I forgot to mention in my entry a little bit about me that I am a registered nurse. I am currently going for my bachelor's in nursing. I am hoping to become a diabetic educator or insulin pump specialist for Animas which is the pump I currently have.

I am currently working in a dermatologist office part-time just because I am going to school full-time. Before that I was in research for a year and then I was in critical care for 5 years. I have worked in Intensive care unit, Cardiothoracic intensive care unit and coronary care unit.

Here is a helpful hint for anyone who is having high blood sugars after big meals or feels nauseated after big meals.

I was put on reglan or metoclopramide a year ago because I had a bad case of food poisoning and felt nauseated for months. My PCP put me on reglan. When I started taking it I noticed that my blood sugars were better, especially after larger meals. I asked my endocrinologist about it and she said it is actually good to take the reglan for diabetics. It allows your body to digest evenly so you do not digest all at once and have a high blood sugar. I usually take 10 mg of reglan before dinner and it really helps to control my blood sugar.

I go to a endocrinologist every 6 months, sometimes every 4 months if my HbgA1c goes up. I also go to an ophthalmologist every year. I have done this for the nineteen years that I have been a diabetic. I think that all diabetic should do this. I know it is inconvenient to go to all these different doctors, but in the long run it will pay off. Do not listen to your PCP or optometrist that they can do the same things as the specialty doctors can because they cannot. An ophthalmologist is especially important. If you go yearly they can start to see a leaky blood vessel. The leaking of a blood vessel is a very slow process so if they catch it and laser it before something happens to your sight such as floaters or even blindness. I love my ophthalmologist. In case you live in Pittsburgh, I see Dr. Olblum. She is wonderful. She is an retinal specialist and she practices at Everett and Hurite in the McMurray office every other Thursday. So Make sure to have these specialists if you are a diabetic.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself.

I am 26 years old and have been a juvenile diabetic for almost nineteen years. It is kind of an ironic story when I was diagnosed. I was in second grade and the teacher was reading "Sugar Isn't Everything" to the class. About a week into reading that book about a child being diagnosed with diabetes, my mom took me to the doctor's because I was eating and drinking a lot and losing weight. It ended up that I was diagnosed with diabetes. My mom thinks that the chick pox attacked my immune system and then my immune system attacked my pancreas.

I have had four different endocrinologists and I finally found one that I just love. She is so update on things. She is Dr. Jann Johnston and in case you live in the Pittsburgh area you should check into seeing her. She is with Mercy Hospital. She is the one that got me to go on the insulin pump. I have been on all different insulin regimens. It started out as Regular and NPH. Then Humalog and NPH. Then Humalog and Lantus. I loved Lantus except for I took 42 units everyday and that insulin burned and was painful going in, but it did seem to work. I was up to giving almost nine shots a day. My HbgA1c was 6.8. Dr. Johnston suggested taking the classes for an insulin pump. I had gone to the class before with my other endocrinologist and I just did not like the idea of being hooked to something 24 hours a day. Plus I had just met a guy (that is now my husband) so I was just unsure if I wanted it. My husband was so supportive and he is the reason that I got the insulin pump this second time. He read up on it and told me that I should get it. He went to every class with me and he was just wonderful. Now I have the Animas 1250 and I love it. I do not know what I would do with out it. It broke last year and I had to wait 2 days to get a new one. I had to go back to shots and it was terrible. I would suggest to anyone who has to do multiple shots a day to get an insulin pump. It is awesome. My HbgA1c is at 6.4 now!

This whole week I have been feeling sick. My blood sugars have been crazy. Usually my blood sugars range from 90-150. This week starting on Saturday my blood sugars have been from 250-300 mostly after lunch time and after my bedtime snack. I was wondering why is it so high what am I doing different?

On Saturday I went out with my husband and parents for a wine tasting. My mom brought multi grain wheat thins and I have never tried them. My husband stated to me that these wheat thins are so good we should buy them. I really liked them too. So what did we do, but go and buy some the next day and I have been eating a serving size since. The serving size is 22 grams=15 crackers and they only have 2 grams of fiber. I have a Animas insulin pump so I punched in the carbohydrates and then I gave 3.15 unit of insulin. Three hours later my blood sugar was 309. I even tried taking some Reglan to help me digest them and my blood sugar was still high.

Thank goodness my husband, Jon ate the rest so I am not tempted to eat them.

So in conclusion, watch out diabetics for the new multi-grain wheat thins. They were on sale this week at the store.