Friday Night Videos

You had to love Kool and the Gang. Whether at someone's party or at a school dance, you were sure to hear at least one of their songs back in the '80s. Of course "Celebration" is still a popular pick, but I also liked less frequently played hits--like this one from 1983, "Tonight":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3sm3--EnfM

As Tubbs from "Miami Vice" would say..."Solid!" {:-) Have a great weekend, everyone!

Friday Night Videos: Memorial Day Edition

This week's selection is dedicated to three special veterans:

• My father (U.S. Army, Vietnam, 1964-66);
  
  
• My brother (U.S. Air Force, Gulf War I/Kosovo campaign, 1991-1994);



• and my husband (U.S. Army, Cold War, 1982-1986)

To them, and to all veterans, you have my humble thanks. May we Americans continue to honor your oath: to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPudiBR15mk

Friday Night Videos

I loved INXS. Poor Michael. Enjoy and remember a great band!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by6uESG9TGg

Friday Night Videos

Time for a lighter subject...

Ah, the saxophone, the staple of many a song in the 1980s. Something about those tunes lent themselves to the silky, sensual sound of a sax in the middle eight, coming back around near the end for a last round in the fading chorus. Of course, being a certifiable geek back then I just had to be in the band in high school...and guess what instrument I played?!

So here's to my old friend the alto sax, and to the good old days of playing along (quite badly, out of tune, and squeaking my reeds the whole time) with my favorite songs on the radio. Happy weekend, dear OC'ers!

Hall & Oates: "Maneater"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap-OO0xqTe4

Billy Joel: "New York State of Mind"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ewog0EvSw

Duran Duran: "Rio"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpqFsKTHPio

Corey Hart: "Never Surrender"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIyv4drrgeo

Bruce Springsteen: "Dancing in the Dark"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk8VZgJkpeg

Friday Night Videos

It seems the OC is in need of a little Zen this weekend, so I'm posting one of my absolute favorite songs from the 1980s--"Nightshift" by the Commodores. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlsfYDj2HWA

Rolling Your Own

Did your parents do it?


When was the first time you did it?


OK, class, minds out of the gutter (!) Insulin injections are a tricky topic for me. I didn't start off doing my own shots. Like everyone else I learned how to do them in the hospital--several unsuspecting oranges later, I successfully injected myself with saline a few times. I was nervous when the first "real" needle plunged into my body, perhaps more than anyone realized. But I played the role of compliant patient perfectly. At twelve, my doctor considered me mature enough to handle my diabetes on my own.


When I finally went home, though, all that changed. I didn't protest when my mom took over the first few days--"just to make sure you're all right", she said. She had worked in a hospital for nine years and was comfortable with needles. Those days stretched into weeks, then months. We silently fell into an arrangement: Mom would draw up my dose, carefully rolling the Lente bottle, mixing it and the Regular into a cloudy column inside the syringe. I would "try" to do the shot myself, and when I finally gave up after two or three half-hearted pricks, Mom would take over. We then dutifully marked off the site on my rotation sheet and forgot about the charade until the time for my next injection came around. This continued for about three years.

One summer day, I decided I'd do it on my own. For good. Mom didn't say anything, but she seemed relieved. Most of the time she still did the rolling and the mixing, but from that day on she never had to "help" me with the actual injections. I look back now and think of the pain she must have endured, sticking needles into her little girl. I never cried or complained, but it must have bothered her. I never meant to cause my mom any heartache. It was something unspoken, unintended. I thought she preferred it that way, and I liked having her take care of me. She used the backs of my arms a lot, or a leg in the warm months. For me, it was far easier to do abdomen sites, which I use 95% of the time to this day.

So, when did you take charge of your own care, fellow OC'ers? Did your parents "help" like mine?

Friday Night Videos

Ever notice how dramatic the lighting, scenery and costumes were in movies back in the 80s? "Streets of Fire" came out in 1984 and, though it looked a lot like a Duran Duran video, was pretty entertaining:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6mp8HyR2Ck&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJGo2rvfSuA&feature=related

I liked "Eddie and the Cruisers" too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOQCdro5ijA&feature=related

Unbelievably, the star of both movies (Michael Paré) will be 50 this year. Ouch, I'm getting old...! :-) Happy weekend to everyone in the OC!

Friday Night Videos

Besides "The Terminator", I was a big fan of the "Alien" series in the '80s. Ripley is one of my favorite fiction heroines. And let's face it...she still kicks a**! );-)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x31yDEExrIA&feature=related

Happy weekend!

Friday Night Videos

In honor of Dr. King, this week's Friday Night Videos is the 1984 classic "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by the world's greatest band...U2. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k04KzgYRKrE

P.S.

I learned this all too well on my trip. Elvis is Everywhere!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gopc3fgnXDw

But hey, man, lay off of Michael J. Fox!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5paXeKX-W8&feature=related

Friday Night Videos

Remember the bands you liked, but didn't always think of when your favorites came to mind? Huey Lewis & the News was one of mine. You had to love their funny videos, too.

"I Want a New Drug": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMSFX1Vb3xQ

"Heart and Soul": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4fdkkBt8VE

"Stuck With You": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdwNVJIcg7k

Happy Spring, everyone and happy Easter too!

P.S. At Donna's suggestion, here's the fabulous "Workin' for a Living" with Huey Lewis & Garth Brooks. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSzOvjgYqeA

The Luck of the Irish

The Irish saved civilization, among other things. St. Patrick's Day always makes me think of a time during my first trip to Dublin when they might well have saved me. Had it not been for a simple act of kindness, my own personal Rome might have fallen.

Going to Ireland for a month in July, 2005, I thought I'd taken care of everything. My bags were packed with extra insulin, double the syringes, emergency information everywhere and stashes of snacks and treatments for lows. Solo travel wasn't new to me but I'd never been abroad; when my graduate school offered summer classes overseas, I jumped at the chance to return to the land of my ancestors. The day of my arrival, I hopped a ferry and took a bus to Scotland to attend the Make Poverty History rally in Edinburgh. Things had gone smoothly on the long flight from the States, and though I was tired my blood sugars were only slightly higher than normal. I stood out in the bright sunshine all day with new friends, soaking up the event's energy and sipping water. Slowly the jet lag finally began to hit me, so I wandered off to get some food and rest. I found a spot, pulled out my kit, and did a test.

The meter counted down and I looked at the screen. "HI". Oh boy. I washed my hands and retested. 442--not much better. I didn't panic; the stress of traveling and unfamiliar food always affects my readings. Although this high was Officially Scary, I figured a 6u Humalog bolus shot, rest and fluids would bring the number down to the 200s at least. I drank a liter of water and walked around a bit over the next two hours, killing time until my bus began the long journey back to Ireland. Since I'd eaten little "real" food all day, I got tea and a sandwich in a shop and did another 6u bolus to cover my meal. An hour later, seated on the bus, I tested again: 553. I did an 8u shot, then drank water, fought nausea and waited another half hour. Next test: 525. I tested on both hands and different fingers, but all the results were in the same range. Now I was scared. I felt hot and puffy. After another hour the numbers finally began to go down: 401, 323, 283, 204. I felt better, but tired. I noticed my test strip supply was getting low, but I thought little of it.

When I got back to my room in Dublin I sank, relieved, into my bed. A few hours later I was up again and getting ready to attend an evening event at school. I grabbed my kit to test before heading out, and noticed only a few strips were left. That's right, I used up all those extra strips in Scotland, I thought. I opened my suitcase. Amid all the spare syringes I figured I would find the extra bottle I thought I'd packed. But soon the suitcase was empty, along with my purse and my backpack, and that was when it hit me: Oh no, I think I forgot them back home! Ugh. I cursed my stupidity. Now I would have to find a pharmacy and hope they sold my brand of strips. Who knew how expensive they would be, what with the high value of the Euro and my lack of insurance in Ireland? I gave myself another hard mental kick and asked a few colleagues where the nearest drug store was. Someone pointed me to a place down the street, and I walked over the next morning.

The pharmacist carefully studied my empty test strip bottle. "Sorry miss," he told me. "We don't carry this brand over here." I stood at the counter, shellshocked. Now what do I do? I figured I had no choice now but to ask my family to FedEx more strips to me. While I was mentally calculating how much the shipping would cost, the pharmacist tapped me on the arm. "You must check your blood sugars, miss. Here's a meter no one bought, why don't you take this with you?" And here's a bottle of strips to go with it." He gave me an Ascensia Breeze still shrink-wrapped in its packaging. I stammered, unbelieving. Didn't this cost something? Didn't I have to pay? "No, the meter's really no cost to us, and anyway you must have it." I thanked him profusely and left the shop, still stunned. Back home the Breeze was $80.00 at least, and the strips another $100.00.

I used the Breeze for the rest of my trip and avoided further highs and headed off most of my lows. I still have it, an odd souvenir of sorts. It might not have seemed like the grandest gesture to the pharmacist, but he really saved me a lot of stress and expense with one simple act. So that's what I think of on St. Patrick's Day: a pharmacy on Drumcondra Road, a kind-hearted Dubliner, and the bit of wee Irish luck that touched me there. So to one and all in the diabetes OC, Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

Friday Night Videos

Ludicrous speed...GO!!!

There's no use explaining "Spaceballs"--you either had to be there, or you just know :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvd3kaupZ60

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQiC_4kbVlA

I dedicate this week's clips to my 9 to 5 job );-) Happy weekend, everyone!

Friday Night Videos

This week's selections are in honor of an '80s mainstay who's going through some major health challenges right now. Stay gold, Patrick (:-)

"North and South": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIn3AjbknZA

"The Outsiders": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RlG3-tcMoM

"Ghost": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsukB39t6eA

And this classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnJUNUQtcHU

Friday Night Videos

I'd forgotten about this one, until my husband and I got into watching reruns. It was actually pretty good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CquMO3vJvo

If you're a "Vegas" fan you might have seen a little reunion a couple months back--Thomas, Rick and T.C. were together again, but what a pity Higgins couldn't make it. Ah well...

Tom Selleck is still cool :) The "Jesse Stone" films are a great way to spend a winter night, too:

Sea Change

Death in Paradise

Night Passage

Stone Cold

Not to mention this 80s classic...or the sequel...

Happy "leap" weekend, everyone!

Friday Night Videos

Ah, music videos. What would the '80s have been without them?! The weekly video montage was capped by the one and only, for which this blog segment is named. I loved this show (as well as "Night Tracks" on TBS). "Solid Gold" was good, too, but those freaky dancers kinda turned me off.

Then there was "MV3", a little show out of L.A. with cool VJs (like Richard Blade) and great live music and videos, like Oingo Boingo, Berlin, Depeche Mode, English Beat, Bow Wow Wow and the Go-Gos. Oh, how I miss the "Me" era...

Happy weekend and stay warm, everybody!

25 Years Ago...Part 4: Conclusion

The hospital staff were kind as they escorted my mom and me up to the 9th floor. We walked into a room already occupied by a sleeping girl about my age; my bed would be next to the window, facing out onto a busy street. I sat down and the nurses pulled the curtain around me. Suddenly I was alarmed. I thought this was only going to take a minute, and now these people were asking me to undress and get under the sheets...as if I were going to be there a while.


I obediently held out my arms for what seemed like endless blood draws. One came from an artery in my wrist, and to this day it's still the single most painful needle I've ever had to deal with. A nurse complimented me on my beaded barrettes, while another inserted an IV needle into my left hand. The cool saline fluid entering my body made me feel better immediately, as did the first few doses of insulin I was given. I don't remember being scared of all the needles, but having to sleep and shower in a strange place was hard. Later I learned that my blood sugar level upon admission was 490, and I had probably been in DKA for at least a week.


Some time later on that first day I remember my dad coming into the room, clearly upset. They talked to my doctor, an older man who turned out to be an expert on type 1 diabetes. Dr. Traisman was kind to me, although later I would learn the limits of his patience when dealing with teenagers (!). Mom and Dad spent the next week rotating their shifts at my bedside; Dad worked during the day and spent the evenings with me, while Mom took her vacation time off to stay with me during the day. (I found out later that my friends at school thought I was dying, because the principal announced my name over the PA and asked the school to pray for me. They were shocked when I came back, very much alive!) My homeroom teacher brought my school books, and my godfather, a policeman, told jokes and took me for walks around the hospital. I was lucky to have so much support around me. The sleeping girl who shared my room for a time had only one visitor, an elderly grandmother. Dad and I watched TV together, including the famous last episode of "M*A*S*H", and I spent the days making up the assignments I was missing at school. After a couple of days I was able to eat solid food--though waking up at 3 AM to be tested and fed became an unwelcome ritual.


Some things about being in the hospital were okay. The other kids on my floor taught me how to "ride" my IV pole down the hallway (much to the staff's chagrin!). I also remember a nice young nurse who told me about how she had lived with type 1 herself, and that I could still be healthy and have children someday. At 12 I didn't really want to hear about babies, but I know she meant well. Another volunteer, a Navy sailor, drew me a great Snoopy cartoon. After a while my IV came out and I could wear my own clothes again. I learned how to give myself shots with an orange, and figured out how to manage the chemistry set of urine testing. But I wanted to go home. I missed everything, especially Tiger, my cat.


On Sunday, March 6, 1983, I was finally discharged. It was a warm, blustery, sunny day. In the weeks that followed I experienced a minor, short-lived miracle--I could finally see the chalkboards at school, which were a blur for weeks beforehand. It turned out that my "honeymoon" from needing glasses lasted only a year, and probably had little to do with diabetes. Oh well (:-) Another miraculous occurrence had more staying power--my first AccuChek glucose meter, which was literally the size of a brick and took over two minutes to produce a reading. Without these tools and the support of my family, especially my mom, I would never have made it this long without complications. I am lucky, indeed.


Other things also remain after 25 years: the daily mental calculations of insulin dosages and food, the challenges of high and low blood sugars, RPS, and, as Kerri has written about recently, stress management. I've thought about a CGMS to solve my persistent pattern of nighttime crashing lows, but like others will need to see how the situation with health insurance coverage for these devices shakes out. But thanks to you out there in the Diabetes OC, I realize I'm walking among kindred spirits. I appreciate your time in reading this blog, and I look forward to sharing more with you in time to come.

Friday Night Videos

Another classic, this from my younger years. ("Bear left! Right, frog!")

Happy weekend, everybody!

Friday Night Videos

I think I'll point you to some cool '80s links each Friday. To kick it off, here's the show that had me glued to NBC every Friday night at 8. Vice rules!

25 Years Ago...Part Three

Telling your diagnosis story seems to hold special sway in the diabetes OC. I was "lucky" in that I was old enough to realize what was happening to me, and that years later I can still recall everything. For others the memories are dimmer, less vivid, steeped in the language and fabric of childhood. For those who were diagnosed much later (as older teens or adults), I can imagine the mental anguish that might come with recounting every last detail. Is it good to remember so much, I wonder? Maybe the answer depends on your feelings about diabetes in general. For me it's cathartic to write about, because growing up, no one ever asked me about my diagnosis. My parents and other family members were too worried about taking care of me, and in doing their best to give me an otherwise normal life avoided dwelling on the subject. It caused them too much pain to relive it. My friends, while supportive in other ways, never asked about what was wrong with me or why I was in the hospital so long. I'm grateful if you've been reading along as I journey back to my own "d-day". Only among you do I feel like this has some importance, some recognition. Thank you.

In keeping with a thread on Diabetes Daily, I'm posting my "before" picture. This was taken at my 12th birthday party about three weeks before I was diagnosed. I went from 96 lbs. to 75 lbs. before diagnosis. I am struck now by how thin my arms were. (Even my fingers were skinny!) I was also very pale and my hair was limp and falling out. But at the party I remember having a great time, laughing and playing with my friends. My mom, as usual, made the day special even though it was in the dark of winter (my parties were always indoors, and boy was I jealous of kids born in the summertime!). I'll post an "after" picture sometime soon. Til then, here's one of my favorites from recent days: