where did I go?

by Jackie Patti

Some of you likely wonder where I've been. Frankly, since my last post here, I spent most of my time gradually dying.

I saw a long-term friend of mine in April 2019 and afterwards, he told family and friends he didn't think I'd make it a year.

Image credit: Vectors by Vecteezy.

installing the Libre

by Jackie Patti

So I have my shiny new Libre. I read the manual and see how to insert the sensor. And I hesitate.

Problem #1: What if I screw up? I mean, I screw up with bG testing strips sometimes, no big deal. But this thing cost $50 rather than $0.50! I need to think this through carefully.

Problem #2: I want to blog about this and need pictures. The thing goes in one arm and you insert it with the other, so I need a third arm to take pictures. So I need to coordinate with someone else.

So, it wound up taking a few days to get the thing in my arm.

Image credit: sensor in my arm Steve Fredette

summer dinner in February

by Jackie Patti

No recipes or anything, just a picture I found lovely.

It was mid-February and there was a ridiculously wrm day that started me thinking of summer. So I thought of having a "summer" dinner.

I had some leftover red cabbage cole slaw in the fridge.

I mixed up some tuna salad.

Then, diced a tomato.

Then opened a jar of bread and butter pickles I'd put up a couple years ago (I had a LOT of cukes that year!)

And soon it will be summer for real and I'll be eating like this all the time.

Image credit: summer dinner in February by Jackie Patti

I got a Libre!

by Jackie Patti

Diabetic geeks have been following the progression of the technology of continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS) for some time. They have been commercially available for some time, but prohibitively expensive and rarely covered by insurance.

A CGMS allows you to insert a very shallow needle that just stays there and provides glucose readings. These are not blood glucose (bG) readings like we get from standard bG meters, but readings of the glucose in interstitial fluid, the liquid between cells.

That's why I was so excited to see Jenny, author of Blood Sugar 101: What They Don't Tell You About Diabetes, post that she had gotten a Freestyle Libre to play with back in November, before they were even on the market. I've been following along excitedly with her experience since.

I'm a T2 and a geek; I wanted one!

Image credit: Freestyle Libre system © 2018 Abbott Laboratories. All rights reserved.

lasagna for the holidays

cheese lasagna, meatballs, garlic
bread and side salad

Not particularly "real food," but I figured I'd document how I make Christmas lasagna.

My family of origin is half Italian, so we always had manicotti and stuffed shells for Christmas.  When I grew up and had a kid, I decided to do something similar.  We always had leftover turkey in the freezer still, so no sense doing another anyway.

But being a lazy sort, I decided ricotta in pasta would be much simpler with lasagna noodles than stuffing manicotti shells.  So that is what I was aiming at with my lasagna; it's not traditional with bolognese sauce and ragu.  I made a pot of meatballs and sweet Italian sausage on the side.  I was going for a cheesy ricotta thing here.

prevention of Clostridium difficile infection

by Jackie Patti

Clostridium difficile infection is caused by antibiotics which kill off the ordinary good bacteria allowing the C. diff to flourish in the gut.

C. diff causes inflammation of the large intestine and CDAD (C. diff associated diarrhea); CDAD is caused by toxins that cause bloating, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

That doesn't sound so terrible, rather like the flu, except C. diff is really hard to get rid of. An infection can go on for months or years, preventing people from leaving the house. And as the ability to absorb nutirion is impeded. they can waste away and die.

So when I was in the ICU on two types of IV antibiotics and overheard the doctor ask my nurse if I had diarrhea, I knew why he was asking and was not a happy camper.

Image credit: Clostridium difficile 01 by CDC/Lois S. Wiggs [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

response to question raised by Nearing meme

by Jackie Patti

I have a bunch of "memes", basically quotes I like by different folks. For each person, my cute little avatar makes a comment, and the quote is included in the largest font I can manage. Scott and Helen Nearing are folks I quote, and my avatar calls them my favorite communists.

I do not necessarily agree with everything they say, anymore than any other person I quote. It's the quote itself I am agreeing with. I use these little "memes" to post to social media cause I like the ideas expressed and am quite willing to have conversations on the topics covered.

Recently posted on Facebook was the particular quote: "Food processing, poisoning, and drugging is undermining the health of the American people as well as yielding large profits to the individuals engaged in processing, poisoning and drugging."

The question asked in reply was: " So you don't eat ground grain products, canned or bottled goods of any kind, or basically anything that is cooked in any way..because that is all processing right?"

And I typed my reply, but Facebook wouldn't let it post because it was too long. These are the perils of being a verbose chick.

So without further ado, my reply...

morning routine - summary

by Jackie Patti

My morning routine posts are all over the place in the archives, so I thought I'd put together a summary with links and nutritional information.

Of course, as I've stated repeatedly, I am not a morning person. My routine honestly starts with a giant cup of coffee.

There are two schools of thoughts on coffee. Some think it is full of antioxidants and such, like chocolate. I tend to like those arguments.

Others thing coffee is not so great, especially for those of us with adrenal issues. I don't care. I need my coffee!