Summer!

Well Summer is almost here! (: I am so excited! Where I live, we have a community pool just for my neighborhood! So, I basically go swimming every day during the summer! It is so fun! I also have a motorhome so we go camping a lot too! During the the summer we do lots of fun things! Lately, I have been swim suite shopping and shopping for cute summer wear! My friends and I have been tanning a ton too! I hope summer comes fast!

Unlike other kids there are changes I have to make during the summer being a type 1 diabetic. Well first off, I have to keep my insulin at a cool temperature. During the winter I have to worry about it getting too cold but not as much as it getting to hot.During the spring it is fine and also during the fall it is fine too. But during the summer if it gets too hot it will go bad. Remember, a vial of insulin costs about $150. So I REALLY have to make sure to keep it at the right temp.

Second concern is hydration. Being a T1D (type 1 diabetic) I get dehydrated quicker than others. Like one time I was in a soccer game and my blood sugar was high and I was really dehydrated. I had to be taken out of the game because my heart was literally beating out of my chest. So I must be very careful about that.

Third concern  is having to carry my blood sugar kit with me EVERYWHERE! I know I already have to always have it on me but it is a lot harder. Like for example I am at a water park. Wear do I put it? Keep it in my bag? Risk it getting too hot? Risk someone stealing it? Pay money for a locker put it in there? Lockers get very hot also! Risk not being able to find it? Yeah. A lot to worry about when I am just simply trying to have a good time. As you can see I have a lot of changes I have to make and other stuff I must do.

Last concern, when should I get a pump? Most of you know I have been wanting to get one I just don't know if summer is good to do it. One reason I think it would be good because when you just get a pump you have to stay up through the night for the first like two weeks to make sure it works. You have to test your blood sugar every two hours for two days straight. I think it would be good to do that in the summer so I don't have to go to school and be super tired. But some pros of not having a pump during the summer is when I want to go swimming I do not have to worry about taking my pump off I can just go swimming. A pro about having a pump is I don't have to worry about my insulin getting too hot because the pump keeps it insulated. Rather than having to worry about T1D stuff...I am excited for summer!
-Avery the T1D

Music Man!

I am in my school's musical "Music Man." I play the role the mayor's daughter Gracie Shin. It is great and we are performing this week! I am way excited and nervous! In one of the songs I have a little solo! I hope I can nail it! Now the defaults of being a type 1 diabetic actress. First off I'm always afraid that my blood sugar will be low and I will have to go off stage and eat something or my blood sugar be high and have to take some insulin. Another one is how will my cast members act to seeing me prick my fingers and take shots? Some people can be understanding and others will not. Now what I do at plays is I take a bag with 15 free snacks (Which are snacks I can eat without having to take a shot of insulin) and low snacks with a bottle of water. Nothing bad has ever happen so far during a performance but I cannot say that for play practice. One time I was in this play and we had rehearsal after dinner and I had taken too much insulin and my blood sugar dropped to 35. (The normal range for my age is 100-180) and I had accidentally forgotten my bag with snacks for me. I told the director I needed to hurry and call my mom. (When I get that low I get confused) The director thought I wasn't feeling good so she grabbed her teenage son and told him to drive me home. I started to cry and tell her no. I tried and tried to tell her but she didn't understand me. Luckily my mom had come early to pick me up and she saw me crying and came to my rescue with a regular Pepsi.  If I had been forced into that car with that boy I might could have gone into a diabetic coma (Which is when my glucose gets too low I pass out and have a seizure because I need sugar) It scares me to think I could have died. But it makes me aware to be careful and  have people be aware. I get embarrassed when my Mom tells people I have diabetes but I understand she does it to be safe. She wants people to know so they can help me if I need it. I hate having to worry about these things when I should be having a good time acting, and behaving like a normal teen. What other teen do you know that has to worry about every piece of food that goes into their mouth? That's the life of a type 1 diabetic actress.(:

-Avery the T1D

Hello Again!

Well...Hello again! It has been a while. I have been doing great!(: I am going to start my blog up again. Sorry it has been a while. I just realized today that I should start blogging again! I miss it. I will try to start doing it at least once or twice a week.
Thanks!
Avery the T1D

Nervous!

Tomorrow I am auditioning for a singing duet for my 6th grade play!  Well for starters each 6th grade class is in charge of a different time period. My class is in charge of the 50's and 80's. Well for the 80's the duet I wanna get is "Don't Stop Believe'n" By Journey. I a little nervous because first of all the duet is with a boy! And second of all for the audition you have to sing in front of your class! I am scared the class will make fun of me or something like that. And I hope my singing teacher will accept me for who I am and won't just give me the part cause I am diabetic. Otherwise I LOVE to sing!!! Singing and acting are my passion and pain! I really do hope I can get the part! I will update you tomorrow to tell you if I get the part!!!!!!!!!!
Until Tomorrow....  

1/9/12

Sorry I have not blogged in a while.....I have been so busy! Oh and Happy 2012 and a Late Merry Christmas!

Well for starters I was sick over the holidays and had to go to the hospital and get an I.V.! I kept throwing up and couldn't keep my Blood sugar up at all! The only thing I could hold down were Lime Popsicles! Now I cannot even look at one cause I was sooo sick when I had one! I guess that I wasn't expecting that Christmas gift! Now I am feeling a lot better! The suckish part is most of the time I get sick I now end up in the hospital Your body does not react to the insulin when it is sick. You go too high or too low. So, getting sick is a whole knew world for me now.
                   My school is doing the play Mary Poppins! I am excited and want to audition and sing in it but I am afraid that I will go low on stage or kids will treat me differently cause of diabetes or kids will stare at me! Gr! Why does diabetes always make me feel weird or embarrassed! UGH! I wish everyone was diabetic so they'd know how I feel. "Oh they don't like it when you stare" or "oh they have to take shots" or "oh I know how that feels!" I have officially written a note to my terrible friend called DIABETES!

Dear Diabetes,
Why do you have to make my life so difficult? Why do make me feel like I am not normal? Why do you constantly try to kill me? Why do you make me feel like crap? But yet I thank you? And why would I thank you? Because YOU make me the wonderful person I am today. And yes I am friends with your worst enemy....JDRF! Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. They are my hero. I appreciate all they do for me and in the fight against you!!!They are the reason I always stand up for myself when you put me low and high.... literally low and high.  And your other enemy...Insulin! My life supporter! The thing that keeps me alive. I am going to say this but the one thing they need to invent is..... a cure to KILL YOU! A cure! So diabetes you have taken a toll on my life...but one thing you will never ever take is my life. I will never give up.
Until Tomorrow.... 

I called 911 today....

Don't worry not about me but for my sister. My sister had a seizure in our bathroom and hit her head on the counter and the wall and blacked out. Her eyes rolled back into her head and  she started shaking. She looked like she was dead. My mom was yelling "Avery! Avery! Taylor's having a seizure!" My first instinct was to grab the phone and call 911. So I dialed 911 and ran to check on my sister. I heard " 911 what's your emergency?" I knew I was going to help Taylor. I wasn't as calm....I was crying and the lady on the phone kept saying take deep breaths clam down. But I managed to give her all of the information.Then she said help was on the way. I could start to here the sirens coming. I know she would be okay.

When the ambulance came into my house they brought all sorts of gear and I notice one of them.....It was a diabetic kit. The first thing they did was pull out a glucose meter and check her blood sugar. They tested her blood sugar and it was 90.I knew she did not have diabetes or was not in a diabetic seizure cause Taylor lets me check her blood sugar sometimes and she has never been out of range, even after eating a large slice of cake. So I was not worried about that. The ambulance took her away and my Mom followed behind.

 They are not sure what exactly is wrong with my sister. She is home from the hospital now but is scheduled everyday for more tests. I love her so much and feel so bad for her. I kinda know what she is going through. The good thing, I forgot about me having diabetes today.  So I got a good scare today. This was the first time I have ever called 911. I hope I NEVER have to call again!!!!!!!!!! I learned today it's important to say "I love you" everyday to your loved ones cause you never know when something bad will happen. My poor mom!

Till tomorrow....

BEST DAY EVER!!!!!

Nothing major has been going on and have not had much to blog about. Have not wanted to bore you But, I have to tell you about my best day ever. And it happened yesterday.


Yesterday I went to an event called Riding On Insulin with Sean Busby (Famous Snow Boarder with type1 diabetes) and Mollie Busby ( His awesome wife) host the amazing event every year. They take you up to a ski and snow boarding resort and teach you how to ski and board while controlling your diabetes. I had a blast! I got to meet kids with diabetes and see which pump they had, remember I am looking around. At first I was way nervous! I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to manage diabetes while skiing or I would go really low while skiing and other things you guys wouldn't get.            


I woke up in the morning at 6:00 and got ready. We drove to Canyons resort up at Park City, Utah. When we got there we had a yummy breakfast and it was super nice because the nutritional guide was up so I could do the things I needed to do. When I was done with lunch I got my snow gear on. Well, I have a kit to carry around my diabetic supplies and I had NO clue where to put it on me because I have no pockets that were large enough to fit the inside of my jacket! You have to keep your kit as close as can be to your body otherwise the insulin will freeze and your diabetic meter will freeze so that means your meter breaks which is NOT good. So we went up to Sean Busby and asked where to put it. He was super nice and told us to take the diabetic meter out and the test strips and the thing that pricks your finger out of the kit and put it in your pocket. Because it is point less to take insulin on top of a hill because your not going to take a shot up there or worrying about being high!Then we head off to go skiing and snow boarding.


To be honest, I hadn't gone skiing ever since I was diagnosed with diabetes. So like I said I was kinda nervous, anyway I went down my first hill with diabetes with a feeling that I can do it. I can do whatever I want even though I have this terrifying disease called diabetes. That is THE best feeling I have had in my entire life. We went down a couple more times down different hills and on one of the hills I felt low and I was lacking down behind everyone so my counselor decied  it was time to test blood sugar levels. I was 83 which is low but not terrible low so. I had an energy bar which was 25 carbs. then I was on my way. Then we went back to the lodge for lunch. 


Lunch was super good to I had a huge pizza and mac-n-cheese. Then Fox 13 came to interview Sean Busby about riding on insulin. Sean did an awesome job with the interview! He represented his camp great! Then we went out skiing again until 3:30. I had the time of my life! I just felt so free being able to ski with diabetes. I felt like I was on top of the world like NO ONE could stop me no matter what. My sister came along with me and supported me she was a type 3! And to remind you there is no illness such as type 3. Type 3 is only a supporter disease created by your own Mollie Busby. I really appreciate Mollie and Sean Busby! Sean Busby is a true inspiration to me. He shows everyone even though he has diabetes nothing can stop him! And Mollie is an awesome type 3 supporter who always makes you feel better! Then we left to the party at the hotel.




The party was an award ceremony giving certificates away to everyone who participated in Riding on insulin. Sean Told us about his story about his a diagnosis story. His story was emotional because that's what I went through. He is very strong and I love how Mollie and him do this. Mollie and Sean travel around the world for riding on insulin. Riding on Insulin is a Non Profit Organization. Thanks to Sean and his life with diabetes I am able to ski again and not afraid to ski with diabetes anymore. * THANKS SO VERY MUCH SEAN AND MOLLIE *, you really are making a difference!


Until tomorrow....