heresthethingaboutit asked: hi! i was wondering if you like the MIO insertion? ive used the quickset infusion sets in the past and am about to get on a new pump. just trying to get an idea of which kind of insertion set is best :) thanks!!!

I LOVE the mio insertion sets! Please ignore my latest blog post…that never happens to the sets! But I have been using the Minimed Quickset for forever and in the last year or so I have switched to the Mio sets. I LOVE how it comes with the inserter because when I’m traveling or out and I need to change my site, I basically have everything I need…all i need is an insulin bottle, the Mio, and the reservoir to fill with insulin.  And I always used to forget the blue inserter that comes with the Quickset….but with the Mio, its all there for me! :) 

I could probably go on and on about this, but I think you’ll really love the Mio sets! If you have any questions, let me know! :)  
Which pump are you getting? 

OUCH!

First blog post of 2012!!! Happy New Year everyone!! 

I’ve been having trouble inserting my pump site in my lower back lately…it seems like every time i try, I keep getting that wonderful alert, “NO DELIVERY” that i love oh so much. :\   So I had my sister, Jackie insert it for me…she hasn’t used the mio set for a while since I’ve been doing it, so I reminded her how to insert the Mio set like  I blogged about here. 

She inserts it and goes to take the needle out and the pink part with the handle totally comes off! OUCH!!! I felt the needle go out and back in. Weird feeling. VERY uncomfortable. 

Of course, there was no delivery and it hurt so bad!!!! I took the site out and found the cannula to be bent…..

Eek!!!! Now I’m left with this big red dotted bruise and using Arnica Gel to heal everything around it! Back to the sites in my leg again…my lower back needs a break! 

Yay Diabetes.  

Happy Diabetes Awareness Month!!!!

CNN/HLN Honors MJ2 as Breakthrough Women - Segment to Air 10/13-10/16

mj2twins:

We just want to follow up on the special segment filmed by CNN/HLN honoring MJ2 (aka…Mollie and Jackie and Mollie and Jackie) as, “Breakthrough Women!”

As some of you know, CNN recently filmed MJ2 for HLN’s series, ‘Breakthrough Women,’ which will air for four days this week, beginning Thursday October 13th, through Sunday, October 16th, exclusively on HLN’s Morning Express with Robin Meade. This segment will can also be seen on the Internet at: http://mxp.blogs.cnn.com/category/breakthrough-women/ and on MJ2’s website, www.mj2twins.com.

CNN is recognizing MJ2 for their advocacy and fundraising efforts on behalf of diabetes research, as well as, for their music, in particular MJ2 ‘s Celebrity Single, “You Can’t Say Love Enough” featuring Dolly Parton, Lee Greenwood, Wayne Newton and many more artists. This song is currently available on iTunes and all of the net proceeds, from the sale of the Celebrity Single, are being donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, on behalf of MJ2’s organization the Diabetic Angels and MJ2’s producer, Dennis Money and his record label Sweetsong Nashville.

This segment, although short, is a powerful tribute to MJ2 for their contributions to the diabetes community and the music industry.

“Breakthrough Women” dates and air times are as follows: (air times are EST)
Thursday, October 13, 2011 Times: between 8:30-9:00 AM & 2:30-3PM (EST)
Friday, October 14, 2011 Times: between 7:00-8:00 PM (EST)
Saturday, October 15, 2011 Times: between 1:30-2PM (EST)
Sunday, October 16, 2011 Times: between 10:30-11:00 AM & 1:30-12PM (EST)

*Please note the air times are listed in Eastern Time!!*

My 18th Diabetic Anniversary and CNN!

Hi everyone! So as I’m typing this, a CNN camera crew is standing right in front of me videotaping Jackie and I blogging and working on the Diabetic Angels website right now! The four of us, MJ2, are being featured on CNN/HLN’s special segment called “Breakthrough Women” and they have been interviewing us about our music and advocacy throughout the years and talking about how we founded the Diabetic Angels. Today has been amazing so far and we will keep you updated!  

[updated on september 8, 2011]

Wow.

This is really cool! 

So, the reason why I am CELEBRATING the anniversary of having diabetes for 18 years is because I am grateful that I am healthy and complication free, and it’s a “normal” way to reward myself, only I get to do it once a year! :)
As you can see, we are enjoying the World Famous Pazookie Trio that Jackie said I had to have and has been researching for quite some time now…she had my dessert extravaganza all planned out! :) That was so sweet of her and it SO worth the insulin! We both thoroughly enjoyed it!

By the way, incase you were wondering what a Pazookie is, [I also had no idea before Jackie discovered this] but Jackie says it’s “an abnormally large cookie with vanilla “bean” ice cream trio with three little baby samples…chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal cookies.” :] 

It was SO gooood. :) We had heard from a few friends on Facebook how good the Pazookie was, and they were right! :) 

Thank you everyone for all of the thoughtful Facebook comments on my 18th Diabetic Anniversary. I love reading them, and am so happy that this day was memorable in so many ways, right down to CNN documenting it! :-)

“Mollie’s Low! Lets Have a Snack!”

We went to the gym this morning and did some cardio on the elliptical machine and the bikes together. What a way to drop my blood sugars!

So pretty much all day, I was in the 80’s. Very happy about that. But I felt like I was drinking Apple and Orange Juice and nothing was really happening to my numbers and I felt like my blood sugar was dropping too much. 

We were in rehearsal, and during a song that we were practicing on guitar, I tested my blood sugar and was 57. 20 minutes before that I was 80. Grr!!! 

Mom brought me some MORE apple juice and then we all went to the kitchen and they all started snacking…on crackers, and apples with peanut butter. All of a sudden, Mom, Aunt Mama, and Jackie looked at me and they were like, “Mollie’s Low! Let’s have a snack!” 

It’s kind of like when I tell my blood sugar number to Jackie, she keeps saying, “lets have some yogurt!” :) Thank you Jackie, but I can’t eat anymore yogurt today! :) haha

It was really funny that we were ALL snacking together, and thankfully, my blood sugar finally came up to 119! :) Yay for snacks!  

The DOC Rocks! [updated]

Such a fun night hanging out with @ninjabetic, @scottkjohnson, @1LittlePrick, @sugar_nova, @mj2jackiej!!! What a great DOC Meetup!  

And we FINALLY met Manny Hernandez from TuDiabetes (@askmanny on Twitter)! He is SO cool! And a special thanks for always being so helpful, you guys rock!! :) 

[UPDATED]

The next night, Jackie and I met Naomi Kingery!!!! She was the first diabetic blogger I ever talked to, and it feels like we’ve been through everything together!  We’re so happy to have finally met Naomi and it was really nice to be able to hang out and talk for a little bit!! :) She is such an inspiration, and like you said Naomi, if we lived in the same city, we would be best friends! :) Look out for her book coming very soon! Check out her “Sugar Free Series at livetolovediabetes.com! 

Bill from 1HappyDiabetic, Manny Hernandez from TuDiabetes, Me, and Jackie! :) 

Me, Ginger Vieira, and Jackie!  We’ve heard so many good things about Ginger and that night we finally met in person! :) We talked a lot about exercising and diabetes, basal rates, carbs and protein, and so much more!  :) haha Thanks so much for all of your advice! :) 

The big group picture! :) Manny, David Edelman, Jackie, Mollie, Allison, Bill, Ginger, and Elizabeth Edelman! 

Meeting and hanging out with members of the Diabetic Online Community is always so much fun, and hopefully we can do this again soon! :) 

Pictures on Flickr!  and Facebook! :) Feel free to tag yourself on Facebook! :) 

How do you like to wear your insulin pump?

I’ve always wondered how people preferred to wear their pump…clipped outside or inside? To hide the pump? To protect the screen? To see the time more conveniently? :)

I would love to know what you think! Please leave a comment with your preference! :)  

Insulin Pens or Insulin Pumps?

When I was 10, my mom and I were used to shots, we knew the perfect amount of insulin for everything, from a small piece of pizza and cake at a birthday party to simply cereal for breakfast. Yep, we had it all down to a science. Then came the big Fed-Ex Box. It had been sitting in my room for months. I was scared. I’m not into “change.” 

It was my first insulin pump. The thought of having something attached to me to replace all of the shots was overwhelming. No more [10-15 (why did I write that before? I must have been so tired, I wrote how many time I test)]  4-6 shots a day…just a site change every 2-3 days. That sounds nice. But how does it work? Programming this thing was a mystery. Basal Rates? WHAT?  What are basal rates? What is a BOLUS? Spell check still wants to say “blouse.”  I could tell this was going to take a lot of getting used to. 

We had been through “Pump Training” already and had programmed my new pump. At the time, we were doing a Video Diary series about what it’s like to live with Diabetes for ABC’s Good Morning America. During the first try of using the insulin pump, my blood sugar had dropped down to 19, and although I was dangerously low, I think the site went in ok. It either wasn’t a good memory or I was too low to remember, but I do recall it hurt too much to keep the site in and I had to go back to shots for a while.

A few months later, we tried the pump again. I didn’t give up. I knew this would help give me some freedom. I don’t know about you, but I remember exactly when I put my insulin infusion site in and successfully started using the pump. I was ten years old. It was January 1st, 2000 at 3:00 in the afternoon. My mom and I used the scary big blue inserter that to this day, creeps me out. Then, we took a picture (of course) and I joined my sister and friends at the Restaurant called, “Rubio’s” where my friends always ordered cheeros. (I’ve never had one so I’m not even sure if that is how you spell it, and I don’t know why I remember that.)

We all were SO happy that the pump finally worked!!!!!

Fast forward to now. 2011. I don’t think I have EVER taken my pump off and given my sites a break. So in eleven years, all of my favorite places to put my infusion sets are practically bruised forever. (I’m still trying to get the bruising to go away….Arnica Gel? Yes, pleeease!)

I don’t know if anyone else has this problem, please let me know if you do, but I can’t put my sites into my stomach. They hurt so much and are incredibly uncomfortable. So I don’t exactly have the whole switch site from the stomach, to the back, other side, back to the other side of my stomach, and start over. No way. Just my backside and sometimes the leg, but that is not my favorite spot either.

Any way, I need to stay focused here. What was I saying…?
Oh right! So in May, I went to my endocrinologist appointment, they synced my insulin pump and tested my HbA1c and went over my blood work. ((yaaaaayyy!))

No.

I hate getting my A1c tested. (I wonder how many times I’ve said that?)

Fortunately, it had come down 0.7 points and my other blood work came back with really good results! Wooohooo! 

Any way, my sister, Jackie, and I asked my doctor about the insulin pen. Again. 
She thinks the pen is the coolest thing around by the way. haha. Why? They are still shots! 

I agreed to “take a break from the pump” and go on the Insulin Pen for a few days to let my sites heal. Well, they needed more than a few days. More like a month, and even though the bruises still aren’t healed, they look a lot better…Suggestions anyone?  

During this vacation from my pump, a new Minimed Paradigm Revel (mine is clear!) was approved and arrived in the mail! Going through the pump instructional book and programming the new pump with all of my settings was quite a process. The little beeping noises were getting annoying! Haha, but it’s all good. The new pump is really nice and it’s good to have an updated pump with a lot of new features! It’s cool how you can put in an event, such as exercise! I like that. :) 

Any way, with the pens, at least from my experience, (I’m not a doctor and what I’m saying here is what helped me and whatever phrase is in quotes is from my Diabetic Educator, and in no way am I trying to tell you, the reader, what to do. With the insulin pens, I basically needed to learn how to use them, which sounds really weird, but I didn’t know you could split the doses, or there was a better time to take levemir, or that “since I’m lean, I don’t need to pinch my skin like I’m used to” to give myself a shot with the tiny tiny needles, or that when I get a bruise from a shot, it was because I needed to insert it in an area with enough fat, (for example, NOT the top of my thigh but the upper side). And for me, re-learning how to calculate my insulin to carb ratios and the blood sugar Correction Bolus Ratio, and eventually downloaded the “Insulin Calc” app for my iPhone. Best app ever! 

After a month of Levemir (Basal) and Humolog Pens, I couldn’t take another shot. They hurt SO much. Shots are a pain. Literally. 

I put the pump back in on Saturday and immediately got the tubing stuck on a door handle. Oops :-/

I know I sound like I don’t really know which is my favorite and it’s not the point in this post, but I just wanted to share with you my list of pros and cons for each! I realized during this pump vacation that I had forgotten how nice it was to wear a dress without my pump. To workout without my pump attached. To sleep on my stomach, comfortably. To take a shower without a pump site stuck in. But I really missed bolusing half units, turning down my basal rate, not NEEDING to EAT because there was always insulin on board, letting the Bolus Wizard figure everything out for me, remember exactly when I bolused and what I bolused (for some reason every time I would dial the pen and give myself the shot, I forgot how much I gave) and not having to pull up my shirt in public to give myself a shot every time I ate something or had to correct. (I know I could go to the restroom and give myself a shot, I did that too!) And the pain of the 4 to 6 shots each day, I don’t miss that. At all.

I still LOVE my pump [very very much] and I miss it when I’m on the insulin pen. If you asked me if I would ever stop using the pump, I would say it was one of the greatest things ever made and I can’t imagine living life without my insulin pump. But I will now welcome those little mini-pump-vacations each month when I give my poor sites a break for a few days. :) 

Well thanks for reading! Let me know what you think about pumps vs. pens! :)

Rehearsing with Low Blood Sugar equals no concentration. I can’t remember a thing. :[ all those guitar and piano chords I was memorizing…gone!!! GRrrrrrrrrr! I’ll have to memorize tomorrow. :\

MJ2 Interviewed on CNN for Larry King’s Special: “Unthinkable: The Alzheimer’s Epidemic” May 1st [TONIGHT]

              Jackie J, Aunt Mama, Leeza Gibbons, Mom, and Mollie

Recently, Jackie, Aunt Mama, Mom, and I had the opportunity to be interviewed for the Larry King Special, “Unthinkable: The Alzheimer’s Epidemic.”  They asked us to participate in this special because we have spent the past few years caring for our parents/grandparents, both of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.

This compelling special will air on Sunday Night, May 1, 2011 at 8pm ET/5:00, 8:00, and 11:00pm PT and and will re-air on Saturday, May 7 at 8pm ET/PT.

Below is a link to a short clip of the two people we love so much, and describes some of the difficulties they face. Thank you CNN, Larry King, Leeza Gibbons, and everyone involved in the making of this special for shedding light on such a serious subject. Your hard work is so greatly appreciated by all who have been touched with this terrible disease. 

Twins care for parents with Alzheimer’s

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2011/04/22/king.twins.care.parents.cnn

Watching the #RoyalWedding!!

CNN: Twins Care For Parents with Alzheimer’s - Larry King Special - Unthinkable: The Alzheimer’s Epidemic

mj2twins:

Recently, we had the opportunity to be interviewed for the Larry King Special, “Unthinkable: The Alzheimer’s Epidemic.” They asked us to participate in this special because we have spent the past few years caring for our parents/grandparents, both of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.

This poignant special will air on Sunday Night, May 1, 2011 at 8pm ET/5:00, 8:00, and 11:00pm PT and and will re-air on Saturday, May 7 at 8pm ET/PT. Below is a short clip of the two people we love so much, and describes some of the difficulties they face. Thank you CNN, Larry King, Leeza Gibbons, and everyone involved in the making of this special for shedding light on such a serious subject. Your hard work is so greatly appreciated by all who have been touched with this terrible disease. 

CNN Presents: A Larry King Special

Larry King special “Unthinkable: the Alzheimer’s Epidemic” to air May 1 at 8pm ET                

On Sunday May 1^st, CNN will air the first Larry King special, premiering at 8pm ET/PT and will be titled “Unthinkable: the Alzheimer’s Epidemic.” It’s being called the disease of the 21^st century as an estimated 5.4 million people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It is the sixth-leading cause of death across all ages in the United States, but many Americans still do not know much about this illness. The one-hour special will look into Alzheimer’s disease, who gets it and why, the race to find effective treatments and a possible cure.

King will be joined by people who have been touched by Alzheimer’s disease and will include interviews with former First Lady Laura Bush and California’s former First Lady and Alzheimer’s activist Maria Shriver; actors Seth Rogen, and  Angie Dickinson; TV host Leeza Gibbons; football star Terrell Owens and  son of President Ronald Reagan, Ron Reagan. Neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta will explain what Alzheimer’s is and how this disease affects the human brain.  

Seth Rogen, talks to King about supporting his fiancée and her family as they deal with her mom’s early diagnosis at the age of fifty-five.  He wants the world to know this is a young person’s problem too, “More and more people in our generation are gonna have to deal with it,” Rogen said.  “We’re dealing with it before most people have to,” he tells King.  “But as you get older and you see it happening to your parents, and ultimately realize it could happen to yourself and your friends, it becomes much more real and not some imaginary old person problem, you know?” Shriver, in the first interview she’s given since losing her father, Sargent  Shriver, to Alzheimer’s disease this year tells King, “I think anybody who’s not concerned about Alzheimer’s is in denial.”

In addition to visiting the Mayo Clinic, Larry King will visit the cutting-edge Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas, and he will be joined by Ron Reagan. While there, one of them will take a brain scan that will indicate if he is at risk for Alzheimer’s or other memory disorders, and one will opt out. Tune in and as they will share the results with the audience and talk to Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, Director, ClevelandClinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and Larry Ruvo, philanthropist and visionary, to see how doctors are treating patients and what people can do to diminish their risk for Alzheimer’s. Dr. Ronald Petersen, Director, Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, who treated President Reagan warned, “If we don’t do something about Alzheimer’s disease right now, Alzheimer’s disease in and of itself may bankrupt the healthcare system.” The special hour will also broadcast on CNNi and will re-air on Saturday, May 7 at 8pm ET/PT. For additional information please visit Alz.org. Exclusive content will be featured on CNN.com including interviews with actor David Hyde Pierce and Harry Johns, President and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

Taken from: http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/18/cnn-presents-a-larry-king-special/ 

To view video on CNN.com, click here and to watch the video on YouTube, click here.