The life and times of an amazing dog

Happy New Year. Late. But it’s still a new year, really…. Just ten days into it after all.

Dixie and I had a wonderful Christmas. We spent time with family. Dixie so loves the “opening presents” part of Christmas. She is so funny to watch. She will be sitting calmly, and sees someone start to open a present. She darts over to them and attempts to get her nose in whatever part of the package or bag that she can. She acts very disappointed if the gift is not a toy for her. As she only got a couple presents, we starting “regifting” some of her old toys—putting them in bags so that she continually had something to open. Nutty dog.

We came back to school last Wednesday after 11 days off. I thought that Dixie’s eye was unusually goopy, and needed to be wiped many times throughout the day. Finally in the afternoon, I called the vet and made an appointment. We went that night, and found out that poor Dixie had conjunctivitis. (doggy pink eye) She had ointment to be applied twice daily. It has finally cleared up after a week on the medicine. (and no, the kids at school didn’t catch it from her because it’s not communicable)

I am hooked up to my new Cozmo. All is well. I got some Isocks from my sister (little socks to put your iPod or iPhone into) , and found that the sock is also the perfect size and shape for my insulin pump. I like having my pump “in” something if I decide to store it in my bra. Otherwise, the plastic on bare skin really bothers me. Diabetes infiltrates even Christmas presents.The longer that Dixie and I are together, the more I appreciate my “furry blood glucose monitor.” (especially after seeing the photo of the CBGM sensor site on Amy’s site! Yikes!) She has gotten very particular about her desired range for my blood sugars. She is alerting if I am over 140, and under 80. She isn’t happy unless I’m in that range. Last night, I ate a low carb meal. (tilapia and a medium sized salad that had lettuce, ½ cup tomatoes, and some cucumbers on it) I decided I should only bolus for 15 g. carbs. I pulled out my pump, and Dixie started hitting me. (as if to say, “I can read your body. You don’t need the bolus dummy!”) I didn’t bolus. An hour later I tested. Blood sugar = 90. See what I mean?!

She is really very skilled.

It’s would be kind of scary.

But it’s not. It’s just really, really cool!

(and she just does it. No big deal to her.)


Dixie Tidbit:
(o.k... this entire post has really been about Dixie :-)
Dixie loves to roll in the snow. Especially when it's hard and crunchy. I'm not sure if she is scratching herself all over, or just enjoying it like kids do when they make snow angels!

Twas the night before Christmas Eve....

I have my new Cozmo pump!

It came last week, after my insurance company finally agreed to allow me to get a new one since my warranty was up. Cross that off the list of things to press my insurance company for. I was a little sad that I had to change to a different color. This one is dark blue, my old one is more of an aqua blue.


A friend of mine had minor surgery this week. I took her to the outpatient surgery center and was the “responsible driver.” I brought my computer and a book to read. I didn’t get to read a single page. I spent the entire time in a waiting room with other people, who all wanted to sit by Dixie and me and ask all about her. Dixie was, of course, nothing but well behaved and delightful.

I sometimes forget about all of the attention she brings.

I am always pretty happy to talk about Dixie and explain to people about the job that she does. But sometimes I am just in a hurry, and give a short scripted answer. Many people want to tell me about their personal pet that has some unique ability to do something special. Mostly, people just want to share how much they love dogs, and how beautiful they think Dixie looks.

There is something special about the way she looks. The only way I can describe it, is that she is charming. She looks at people with her big, brown eyes, and carries herself with such confidence. It’s hard to ignore her.


I’m now officially on winter break from school. Dixie loves the last week of school. Many kids brought her presents, and she really appreciates all of them. The crinkle of a bag during this season sends her running. She thinks that anything in a small, paper bag is a present for her.

I’m heading to stay with family tomorrow (Christmas Eve). All the presents are wrapped and Dixie’s travel bag is ready to go.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone. May your blood sugar remain in the average range, and your pump sites stay viable.

Merry Woof-Woof!!

Winter snow and a healthy glow

It’s been a good week.

It's pretty and white outside. About 7 inches of snow have fallen in the last week. Dixie is thrilled! She loves being outside, tromping in the snow, and making "dog" angels.

I saw my endocrinologist last week. She did all the usual including looking through my logbook (on my computer!) and doing the sensation testing on my feet (passed with flying colors!) She called Dixie my “furry continuous blood glucose monitor.” She also ordered a bunch of labs.

I have mentioned this before. I.hate.to.have.blood.drawn! I seriously abhor it. I get squeamish just thinking about it. But I bravely made my way to the lab and waited for my name to be called. There were many people there, so it took a while. I watched the lab techs to decide which one I hoped would call my name. (I like to scope out the techs and watch their style.) I never get the one I want. But on this day, I saw the one I wanted and started thinking positive thoughts about her calling my name. It happened. Dixie and I followed her to the chair, and she asked me about what Dixie’s job was. I told her and then she said, “Hey, I have diabetes too” and whipped out her pump. She understood my fear, and was so nice about drawing blood. She got it on the first try, which always makes the whole process easier.

Anyway, I digress. I just got my lab results back yesterday. A1c= 6.3. I looked back at my old lab slips for the last 5 years, and that was the only result that wasn’t 6.4. I am pretty happy about it, though I really hoped that (based on my recorded numbers and averages) it would be 6.0. I guess the good news is that my A1c’s have been consistent for the last 5 years.

Other lab news. My endo tested me for a vitamin D deficiency. I asked if she wanted to test for that because she was seeing “symptoms” in me. She just said that it’s more common in people that live in states that have cold, sun-less winters. It’s also more common in people who don’t eat many foods that have high levels of vitamin D, or foods that are fortified with it. I don’t drink milk, don’t eat cereal, and haven’t slurped any cod liver oil lately. The test came back positive for a deficiency. I’ll head to the store this weekend to pick up some. My kidney function is normal. (creatinine and a/c ratio) My GFR is >60 which indicates healthy kidneys. Phew! My endo keeps testing my potassium, and I keep forgetting to ask why. It is always in the normal range—but are people with diabetes more likely to have problems with that? Guess I’ll have to ask next time. My cholesterol was fine, as well as my liver function (ALT). The other thing that she tested for was gluten sensitivity. Lately, I have been feeling icky when I eat a meal with a lot of gluten. I kind of thought that test would come back positive for gluten sensitivity, but it didn’t. I just know that I feel better when I really limit the amount of gluten I consume.

The other good news this week is that my insurance company has finally agreed to cover a new insulin pump! They originally said that they would only cover one (this year, as they report that new pumps are only covered every five years, even though pump warranties are only for four years) if a “catastrophic accident” happened to my current pump. The other way that they would cover it would be if my doctor would tell them that I must have a new (meaning different brand) pump to be in good control. I refused that route. I like my Cozmo, and am not interested in another brand. So all is good. A new pump will be shipped shortly.

A good week.

I’m getting a new pump.

I’m healthy.

It’s almost Holiday break at school.

Yahoo!