Symptoms (?)

So I haven't added anything new in way too long. I'd like to pause the story for now and talk about the types of things I felt leading up to diagnosis (Nov. 1, 2010). I'm not exactly sure if these are all symptoms (I know some are), or if they can be attributed to something else.. but here it goes:

Muscle Cramps - I started getting upper leg cramps after a road game against Lake Forest on Nov. 13, 2009. On the bus back to Appleton, I almost fell over walking to another seat because my legs got so tight right above my knee. I played a lot that game, so it wasn't super surprising that I was cramping a little. I was told to hydrate a lot and stretch, which sort of helped.

The next thing I knew, I would get terrible cramps in my calves at least once a night. I started to supplement with calcium/magnesium because they are supposed to help muscles relax. These nightly cramps continued to wake me up for the remainder of the season.

Extreme Thirst - Not much to say here, I drink tons of water when I'm at home in Texas and when I'm playing hockey, so it seemed natural to NEED water all the time (I even craved water when I woke up with the leg cramps)


Joint trouble - I first noticed that I was having a lot of trouble with the left side of my groin during winter term of 2010. I realized that something wasn't right because when I was sitting in the computer chairs in one of the economics class rooms, I could tweak my leg so that my left pelvic joint (?) popped. My whole leg usually felt better after it popped, but I had never experienced this before in my life, so I was pretty sure there was something unusual going on.

Increased Appetite - In the winter of 2010, I would consistently eat full meals then go back to my room and immediately start snacking. My appetite was literally insatiable. My roommate and I used to joke that I would 'eat myself into diabetes' like Jay Cutler did. Of course, Jay Cutler didn't eat himself into D and neither did I, but it was pretty funny at the time.

Urinating frequently - I don't think I slept for an entire night without going to the bathroom for the first ten and a half months of 2010.

Weight loss - I've mentioned this in previous posts - I lost 15-20 lbs during the first couple months of 2010 and was hovering around 170 until November.

Foot problems - At the beginning of the hockey season in September, I developed plantar fasciitis. I got new skates around then, so I thought it might have been those, but I'm not entirely sure... by the way, I don't have it anymore

Mega Summary of December

Ok, let's pick up where we left off - It is mid-November and I have decided to take insulin before/during hockey if my bg isn't quite right. Since it seems to ALWAYS go up when I play, I made a sliding scale for injecting before I hit the ice. A sliding scale sets a certain amount of insulin to take depending on what my blood sugar level is. Basically this scale was identical to the one I used at meal times, but +1 unit for each range. So, if my blood sugar was perfect, I would take one unit of insulin to combat the inevitable rise that would come with hockey.

This worked out pretty well for a while.. or so I thought. I was pretty consistently in the 90s when I played. I thought it was awesome because I was playing pretty well and was not getting low. Well, that's not entirely true. I got low a few times during practices. I think I was in the 50s once or twice. Maybe it was 60s, but either way, I was walking a fine line and I am very thankful that I had glucose tabs on the bench. This is the way things were for the rest of the first half, which ended about 5 weeks after diagnosis.

I feel like I could write a full post about every different subject that comes up when I write these, and maybe I will... but not if I keep updating at this pace! Anyway, what prompted that thought is the fact that I had to fly home to Texas for the first time with diabetes. I was going home for almost a month, so I had a lot of supplies with me - 300 test strips, 50 needles, 100+ pen needles, 100 lancets, 2-3 insulin pens, and 1-2 vials of insulin. I asked my doctor to write me a note saying that I required all of this junk in case anyone asked. I was worried that someone would stop me and think I was dealing drugs or planning to stab tons of people with needles. I was also worried that I'd go low or do something stupid waiting in the security line. Nothing. No second looks at my bags or anything. It was just as smooth as every other time I have flown!

A day or two after I got home, I went on a cruise with a friend and two of his friends (now I can say I went on a cruise with three of my friends). I'll have to write a full post about the cruise because it was one of the best weeks of my life, and it came at the perfect time. I was kind of frustrated with diabetes and I was worried about how much it would limit me for the rest of my life. The cruise allowed me to experiment with doses, guess carb contents, participate in plenty of different activities, drink, workout, dance, stay up late, etc. Sort of just push the limits. The cruise experience confirmed that diabetes would not limit me at all. I can do anything I want to do, anytime I want to do it, in any capacity... As long as I manage my blood sugar.

Jay, Adam, Me, and Love (pronounced 'loovah') about to embark on our cruise. Note, we dressed like this as a joke!

After the cruise, I spent about 2 weeks at home. I used this time to get back into good shape for hockey (not that I was turbo out of shape, but I had been limited by high blood sugars for a long time, so I wanted to push my body more than I had been able to for the past few months/year). I worked out with my dad every day. He had never really done leg lifts in his life, and I think legs are the most important body part to work out (in terms of hockey.. lower back is pretty important too). So he was pushing himself as I was pushing myself, and it was nice to be able to work out together and have some time to bond each day.  I also experimented with different foods, made my mom look up the carb contents of hundreds of different dishes, hung out with my brother (when he was awake!), and caught up with friends. I was able to fine-tune my insulin and carb intake, and determined what was optimal in different situations (ie. post workout, late-night, different foods, skipped meals, having drinks, etc).

I also made a visit to New Orleans over the break with the same friends from the cruise plus Daniel. I experienced a lot of typical N.O. things, like hand grenades (a bourbon street super drink - see picture below), muffalettas, and beignets.

Jay, Me, Love, and Daniel drinking hand grenades on Bourbon St.

There's not really any reason to mention this, but after an intense night where I saved the day - I'll tell you the story if you ask me in person, or you can ask any of the four other guys - I received one of the best compliments ever, and one that inspires me every time diabetes starts to get me down. Jay sent me a text message the day after this long night (I didn't sleep) that said, "They say diabetes is a bad thing, but you make it look like something I want to have." This reminds me that even with diabetes, I can do anything, everything, and sometimes more than anyone else can do. Thanks for the encouragement, Jay!