This bear is apparently flying on a trapeze

in , ,

I've spent about $200 for test strips since Friday. Since the beginning of the month, I've been trying to get my test strips from Liberty Medical (yeah, Wilford Brimley's place) with no luck. I bought 50 strips on Friday hoping they would last me until my refills came. Yesterday I had to buy another hundred. I called Liberty today to find out what the hold up is only to find out that they claim to be waiting on doctor's orders. I've been diabetic for 24 years yet I have to have an annual doctor's notes saying it's okay for me to have supplies that I'm going to pay for. It's like needing a hall pass for a disease.

I'm running out of CGM sensors and I've been out of test strips for weeks. If I run out of sensors, I'll be going through test strips even more than I already have. Even with the sensor, I tested my sugar 15 times today (at $1.20 each from our local Rite Aid).

As luck would have it, I've reached my 23rd week of pregnancy and as the ultrasound technician was kind enough to explain to me, this is when the placenta starts really growing with speed and it trashes my blood sugars.

Every day it's like wrestling a bear to get my blood sugars down with only sporadic success. Without sensors or test strips, it's like paying hundreds of dollars to wrestle a bear blindfolded.

Wheee!

Living Out Loud volume 6: Going home

in ,

Some may not see it that way, but I have the luxury of living a few hundred yards from my childhood home where my parents still live. We moved once and that was only across the street (and we never sold the old house, so it was more like expanding than moving). Norfolk, and in particular the Ocean View neighborhood, has always been my home. My old boss Harry lived in the temperate and beautiful mountains of southwest Virginia for decades and only recently left to live closer to his children (and granddaughters!) in central Virginia. He shocked himself recently by saying it was "only 90" degrees outside and as those words left his lips he realized he was becoming a local.

Our project for this month is to answer the question "where are you from?". Interpret that as you will - where you were born, what area you identify with, etc. Is where you would say you're from the same place your parents might answer? Has your answer changed over the years? Do you have different versions/levels of what you call home (your immediate dwelling versus Home with a capital H)? Are there certain sights, sounds or smells about Home that make it that way?

Thomas Wolfe says you can't go home again, but maybe it's just that the definition of home changes and is less about a zip code and more about the space that makes you feel safe and content.

Details include:

  • Tell us about where you're from using the previous paragraphs as guidelines but interpreting it as you will. Remember the rules on these projects are loose so long as you follow the spirit of sharing something about yourself with us.
  • Once you have completed your entry and posted it, please email me the link at genie [at] inabottle [dot] org.
  • If you do not have a blog to host your story, you can email me the story directly and I will add it here as a guest post giving you credit.
  • The due date for entries is Sunday, July 5th (the first Sunday of the month) at 5pm Eastern. That's a holiday weekend, so don't procrastinate too much.
  • Once I have collected all the entries, I will post a wrap-up to list them all and announce a winner. The winner will receive some sort of prize to be determined but all participants will receive fame and glory and a link on our Living Out Loud blogroll.

I can't wait to read what you all produce!