November: Diabetes Awareness Month

As you may already know, November is Diabetes Awareness Month. If you've been following my blog, of my social media, for long, you may also know already that I usually post something about diabetes, especially Type 1, nearly daily throughout the month of November each year.

Today I will share some links to some articles that help explain the difference between Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1 vs. Type 2 Diabetes: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Symptoms

The Difference Between Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes vs. Type 2 Diabetes

Over on Instagram and Facebook, I also share a daily graphic from Project Blue November.

Here are the graphics from the first four days:

In addition, this month, I'm taking on 34 miles for the American Diabetes Association! My Fitbit tracker is a great help with that! I already have a total of 9 miles toward that!

Seventeen Years!

Yes, it's hard to believe, but it was seventeen years ago that our lives changed drastically. 

Type 1 Diabetes. It will never go away. There is no cure. It is a daily battle. She can never take a vacation from it. She is on this roller coaster struggle for the rest of her life on this earth. How we look forward to Jesus' soon coming, so she can get a new body! No more pain. No more struggles. No more insulin.

Come soon, Lord Jesus!!

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Diabetes Rears Its Ugly Head

Sometimes in the day-to-day of living life, tending to the routine of diabetes care, and so forth, one becomes somewhat complacent. Suddenly a speed bump or two rear up and shake things up a bit.

Last week a couple of those speed bumps came along.

First of all, the son of a friend of mine from where we lived in the northwest US, who had died nearly a year ago, I found out last Thursday he'd died from undiagnosed diabetes. He and my oldest son had been really good friends when they were very, very young.

The following day, when Jen went to get a refill of her insulin, she discovered that she no longer has insurance, because last month was her 26th birthday. Here she stands at the pharmacy, with one dose left at home, and finds out she simply can't afford to get more! It does freak us both out!

So prayers would be appreciated as we figure out how to process all of this: finding affordable insurance for her, that the other long-acting insulin she has on hand will stretch, etc.

Stay tuned for the next installment of the "saga."

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Wordless Wednesday on World Diabetes Day, November 14

Today is World Diabetes Day. This is just to show a little of what my beautiful daughter has to do every day, multiple times a day, to stay alive. Often she rations her insulin, and rarely checks her blood sugars, because of extremely tight finances, and the high cost of diabetes care. Longing for the Lord to come, no more health problems, bodies made new.

I am linking up over on Life at Rossmont in the Wordless Wednesday link up.

Managing diabetes

What does someone with diabetes need to do to manage diabetes?

Some things include:

• Regular monitoring
• Daily treatment
• Healthy diet and lifestyle
• Continuing education

Learn more at International Diabetes Federation. On Twitter.

Could you spot the warning signs?

Symptoms can include:

• Excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Lack of energy
• Blurred vision
• Slow healing wounds
• Numbness in feet and hands 

Test your diabetes knowledge at http://discoverdiabetes.idf.org/

Follow World Diabetes Day on Twitter.

November is diabetes awareness month

I try to talk about diabetes at least once during the month of November. My preference is to post about it daily during the month. Let's see how we do this year! Ha!

(Click the graphic to take you to a larger, clearer image)

I hope you'll join us throughout the month.

Welcome

Welcome to the kitchen on Chickadee Lane.

I'm Wendy, the mom. Currently I spend my days homeschooling my two teenage sons, and "just being there" for my two young adult offspring...you know, in case they do actually still "need" me.

I've recently begun a journey to becoming healthier. Before I began, my pain level was high pretty much continuously. I had to use my arms to push myself up from a chair. I could barely walk to the corner and back without feeling winded and hurting even more.

I began taking a morning stroll with my camera, to find what I could in nature to capture. I gradually increased my distance. I also began noticing improvements in how I felt. It was an exciting day to realize I could actually rise from a chair without needing to use my arms to push up!

There will be occasional...okay, probably frequent...posts about my journey to healthy.

Jen is my only daughter. She is a crew member at a nearby McDonald's. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 10 1/2. We've been on this roller coaster, mostly together, for about 13 years now. She depends on me a lot less now, but I'm still here if she needs me.

A few months ago, we decided that on March 16, 2018, we plan to begin a through hike on the Appalachian Trail. Yeah, it may be just a pipe dream, but it gives me a goal to work toward on this journey back to being healthier. We plan to share about our preparations for this adventure.

We also plan to share some of our adventures in the kitchen, and some of our favorite recipes.

One more purpose for this blog is to share reviews of some of the restaurants we visit. Our budgets are tight, so restaurants don't happen frequently. But we do belong to a ladies' luncheon group, which meets once a month at various local eateries.

I hope you'll join us often!