LifeAfterDx--Diabetes Uncensored

A internet journal from one of the first T1 Diabetics to use continuous glucose monitoring. Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

My Photo
Name:
Location: New Mexico, United States

Hi! I’m William “Lee” Dubois (called either Wil or Lee, depending what part of the internet you’re on). I’m a diabetes columnist and the author of four books about diabetes that have collectively won 16 national and international book awards. (Hey, if you can’t brag about yourself on your own blog, where can you??) I have the great good fortune to pen the edgy Dear Abby-style advice column every Saturday at Diabetes Mine; write the Diabetes Simplified column for dLife; and am one of the ShareCare diabetes experts. My work also appears in Diabetic Living and Diabetes Self-Management magazines. In addition to writing, I’ve spent the last half-dozen years running the diabetes education program for a rural non-profit clinic in the mountains of New Mexico. Don’t worry, I’ll get some rest after the cure. LifeAfterDx is my personal home base, where I get to say what and how I feel about diabetes and… you know… life, free from the red pens of editors (all of whom I adore, of course!).

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Farewell, minus one.

Yep. Tomorrow is going to be my last post. Oh stop your blubbering. You’ll all do just fine without me. You’ve got Amy for info, Kerri for emotion and poetry, Allison for the glass half full and Scott for the glass half empty and deep thought. And you have so many others in the OC. There is almost too much to read!

I’ve decided to wrap this up because I’m running out of things to say. I’m sure I could go on a bit longer, but I think it would be redundant.

I've covered the reasons for wanting a Guardian and the adventures in acquiring one. I've covered the nuts and bolts in great detail and the discovery process of getting to know the system. I've showed what daily life is like living with her. I think I've shown how incredibly valuable a Guardian can be, and what a pain in the ass it can be at the same time.

Mission accomplished? It seems to me there are a healthy supply of excellent "life with diabetes" type of blogs out there, so there is no need for this one to evolve in that direction.

What? Ah, Ok. Well, I must wrap this up for today. Rio wants Daddy pancakes. Daddy pancakes are a tradition in my family for three generations, well four if you count Rio. They originated with my Dad's Dad. On the maid's day off Grandfather had to cook for the youngest son (Grandmother was killed in an accident when my father was little). Yes, I did say the maid. My family has gotten poorer with every generation for at least five generations. If Rio doesn't turn this trend around we will have de-evolved from leading citizens to trailer trash.

The story goes that my Grandfather asked the little boy what he wanted for breakfast and Father asked for pancakes. Grandfather got out a cook book and found a crepe recipe and made them as pancakes.

I grew up on them as a weekend staple. The are very thin, and golden brown. You put a light coating of butter on them, a thin veneer of maple syrup, and then roll them up like a burrito using only your knife and fork. Well, except for my Mother. She uses her fingers. That's OK. Different gene pool.

The two main ingredients in the original recipe are flour and powdered sugar and then you cover them with maple syrup. All around this just doesn't seem to be a good idea for diabetics. But one day, determined to make the old family recipe diabetes friendly I subbed Splenda for powdered sugar. I had my doubts, but Splenda is pretty fly away...

Any way, it came out great. Eaten in reasonable quantities, served with high-fat sausage and sugar-free syrup, it treats my BG pretty well. Deb and Rio have put their own mark on the family favorite by adding a generous dollop of various jams before they roll them up.
Serve with a cup of very dark coffee. But I digress....

Where was I? Oh, yes. I’ve felt really good about being able to provide a pile of important information to the diabetes community about a new product that we all had such a thirst for information about, but I think it is time to close up shop and move on to other challenges.

I’m behind on my reading: both photography/lab and diabetes; and I’ve been neglecting my friends over at Diabetes Talkfest where this all began. There are also new blogs for me to discover and read. So many talented writers out there! Does diabetes cause good writing or does good writing cause diabetes? Hmmmmm.....

A word on writing, I've had two photography books published and two text books, but I got to say, this has been by far the most satisfying writing experience I've ever had. I think bloging is so cool, 'cause you get feed back from your readers.

But I've also got two other writing projects that are wallowing (not to mention bike ridding!). I've got a three-quarters written novel, my fist foray into fiction, that I personally feel is the best stuff I've ever written. Need to get that puppy finished.

I've also been asked to review software for one of the diabetes websites, and the first product to be victim of my pen is lying on my desk. Waiting, waiting, waiting....Don’t worry, David, I promise I’ll get to work on it right away!

I'm sure the one question left on everyone's mind is: after wearing the Guardian for three months, would you recommend it to others?

Yes. Absolutely. Double absolutely. Triple absolutely. OK, I've had my ups and downs as you’ve all seen. But I think that the ups far, far, far out weight the downs. I think a lot of the “downs” have had more to do with my expectations, miss-understandings, and ignorance about the technology.

Once my brain grasped the possibilities and how different continuous monitoring is, once I matured in my understanding of how the system could be used, I really started to benefit from it. I truly wish that all of you could have one too.

The girl has been promoted from flashy mistress to partner. At first, I viewed her as nothing more than a easy finger stick and an expensive alarm system. Sigh...what a waste in hindsight. I wasted too much time obsessing over the percentage difference between any one given finger stick and the Guardian reading at the same time. Now I realize that is so feeble and unnecessary.

Once I woke up, shifted mental gears, stepped outside of the box and realized the possibilities things all fell into place. And my health is better for it. My crazy BG’s have stabilized.

For me at least, there is never any going back. Rio’s new “word” is Never. He draws it out like this: “Neeeeeeevvvvver!” He uses it like most three-year-olds use “No.” I think it is cute. My wife less so, but she hears it more than I do.

Come on, Rio, time for a bath. “Neeeeeeevvvvver!”

Let’s get dressed. “Neeeeeeevvvvver!”

Put away your toys. “Neeeeeeevvvvver!”

Dinner, time to go, time for bed: “Neeeeeeevvvvver!”

You get the idea. If he really wants to add emphasis he’ll add “Ever, ever, ever.” to the end.
So will I ever live my life without continuous monitoring? Neeeeeeevvvvver! Ever, ever, ever.

Not until the cure.

Tomorrow I’m leaving you with a final gift: a users guide of sorts. My most important thoughts on how to use continuous monitoring.

17 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh Wil, and I JUST found you... Best of luck to you bud and I'll hopefully run into you again.

There WILL be a cure.

Take Care,
Labrat

12:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a mom whose daughter is T1. Thanks so much for your informative (and entertaining)blog. You have provided a valuable service with your writings. I will keep an eye out for your novel.

4:58 AM  
Blogger Kerri. said...

Are you really leaving? I am at a loss for words.

... I'm sending you an email tonight. Hang on...

7:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Will,

I'm a relative newbie on the diabetes OC (and one without a blog of my own -- but I keep toying with the idea...), but I've really enjoyed reading your posts.

Thanks for sharing and stay healthy.

7:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, you have reached enlightenment. Thanks for taking us all along on your odyssey. This is the most informative blog I've ever read, ever, ever, ever!
I'll be there tomorrow.
Take care, Will, may life treat you well.

8:28 AM  
Blogger Sandra Miller said...

What? What?

You're leaving?!

I innocently sit down with a warm cup of green tea, open my Bloglines, see that you've updated...

And read this.

:(

But really, Wil, rather than leave all together, maybe you could just post monthly? If that's too much-- perhaps bi-monthly?

I guess I'm just trying to say that you will indeed be missed. Not simply for the invaluable information you've shared about an exciting new technology, but for the wonderfully-written stories in which you've couched that information.

If you don't wish to continue posting, please know that we are all grateful for everything you put into this site.

Good luck with the book, and well, everything.

Take care,

Sandra

p.s. I hope you'll keep the blog open-- I would love to use your archives as a reference as we evaluate, and (fingers crossed) help our son begin using the Guardian.

p.p.s. And don't be surprised if in the not-too-distant future, you get a desperate, seemingly out-of the-blue call from a mom looking for more answers about The Girl...

8:56 AM  
Blogger Major Bedhead said...

But...but...but...It's not fair! *stomps foot*

I second Sandra's request to keep the blog open. I'm hoping to get Olivia on this when it get covered by insurance and I'm sure I'm going to want to read back thru all your posts to see how you handled things. Don't make me kill a tree printing off every page....

Good luck to you. I have really enjoyed reading your blog. I've learned so much from your posts - I think you've done a great service to the OC by being a CGMS guinea pig and better yet, blogging so thoroughly and informatively about it.


but still, 'snot fair.

9:08 AM  
Blogger Christine said...

Wil- I enjoy your blog so much. If you stay, we won't hold you accountable to regular posts, just let us know how you are doing once in awhile. Please ?

And I highly doubt you have nothing more to say. I HIGHLY doubt it.

:(

12:26 PM  
Blogger Scott K. Johnson said...

I have to admit that I'm also saddened by the thought that you plan to leave altogether.

I do understand though.

But - you should not ever feel obligated to post on any "schedule".

Maybe you could keep the blog open and post on it whenever the feeling strikes you?

Whatever your choice is (and mind you, it does not need to be chosen right now), we all understand and appreciate everything you have so graciously shared with us.

I hope that you will stay active around the net, and if you are ever in the Minneapolis area that you shoot me an e-mail and we can get together.

2:27 PM  
Blogger skytor said...

Wil, I'm sad to hear that you are thinking about quitting your blog. Thanks for all the great stories you have given, the aughs and the thoughts. Your first hand information on the Guardian RT. I hope you re-consider and post atleast a few times now and then.

What's the name and subject of your book BTW?

3:05 PM  
Blogger Keith said...

Wil,
Thank you for all the information you've relayed in this blog. I've found it very beneficial in evaluating how I'm going to handle this disease in the future.

I do understand the time factor involved in blogging. While I don't post all that often, the shear time involved in keeping up with the OC can be overwhelming.

Best of luck on your future endeavors.

3:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for recording your experiences. I'm hoping you'll continue to record your experiences with the next generation monitors and so on. When I was dx'ed 2 years ago (T1), I turned to forums for my support for several months, until cutting it cold-turkey once I felt my own "stability." I'm just now dabbling back to the forums, but mostly just an observer. Good luck, and of course, I think I won't stop checking, JUST in case you say something new about the next version of software or sensors!

6:30 PM  
Blogger Wil said...

Wow! OK, a lot of folks to respond to. Thank you so much all of you for your kind words. It's been a real joy getting to know you. And, hey, I'll still be around. It's not like I'm moving to Canada or anything! Be sure to all come back tomorrow for the final chapter!!!!!!

Labrat--small world. We'll meet again. Meantime, you can go back to the start of the November archives and read the story from the start. It will take a while. There are pretty much daily entries for three months, and as regular readers know, I can go on, and on, and on, and... Any way, it must be novel-length by now. It'll take you weeks to read the whole thing!

Anonymous Mom of T-1--Thank you. I hope a Guardian is in her future. Writing a Novel is the easy part. Getting it published....sigh....that's the real trick.

Ellen--Pull your self together! Stiff upper lip! I considered long and hard for several weeks before I let you guys in on the plan. Just think how many hours in your day have been freed up now that you don't have to read me!

Kerri--Huh. 8pm. No email. You are such a tease! ;-)

Kevin--You're welcome. You should jump in and try blogging. You don't have to commit for life, plus all my readers are at lose ends and need somewhere to go!

TonysMum--Yes. I've reached Continuous Enlightenment. I'm in a state of perfect Zen (until the Martins land or the Nazi's bomb London again). Good luck with your Guardian! Email me and let me know how's its going for you!

Sandra--Oh, crap. I didn't mean to spoil your tea. I thought about reducing the posting, but it just didn't sit right with me. It was a day-by-day epic. Jeeze...if I waited a month to post can you imagine how long it would be? I'd crash the internet! I hope Joseph can have his own Guardian soon. I plan to leave what is up in place as a reference tool. That said, I don't know if the Blogger.com folks dump things after a certain time or not. You can always copy and paste onto your hard drive. Text takes up very little RAM. And you can call me out of the blue any time.

Julia--You think one tree would do it? I figured it would take a small grove! See above. I'm not pressing the delete key, but I'm at the long term mercy of my free host.

Megan--well even it I don't have a "home" I'm not leaving the Blogosphere. I'll be reading all of you and posting comments!

Scott--Well nothing bugs me more that always dropping in on a blog I like, week after week, only to find nothing new. I don't want to be one of those. Count on me around the net and if I find my self in Minneapolis (stranger things have happened) we'll get together and count some carbs.

Skytor--The book is a main stream action/mystery type of thing. It is set mostly in the very real city of Santa Fe and also in the totally made up country of San Juan in Central America. It involves things I know quite a lot about, like the news photography, lab work, and the fine art market and galleries. It also involves things I don't know so much about like war crimes and international intrigue. Well the best fiction is a blend of real and fantasy. Doing my part as an Ambassador from the Diabetes Community, one of my characters is a diabetic. The Title is "The Next Frame," a reference from the days of film. Sometimes the photo that follows a historic image has more to tell than the better known image. Of course I spend a lot of time hanging out in Santa Fe coffee shops, pretending to do research for the book!

Keith--Thank you! I hope very much that you be able to join in with continuous monitoring in the future.

B&C--You can find everyone at the OC page. It is located at: http://diabetesoc.blogspot.com/ (and being predjuced most of the folks I mentioned are listed under Adult T-1).
Amy's site is called Diabetes Mine.
Kerri's site is called Six Until Me.
Allison's is Lemonade Life.
And Scott's is Scott's Diabetes Journal.
And there are sooooo many more wonderful blogs to read.
I don't know of any other Guardian specific blogs, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there. I don't think this system has artificial intelligence, but it seems to be rarer and rarer when I have bizarre readings. Maybe I'm just getting better at putting sensors in!

JJH--Well, hmmmmm....if I had a next generation monitor.....no promises! The on line community really is like a family. I think it is because we T-1s are so few and so far spread out that we don't have the oppurnity to interact with others of our kind as easily as T-2s do. I get a lot of support and ideas from my cyber friends.

OK everyone, be sure to tune in tomorrow! I spent a lot of time working on the "final post." I wanted it to be really, really, really good. Just in case it is the last word I say on the subject.

8:43 PM  
Blogger Scott K. Johnson said...

Hey Wil,

Your book sounds excellent. You make sure to do whatever you have to do to get it in audio format over at audible.com so I can listen to it!

Of course I'd read it. If I had to... :-)

9:17 AM  
Blogger Allison said...

It will require YEARS of therapy to recover from this loss, Wil.

Just kidding.

I'm sure I'll see you 'round the O.C. sometime. Don't forget to come by and say "Howdy" every once in awhile.

8:03 PM  
Blogger HVS said...

Wil,
You'll still be doing another chat on Talkfest,right?
Good luck with all your future endevours-really enjoyed reading your Guardian Adventures.

-Heidi

2:48 PM  
Blogger Shannon said...

Never say never. Maybe one day you will have something to write about. You don't have to write every day or every week. You can write once a month or so if you're so inclined.

I think you're the only person covering the Guardian so you do have something original here.

2:15 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home