to bring me back up. Then I go back to bed only to be awoken by Duchess at 5am because I am 180. So I decided to change my site out.because it had been 2 days since my last change. I did not end up with much sleep last night but in actuality that is normal. Hoping tonight to avoid hurting myself further.

 

Check up with Retina Specialist

             I went back for an eye check up and it looking much improved. There is thankfully not irregular vessels in my left eye and no signs of change everything looked like a normal eye should. Basically not signs of retinopathy.The Dr. was very pleased. The right eye which has had some hemorrhages is looking better. He said the last hemorrhage is almost cleared up and should be completely in the next two weeks or so. I am very excited by this. There is still some abnormal vessels but far less than last time. I think I will need another laser treatment in January but not doing too bad. I am taking everything one day at a time and this was all very good news. After all this adventure with the previous retina specialist I am so glad I went with my intuition when it came to my eyes. I feel like the Dr. is wonderful and the staff is nothing but caring. Even though it has not been fun it has been a good experience overall excluding the first retina specialist. I am quite pleased at how much they care. I have called with a question or two and they always get back with me. I know this could of been a very different experience if I stayed with my previous retina specialist. I probably would be having surgery right now.


              

Unexpected Issues

                     The most unexpected part of having a diabetic alert dogs is how I felt the first time she missed a low. I felt so very angry which is not what I was expecting. I know realistically that she is dog and is not perfect just like me. I know the expectation for her to be perfect is never realistic or fair. In fact I struggle explaining to my family that she can miss one her and there. They don't seem to get it. I am extremely satisfied with Duchess she has done for me more than I ever expected. She has saved my life, given me back my freedom and loves me beyond what any person can expect. I am still shocked that I felt that way. I know this happened shortly after I got her and I called the trainer. She told me that all of her clients who get a dog end up with that angry feeling the first time. I know I increased her scent training to make sure she was going to continue to alert. Normally after you get a trained diabetic alert there is a short period of time around a week where their alerting goes down after you get back home. I'm sure it has to do with the change in homes and adjusting to their new life. I guess it is part of the journey I did not expect. I am not angry now but it is fascinating to me as to why we all feel this way. I know when I got Duchess I had to release some control over things to her in some ways. She knows things I can no longer feel. So I am very dependent on her and more than I will ever like to admit. There is so many little things that I never expected the good and the bad.
Even with all the unexpected things I would not change a thing.