The Best Feeling in All of Diabetes

By Ryan Fightmaster on Aug 1, 2017

In regards to feels, diabetes provides an endless supply to the senses. We become numb to the finger-sticks, with an occasional 1 in 100 resulting in a real sting. To an extent, injections and pump site changes become familiar or at least expected. With respect to the most commonly asked questions of people with diabetes, here’s another addition to the list: does that still hurt? My response usually follows these lines: Well, no. It’s still the same pain I’ve always felt, but now I’m used to it. With most of our emphasis on our acclimation to these not-so-positive sensations, the single best feeling in the diabetes world remains unexplored and never taken for granted. (more…)

A Path Toward Releasing The Number (Wait, Is This Possible?)

By Ryan Fightmaster on Jul 20, 2017

We’re an analytical bunch. Numbers flow through our brains alongside most thoughts. Numbers can dictate our emotional states–ever been feeling great, get a blood sugar, see it’s at 250, and then start to feel high? That blood sugar number courses through everything we do, everyone we meet, and everything we think. But, does it have to? (more…)

A Lifetime Of Wisdom In One Conference (9 Pearls from Dr. Ponder’s Sugar Surfing)

By Ryan Fightmaster on Apr 29, 2017

Sugar surfing is taking over. The CGM is a tool. Every good tool needs a user’s guide. Sugar Surfing (a great read by Dr. Stephen Ponder) is the user guide. If you’re not already familiar with Dr. Ponder’s story, listen to our podcast with him recorded right before the conference hosted by our friends at Diabetes Solutions in OKC (another former podcast guest Kim Boaz-Wilson). (more…)

Wake And Ache (Solving The High Morning Sugar Saga)

By Ryan Fightmaster on Mar 29, 2017

Universal truths are hard to come by with this disease, but here’s my attempt at diabetes dharma:

1. All life forces connect to blood sugar levels
2. Everything changes, and will continue to change in unceasing change

(more…)

Returning To Pediatric Endocrinology As A Medical Student (My Refresh On Diabetes 101)

By Ryan Fightmaster on Mar 11, 2017

With crossed fingers and pump tubing, I hoped for a one week placement on Endocrinology during our six week Pediatrics rotation. All that crossed tubing paid off–granting a chance to be around my people for a week. During a four year education, opportunities for type 1 diabetes exposure are slim, surprisingly.

It felt good to be back in the peds endo office after a 10 year hiatus, although a tad disorienting. Lies about logbooks were absent (all numbers are now downloaded straight from the meter), parents know even more than they used to (thanks to Dexcom share and all those other meter apps), and 504 plans are a mainstay (my plan used to involve proving to my high school teachers that I was low with my meter and stumbling to the vending machine). (more…)

Riding The Wave Of A 150 Carb Breakfast

By Ryan Fightmaster on Feb 17, 2017

It’s Saturday. I look around my kitchen like, “How many nutrients can I pack into one meal?” The kitchen counter holds the answer: fruit. A meal based on the classics: oranges, apples, and bananas. The excitement mounts… but simultaneously, the anxiety builds–how can I balance that many carbs? Instead of running in fear from the carb-load, I decide to embrace it, count it, and ride the wave of a high-carb, plant-based diabetes meal. (more…)

What I Found In My First Day Of Food Tracking

By Ryan Fightmaster on Dec 8, 2016

Sparked by our conversation with Robby Barbaro on the last podcast, I tallied each bite of food entering my esophagus, for an entire day. This was a new experience. I do not actively count carbs, but go by feel alone. Inherently, some people are thinking, “WHAT?!?! How can you possibly do this and have type 1 diabetes?” Yet, some people are thinking, “Makes sense to me.” Regardless, Robby lit a spark and I embarked on a one-day journey to reexamine lifelong habits. (more…)

The Winter Survival Guide (How To Thrive In The Cold and Cheer)

By Ryan Fightmaster on Dec 6, 2016

‘Tis the season to begin all things with ’tis the season. Colder temperatures inspire big lifestyle changes. Our diet shifts, time in the sun drops, and daily movement declines. We tend to think of these change as burdens on our healthy lifestyles (and diabetes management), but really, it’s all natural. We’re supposed to slow down, go inside, and be by a fire. (more…)

The Perfect Thanksgiving (A Diabetes Saga From Dawn Till Dusk)

By Ryan Fightmaster on Nov 23, 2016

It’s fall, and it’s glorious: foliage, football, and family. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Don’t feel like rationalizing my choice, it just is. Some say Halloween marks the start of the holiday odyssey–a sentiment I respect–but now we flip the switch. Summer’s in the rearview, winter’s on the doorstep, and diabetes is ready to reap the harvest of holiday decisions…. unless we turn the tables. What if Thanksgiving went to plan? (more…)

It’s Time To Right The Ship (Starting With One Simple Thing)

By Ryan Fightmaster on Nov 4, 2016

We all aim for that flat, consistent beam of blood sugars shooting straight across the horizon, right? Well, my mine are that shooting star, then the shooting star rising back from the dead, then to fall out of the sky again… before lunch. I’m in one of those strange spirals, where the true etiology remains unknown, but more than likely a combination of my daily choices and changes in circumstances underlies the imbalance. (more…)