There’s More To Valentine’s Day Than Candy: T1D Tips & Ideas

By Amber Clour on Feb 10, 2016

Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Easter are all the same to me – a candy driven holiday. You can’t go into a store or even the pharmacy for that matter without being bombarded with isles and isles of candy. Growing up with T1D, this isle was torture! I didn’t really care about the candy, but I “had” to refrain which made me feel isolated from my peers. Well, I’ve changed my tune and created a list of ideas and tips PWDs can appreciate… and it includes chocolate.

Unique Gift Ideas:

Purchase a T1Dexposed Calendar – The Nude Diabetes Advocacy Project was created to promote awareness, connect people living with T1D, and fundraise for both local and global diabetes organizations.

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5 Strategies To Survive New Holiday Traditions With Strangers

By Amber Clour on Dec 2, 2015

I’m always down for a road trip so when I was invited to Austin to share Thanksgiving with new friends, I starting packing my bags. I met Lisa and her family in Hawaii and spent a number of evenings with the Thomas family. I even attended her daughter’s wedding, so driving a few hours for Thanksgiving was a no-brainer.

As the departure date approached, I felt the anxiety creep in. I was excited to see everyone, but nervous to spend 72 hours in someone’s home I barely knew. We had discussed my diabetes so they were familiar with me testing my BG and shooting up, but a wave of insecurity came over me.

What if I can’t eat what they’re serving?

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I’ve Come To Terms With Being A T1D Walking Science Project

By Amber Clour on Nov 3, 2015

Every day hosts a new set of challenges for a PWD. You have to think on your feet while planning well in advance if there’s a shot in hell of maintaining your BG goal. I’ld like to believe my BG report card would have an A+ in this every evolving science project we call diabetes. Any rational T1D knows that even though we strive for an A+, some days are just a C or even worse, an F. The science project continues…

Daily Formula: Current BG + Carb Ratio + Correction Factor + Hormones + Stress + Anxiety + Exercise + Allergies + Sickness + Booze + Altitude + Whatever else is going on in life = Hoping For The Best! (more…)

The Show Must Go On No Matter How Low Your BG Goes

By Amber Clour on Oct 28, 2015

The DDG recently jumped on the opportunity to record a live podcast at the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center’s Connect+Cure Gala. After months of planning, the day finally arrived. My four outfit choices were back from the cleaners, I had the perfect shoes and my checklist was complete. The average person (someone without diabetes) would be in good shape with the exception of performance jitters, but the T1D planner in me had a few other things to consider.

Ryan and I chatted the night before the event, double checking the details. As we wrapped up our rambling the conversation moved to handling a low BG during the podcast. We both agreed, the show must go on and were prepared to handle any diabetes mishap. (more…)

#11: Amber & Ryan | What You Don’t Learn At The Endo, 8 Diabetes Lessons Discovered The Hard Way

By The Grind on Oct 22, 2015

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (47.6MB)

As Amber and Ryan have poured their collective souls into the Internet (a slightly terrifying thought) over the past two years, they’ve noticed a few themes when it comes to living life with this disease. That’s what today’s all about: realness in the form of personal experience. With 40+ years of experience between the two, they widdled down the advice into 8 simple, everyday lessons. (more…)

Stopped In My Tracks By Back To Back Low BGs

By Amber Clour on Oct 6, 2015

This image sums it up. There are days when I have NO control and feel compelled to tell the world to f**k off! There was nothing different about my routine. I gave 12 units of Lantus at 5:41am and headed back to bed. A series of weird dreams and the need to pee woke me from my slumber. I recognized this feeling and forced myself to get up and test.

While sitting on the toilet, the number confirmed my gut instinct – BG was 38. No time to pee, in fact, my body wouldn’t let me. I stumbled into the kitchen and downed a Gatorade. (more…)

Tuesday Topic: Low BG vs. Hallucinating – Is There Really A Difference?

By Amber Clour on Aug 4, 2015

I want to make it clear from the start – I’ve never taken a hallucinogen, or at least not that I can remember. I may not have enough street cred for this post to be valid, but after a rough morning battling my BG, I felt compelled to articulate a serious low blood sugar. For some reason – LSD came to mind. I’ll begin by describing this low BG experience so you can better understand.

As I’m laying in bed, the mattress seems to be hugging me with a deep embrace. I feel loved and calm – nothing could remove me from this pleasant slumber. My mind begins to wonder and my thoughts are powerful, colorful and ever probing into the darkest parts of my brain. (more…)

4 Tips To Prevent A 4th Of July Explosion

By Amber Clour on Jul 3, 2015

WOOHOO – We’re rolling into the holiday weekend! As PWDs are packing their suitcases full of supplies for the road trip to the lake – don’t forget how easy it is to become a shitshow at a pool party or in-laws lake house. Speaking from experience, I want to save you some embarrassment so I’ve put together a list of things you can do to prevent being the crazy “intoxicated/low BG” person at the 4th of July picnic.

Don’t set yourself on fire – The low BG person might feel like a super hero and insist on lighting the $2,300 mountain of explosives. Check you BG before you set the neighborhood on fire. (more…)

Unique Gift Ideas:

1. Tuesday Topic: Can T1D Affect Your Parenting Skills?

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