In the army, the answer is a solid yes. You’re still given a medical discharge for being diabetic.

The FAA will kick you out, as well, it turns out. For any level certification (small planes up to jets), one will be immediately disqualified from earning a license if one has diabetes being treated with medicine.

I’m actually a little disappointed. I’ve never actually flown in a plane before, as a passenger, but I have a feeling I’ll love it. And I’ve wondered what it would be like to pilot a small plane. I’ll never know now.

That means I’ll have to stick with merely being a passenger, I suppose. So maybe it’s time to actually take my first flight soon?

The Flexpen is pre-loaded, so I don’t have to measure out insulin anymore. I turn a dial to measure the dosage, and I pop a needle cap onto the pen and unscrew it when I’m done. So far, it’s been strange to get used to, just because I’ve been measuring and injecting actual needles for so long now. (And I still have to measure out and inject the Lantus, the long-acting insulin I take twice a day). But I can already tell that, in the long run, it will be more convenient. It will also be cheaper, as a prescription of pens will last longer than the vial will.

So there we are. Finally something new to report in my diabetes care.

It seems like he’s dealt with this disease for so long, and he’s encouraging other diabetics to accept their disease and enjoy life while taking charge of their health. Sounds great, right? Yep. I’ll probably buy this book pretty soon.

Also cool? There’s a store on the website! T-shirts, magnets, keychains.

My favorite:

I always enjoy a good diabetic joke, as you know. I love it when I see other diabetics who can also accept their condition enough to joke around about it, while also being serious about taking care of themselves. This guy seems to have that right balance, and I look forward to reading this book. I’ll post again when I finally get a copy!

Last night, before class started, my classmates and I were standing around talking with my educational psychology professor about diets. It turns out Dr. Breard was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, as well, and is able to control her diabetes just through dieting.

What have I learned from these experiences? Become a psychology professor, get diagnosed with type 2 diabetes!

(Okay, that’s a completely illogical fallacy, but an amusing coincidence, don’t you think? At least it gave me something to blog about. You’re welcome.)

So when I found this headline on Yahoo news, I clicked on it, just to see what it said. I expected the usual psychoanalysis explanation, but instead, I found something interesting and totally relevant:

You Should See Your Doctor If …
You notice symptoms of bipolar disorder or diabetes, since both of these conditions may cause vivid dreaming. Both interrupt REM sleep and therefore affect the body’s ability to separate dreams from waking perceptions.

What? Diabetes can cause vivid dreams? Granted, I’ve been diabetic for over a year now, and I didn’t notice the increasing frequency of crazy dreams until last fall. But then again, I’m also oblivious, and perhaps I just never noticed. Highly likely.

Anyway, I kept reading and found more info:

Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, is another cause of vivid dreams. When the brain senses that glucose levels are low, it will do strange things to get stored glucose into the blood stream. One way it does so is through adrenaline spurts. If your vivid dreams are accompanied by a feeling of being “wired” (if, like me, you find yourself doing ninja kicks around your bedroom at those pesky alien invaders), it likely stems from a blood sugar issue.

I’ll have to start paying attention now, to see if the nights when I wake up from vivid dreams are also nights when my blood sugar is low.

Really, really fascinating. Who knew?

Who would have ever believed that becoming diabetic would be this good? I mean, my first thought certainly wasn’t “This could be one of the greatest things that’s ever happened to me!” But strangely enough, it’s worked out that way.

One year later, I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. I’ve shed 70 pounds, my diabetes is under control for the most part, and I’ve proven to myself that being diabetic doesn’t mean my life is over, or even limited in any major way. So I carry around syringes and make jokes about being a druggie, and I take my coffee with Splenda now. Minor inconveniences, for the most part.

I’m honestly thankful for being diabetic. I never imagined that life could be this good as a diabetic. But I’ve learned a lot in the past year. I’ve grown up a lot, and I’ve realized that God can use even a broken pancreas to teach me how to rely on Him.

So, a tribute to my busted pancreas: we did it! May we have many, many more happy, healthy years ahead of us!

2. Even more awesome that sugar-free candy? I just ordered a new Threadless shirt this morning. It’s the most amazing one I’ve seen in a a long time:

May God truly bless whoever designed this fantastic t-shirt.

My doctor has adjusted my insulin every week for the past three weeks in an effort to prevent this, but to no avail so far. Occassionally, there are even days when I eat normally and my blood sugar drops before lunch or dinner, which never happened until recently. In fact, yesterday evening, before I ate dinner, my blood sugar registered at 47. I had only started to feel the physical effects of it a few minutes before. And this morning, when I woke up at 3 a.m., my meter read 35…a new record low. Scary, and the reason I’m going to start waking myself up as a preventative measure. Hopefully, that will work.

I would love to petition my body to just be a little more dependable. I would love a pancreas upgrade. I would love to be able to go to sleep right now and not have to worry that my blood sugar will have dropped 300 points when I check it in a few hours. I would love to not inadvertently invoke guilt when a friend offers me a candy cane.

It’s been close to a year now that I’ve been diabetic. Ten and a half months ago, I had no concept of what this day would look like. It’s better than I ever imagined, but it still isn’t easy, especially these last few weeks because having low blood sugar levels makes me feel really out of it. It’s pretty exhausting, actually.

It’s a good reassurance to know that this is essentially temporary. When I get to heaven, and I’m partying with Jesus, my pancreas will work just fine. When I get there, I hope He pulls out a box of strawberry jelly-filled, powdered sugar donuts and iced coffee sweetened with real sugar, and hands them over. I hope we have a picnic with Mama Kat’s pound cake and pecan pie as the main course. And I hope we finish it off with strawberry cheesecake and sweet tea. What a day of rejoicing that will be…a sweet life indeed.

While part of me is pleased that Disney is making some sort of attempt to educate children, I’m reasonably sure this is not the best method. I’ve seen Hannah Montana. I’ve not been impressed. The show is silly and insipid, and I think diabetes is too complicated and too much of an issue for them to handle properly, while conveying factual, necessary information to young children.

Just stick with the Jonas Brothers, Disney. Every pre-teen girl in America wants to find a cure for diabetes and save Nick Jonas. You don’t need to bring Hannah Montana into the picture, too.