Fresh Start

Let's try this blog thing again... third time's the charm, right?!

Quite a lot has happened since I last posted forever ago.  Since it has been so long, this post in particular will probably be even more of a random mish-mash of STUFF than my others...

Let's recap:
I'm an RN now, licensed in Illinois, Wisconsin and soon to be Indiana.
I moved to Janesville, WI and worked for an ER nurse there for about 6 months.
I lived in Janesville from October 2011 - July 2012.
This month (7/6 to be exact), I moved to a new city in a new state for a new job!  That's a whole lotta new!
What am I doing with my life now you ask?
I am living in an Indianapolis, IN suburb and working as a Mother / Baby nurse at a suburban hospital and so far, LOVING it!  The people I work with are awesome, the patients are super appreciative, and there are no drunks at work anymore! WOO! Oh, and I get to cuddle babies... pretty great!

I still know no one in the area aside from the leasing guy at my apartment and the people I have met at work, but hopefully once this ridiculous heat wave is over, people (including me) will be out of the AC more and I'll be able to meet more people.  It's hard to want to be outside when it's 102 and muggy.

Two additional big (but not quite as big as the move and new job) things in my life right now that I'm trying to figure out are going back to school to finish my BSN (Bachelor's in Nursing - only have my ADN, or Associate's right now), and wanting to adopt a rescue dog of some kind in the fall once I'm a bit more settled into work and life here... well, and a perpetual goal is to get my CDE, but the darn NCBDE (national certification board for diabetes educators) apparently doesn't realize just how insanely hard it is to be your own pancreas, and they don't allow your time with your own diabetes to be included in the required hours for certification...
The unit I work on as an RN right now doesn't really see PWDs, so I have to figure out how exactly to work towards that goal in my new job...

I'm hoping this reincarnation of my blog will focus on all the craziness of diabetes PLUS working as a nurse AND working 12 hour shifts (days right now for orientation, but then nights once I'm on my own).  It takes a lot to be your own pancreas, a lot to be a nurse, a lot to work 12 hour shifts, and a lot to work nights when most people are sleeping soundly in their beds at home... That's a LOT of stuff to orchestrate and make work.

Any questions about my life with diabetes, my life as a nurse, suggestions for posts, etc. please feel free to send me a message on here or e-mail me at triciamoore2@aol.com
I hope to do at least a post a week, so if I haven't posted in a while, feel free to also send me an e-mail nudge to get the ball rolling on a new post.

Been a While.....

I haven't posted in almost a year... oops!
Nursing school has been my life for the past year. What can I say?
With my school coming to a close in December, I have been doing a lot of thinking about where my life is going now. I will be taking my final exam for my nursing degree December 14th, walking in the pinning ceremony December 17th, and sitting for the NCLEX boards sometime in February most likely. For whatever reason, the test is not available to be taken in January. This means I have a lot of decisions to make soon, and I have to start applying for nursing jobs sometime in the next little while as well.

Decisions:
-- Where do I want to live? I am considering moving as I am sick of Illinois, and think that this would be the perfect time in my life to move as I do not have a family to uproot with me, etc. There would also be a greater potential for future educational advencements somewhere else. I am considering Houston, TX as I have family there, warmer weather is AWESOME, cost of living is lower, the HUGE Texas Medical Center is there, and there are many schools affiliated with the various hospitals there that could be connections for education and career advancement.
-- What kind of nursing do I want to do for a career? I love ER nursing, pediatrics, surgical, and mother / baby. In general, nursing students are told they MUST start out in general medical / surgical nursing to gain general knowledge and get used to being a nurse. My thing is: I don't want to do medical / surgical nursing as a career, so why would I want to start my nursing career in a field I don't particularly enjoy in the vast world of medicine?

The big one I have been focusing on is whether I want to move or not. I have lived in Illinois since I was 3 and a half years old. I went away to school in Wisconsin for about 18 mos. but that doens't really count. I would love to experience something completely new and different in my life and force myself out of my comfort zone to grow as a person and truly experience life. Thing is though - I'm terrified at the thought of it. One of my big fears related to it is about medical care. The Texas Medical Center has some of the greatest doctors anywhere, but I love my doctors here so much. I am so afraid of not being able to find doctors there that I like and have a true connection with. It's funny: I am not scared of not knowing anyone, not knowing the city, not liking it there, any of that. I am scared of something that really I shouldn't be afraid of. Why would I be worried about finding good medical care in one of the best cities for healthcare in the world?

D-Blog Day!!!!

This is my first ever D-Blog Day!! YAY, what a wonderful day!
I am absolutely exhausted from a cardio test in nursing school today and having 2 papers due, one being about 35 pages long... *sigh*

Anyway, diabetes...

I have many diabetes heroes in my life... whether they know it or not. Some of them are: Kerri Sparling of http://www.sixuntilme.com/; Sara of DLife; Nicole Johnson (Miss America 1999); Ellen Ullman (http://www.cwd.com/); Jeff Hitchcock (http://www.cwd.com/); every single diabetes blogger that is out there; my aunt Christine Moore; and lastly, my aunt Judy O'Brien who lost her fight with diabetes in 2004. She was my first diabetes heroine and will forever be my heroine. I was diagnosed with diabetes when I was eight years old. Labor Day weekend, 1994. My aunt Judy in that instant, became like a second mom to me. We bonded so much over diabetes stuff that we could look at each other, look at the dessert table, and just start laughing about not knowing how to count the carbs in that delicious looking Thanksgiving pie, or the hundreds of Christmas cookies beautifully arranged on trays.

I have discovered through my limited blogging about diabetes that you can truly bond with people over your random rantings about life with diabetes. I write a post, not expecting anyone to ever read it, but writing it to vent, chatter and ramble on for no reason at all, and someone comments. I automatically feel a connection with this person. No one other than a fellow person with diabetes really "gets it". I truly do appreciate people without diabetes trying to "get it", I really do, but it's definitely not the same as living with diabetes in your life every single day of every year.

I am hoping to make more and more connections in the diabetes world, so please everyone who reads this (probably all of like 2 people.... ) pass this site along so I can meet more people like me (well, not necessarily like me since I'm kinda a really weird random dork (my Aunt Judy always said it's better to be weird because normal people are boring)) but other people connected to diabetes. I just realized I think I made a new record for myself with how many parentheses I can use in one paragraph! WOO! It's the little things in life I tell you!!

One final thing... CONGRATS to Kerri and Chris for having a happy healthy, hiccup-y BSparl in the works!!!

Dexcom Success!!

I just got like 17 or 18 days out of a Dexcom sensor! WOO! I have no clue how I managed that one, must have just had the perfect place, but YAY!!

Super stressed at the moment since we have a really tough exam tomorrow (respiratory acidosis and alkalosis, etc.) so I'm not going to post anymore... going to get back to studying.

I Failed!

Sorry for slacking off for so long there guys! Nursing school got the best of me. This semester is CRAZY!! Anyway, I'm going to try to do better now.

News: I am now on the OmniPod full time, for good (I think) and LOVING it! I am also now using the Dexcom 7+. The 7+ is SO much better than the original 7 system. They say the range is something like 5 or 10 feet or so... well, I can have my Dexcom receiver sitting in the kitchen, go upstairs in my room, and it'll still be getting info. It also seems to be far more accurate than the 7 system. I am very happy with my Bionic-ness now. I have been referring to myself as the bionic woman since I have the pod attached to me, as well as the Dexcom sensor. I also then have the receiver of the Dexcom with me all the time, and I have the OmniPod PDM. I'm all techno. with diabetes, if only in that part of my life.

I wanted to publicly congratulate Kerri Sparling of www.sixuntilme.com for having a cute little potbelly containing BabySparl. She and Chris are going to make AMAZING parents, I can just tell. I had the privilege of meeting Kerri at the CWD Friends For Life Conference in July at Disney, and she's just wonderful. I only talked to her a couple times, only briefly, and I doubt she even remembers me, but I am a huge fan, and I consider her a friend. Kerri... if you are reasing this, I want you to know that you have helped to inspire me to wrangle in my diabetes and my blood sugars NOW so that when I am married and ready to have a potbelly of my own (sontaining a baby, not just pudge) that I'm all ready to go! I am really trying to stay on top of numbers lately, but man... with the stresses of nursing school and endlessly searching for a job... wow... stress + blood sugars = YIKES!!

On another topic... in class a week or 2 ago, we were learning all about diabetes *yawn*. My teacher asked me to interject thoughts, corrections, etc. abotu being a person with diabetes for the past 15+ years. I think I pissed her off when I corrected her saying that there were 4 types of insulins... Regular, NPH, Lantus, Lente... umm... well, how about Humalog, Novolog, Apidra, Levemir, Ultralente.... not sure if I'm missing any others in there or not but WAY more than 4 kinds of insulin!! When we finished up lab and were in lecture, she was annoyed, I could tell. She then started talking about a hypothetical scenario while staring me down the entire time since she knows I have diabetes. This is what she said... "So, let's pretend you're a nurse who happens to have diabetes. Your patient codes, but your blood sugar's low. Your patient is DYING. What do you do?!" I whipped out my Dexcom and quipped in with some comment along the lines of "Well, that's why I have THIS - so that won't happen!" Then Instructor witch lady comes back with, "Maybe nursing isn't the best field for a person like that" meaning me... because I have diabetes! I am fuming just remembering it. I was ready to jump across the table and punch her in the face. I went home that day and was shaking, crying, and so peeved I didn't know what to think, do, anything.... GGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I am not generally a person who lets stupid people get to her..... I really don't let much get to me. I am a sensitive person, but I control my emotions, I hold stuff in (not super healthy, I know). How do you get over a comment like that? I have wanted to be a nurse since I was little... bitty little. I have never had a high or low I couldn't handle myself. I have never passed out from anything. I am super cautious when at work, especially when it comes to patient contact and procedures. I know in my heart I can be a nurse and I will be a nurse, but her words are still hurting, and making me question the what-ifs about being a nurse with diabetes. How do you get over something like that where someone basically tells you that you can't live out your life's dream?

OmniPod

After going back to the Cozmo after trying the OmniPod for a bit and the Animas, I realized how much I truly liked the OmniPod. I really really like not being attached by tubing to a device. It works for me. I am thinking, at least for now, I will be sticking with the OmniPod. Who knows what the future will bring for pumping for me, but for the time being, I am loving the freedoms that the OmniPod affords.

More to come later, after my craziness of a new semester of nursing school calms down some.

Solo

I got the Solo micropump demo packet in the mail today. I tore into that package like a little kid on Christmas morning! I am very impressed with the Solo pump thus far. The demo packet includes written information (not super specific sadly about the functions, etc.) and a demo cradle and pump module. For those of you not very familiar with the Solo patch insulin pump by Medingo, check it out here -----> www.solo4you.com .

This adds another delay into my pump decision. After going back on the Cozmo after a couple OmniPods that I had to pull because of leaking with the cannula still in place, I realized how much I truly liked having a tubeless pump. So where do I go now? I am debating between either sticking with the Cozmo as long as I can until the Solo comes out in my area of the country, or getting the Minimed now and revisiting the idea of the Solo after 4 years with Minimed, or if I get new insurance sooner, as soon as I would be able to get a new pump. My concerns are this: Going with a first generation pump, what if there are kinks still not worked out? I would think kinks are inevitable with a new product that is attached to you and working 24/7/365. Is this a reason to either not go with the Solo or hold off, or can I assume the customer service will be adequate enough to be able ot handle anything that may be thrown at them?

This decision process is not getting much easier!
What do you all think of the Solo? Leave a comment!