Diabetes at the Beach

Hello!  I'm back from my trip to the beach, and we had a great time!  I want to thank everyone who guest blogged in my absence.  It turned out to be a great source of inspiration for me to see what other people come up with.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! 

Now that I'm back from the beach, there are so many things I want to share.  For the most part, my blood sugar levels stayed on track while we were there.  My average was 146 mg/dL for the week, according to Constance.  Considering it was a week long vacation with plenty of SWAG bolusing, I'd say that was pretty good.  I had some major highs, mainly from not waiting 30 minutes after taking my insulin to eat (and who wants to do that on vacation, pssht!).  I also had some lows, especially after battling the waves in the beach and jet skiing.  Constance saved my butt on those occassions because the adrenaline from those activities overshadowed my  hypo unawareness, so I was catching a lot of lows in the 60s with no symptoms.  But that's the extremely shortened version of the trip. 

On Saturday we drove down to lovely Cocoa Beach, making a lunch stop in Savannah, Georgia to meet a friend.  I've never been to Savannah, but our short lunch stop made me want to go back!  The beautifully restored houses along cobbled stone streets right on the water made me feel like I was in a place where time stood still.  Were it not for the tourist trolly and the many people carrying smart phones (myself included), I would have thought we were somewhere in the 19th century!  I fully expected to see Scarlet O'Hara passing by me in a sun dress with an umbrella.  What made the trip even more memorable was the fact that I chose to read listen via audiobook during our trip to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, which is a nonfiction novel about a murder that happens in Savannah.  Now that I'm done (awesome book, by the way!), I want to go back and visit all the places mentioned in the book.  Guess I'll have to settle for renting the movie. 

On Sunday, we went to orientation where we received a rundown of the beach clubs' activities for that week, and then we made our way to the beach.  The water was warm and clear the whole week, we couldn't have asked for better conditions.  The waves were nice and playful, too, if waves could be such things.  I've always enjoyed jumping over and into waves when they break, but Trey introduced me to a new activity--boogie boarding!  He taught me how to jump on top of the waves right as they're breaking and how to remain stiff as a board while the water carried you to shore.  Once I got the hang (ten!) of it, I loved it!  We played in the water for about 45 minutes before I started feeling fuzzy.  I brought my OneTouch Mini with me for easy testing from the beach bag.  Sure enough, I was in the low 100s and dropping.  Breaking waves is a perfect exercise for bringing down my BG. 

Cowabunga, Dudes!

That night we went to Port Canaveral and had dinner while we watched the Carnival, Royal Caribbean International, and Disney cruise ships leave the port.  I experienced grilled mahi mahi for the first time and it was delicious!  We also saw the happiest weimaraner dog who hung out on the front of his owner's boat while he cleaned fish. 

View from our table looking at the Royal Caribbean ship, the biggest of the three.  

Just chillin' out, maxin', relaxin', being all cool. 

Another BG lowering event took place on Tuesday when we rented jet skiis.  Igor was beginning to churn up the waves along the Atlantic Coast, so our ride was quite choppy and bumpy.  We even went completely air born a few times.  When we got back, my legs were shaking so bad I thought I was having an extreme adrenaline rush.  I might have been, but I was also low--test resulted at 61 mg/dL post-skiing.  Unfortunately, I forgot my little bag of glucose tabs and had to run to the nearest establishment with sugar.  Luckily, the closest place was a smoothie and sandwich restaurant, so I boosted my BG with a peanut butter and blueberry treat.  I actually passed on the protein supplement because I thought it might have tampered the sugar absorption.  (Note:  Drinking a smoothie really fast while low results in multiple brain freezes.  Ouch!) 

On Wednesday, Trey decided he wanted to go golfing and I tagged along.  When we got to the place, they had a big sign that said, "No Personal Coolers."  I looked at my little blue cooler filled with drinks and candy and asked Trey, "What are we gonna do?"  "You're diabetic, we're taking the cooler."  I hate having to pull the D-card like that, but we just implemented the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.  We stuffed the cooler in the back of the cart behind Trey's clubs, and no one was the wiser.  Fun note:  Trey got paired up with an Irishman named David, and I loved hearing him talk!  I'm sure our accents were just as atrocious (especially mine), but I must admit I giggled a little everytime he talked.  He and I actually talked diabetes for a few minutes and he told me he had a friend who died of type 1 at 26 because she never took care of herself.  "Huh, well I'm 25, almost 26.  But I have an insulin pump and a CGM."  I showed him my bionic parts and he was amazed.  "Aye, I bet that's much better to manage then, isn't it?"  Giggling, "Yes." 

The golfers out on the course, notice the inlet river in the background.

The rest of the week was mainly spent around the beach club/beach/pool, with ventures to go out to eat or shopping.  I got sunburnt while listening to my book on the beach, awesomeness!  Our last day we went out to downtown Cocoa and shopped in their little village.  I picked up a cruise ship charm for my charm bracelet to commemorate the trip.  On Saturday we checked out and drove up to my parents' for the night for dinner and the Auburn game, which about gave me a heart attack (overtime and a field goal!).  We finished the trip on Sunday where we were greeted to lots of slobbery kisses from the dogs.  The cats just sniffed us and jumped in our laps. 

Greetings from our condo patio!

Now for the daunting task of trying to unpack . . .