WOTW: Risible.

risible, (RIZ-uh-bul), adjective.

(BOW)

Funny or amusing; worthy of laughter.

(AH)

1. Relating to laughter or used in eliciting laughter. 

2. Eliciting laughter; ludicrous.

3. Capable of laughing or inclined to laugh. 

(LLat. risibilis)

Della invited Alison to lunch, knowing Alison's risible personality would cheer her.

The child's risible escapades made for delightful storytelling by his parents.

Looks like I'm drawn to words that have sunny definitions. I guess you could say I'm rather ebullient, and that I love the more risible parts of life.

Friday Four.

• I go back to work a week from today. I have mixed emotions. 
• I love my summer and vacation.
• I'm ready for Fall.
• One of my friends from the first school where I was fully employed is coming to my school and I'm super excited about that.
• Also there are a bunch of new people that I don't know, which makes me nervous.
• I actually enjoy my job!
• But I have to do student teaching in the Spring, and that means leaving the job I love.
• I have an endo appointment on Tuesday! I know, I know, I just had one, but my CDE and endo are only both in the office on Tuesdays, so I'm trying to schedule them so that I don't have to take off work. If I go this Tuesday, I can wait until Thanksgiving week to schedule my next appointment.
• My new little nephew got moved out of the incubator this week! He's still in the NICU, and will be for awhile, but now he's one step closer to coming home.
• This happened:
  
  I have been sort-of-kind-of flat-lining again, more than just this once, finally, after a couple of months of constant peaks and valleys. Also it matched my meter, which made me extra happy.

WOTW: Ebullient.

Ebullient:

(BOW)
ebullient (eh-BOOL-yunt), adj.
Full of cheer, enthusiasm, or optimism, as expressed in speech, writing, or behavior.

(AH)
1. Zestfully enthusiastic.
2. Boiling or seeming to boil; bubbling.
Latin: ebuliere, to bubble up.

My professor was particularly ebullient when lecturing about Thomas Jefferson, his favorite president.

Some find my constant state of ebullience delightful, while others simply consider it annoying.


Isn't the 1st definition from American Heritage absolutely delicious? "Zestfully enthusiastic" is one of the happiest, most exuberant phrases I've ever read. The fact that it can be summed up into "ebullient" makes it even better.

Friday Four

I'm working out a new blog format, where I will post every weekday, or at least, try to. I've noticed a lot of people do Friday Fives, or some other number. I decided on Four. So, here goes.

• Most of the time, site insertions (pump and Dexcom) don't hurt, or cause only a little discomfort, so when they do, it's almost shocking, and makes me wonder if something's wrong! This morning, I put in a new one, and it hurt like the Dickens. Compounded by my bonking it on a door frame. Twice. But it's working, and pretty spot-on.
• I really shouldn't browse the nonfiction section in the library. I have a bunch of books that I really don't have time to even glance at, but I couldn't not get them. Grammar, spelling, knitting, French idioms, etiquette, and a biography. I don't even know where to START.
• I hate waking up low. That feeling is so much worse than a "day" low. It's like a lost, desperate feeling.
• I've always planned on getting a master's degree, but up to now, never found one that seemed to suit me. Until the idea of becoming a children's librarian slapped me in the face. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. But first, I have to finish my Bachelor's. *sigh*

Word of the Week.

Starting today, I am going to post a Word of the Week every Tuesday. I got inspired by Ed over at Lexicolatry, who is reading the Oxford English Dictionary, and posts a word from his reading each day. I will post words that I discover by various means, but most commonly, they will come from a random opening in the dictionary. I shall be using The Ultimate Book of Words Students Should Know (BOW), in conjunction with The American Heritage College Dictionary (AH) .

The Ultimate Book of Words Students Should Know is an awesome tool for college and high school students in particular. This dictionary uses simple language definitions, phonetic pronunciation keys, and then uses the word in a sentence, further conveying the meaning and proper use of the word. Invaluable for someone who likes words, but isn't quite sure how to work them into a paper or conversation.

I'll be honest, I love my collegiate dictionary. American Heritage just happened to be the hardback dictionary the college bookstore was selling when I needed one, but I probably would have gone with it compared to others, for purely superficial reasons. It's pretty. It's a rich burgundy, not a glaring red (here's looking at you, Merriam-Webster), with gold trim. This dictionary looks formal and professional. It also has those fantastic paint-splattered-looking page edges. It's also large enough to have the words I need, but small enough to not be cumbersome.

Why use both? Well, I like the fact that the BOW narrows down to some of the more colorful words, instead of including every word and historical figure. I like the formality of the AH, and the fact that the definitions often include colorful words as well.

Anyway.

Down to business.

The Word of the Week IS:

Nugatory.

(BOW)
(NOO-guh-tor-ee), adjective.
Insignificant; having little importance; pointless or without purpose; or ineffective or meaningless; powerless; worthless.

(AH)
adj. 1. Of little or no importance; trifling.
2. Having no force; invalid.
(Latin: nugatorius)

PAUSE. Trifling. What a Wonderful Word. /pause.

Some people consider hair bows a nugatory accessory, but, to me, they are essential.

There is a school of thought that perceives cursive writing as a nugatory skill.


There you have it!



I know this is supposed to be a D-blog, but there is more to me than diabetes. And the educator in me says that learning never hurts anyone :).

Okay.

Emily was excited, but a little nervous to be at church camp. This was her first time going to this camp, and here, they roomed by age group, not church group. As the days went by, Emily cheered up; the other 14 year old girls in her cabin were really nice and a lot of fun, and the church was more than amazing.
Emily also began to get sick. Instead of spending the last day of camp with her new friends, Emily spent it in the dorm, asleep.

She slept the entire way home from Missouri, a good 15 hours, still sick with a fever.

When Emily got home, there was no time for recovery, as she had to get in her mom's car and go to Florida for a big family vacation at Disney World! Everyone was going, her mom, dad, brother, aunt, uncle, 2 cousins, and grandma. At least her mom had been able to get the doctor to call in an antibiotic for her to take.

Emily slept the entire way to Disney World, a 17 hour trip.

Upon arrival at Disney World, everyone burst out of the vehicles with excitement, even though it was nighttime. The next day, Emily and her family went to the parks, ready to begin their vacation. Emily was feeling a little better, she thought, and was having a good time, until the afternoon. About 3 o'clock, she got too tired, and went with her grandma back to the hotel. She slept 15 hours and didn't get up 'til the next morning.

This continued for the next 3 days.

Finally, Emily felt better, and was able to enjoy the rest of the trip.

When Emily arrived home, everything seemed normal. Until August. Starting then, she stopped all physical development, and began to lose weight. She came home from school and took a nap, ate supper, and went straight to bed. She drank a lot too. Her mom was worried at first, but justified the behavior because Emily was a high school freshman, and in marching band.

What her mom didn't realize was that Emily was so thirsty that she couldn't satiate it. She would drink 5-6 glasses of water per night. At school, she filled her water bottle and went to the restroom between every class, and by the middle of the next class, her water was gone, and she started feeling desperate. Staying awake during class was a chore. To this day, she remembers very little of what went on during Biology class, the period of time when it was the hardest to keep her eyes open (Note: probably around the time my breakfast was breaking down).  When she marched, her feet would draw up inside her shoes, but by the time she got home, it was already forgotten.

But, based on what she could see, her mom got worried.

In January, Emily's mom took her to the doctor. The doctor placated her mom, and told her that there was nothing to be concerned about.

In February, Emily's mom took her back. The doctor said they'd run some tests for anemia, thyroid, and such. Her mom asked them to test for diabetes, too, although she hoped beyond hope that it wouldn't be that.

On February 7, 2007, the results came back. Her a1c was 18.0.

After a hard trip on the bus, trying to keep her eyes open, Emily walked in the door. Her mom told her that she had diabetes. Emily fell on her mom's bed, in shock. Really, diabetes? Her? This couldn't be possible, could it? Her mom hugged her, assuring her that it was going to be okay, and that they would do whatever they had to do to make her healthy.

The duo went to the doctor's office to have a fingerstick test done. 372 mg/dL. Moderate ketones*.
The doctor said to see an endocrinologist within the next 2 weeks or so.

Emily's mom decided it was time to call the pediatrician downtown. The pediatrician said, "Go to Texas Children's. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. Just go." They did run home and grab some clothes, first, knowing that they would at least be there overnight.

That night, Emily was given her first insulin shot.

And she told her mom that she would be okay.

The next 3 days, they waited, took classes, and learned how to give shots. Emily was nervous, but once she found out that this was NYGD (Not Your Grandma's Diabetes), she began to feel better. She could still eat the things she loved, there just were some times that it wouldn't always be a good idea. She would have to deal with high and low blood sugars. She would have to give shots several times a day.

But she would be okay.

And okay she is still.




*An a1c of 18 does not usually correlate to moderate and small ketones, but that is all I ever ran. I have run large ketones once since dx, and have only run ketones at all a handful of times. I'm just one of the very blessed to not easily run ketones. 

The time my a1c wasn't 11.

As PWDs, we often chant "it's not a grade, it's not a grade" when referring to a1cs. But it’s not the fact that it’s a grade, it’s a number that we would like to fall in a certain range. When we see it, it has some sort of effect on us.

 “Oh, I thought it would be higher/lower!”

 “That’s right about where I thought it would be.”

 “Ooookay, then. That’s too high.”

 “Yay! It’s finally below ##!”

It elicits some form of reaction.

Yesterday, I had an endo appointment. And I was nervous. I even warned my mother the night before to expect a higher a1c than normal. I’ve been having a lot of highs lately. It’s not that I’m not trying, though. I’m correcting, I’m counting my carbs, and I’ve been making some dosing adjustments. I was doing okay, and then May came and everything went out the window. After I made several changes, and things hadn’t improved at all, I was getting rather frustrated. And, surprise, surprise, with the looming endo visit, I began to dwell on my a1c. And somehow came to the assumption that it would be 11. My a1c has never been 11. It was 18.0 when I was diagnosed. It’s been 8, 9 before. It’s been 6, 7. It was 13.6 not long after dx. The point is, I don’t know where 11 came from. But it stuck. I walked in the office yesterday assuming that it would two stark, black ones staring at me on the printout.

Turns out, maybe I haven’t been doing as poorly as I thought. It just seemed that way since I had had more highs than usual. No, my a1c wasn’t perfect, but I could’ve done cartwheels (or not, I would’ve hurt something. Like, ME, for instance) when I saw that it was only .1% higher than last time.

When I went to see my CDE, I told her about being worried about it. She helpfully reminded me that blood sugars that cause an 11 a1c would’ve caused me to be symptomatic (drinking all the time, weight loss, etc…), which I wasn’t. I also felt better when she downloaded my Dexcom graphs, because, yes, there are definite patterns.

“Oh, nice, I can tell you’re bolusing and correcting, which means I don’t have to harp at you or anything. Let’s just make some changes.”

And we did.

And that was the time my a1c wasn’t 11.