New Insulin Pump!

The month of May wasn't all doom and gloom: I got a new insulin pump!  

My VEO, which is over five years old now, had a crack in the casing. :(  And after trialing (and hating) the Medtronic 630G five years ago, I wasn't really keen on trying a new Medtronic pump.  But my nurse had the perfect solution: trial the new Tandem pump!

So at the beginning of the month, my nurse set me up with a trial pump.  She was so awesome about the whole thing too - she told me that if I hated it, just rip it off and go back to my VEO whenever I wanted.  What was really awesome about the trial too, on top of the pump, was that I was able to trial some new infusion sets too!  I've been using Silhouettes for many, many years (since I got my first pump - my nurse said back then locally they put everyone on Silhouettes) and never even thought to try anything else.  Silhouettes are angled sites with a fairly large needle (I was using 19mm); my nurse set me up with Tru-Steels which had only a 6mm needle!  She also let me try some of the AutoSoft sets (which also had the shorter needle).  I pretty much knew from the first few days that no matter what happened, I would not be going back to the Silhouettes, but that got confirmed when I accidentally knocked out a TruSteel the first time.  The TruSteel have the same attachment as my Silhouettes, so I was able to put one on in a pinch at work.  But it wasn't nearly as nice as the shorter TruSteels!

As to the pump itself, I loved it!  I wasn't sure what I would think about a pump that can do its own thing (its got Control-IQ technology, which makes decisions using Dexcom data to correct your blood sugar when you're high or low), but it didn't bother me at all.  Of course it helped knowing I can keep an eye on things and stop what the pump is doing if I don't agree with it.

The one thing I had some trouble with was the exercise function.  I turned it on a couple of hours before wanting to go on a walk with my mom, but for reasons unknown went low before we'd even started.  So I'll have to work on getting that working properly for me (my nurse suggested making another profile with all the basals cut in half specifically for exercise, so I'll be giving that a try).

I was able to trial the Tandem pump for a month.  Within the first few days I already knew I liked it, but I waited a bit longer just to make sure.  Needless to say, my new pump arrived last week; we plugged it in on Friday. :)

Changing to the Tandem pump makes me think of The Book of Better: Life With Diabetes Can't Be Perfect. Make It Better by Chuck Eichten, which I read several years ago.  In it, Eichten suggested that changing to something that makes your life even just a tiny bit better will have a great impact on your life.  So while I am super grateful for my VEO - it was a good pump that served me well over the last five and a half years - I am excited for this next chapter with Tandem, and the little bit of better it will bring to my life. :) 

Weight Update for May 29

After the rough couple of weeks I had earlier this month (see last week's weight update for more information), things are getting better.  I'm starting to feel better, and I've been able to curb my snacking (and honestly haven't been craving junk food the way I was earlier in the month).  My numbers today are reflecting that I'm starting to get back on track, too:

weight: 212.2 lbs
fat percentage: 46.9%
hydration: 36.5%
muscle: 26.1%
bone: 11.0%
cal: 2334

My weight went down a couple of lbs since last weekend, and my fat percentage is down by 1%.  So that's fantastic news!  

Now that I'm getting back to eating healthier, my focus for this coming week is going to be getting more active.  I planned to do some yoga or stretching a few nights earlier this week, but didn't actually do anything.  So this week I will schedule yoga or stretching at least three times!

Weight Update for May 22

As I mentioned last time, I've had a rough couple of weeks.  My car is unexpectedly finished and needs to be scrapped, so I needed to deal with that, and all the grief that came along with it.  I'm the kind of person who keeps the same vehicle forever, which inevitably leads to getting emotionally attached to it.  

But what I didn't realize about myself is that when I'm sad like this, I start eating more.  This usually manifested itself as unhealthy snacking at the end of the day.  I was craving chips and stuff, and didn't remotely care that it wasn't good for me (and wouldn't make me feel better).  I also found it harder to stop eating. Like I would measure out a snack and immediately want more.  Or even at dinner, I would eat what I'd set out, and immediately want to keep eating (and usually on foods that were more snack-like).

The snacking seemed to go along with a lack of energy: I just didn't care to be doing stuff. I spent a lot of time sitting on my couch watching Youtube videos, even on days when I said to myself I was going to do yoga or something.  I didn't do anything active unless I was walking to a destination like work.  I knew, deep down, that I would feel better if I did something.  But I just didn't care.

That was of course compounded by my period starting a few days early.  I naturally have low energy at the beginning and don't want to do much.

Thankfully, everything has started to change over the last few days: I'm feeling overall more engaged and wanting to be more healthy again.  I'm also thankful that my fridge and home has mostly healthy snacks. I was still eating tofu, nuts, and apples (all cholesterol-friendly foods) in the middle of all this.

So here's where I'm currently at, weight-wise:

weight: 214.2 lbs
fat percentage: 48.0%
hydration: 35.7%
muscle: 25.5%
bone: 11.0%
cal: 2345

And now it's time to get back on track, being healthier (and working towards a healthier weight for my frame!)

_____

I would just like to add, that it is okay to go through these periods of low energy, sadness, and grief.  Life isn't always happy, and you will get through it, however you need to cope.  For myself, I just need to be aware that this happens, that I will not want to do much or eat healthily during such periods, and I need to keep lots of healthy snacks on hand for myself. Particularly easy ones that don't require much thought, like baby carrots or pea pods.  I probably won't have the energy to make muffins (but if I do, that's great).

And please do not hesitate to reach out to someone if you need help during times of sadness and grief, especially if you are suffering through depression or anxiety.  Talk to your doctor, or reach out through one of the many online counselling sites that are available.  If you are in crisis, please phone a crisis helpline or go to your local hospital.

Weight Update for May 1 + 8

I'm a little behind on posting here - I've had a rough couple of weeks, though there has been some good in there too.  But I'll post about that stuff later. For now, here are my last two weight updates:

May 1

weight: 214.0 lbs
fat percentage: 47.4%
hydration: 36.1%
muscle: 25.8%
bone: 11.0%
cal: 2344

May 8

weight: 211.8 lbs
fat percentage: 46.3%
hydration: 36.9%
muscle: 26.4%
bone: 11.0%
cal: 2331

I was planning on weighing myself last weekend too, but my period unexpectedly started a few days early.  But it's over now, so I'll be weighing myself tomorrow to see where we're at/