Nov. 14: World Diabetes Day.
What does that mean for me.
Hmm... Well... Every day is diabetes day for me, so, honestly, I completely forgot about it until I opened up my Instagram feed and saw all the amazingness that is this disease.
Yes, I said it.
Type 1 diabetes is amazing... well, at least the greater DOC is 👏
And what was I doing on this day?
Increasing diabetes awareness in the sport world, that's what!
Totally planned 😉
For the past 5 weeks I've been working with Canadian Sport Institute for my dietetics internship and one of my major projects is a presentation on ... TYPE 1 DIABETES IN SPORT!!! How totally appropriate for me.
And today, completely unplanned, I conducted my first of three presentations on the topic.
The timing was mighty perfect, don't you think 😁
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#type1diabetesandsport #type1diabetes #T1D #T1Dstrong #runningwithtype1diabetes #cyclingwithtype1diabetes #T1Dlookslikeme #diabetesawarenesmonth #diabetesawareness #beyondtype1 #beyondT1D #diabetescommunity #diabetesday #worlddiabetesday #diabetesiseveryday #diabetesislife #diabetessportstrategy #futureRDforathleteswithT1D
When T1D technology fails.
As the temperatures grow colder, I'm left wondering how the heck to keep this sucker warm enough to work through the duration of a long run.
I don't like to carry too much with me so stuffing it into a bulky sock is a no go, but running with it in my mitted hands also doesn't work - learned that last year.
I tried running with it in my sports bra as that's the place I get the sweatiest, so probably the warmest of my body, but, erm, not the most comfortable.
What do you do? How do you keep your diabetes technology happily functioning in extreme* temperatures? *Please note, I live in Vancouver and our temperatures don't get all that extreme compared to our neighbours, but in diabetes tech, they're extreme enough 🤷♀️
Dear Instagrammers,
I have a super important question for you today.
It's a question that's been bogging me down for years, a question I struggle to answer every time I'm asked, a question I'm frequently asked, seriously like every week:
What's your favourite food?
My son regularly asks me what my favourite foods are and I'm almost always stumped.
This is also a common ice breaker question in the world of nutrition, and it almost always gets my hands sweating.
I love so many foods it's hard to choose just one as the ultimate favourite.
I love foods for their tastes.
I love foods for their stories.
I love foods for their adventures.
I love foods for their memories - so many memories.
But my 7 year old is persistent; he wants answers.
So, for my latest go at this question, I gave him three:
1. Steel Cut Oatmeal: I love my breakfast oatmeal and I'm pretty sure if I could have it for lunch too, I probably would.
I love how it sticks to my bones. I love it's warmth in my belly. I love the stability it gives my blood sugars. And I love all the fixings I put on top - raspberries, chocolate protein powder, Bran Buds, almond milk, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, chia seeds, sometimes other nuts and seeds, sometimes dried fruits, all the time goodness!
2. Eggs. I'm not picky, I love scrambled, sunny side up, hard-boiled, soft-boiled, omelettes, frittatas, etc., etc., etc.
The great thing about eggs, you can pretty much add anything or nothing at all and they still taste amazing!
Please note, I do not work for the egg company 🤣 - I just truly do love them!
3. Ice cream: I am picky about my ice cream. I'm a huge ice cream connoisseur and love me some good, quality, artisan ice cream.
The memories we've had eating ice cream. The stories we've told, the smiles we've shared, the adventures we've had - hello Italy, 2 times a day gelato!
For me, ice cream is just special 😊😍😋-
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So, what's your favourite food?
Ps. My boys favourites of the week are apples, ice cream, granny's scrambled eggs (she makes them with whipped cream!), and burgers.
Apparently he couldn't just choose 1 either 🤣
Day *2/6: Share your BG/CGM/Flash data
Look at the above graph.
Look at the below graph.
The below graph is closer to my normal.
The above graph, with that middle finger of a spike, was my Saturday.
Oh Saturday, you were a stinker of a day – at least, throughout my entire bloody run you were.
No rhyme. No reason. Just being a big, ol', nasty jerk face, you were!
This is type-1 diabetes.
This is the disease in its complete, unpredictable glory.
This is my disease.
My latest blog post talks about this run in particular, and compares it to the recommendations for sport with type 1 diabetes - and how the recommdations are not sufficiently serving this growing population.
To read more, click the link in my profile, or copy and paste it from here: https://katiebartel.ca/2019/11/04/run-of-the-raging-blood-sugars/
*November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. @thediabeticjourney has challenged those of us with diabetes to report on all things diabetes every day of the month; I'm a wee bit behind and will continue to be behind with the motto of quality over quantity 😉
Hello November.
Hello National Diabetes Month.
Ok, so there's this thing where a whole bunch of us Instagrammers are reporting all things diabetes for the entire month with planned topics, awareness, D love, etc., etc..
I'm gonna be honest, I will NOT be posting every day this month; I don't have that kind of stamina, and I'm already behind with today being day 4 for everyone else, but day 1 for me.
So, I'm taking the quality over quantity stance right here 😉
Day 1: My Diagnosis Story.
I was 9 years old.
My whole family got sick with the flu and I didn't get better (see the pic above; I'm the cute blonde with the head tilt 😊)
The story goes I ate half a roast and a 2 litre jug of lime Kool-Aid in one sitting, yet the bones under my skin were alarmingly prominent.
My parents started monitoring the amount of times I was running to the washroom. Seriously, my mom made a chart!
When my mom took me to the doctor, told him my symptoms, showed him my bones, showed him that chart, he didn't hesitate, he knew I had diabetes and the blood test confirmed it.
The date was Aug. 23, 1987.
It was my big sister's 16th birthday.
Sorry Jules, this disease has never been convenient 🤷
Tra-la-laaaaa!
I may have type-1 diabetes, but Halloween has always been and continues to be one of my favourite days of the year.
I love the decorated houses, I love the costumes, I love making the costumes, I love the evening laughs, I love watching my boy's excitement in the days leading up, and by golly I love those mini-sized Oh Henry bars and M&Ms too!
Fun fact: Katie goes all out on Halloween costumes for Little Ring, sometimes starting as early as June or July (yes, I am referring to myself in 3rd person 🤷). He's been Babby Merckx, the most renowned baby cyclist around (at 2 months old), a jailbird, shark, Optimus Prime, and the Green Ninja - all handmade!
My favourite designer tool is Duct tape - I do NOT sew!
And this year, well, the boy couldn't make up his mind between his 2 favourite captains, so, he did both!
Captain Awesome by day - of which was designed and created solely by the boy - with Duct tape and all!!! Mama proud 👏
And Captain Underpants by night, which involved dying fabric, requisitioning my moms to sew the cape, and a whole lot of dot drawing by all family members.
It was a full team effort this year my friends 😊
Until next year, we bid you a booooo 🤣
Flashback:
So remember the other day when my building's hot water tank blew at like 5:30 in the morning? And remember how I was forced to have an ice cold shower?
Well, that shower reminded me of a time when I used to WILLINGLY, regularly have ice baths - all in the name of marathon training.
Crazy, I know!
Let me just say, I've lost all that fortitude!
But, hey, once I started reminiscing about marathon training of yore, my mind stopped on one memory in particular.
It's a memory that takes me back about 9 years, a time long before I trusted blood glucose testing technological advancements, a time when I clumsily locked my finger pricker in my car and locked my keys in a locked building I had no access to - all before setting out on a 32 km run!
To this day I still laugh at the solution my running chicks and I MacGyvered 😂🤣😂 To read the post, click on the link in my profile or copy and paste the link here: https://katiebartel.ca/2019/10/28/flashback-post-the-flaming-pins/
Oh today, you had all the makings of a beast!
I woke up at 4 am to an unexplained high blood glucose of 14.3 mmol/L. I went to bed with my BG at 5.1.
What the frick?
I did see that there was a low dip around midnight that resolved itself followed by the spike. For some, this may seem like a normal reaction as evening lows (nocturnal hypoglycemia) often result in significant BG spikes by morning for many with this disease.
However, my history tends to show a pattern of a maintained low/borderline low throughout the sleeping hours.
So, I gave myself a correction bolus and promptly fell back asleep... only to be abruptly woken up a short 1.5 hours later to the incessant, obnoxious blaring of the fire alarm.
What the frick?
I scrambled out of bed, grabbed my hoodie, jacket, boots, and boy, who was already putting his shoes on by the time I opened his bedroom door (good job kid!) and booked it outside - only to realize I'd left my BG reader, PDM, and food inside.
What the frick?
I felt on the verge of nausea so I assumed they were still on the high side.
Thankfully there was no fire, just a water issue that had me showering in ice cold water later that morning.
What the frickety frick?
My BG at breakfast was 11.6. I changed my pod and hoped for the best.
A couple hours later, at the start of my run, my BG was at 6.7 with an angled arrow down. I decreased my basal by 65%, popped a few Swedish berries, and powered through a tempo-paced 5km (average pace: 5:15 min/km; finishing time: 26:13). Wahoo!
Half way through, I checked my BG, it was 7.3 mmol/L. I removed the temp basal and kept running.
Wahoo!
My finishing BG was 5.2 - and no acute highs post run an hour later!
Wahoo!
The day started out as a beast, but finished like a unicorn 🦄🏃♀️👏 I broke the 27-minute, 5 km barrier that I haven't done in a looooooong time. I pushed through ridiculous blood sugars and finished the run and day with awesome blood sugars. And, I smiled - a lot!
Happy Monday my friends 😁
Last week my blog topic was somewhat of a controversial piece in the diabetes realm.
I wrote about weight with regards to diabetes management, specifically the practice of weighing patients with type 1 diabetes at endocrinologist check ups.
I wrote about how I believe it's high time we get rid of that standard of care in an effort to better not only diabetes management, but also emotional and physical well being.
Some of my fellow T1Ds disagreed.
There were many who felt weight monitoring was necessary for optimal health.
It isn't.
There were others who felt as long as endocrinologists don’t add negative comments to the process, it’s okay to get a weight from their patients.
Tell that to the person struggling through disordered eating, or an eating disorder, or teetering on the tight wire of self acceptance.
With or without comment, the process of stepping on a scale can still illicit strong emotions. And the stats for eating disorders in this population is evidence enough to say enough already!
And then there were those who shared similar stories to mine of feeling crushed by the simple process of having to stand on a scale.
And that’s just wrong.
So here I am continuing the conversation because, really, why on earth would I want to shy away from the controversy 😉
To read more on evidence-based reasons why scales are unnecessary for a healthy population of people with type 1 diabetes, click the link in my profile or copy and paste the link here:
https://katiebartel.ca/2019/10/22/part-2-scales-and-diabetes/
Today is election day for us in Canada, and while I don't generally speak politics on this platform, I feel it's important to share a few of the reasons why I vote in ALL elections, including federal, provincial, municipal, and school district.
Not surprising, there's a lot of diabetes and sport representation in my reasons!
I vote because as a woman there was a time not long ago when I wouldn't have been able to vote. And no one tells Katie what she can and can't do 😉
I vote because as a person with type 1 diabetes, Canada's healthcare system wouldn't be as forward thinking had predecessors not voted Tommy Douglas in ⚕️ I vote because as great as Canada's healthcare system is, it could still be better. So much better.
I vote because as a cyclist, bike lanes are important to me and although it's more of a municipal and regional jurisdiction, provincial and federal politics still play a part in our transportation infrastructure 🚴♀️ I vote because as a commuter, it's high time the focus on cars and trucks be shifted to better public transportation that extends beyond Metro Vancouver and into the Fraser Valley 🚅
I vote because as a mom, my child's education is important 🏫
I vote because I can vote.
I vote because my vote does make a difference, large or small, it makes a difference.
Today is the last day to vote for what you believe in.
Get and vote Canada!
Why hello there UBC 👋
Six months ago I left this campus with a splitting headache following my final, FINAL exam. I announced to the Instagram world, and pretty much anyone else who would listen, I was done. I was out. I wouldn't be back again... Or, at least not for another 1.5 years when I'd be walking across the stage of graduation!!! Well folks, turns out, I was wrong.
I'm back, baby!
No, I'm not in classes, but I am learning. My current placement of my dietetics practicum is with a sporting organization, which recently moved its offices to campus.
Honestly, it's nice to be back. The familiarity is calming. And the beauty of this campus at this time of year is breathtaking.
It never gets old 🙃
Plus, I've been asked to focus my research over the next 5 weeks on T1D and sport, which EEEEEEEEE!!!! How freaking cool is that? So super excited💃🤩😁
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Here's to the next 5 weeks of awesomeness!
How's your week going?
#ubcdietetics2020 #UBC #dieteticspracticum #populationandpublichealth #sportandnutrition #type1diabetesandsport #sportnutrition #T1D #T1Dlookslikeme #T1Dstrong #beyondtype1 #diabetescommunity #futureRDforathleteswithT1D
Kicking it old school.
This week I feel like I've been running every which way and unfortunately an important part of my regular routine was neglected.
My son's daycare announced an impromptu closure for the week due to flooding (literally as we were walking out to drop him off off on Monday) which put me on before/after school duty. Thankfully I had a bit more flexibility with my practicum schedule to allow for that.
I've also been preparing for my next placement, which starts Tuesday, boning up on all my sport nutrition knowledge reading various position papers and research articles. (My placement is working with athletes, which I'm super excited about!).
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So when my Libre alarm went off as a reminder 3 days before the sensor was set to expire, 2 days before, 24 hours before, I ignored them all - thinking there was plenty of time.
There wasn't.
When the 3 hour alarm went off 🤦
I like to give the sensor 16-24 hours to percolate for the most accurate BG readings.
Hence the old school meter accompanying me on my last run as I waited for a new sensor to ready.
Made for a nice fall photo though 😊🍂🏃♀️🍁
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#freestylelibre #glucometer #oldschooldiabetes #runningwithtype1diabetes #type1diabetesandsport #type1diabetes #T1D #T1Dlookslikeme ##T1Dstrong #beyondtype1 #diabetescommunity #futureRDforathleteswithT1D
When the work life cuts into your well-oiled eating routine, you get creative.
And, oh boy, did I ever get creative!
After years of being able to happily fuel my body every 2-3 hours, I had to make some changes when I started my dietetics practicum last month, which has the same hours as a full-time job.
To read more about how I managed to keep Dear Diabetes somewhat happy without its regular eating routine, check out my latest blog post all about working with T1D.
Click the link in my profile or copy and paste this link: https://katiebartel.ca/2019/10/07/t1d-and-the-working-life/
Also, sincerest of apologies @fearkeysersoze ;)
#type1diabetes #workingwithdiabetes #fuelingdiabetes #T1D #T1Dstrong #beyondT1D #diabetescommunity #T1Dlookslikeme #futureRDforathleteswithT1D #dieteticspracticum #ubcdietetics2020
Yes, I had to monitor my blood sugars. Yes, I had to slow down or stop every 30-40 minutes to refuel my energy stores. Yes, I had to tweak my insulin delivery.
BUT...
I rode.
I rode 89 km from New Westminster, through Burnaby, Vancouver and the North Shore, to UBC, Stanley Park, Lonsdale Quay, and back home again. I rode over 2 bridges. I climbed the most my Garmin says I've ever climbed.
And I did all this with type-1 diabetes.
If I can do this, so can you 🙂
This disease won't stop me!
#cyclingwithtype1diabetes #sportwithdiabetes #type1diabetes #T1D #T1Dstrong #beyondtype1 #diabetescommunity #T1Dlookslikeme #diabeteswontstopme #futureRDforathleteswithT1D #fallleaves #lovethisseason
