The Best of Brensdad

Here are a few links to my older blog, "Red is Not My Color." These happen to be some of my favorites. I figured since my music career was drying up it was time to release a "best of." Enjoy.

"White Trash Carnival"

"Get a Real Problem"

"Watch For Crossing Coffee Tables"

"Dueling Dopplers vs. Redneck Neighbors"

"Things That Bother My Wife"

"Lubbock: Hub of Old People"

Hey buddy, can you spare some unscarred tissue?

I have been on an insulin pump for several years now, and I am beginning to run into a problem that only a fellow diabetic can understand. I'm running out of room to insert my infusion sites! I find myself looking in the mirror trying to find a spot that is suitably un-molested so I can insert my pump site there. And it's getting kind of difficult. My preferred spot is on my left side (affectionately known as the "Love handle"). This is because I sleep with my right side on the edge of the bed, so if my pump's on my left it won't slide off the bed in the night and tug me awake. I can't use my thighs because there's no fat on them anywhere. None. Arms are out because they are all muscle and very little fat (the site kinks every time I've ever tried my arm). So that pretty much leaves my robust stomach area.

So here's what I think I should do. Eat. A lot. I need more surface area, right? So the best possible way to do that is to plant myself at a Krispy Kreme three times per day then have a Slim-Fast for dinner (it's that weird dieter's cognitive dissonance). And it wouldn't be all that hard. After all there's a Krispy Kreme right next door to my car wash office. And Lord knows I could pack away a dozen of those in a single sitting. Easy. Done it before. For those of you who know me, which is all of you I presume since I'm not famous, you know that I have virtually no talents to speak of. I do a pretty mean Shrek impression, can impersonate ever character from the Spongebob Squarepants cartoon, and can fall asleep almost on command. That's pretty much it. Except for one. I can eat like a monkey in the produce section of Wal-Mart. It's truly a marvel to behold. If you haven't seen me do it, pull up a chair and put on a tarp.

So I figure within a couple of weeks my Krispy Kreme and Slim Fast diet should easily give me an additional square foot of site-infusion space on my body. And boy, will I need it.

This is what it's like to manage car washes

Much of what I do depends on the weather, and to a surprising extent, the weather forecast. I often set my basal rates for the day based on what the weather is like. If it's cloudy and wet like today, time to crank up the insulin because I will be sitting on my rear doing paperwork all day. If it's a sunny Saturday, turn it way down. Now someone please tell me exactly what it is I should do Saturday with by basal rates based on this forecast...

Saturday: Areas of drizzle, then a slight chance of showers after noon. Areas of fog before noon. Otherwise, cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 69. Windy, with a south southwest wind between 25 and 30 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

So basically the weather will be something like the weather on a good day on Saturn, but without the methane. Better set up a new pattern in my pump for this one!

Entrepreneurship and Diabetes

I love my job. I really do. I do have those days where I want to run away screaming (who doesn't?), but for the most part I genuinely enjoy the challenge of the work. Our parent company put all of its car wash division up for sale some time ago, and many of them have now been sold. For a time, I was seriously considering buying one or more of them myself. I've been doing it for over seven years now, and I know what I am doing, and I know I could make money doing it. So what's the problem, you ask?

Health insurance, that's the problem. As a diabetic and the parent of a diabetic I will always be a slave to group health insurance. There is just no way I could buy all the insulin, strips, and pump supplies for two people without it. And that's really kind of sad if you think about it. How many great entrepreneurs are out there with a winning idea and the drive and committment to succeed but never will because they have to have group health insurance? And we all know what a private plan would say to not one, but two type 1 diabetics. Good luck, and here's six free Hannah Montana concert tickets just for applying, now please go away.

Someday soon I will make my case for generic insulins. I can understand, somewhat, why pumps and their related supplies are so expensive. Some may consider a pump a "luxury" when MDI therapy will work just fine if done correctly. My neighbor, also a type 1, does Lantus and Humalog and his a1C is way better than mine is. But I just cannot tolerate the idea that the two things all type 1 diabetics MUST have to survive- insulin and test strips- have to be so darned expensive! There is one generic insulin available today...one. Glad I have health insurance.

Things that just don't belong together

Someone, if you can, explain to me exactly how this might happen...

Carwash blaze causes chaos
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

RADCLIFFE, ENGLAND — A fire at the Big Yellow Car Wash caused chaos here when flames ignited more than one ton of fireworks at the business, according to The Manchester Evening News.

The Nov. 22 story said streets in the town center were closed off to protect the public while emergency crews battled flames and explosions.

According to the report, police and fire investigators suspect the fire was started deliberately.

Welcome to all two of you!

Welcome to my new blog titled "Diabetes 360." Many of you may remember my old blog at http://www.mathdummy.blogspot.com/. I'm pretty sure it still exists, although I haven't personally checked it in months. I've been inspired to create this new blog by seeing all the great blogs out there about life with diabetes like Six Until Me and Diabetesmine.

I picked the name "Diabetes 360" because, quite simply, no matter where you turn diabetes is there. In my case, I have a type of diabetes known as LADA, or Latent Autoimmune Diabetes, which is typically found in young adults and is almost always mis-diagnosed as type 2. I use an insulin pump to manage my diabetes along with semi-regular exercise and by watching my diet. And when I say watching my diet, I mean watching all sorts of crap go from my plate to my mouth.

Then of course there is my daughter Emma, who was diagnosed type 1 when she was just nine months old. She uses a CGMS and an insulin pump (along with her personal pedi endo a.k.a. "mommy." More on that later.

I do hope you will check in with me often as I begin this self-indulgent quest into the world of diabetes blogging. So, that's it. Bye.

Nick