Wednesday, 27 July 2016

From Good To Bad In Seconds

If you've ever spent a day with a person with diabetes you'd know that things can happen fast! 

Today seemed like a good day to spend it at the sporting club...my family and I went around 4 to have lunch there before my soccer training. Sounds like a normal day! Once we settled and ordered our food, some delicious cheese pastries...my favourite I decided to pre bolus for my food. 60g injecting 8.5u into me and waited anxiously for the food. 

I waited and waited and the food took forever...it finally arrived an hour after I had bolused. As I took my first bite my pump starting beeping alerting that my BG was 3.9. No worries...I was already eating and it will soon go up I thought. 

Moments later things took a quick turn...all I could see in front of me was hazzy, blurry and double visioned. Barley able to blurt words out of my mouth I asked for my meter. My mum quickly checked my BG which was 1.4 (25 mg/dl) gave me some tablets and went to get me some juice or anything sugary she could buy...there was no way she was going to wait patiently for 15 mins to see if I needed to retreat. 

All I could feel was the numbness of my mouth and tongue. I was trembling and could barley keep still...felt like I was sitting in -40C temperature in short sleeves and shorts from how much I was trembling. I felt pretty awful, it's like I have ran 50km with only 3 hours of sleep! I felt really unwell that I started to cry...not something you expect an 18 year old to do in public but when your body and brain are deprived from glucose it happens. 

As I patiently sat trying to stay awake with the help of my aunt and mom my blood-sugars started rising and I started becoming more energetic however, there was no way I could go to my soccer training. My energy level was still low and it would take me another 30mins to fully recover which would be too late to go for soccer.

Monday, 25 July 2016

Asking For Help

Me being me, I've always been independent and wanting to learn and do things on my own. I love helping people and offering a hand whenever I could however, I don't like asking for help especially when it comes to diabetes, for a couple reasons. Firstly, I feel like I'm bothering the person and secondly, I feel weak and unable to care for my own diabetes. 

 A while ago during a bootcamp class I dropped low in which my blood sugar would not rise. I treated as I should however, my blood sugar was quite stubborn. I sat silently in the corner without asking for help despite needing it as I was feeling really low and unwell but I feared to ask for help and waited till my instructor noticed me and came over and helped. 

Another incident was a month ago on a sailing trip I went on. My blood sugars were constantly going low and although I was frustrated and annoyed from not having control I refused to ask for help for the first few days until I had a conversation with the cook on the boat who in short told me I should ask for things when I need it. This made me realize that asking for help doesn't make me weak, unable to care of myself or any less independent than anyone else around me. In fact, asking for help makes me more dependent as I noticed when I needed help and asked for it. 

I share this because I know many others like me feel that way. It's okay to ask for help...we all need someone to lean on at times.

                                        Blood sugars during the bootcamp class

Saturday, 23 July 2016

Diabetes and Exercise

For those that know me know that my love for sports is unconditional and that I'd probably be down to workout, go for a run or play any sport at any time...even if I'm tired, fasting or having to wake up early. Staying active is my stress relieve, my moment of freedom and does miracles to my bloodsugars. 

However, diabetes being diabetes, it doesn't always co-operate well. Their are guidelines to follow but each person is different and it all comes with trial and error. Some things I know, if I start at a bloodsugar lower than 5 I'll end up going low and anything higher than 15 I'll be far too exhausted. Cardio makes my bloodsugar drop and weights make my bloodsugar go high. 

But, as simple as it sounds more factors are involved. My excitement, last time I ate, what I ate and the last time I exercised. I have been training soccer the past couple of weeks and I've noticed my bloodsugars drop and remain low for up to 48 hours post training...crazy right? But on days like today where I'm excited to go to training and didn't get much sleep the previous night I went high high high...totally unexpected. 

Another example was on my sailing trip last month, I went for a hike...nothing too crazy but I lowered my basals and reduced my breakfast insulin but still ended up going low and needed 13 glucose tablets to get my blood sugars up...I usually require 3-4...crazy I know! 

This just comes to show how unpredictable diabetes can be and how us as individuals with diabetes need to prepared for whatever the outcome might be and on top of things...which is not always easy I'll admit! But the highs and lows won't stop me.

Tuesday, 12 July 2016

Hypo-unawarness

Hypo-unawareness, a medical term given to not feeling low blood sugars! When a person has a low blood sugar they would start feeling symptoms such as exhaustion, dizziness, confusion, impatience and irritability. These symptoms are felt when the individuals blood sugar starts dropping below 4 mmol/l (72 mg/dl) however, for those who have hypo-unawareness have reduced symptoms making them feel their lows at a much lower blood sugar reading. Referring to myself, I feel my blood sugars at 2.5 (45) or lower for the most part. This can be extremely dangerous if not felt and treated in time as it can result in me having a seizure. Although my CGM (continuous glucose monitor) a device inserted in the interstitial fluid that gives a blood sugar reading ever 5 mins has saved me several times by suspending my insulin pump from administrating insulin, just like all technology it has failed me leaving me with a couple close calls. If you know of a person with diabetes acting out of sync they might be dealing with a low so please help them out because lows are not fun at all! On this note a special thank you to anyone reading this who has helped me while I'm dealing with a low blood sugar, I know I'm not always the happiest during those moments.
One of the many times my CGM saved me by suspending
my pump for 5 hours before I woke up to its alarms.



Friday, 8 July 2016

Frequent thoughts

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I never got diabetes. Would I be as obsessed as I was with sweets, would I be extremely overweight by now…would I even care how much I weighed or how I looked? How many carbs are in a piece of chocolate? Would I even know what carbs really are and other than what we learnt in biology? Would I know how each macronutrient affected my body? Would I be as healthy and active as I am right now…what about the way I process my thoughts would that be easier? Would I be less of a worrier and an over thinker? I just wish I had some answers sometimes…do I really deserve all the pricks and pokes and appointments? Do I deserve feeling crappy when dealing with a blood sugar rollercoaster? Do I deserve any of what diabetes brings? If I never got diabetes would I have stumbled across my strength? Would I have met all the great people that came across my life cause of diabetes? Would I have touched people’s life without dealing with this disease? Would I still want to become a dietician or be interested in food and nutrition? Would I even know what diabetes is without having it? I know God has a plan and everything happens for a reason. I know I have the strength to beat this disease and mostly I know there is a reason for getting this disease. I know I have managed to help people and inspire others, touch people's lives and prove to myself that I can achieve more than I believe. I know this disease has made me healthier (in some way) and much stronger and dependent than I had ever imagined. It is all part of a plan!


Thursday, 7 July 2016

About Me

Many have told me I should start my very own blog about my journey with type 1 diabetes. I have always thought that I was hand picked by God to have diabetes so I can reach out and offer support too many who feel alone or struggle with this disease, so hopefully this blog along with my Instagram  (keraby_t1d) will help me achieve that goal.

As a starter blog, I thought I should share a bit about myself. I'm Mariam Elkeraby, 18 years old and  I'm originally from Egypt. On Feb 13, 2010, almost 6 years ago I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. At first, just like any other newly diagnosed I feared for what is to come and was unsure of my future. I was a very closed up person and avoided letting anyone know about my diagnosis. However, many years later I have decided that this disease is there to make me stronger and will not by any means step in the way of allowing me to achieve my potential. Hopefully, through this blog, I will be able to reach out to several individuals with diabetes around the world and spread awareness of what diabetes is all about.

I am currently on a Medtronic insulin pump for the past two years along with the enlite sensor.

Please feel free at any time to leave feedback or topics you are interested about. I would love to hear from those following the blog