Courtesy by: 7days.ae

Nichola Jones finds out about the dangers of a chronic disease during a visit to a thalassemia centre in Dubai

With a look of intense concent-ration on his face, ten-year-old Ali Sahun is a typical school-boy, desperate to beat the computer in a tense football video game.

But life is not completely normal for the youngster as blood is being pum-ped into his body through a drip attached to him while he plays – a routine he will go through every three weeks for the rest of his life.

“He’s been having them since he was three months old, he’s used to it now,” explains Ali’s mum Naseem. “Sometimes he gets tired and restless a few days before he’s due for the blood but he doesn’t let it affect him.”

Ali was diagnosed with the hered-itary blood disorder thalassemia, which restricts hemoglobin production, when he was a baby and is among the one in 12 people in the UAE either infected by or carrying the disease.

He now attends Al Wasl Hospital’s Thalassemia Outreach Centre – the only of its kind in the Gulf and the first to be opened in the Middle East. It not only offers medical treatment but also vital counselling and support as sufferers come to terms with their situation.

Naseem says: “I am a carrier and after I was pregnant my husband was tested and he was also a carrier so we knew Ali would have it. Sometimes Ali asks why he doesn’t have a brother or sister and we try to explain why – it would have been a big risk.”

It is possible to be a carrier without suffering from the illness but there is a 25 per cent chance of the disease being passed to offspring if both the parents are carriers.

Centre coordinator Dr Essam Dohair says premarital tests for the blood disorder are now compulsory for UAE nationals and expats and that fiancés who ignore medical advice to separate could inflict a lifetime of gruelling treatment, as well as the risk of organ failure and premature death, on their future children.
“Today, I met a couple who are both carriers.

When we are talking about the possible options, we advise them to go their separate ways,” Dohair said. “If it’s an arranged marriage, it is easier because they don’t know each other, there is no love story. We advise them to find another partner who is not a carrier – why not?”

In order to register a marriage in the UAE couples must present a thalassemia screening certificate as part of a nationwide campaign to fight the illness.

Sufferers must have a blood transfusion every three weeks for the rest of their lives and face having a drip inserted into their stomachs for 12 hours every day to counteract rising iron levels in the body. Haemoglobin transports oxygen to the body’s organs but thalassemia sufferers don’t have enough.

If it is not managed properly, the condition can cause excessive bone growth, hormone defects and, ultimately, death.

The only way it can be cured is through a bone marrow transplant or stem cell treatment – neither of which are available in the UAE – and both are extremely expensive.

Dohair says many couples ignore advice to scrap plans to tie the knot and find new partners if they are found to be carrying the chronic disease in a bid to tackle the illness.

“Before they become parents they must know they are carriers so they can avoid having this diseased child,” warned Dohair.

“This is a chronic disease for life, it’s not something that you can ignore.”

Dohair advises people to get screened as early as possible to avoid heartache in the future.

“We have couples who come here for screening a few days before the wedding party.

They have booked the hotel, all the arrangements have been made.

The advice is the same – do not get married. Almost all of them refuse. If a girl is screened earlier, it’s better so she will know before she falls in love.”
The disease is also taking its toll on blood stocks.

Banks are desperate for donations as up to 50 per cent of Dubai’s blood supply is used by thalassemia patients every year.

The centre has 750 patients on its books – 450 of which need regular transfusions, using up to 20,000 units of blood per year.

Dohair said “This is our second problem. We are desperate for blood donations here, not just for these patients but for Dubai in general.”

Lubna’s Story
Media studies student Lubna Iqbal plans to make a documentary about thalassemia to break the taboo of the illness she and her family will live with forever.

The 20-year-old Pakistani says: “I was three months old when they found out I had it. I had a fever and they brought me to hospital, then I was diagnosed. I have three brothers and sisters. I am the fourth child and the one with thalassemia.

“People really need to know more about it – most people have no clue. When I was at school and now at university, people are always asking me about it.

“They are very supportive and I tell them they should be screened.

“When I was 18, I was going to have a bone marrow transplant in Pakistan.

Both of my sisters were exact matches, which was very lucky.

But at the last minute, the doctors and my parents decided it was too big a risk to take, there are too many complications.

“My brother lives in the UK and is married to my cousin and they are both carriers. When his wife was pregnant, they had a test on the baby and found it had thalassemia. They were advised to have an abortion so they did. They now have other children who are fine.

“It’s better to get tested. I would like to have a family one day and as long as my husband is not a carrier, then I can. Thalassemia doesn’t stop you doing the things you want to do.”

Positive displacement pumps are the most effective for low vacuums. Momentum transfer pumps in conjunction with one or two positive displacement pumps are the most common configuration used to achieve high vacuums. In this configuration the positive displacement pump serves two purposes. First it obtains a rough vacuum in the vessel being evacuated before the momentum transfer pump can be used to obtain the high vacuum, as momentum transfer pumps cannot start pumping at atmospheric pressures. Second the positive displacement pump backs up the momentum transfer pump by evacuating to low vacuum the accumulation of displaced molecules in the high vacuum pump. Entrapment pumps can be added to reach ultrahigh vacuums, but they require periodic regeneration of the surfaces that trap air molecules or ions. Due to this requirement their available operational time can be unacceptably short in low and high vacuums, thus limiting their use to ultrahigh vacuums. Pumps also differ in details like manufacturing tolerances, sealing material, pressure, flow, admission or no admission of oil vapor, service intervals, reliability, tolerance to dust, tolerance to chemicals, tolerance to liquids and vibration.

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Woot! I got- erm, my friend Ryan got the NERF Unity Power System. It comes with a NERF Titan, (with a HUGE missile) the NERF Hornet, (6-dart swarm!) and the NERF Scout. (The name says it all.) Now there’s not much I want to tell you about it here, because I’ll be putting up a review later. I’m also adding the other review videos to the “My NERF Collection” page, so expect those up soon. Well, that’s about it for this post. Look for those Review videos!!

If you’re like me then you like to lock the fuel pump trigger so you can clean all the garbage out of your car while the tank is filling.

Some gas stations remove the device that locks the trigger so you can’t walk away from the pump while it’s filling. But, there is a secret to locking the trigger without the built-in mechanism: stick your gas cap under the trigger.

That’s it. Now you can do other things while your tank is filling, like tidy your trunk or complain about gas prices with some sucker who is attached to their pump.

Keep an eye on your pump and use this tip at your own risk.

One thing you learn about me very quick is that I’m not shy. Each time I eat, I reach under my shirt and pull out my 24/7 accessory: a pink insulin pump.

So, a little history first and then I’ll explain what the pump is. After a year of 10 shots a day and my A1C tests consistently above 7, I went to a diabetes show in search of some help. I’d read about this “insulin pump” that claimed to give diabetics their lives back. I was sick of living on a schedule, not being able to sleep in, always having to eat, and I was plain old sick of finding fat to shoot my insulin into. My stomach looked like a pin cushion and I was starting to get a little depressed about having the disease. BUT – if this insulin pump did what it claimed it would, I was ready to give the new technology a try.

After visiting the Medtronic booth I knew the Minimed pump was the one for me. They did the leg work with my insurance company and three months later a new shiny device arrived at my doorstep. It is about the size of a pager (for those that remember pagers).  I quickly read through the 3 instructional booklets and it seemed easy enough to figure out. Medtronic also supplied me with a diabetes educator who came to my house for some pump lessons and to help me set my insulin regiment.

So what is it? Basically, the pump is like wearing an external pancreas. It provides a constant drip (Basal), as well as an immediate drip (Bolus) prior to eating. All I need to do when I eat is plug in the number of carbs I’m about to have and it does the math for me. AND, it only requires one shot every 3 days to insert it.  For a more technical details, check out the website: http://www.minimed.com/

The only drawback to it, and for me, it didn’t really outweigh the pros… is that you have to wear it all the time. You’re connected to a machine 24/7, but hey – you’re connected to diabetes 24/7 so why not make your life a little easier and give yourself some freedom right? 

Ok, so how does it work? Simple – when you eat, test your blood sugar. If you have a synchronized device, your meter will automatically beam your bs number to the pump. Then, enter the carbs you’ll be eating and voila - it tells you how much insulin is needed to cover your meal or correct a high. Hit Act to deliver the insulin and you’re off to the races. Of course, this is a simplistic explanation, but essentially, that’s all there is to it. There are some other fun features like dual and square wave delivery methods, temporary basal rates, patterns and alarms, but for now, let’s stick with the basics.

Assuming your regiment is set right, it gives you the insulin you need – to eat when you want, to sleep when you want,  and to live like you want.  The key to it is – and this is very important – you still have to tell the pump what to do. It does not take the I out of dIabetic, but it does allow you to diaBEtes.

At the beginning, I tried wearing the pump on my waist band when I was out and about, but I didn’t want the world to see it. Plus, it just wasn’t comfortable for me. Since I’m no Dolly Parton, I quickly figured out the best place to conceal it was on my bra, between my boobs. It fits perfectly, it’s hidden, and within reach. The only time this poses a problem is when I wear a dress. I either have to excuse myself to the bathroom to calculate (like a true lady would do), or I have to reach down into my cleavage.

On my wedding day, my husband and I were sitting at the sweetheart table in front of 125 guests. A toast was given and our meals arrived with all 125 pairs of eyes on us. I reached down into my strapless dress, much to my Yiayia’s chagrin, and pulled out my insulin pump to plug in my carbs.  I then remembered the eyes, looked up, waved, and said “Sorry everyone, but you know I’m diabetic!”

I’ve since upgraded to a new pink insulin pump, equipped with the ability to wear a sensor that automatically tests my blood sugar every 5 minutes, but I’ll save that for a later post.  I’m used to this 24/7 accessory. I don’t care that people see it, or that I have to always wear it. What I do care about is my life. The pump let me take control of it again and allowed me to dictate my patterns, instead of diabetes dictating it for me.

That’s the real deal with diabetes, one sugar cube at a time.

Door 20: Taboos & Deviance

The festive season and the oncoming new year always see you wanting to change things or try something new and sex lives are no different. Sometime I just feel get the feeling that I want something from a sex toy a different feeling or a different experience.

I had one of these moments recently when I just looked for a toy one evening and just felt everything was samey samey. So I rummaged through the sex toy sites looking for a different bit of deviance and stumbled and fell into the pumps section did a bit of research on what they were and what they did and decided this might be the new toy I was looking for. Looking through sites and advice I saw the same words repeated taboo, kinky and deviant….well they had me at taboo! Always wanting to try everything at least once I decided to go for it.

Not knowing what features needed to be best and which ones would be the best I did what I always do in these situations and went for a name. The first name we always look for in these situations is Doc Johnson and we found the Doc Johnson Pucker Up Vibrating Clitoral Pump. It was that fantastic we reviewed its qualities, features and most of all the mind-blowing orgasms you can achieved with this for getmepleasure and you can read this review here. Unfortunately GMP is currently out of stock of this product so the other place we found it in stock was Lovehoney.

If you want to try something different this Christmas we really can’t recommend it enough! If you do take the plunge let us know what you think!

Kittie & Charlie

x

Is it wrong that I have sat down and listened to the evil specialists advice? After waking up at 12.2mmol/l this morning with a banging headache, I decided I would try this lantus lowering thing the silly cow was on about. I have a horrible horrible nasty feeling that I will be proven right, and that in a few days time I’ll be waking up super high again. But then again, I suppose if I do this I can really proove to the team that this isn’t working. Looking back at my logbooks, I can see a definite trend in rising blood glucose levels since the 13th december which is slightly worrying, even though just a few days before I was waking up on much lower levels. And ok, they were probably too low…2.7’s and 3.3’s. But then again, I can never seen to get a constant with my morning levels. One day they can be at the perfect 5.6mmol/l, but the next morning I can be waking up on levels of 15 or more. No matter what I do, I just cannot get it right. I guess maybe if the specialist had asked to see my log books instead of firing questions at me then she would have noticed this pattern. Instead, they were left in my handbag and I was allowed to stumble over my words.

Nevermind. I am trying 16 units this evening instead of 17, just to see what happens. And in which case if I do start waking up higher then we know that lantus is bad for me. And again, all the more reason for pump ammo.

I’m really going to have to sit down and work out my case for getting a pump. I only meet half of the NICE guidelines, which could proove a hindrance. My HBA1C isn’t bad afterall, but I do have that fear of hypos, I have a fear of hypos so bad that I can get through a pot of test strips in just 2 days just to make sure my sugars are ok. I refuse to do stuff if I’m hypo. They really do affect me. And then there’s the lifestyle aspect; as an archaeologist its pretty difficult to be able to inject and work out what to do and when. It’s also pretty hard to sit there and know when lunch will be and how long you’re going to get. Things change on a day to day basis and I find myself panicing over when the next meal will be or if I’ll end up in a heap on the floor. Not nice eh? I’m sure sitting down one evening and writing this all down will really help my case with it. The DSN’s already think I’ll be perfect for one and they’re getting me back in the new year to get the ball rolling. Thank god for small mercies eh?

Part of me wonders if these high levels in the morning are something to do with stress? Work last week was horrifically stressful what with getting the site finished. And now I seem to have done my shoulder in, which is in turn putting the body under stress. Could be the reason I suppose. I’m not entirely sure.

Anyway, I’m getting off the subject completely. I had chinese takeaway for dinner this evening. This is something I always find difficult to bolus for. The last time we had it, I guessed at around 16 units of novorapid, and failed. My sugars shot through the floor and then sky high just afterwards. This evening I’ve tried less, and last time I checked I was at 8.4mmol/l. I’m hoping it stays there, but its always difficult with this. I’ll either end up with levels through the roof or through the floor. We shall see. Again, another reason for wanting a pump, all the options to deal with stuff like this!!!!

Enough of me rambling. If any of you should feel so inclined, head over and take a look at my latest article on Shoot Up; “I swear I’m not a psycho really…”, something I felt pushed to write after a rather harrowing experience at work the other day. And now, my shoulder is aching so I think a couple more ibuprofen are in order.

10.  Nike SB Mid “Sea Crystal” – I got these as an eBay score for about $45.  These have apparently been used but I can’t really tell.  I have yet to wear them outside because they’re completely suede and Bellingham is 95% water everywhere.  I hope to break them out for the spring/summer but until then, I will just have close to mint condition mids.  These are number ten because I haven’t fully experienced them as a shoe but I have admired them from afar.  Good sneaker, we’ll see how they feel once I break them in.

9.  Nike SB High “Shoe Goo” - These are also from eBay because I continue to find awesome deals.  I actually got them in the mail about three days ago and I haven’t really had the time to wear them yet.  It requires a certain time and place.  These show incredible quality on Nike’s part and I love the fat tongue and gum sole.  These will become a key part of my collection once I actually start wearing them because I feel like they are indestructible.

8.  Adidas BBall Hi “El Dorado” – These were an accident.  Let me back up.  I got these when I was intending to “look around Goods” when they had a series of sales over the summer.  Maddie, being the amazing person she is, gave me a formidable gift certificate to Goods which I tried to hold on to as long as possible.  It lasted maybe three weeks.  This was the last  pair of three that I got with that certificate and all of them made this list.  So.  There you have it.  These were a collaboration with Run-DMC and Cadillac and adidas.  If you have ever seen these, you know they are filled with detail.  There is croc-skin, 3m lining the three stripes, and an amazingly huge tongue.  What’s not to like?

7. Nike SB Low “Patagonias” – These were the fist sneakers I got with the Maddie-birthday-giftcard.  They were purchased from the East Side Goods and I lucked out and got the last pair in my size.  Boo-yah.  I was drawn to the vibrate orange laces and the nylon tongue because those are both things that were unique for the Nike SB brand.  I’ve worn these many times through the rain, mud, and feces, and they are still in great condition.  Recently, I saw these again for a sale price and thought that I might get two pairs just to keep one in good condition but, honestly, there would be no point.  These will be the shoes I’m buried in.

6.  Vans Authentic Grey/White – These may seem like a boring addition to a list of otherwise fire-cracker sneakers.  That being said, these cannot be forgotten because they are comfortable and I’ve worn them dozens of times.  I don’t think these are incredible by any means but in a year when one of the most “important” shoes looks like a French pastry, you may need to resort to the classics.  If you don’t own any, get some.  They will change your life but being overwhelmingly simple.

5.  Reebok Victory Pump “Glow In The Dark“ – The third and final shoe of the Maddie-birthday-giftcard series.  I had been searching for these sneakers for over a year and finally gave up.  They were my Moby Dick, my Brigadoon, and I had come to the realization that they were lost from me forever.  I continued on for about six months before I found a pair that Goods had found in their stock-room.  I don’t want to know why they had been over-looked by so many, and why I was the chosen one.  I don’t want to ask any questions at all.  These are incredible shoes and I have to work up my nerve to wear them more for fear that I might lose them once again.

4.  Nike Air Tech Challenge II “Hot Lava” -  These were released last year and I vividly remember seeing them in Nordstrom Rack for like $40 but I passed on them.  I kicked myself for about six or seven months before picking them up again.  They work well because I wear a lot of black and grey and sometimes pink (like a boss).  I bought them new so I try to make them last but I wore them a few times over the summer and a bit in the spring and I must say they are so effing comfortable you’ll shit yourself because you won’t remember how to control your bowels.  Get them.  Or not.  I don’t give a SHIT.  They were also released in a blue/orange colorway I might try to get but only if they’re the right price, yadig?

3.  Nike SB Mid “Money Cat” –  These were a Valentine’s Day gift from a secret admirer (meeeeeeeeeeeeeee) and I think they are the sharpest pair of Nike SB that I own.  The gold is dull and doesn’t deter from the red accent stitching that goes all around the shoe.  The white tab on the tongue is a nice touch because it offers something other than gold/red/and black.  I own the white high top version of these and I think there is an easy comparison between them (or of the third low version).  The gum sole is also a nice touch and I think it makes the shoe more comfortable overall.  If you were one of the people who was looking forward to the Blue Lobster or Gucci Dunk releases you can stick them up your asshole.  The past is where the best SBs lie and that’s final, yo.

2.  Reebok Court Victory Pump “Voltron – Black Lion” –  Let it be known that these are large and in charge.  They are my first Reebok Pumps and until I got them, I had never tried them on or seen any that weren’t Omni Pump Lites (they seem smaller to me).  Not only are they like small spaceships, but they are extremely comfortable.  The pump system itself is an anomaly that kept me from paying attention in class and probably helped me make a friend or two.  You’d be surprised how many people have never seen this type of shoe.  I got them used without the original box or toy and I’m still excited to own them.  I’ve worn them thousands of times and they’re still fresh.  I might have to try to get the whole set, yo.

1.  Nike Air Max 90 “History of Air Pack – Infrared” –  I’m usually late on trends.  This is a prime example of something that ruled when it was released and I’m just now realizing how incredible it is.  The Air Max 90 is a shoe that has been around for a long time.  It is coveted by sneakerheads as a shoe that helped create the Nike franchise as well as an actual, real, comfortable sneaker.  I was just dumbly going through eBay and found them and liked them and bought them for real cheap.  When I opened the box, however, I noticed the arch support was still in it’s plastic bag, unopened since the 2005 release.  The insoles of the shoe was a timeline showing the evolution of Nike sneakers, and the shoes themselves were a testament to Nike as a company.  The previous owner “wore them about a dozen times”.  I don’t give a shit.  These are a history lesson I can wear to the bus stop and clown on fuckin’ mall-sneaker wearing douches.  Number one for 2009, yo.

For the future, I would like to stop collecting Nike SB and focus more on Reebok Pumps and Air Max 90s and 95s and things that aren’t completely concentrated on hype.  I’ll keep posting pictures of my new sneakers but I will be using a camera (which is hopefully a Christmas present) so they will actually be MY pictures instead of Flightclub.  Thanks for reading and let me know what was on your list this year, yo.

Yesterday’s appointment at the young person’s clinic failed. Like completely and utterly. I took an entire afternoon off work to go to this thing, to have a good chat with my specialist. And for what? So I could be shot down in flames. I was there on time, early in fact, and took my seat ready to be seen on time. An hour later and I still hadn’t had my weight checked but some long haired greasy looking idiot just waltzed in and was seen straight away. I don’t care if your appointment was before mine bucko, but you were late. You can be seen after me. Grrr. But then when I was seen by the specialist eventually, I could have broken down in tears of utter RAGE. She was so so rude to me. Firing questions, putting me on the spot and barely giving me any time to answer. I felt like a very small person whilst in that room. She then told me to lower my lantus by 4 units despite the fact I have been over this with the DSNs. I am incredibly sensitive to lantus and lowering it to 13u would mean I wake up on levels of 20mmol/l plus in the morning. I’m not going to do that, I know what will happen.

And then we get onto the pump thing. I try and explain why I want one and how I meet he guidelines and she’s having none of it. She tells me that frequent hypos due to my ‘too low’ hba1c of 6.5% won’t get me a pump. Er, yes it will because they are debilitating. I’m terrified of hypos, they send me into crazy Sam and I honestly don’t do things due to fear of them! And when I’m wandering around on levels in which I should be unconscious, surely that’s a reason to get a pump? No matter what I do on injections, the hypo’s still come. I mentioned the dreaded ‘family’ word and she didn’t care. I was given the brush off.

And then, to make matters even better she told me I needed to run myself at levels of between 8 and 12 to get my awareness back. Yet I feel my hypos. I know when they’re coming most of the time. It’s wierd. I know they’re there, but I’m still walking around normally on them. I don’t understand. But when she told me to run myself high, I almost hit her. She was telling me stuff to do as if she KNEW what was going wrong with me. Fair enough if I had completely lost my awareness – yes, i am loosing it but its still there somewhat. I am having a lot of hypos and consequently a lot of swings from it, hence the decent A1C. Yet she wouldn’t understand, she refused to listen. My hopes of a pump were just shot out of the water, despite the fact that in my notes was a bit from the DSNs saying I’d been to see them and they thought I would be perfect for one.

I left the clinic feeling incredibly let down and angry. This woman was so unproffesional and made me feel like I didn’t matter.

And then there was the well placed phone call to the DSN this morning. She was completely horrified when I told her about it. And she said the whole pump thing was a fiasco. And she said she would be throwing my notes at the clinic professor straight after christmas and getting me in for a pump chat, as I explained I was desperate to get one, so that I could control my diabetes. She phoned me back twice to let me know what would be going on and when it would be happening. Bless her heart. I am now on the list for getting a pump as soon as it is humanly possible. Thank fuck for small mercies, and a brilliant support nurse team!

Hi everyone! I’m blogging from Starbucks again. Love eating lunch here ’cause I can actually access the computer. As you know, I have no computer/desk at work since I just see patients all day, so I bring my laptop and blog at Starbucks! I’m not complaining…I LOVE it here.

Workout
I started my day with an awesome BODY PUMP class @ 6am this morning. It was definitely difficult getting up this morning, especially since it was soooo cold and I could hear the winds from inside my apartment! But I forced myself up again and I’m so happy I went. When I got there, I also remembered that there is no Body Pump next Thursday because I’ll be home in California, so now I’m REALLY glad I went.

Class was awesome this morning! Sarah, our instructor, taught the newest round, which is Body Pump 72. It’s a hard one! Especially the chest and lunges track…jeez! I had sweat dripping down my arms to my elbows the entire time. Love it though!

Breakfast
After showering and getting all pretty-fied, I ate breakfast at the Starbucks below Healthworks. I brought the usual granola + Greek yogurt today but I really wanted something more hearty this morning for some reason. I guess the class wore me out.

I decided to get the Reduced-Fat Turkey Bacon & Egg Wheat English Muffin sandwich and I enjoyed it with a tall skinny vanilla latte. It really hit the spot!

I also enjoyed the sandwich with a banana to reload on my potassium after that sweaty workout!

It was such a busy morning so I was definitely hungry for lunch.

Lunch
Currently, I’m enjoying my leftover brown rice + roasted veggies last night. For some reason, it tastes even better today! The orange bell peppers seem sweeter for some reason and I’m loving it. The brown rice also seems to be the perfect consistency…I think it had to sit a while for it really soak up the liquid. Whatever the reason, it’s soooo good right now.

And I’m splurging once again (well, more like rewarding myself for getting up again this morning?) and decided to get myself a tall nonfat Caramel Brulee Latte (not pictured). It’s a new one at Starbucks and I’ve been curious to try it! And OH-MY—it’s DELICIOUS! It also smells as good as it tastes. I love holiday drinks! It’s not super sweet–just perfect. This way, it also serves as a sweet treat.

Well, everyone…I still have that exciting news tonight, so stay tuned. Hope you’re having a great Thursday and staying warm if you’re in Boston!

Happy running & good eating!
Patricia

I thought it might be beneficial to the expecting mothers reading this to give you an idea of what supplies you might consider based on what I used to help me have a successful breastfeeding experience.

Double electric pump, car adapter for the pump, milk storage freezer bags, boppy with my singleton then a twins nursing pillow with my b/g twins and of course nursing bras and nursing tops. I could not have been successful without my twins nursing pillow and my pump. Both are tiny investments compared to the cost of formula feeding (ESPECIALLY twins!).

Look! An electronic pancreas!

Next Thursday I have an appointment with the diabetes specialist. And I’m wondering exactly what’s going to happen with it. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a proper clinic so I’m slightly scared. Since that incident back at my old hospital, I’ve been scared witless by those so called specialists. They scare me, I’m not going to hide it. And nine times out of ten they won’t have a clue what its really like to be living with diabetes. And then they have the audacity to tell you that you could be doing better despite the fact you’ve been working your backside off to get things right. It’s a never ending battle with these things.

Anyway, there’s a few things I really need to mention while I’m there…

• A pump. I’m utterly desperate to get onto insulin pump therapy. I hate being on MDI’s, I have way too many hypos and I’m terrified of them. If I have one it takes me at least an hour to be able to do anything normally. It gets in the way of life, and work is incredibly difficult with the threat of hypos all the time. And the funny thing is that no matter what I do, I can’t get normal levels with MDI’s. My HBA1C may be as close to non diabetic level as it can be, but that’s only because of the sheer amount of hypos I’ve been having! The sugar levels just aren’t stable.
• The nueropathy. Why do I have this? Why now? Why me? The usual stuff. I’m utterly horrified that this has been allowed to happen, why wans’t it diagnosed when I first went to the doctors back at Uni complaining of pins and needles? Is there anything else I can do other than what I am? I’m trying to keep the levels down and nine times out of ten I’m failing horrifically. Again, would this be ammo for a pump, and possibly even a CGMS add on?
• Carb counting, I’m self taught. The best ratio I can come up with for it is 1 unit of insulin for every 10g of carbs. It sometimes works, it sometimes doesn’t. And in fact my levels most of the time rather proove that carb counting isn’ t helping very much either. Again, pump ammo?
• Possibility of a new long acting basal insulin. I seem to be very very sensitive to Lantus, so there’s a possibility of Levermir.

However, my main focus of this visit is definitely going to be getting hold of a pump. My lifestyle hates being on MDIs to the point where I go hypo and then swing back up into the very high teens on almost every occasion. I’m an active person who is out in the field all day, MDI’s just don’t cut it. That and at 21 years of age, the fact I have the onset of these complications should be ammo enough. It just goes to proove that MDI’s are failing with me. Carb counting, yes I can do it. But again, it’s failing. And if all else fails, I turn on the tears. I am deadly serious about getting a pump. I’ve been injecting every day of my life for the past 14 years and I really really hate it, I loathe injecting at meal times and the thought of it often makes me feel sick to my stomach. I need something that’s going to make these things a little easier on me and really help me control my diabetes, rather than it controlling me. Because it does. I swear I spend more time chasing down sugar levels and not being able to stuff because of it.

So here’s hoping this time next week I will have cleared the first hurdle towards getting hold of an insulin pump – and the other issues will have been covered too. I’m desperate for this. Expect updates!!

Approximately six weeks into the baby adventure, we took the big step of going out with friends and we took the kid. We had a great time, though we stayed out a bit late in light of the reality that we (or at least I) would be up a lot in the night. It turns out that I didn’t know the half of it…

Around midnight I began to experience the initial symptoms of full-blown gastroenteritis. Every orifice became an emergency exit – an unpleasantness that lasted well into the wee hours; I became so exhausted that I could no longer stand. I could feel the mams filling; they had not seemed to get the message that I was *sick* and that milk production was to be put on hold. I knew that I needed to empty them but simply could not muster the energy to do so. Finally the pressure became too much to bear and, dragging myself upright, commenced to draining the massive udders.

I had gone more than six hours without pumping; had I been cognizant of the consequences I wold have directed my husband to hook me up as best he could. By the middle of the next day I began to rally as my insides rearranged themselves back into their previous configuration. I even felt well enough to travel a few hours to see family who had not yet met the babe. As the day wore on, however, I began to feel the beginnings of a fever. By the next morning I had spiked a fever of close to 105° and one breast was rock hard, red, and throbbing so much that I swore the house shook to the beat of the pumping of my blood.

I called my midwife who immediately diagnosed a bad case of mastitis.  The cure?  A round of powerful antibiotics and even more frequent pumping – emptying the breast encourages the reduction of infection and inflammation.  This was somewhat analogous to my mildly masochistic feelings regarding a deep dental cleaning:  kind of hurts (sometimes really hurts) but in the end there’s a certain pleasure in it.  Pumping through mastitis evoked the same feeling for me.

Thankfully this was my only bout with full-blown mastitis; I had other blockages and inflammations later on but all were mitigated with increased pumping, hot compresses, and massage (nice for someone else to do if they the right touch…).  Some women swear by cold cabbage leaves in the brassiere but I never found this terribly effective.

Words to live by:  If you feel even the barest hint of blockage or inflammation, or are tempted to dramatically change your pump schedule, mastitis is lurking!  With respect the first, simply pump/nurse as often as possible, apply your choice of hot compresses, massage (from the base of the inflammation toward the nipple), and/or cabbage leaves if this is appealing to you.  For the second, proceed with caution!  In the first several weeks, frequent pumping (to mimic the nursing activities of a newborn) is essential to establishing an abundant milk supply.  You may find that once you’ve found a good rhythm and you’re producing plenty of milk (remember – you might want to bag and freeze some extra), you may find that you can gradually increase the time between pumping.

I’ll close with the following thoughts:

1. Always drain the breast.
2. Continuing to pump for a few minutes after you’re empty will encourage milk production.
3. Rub a little breast milk onto your nipples – this will help keep them supple and reduce the soreness you may have from the pump (or the baby if you’re nursing).
4. Be prepared for some discomfort in the beginning; it gets easier!  (and see #3)
5. Don’t worry if it seems like what you’re producing at first is hardly worth the effort – it takes time to build up the milk supply.  It is worth the effort!
6. I always liked to read whilst pumping…also a good time to meditate, or just think.
7. Do not feel guilty for enjoying the time to yourself.
8. Breathe.

Before I had my daughter, the thought of breastfeeding really grossed me out.  I’d only seen it once in person when I was in my twenties, visiting my first cousin who’d just had a baby. I thought it was sickening how her nipple stretched out super long and I was sure I would never be able to do it.  Wrong!!!

Somehow once I saw my daughter’s beautiful face, my determination to breastfeed kicked in to high gear.  We’d taken a private, Spanish Bradley Natural Childbirth Class, which in retrospect was a bit too judgy, since I ended up having an emergency C-section after THREE days of labor!  But that’s another story.  Anyway, with four days of recovery in the hospital and a wonderful, amazing, perfect nurse named Kimberly by my side every time, I learned how to latch the baby on correctly.  What no one ever explains is that you have a good FIVE weeks before your breasts stop hurting (throbbing, aching, burning…not exaggerating).  I’m lucky that my body produces A LOT of milk, but I can totally understand why some women give up when their milk supply is not plentiful.  It’s really hard to get through the pain of the first month or so.  Totally worth it in the long run, though.  I nursed my daughter until her second birthday, and I still get emotional thinking about giving it up.  The bonding is so important and beautiful, beyond my ability to put into words.

So this week I had to travel for work (hence the neglected blog) and took the boy with me.  He’s five months old, so it’s either drag him along or drag the dreaded pump.  The pump would mean trying to keep the milk cold for the entire trip because I can not bear to dump it out.  It also means stressing out about finding places to pump—have you ever tried to find a private place in an airport with a plug and a chair?  Makes for some hilarious travel stories, let me tell you.  Have you ever tried to power anything off an airplane lavatory outlet?  Not helpful.

So thanks to my travel- and work-induced stress levels, probable slight dehydration, and lack of sleep, I learned a new word on this trip: BLEB.  I mean, are you serious?  A bleb is a blister that can develop on the nipple when you have blocked milk ducts. I’m dealing with one bleb and multiple blockages.  Que asqo. How disgusting!  Not to mention painful.  I will spare you the visuals.

So for you ladies who haven’t had your babies yet, what do you think?  TMI?  Would you rather not know all this beforehand?  For those of you who’ve been there, done that, feel free to add your two cents!  And happy first night of Chanukah, everyone! 

On weekends this hardcore dance club draws a large crowd of beautiful men – and a few comely ladies – all eager to sweat off the day’s anxieties to a raucous beat. One of the most popular gay clubs on the Beach, Pump has a spacious dance floor that is usually filled to capacity. You may have to stand in line to get in, but the wait is worth it. If you want to party ’til breakfast, this is your place.

The upside to pumping full time was that, by default, I was afforded time to myself several times per day, every day. As every new parent (and especially a nursing mom) knows, this is a precious commodity. The obvious downside was having to pump every two hours ’round the clock; alone time at 3:30AM is significantly less gratifying than at say, 9:00AM.

So, every two hours, 24 hours per day, I lashed myself to my pump and hoped that my boy would either sleep or entertain himself quietly until I was finished. Sometimes there would be someone available to hang out with him; this always extended my pump time while I extracted a few extra minutes of guaranteed quiet time. More often than not, though, it was just the two of us.

The process takes about 20 minutes, not including cleaning the pump components, washing the bottles, and storing the milk. Adding on the additional 10 minutes per pump session for cleaning, a little basic math helps me conclude that I spent about 1/4 of each day hooked up to a pump…

One of the very best things about pumping and feeding breast milk (as opposed to formula) is that expressed breast milk remains safe at room temperature for a very long time; there are studies that suggest 24 hours is not an unreasonable estimate. It resists bacteria growth extremely well and makes bottle feeding much safer from a health perspective. Breast milk is actually pretty amazing stuff for other reasons: it heals diaper rash, nipple soreness, pink eye, and of course is the very best food source for the human infant.

This seems like a good place to insert my caveat (and this goes for raw cow’s milk as well, though that is a topic for another day…). Healthy breast milk comes from healthy moms. Nutrition that supports a milk producing mom comprises stuff that you might be inclined to run away from – especially while trying to get back into those favorite jeans. You *need* fat, cholesterol, protein, and other yummy things. Don’t fret; your body is working so hard to produce all that milk that you will still shed the pounds. But your baby (especially one preparing for surgery) needs healthy, fat laden breast milk to thrive. There are some good resources in the links page.

In closing, if you find yourself feeling like the deluxe milkshake machine at the local Dairy Queen, take heart…you are!

Nothing gives a woman as much pleasure as becoming a mother. At these times, the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra can come in extremely handy in helping the mom to breast feed the new born. Irrespective of whether she is becoming a mom for the first time or the second, the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra is likely to be of great help to her, and this is the case worldwide.

In the modern day world, many times both the man and the woman go out to work, and when this is the case, the mom cannot stay with the baby for many hours. Now, how is breast feeding the baby possible when the mom is at her workplace? It surely becomes tricky for breast milk to be given to the baby at regular time intervals. If the mothers have the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra, their breast feeding worries can be eased. Breast milk needs to be pumped out with the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra and kept in the storage unit of the device.

The diaphragm of the HygieniKit system of collecting has been patented by the company, and in the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra, it ensures that the milk can be taken out quickly. The security and health of the baby is ensured when you use this because the milk remains pure. It also prevents spilling or the milk penetrating into the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra, thereby causing dislocation or disruption in pumping. Washers can also be used for cleaning the pump, once you have dismantled it, and having cleaned the unit, you can then again do the assembling easily.

The Ameda Purely Yours Ultra breast pump with customizable features and innumerable settings (more than 32) can control the pump speed and milk flow.

The Ameda Purely Yours Ultra comes with dual electric pumps and using this, you can take out the milk really quickly, without experiencing any discomfort. Either an Ameda AC adaptor, or a car adaptor can be used, depending on whether you are charging at home or while traveling.

In order to make you familiar with the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra, we would now look at the various components that you get with the order.

· The electrically powered Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump has dual pumping functionality.
· The Cool ‘n’ Carry model tote of the pump.
· The four bottles.
· Plastic nipple cups
· The electrical AC charger.
· The 12 V adapter for use while driving.

In cases where a mom has to go to work, the Ameda Purely Yours Ultra indeed offers considerable benefits. The Ameda breast pump finally allows her to leave home completely certain that the baby would not be deprived of the breast milk. The Ameda Purely Yours Ultra, of course, allows the moms to take out some time for themselves too.

Visit these websites for interesting information:
Ameda Purely Yours – The Ideal Solution For All Mothers Who Are Breast Feeding
Ameda Purely Yours – The Ideal Solution For All Mothers Who Are Breast Feeding
Ameda Purely Yours – Make Breastfeeding Your Baby Easy

Even if you want to breastfeed, the very fact that you have a full time job, with professional commitments and the absence of enough privacy, might make the job of providing breast milk to the baby difficult – using the Ameda Purely Yours appears to be the only solution. There are two options you will find in the Ameda Purely Yours – it can run on electricity and it can be operated manually as well.

Indeed, there cannot be a better alternative to breast milk. And so, moms have turned to Ameda Purely Yours again and again when they have not wanted to depend on formula feeding.

With the dual action pump and backpack that are included, you can rely on the Ameda Purely Yours for getting excellent performance. It is extremely dependable as well that matches the need of a modern day working mom. The Ameda Purely Yours comes with suction settings that can be easily changed as per your needs, and there are 4 different settings that can be adjusted too, thus making the pump extremely versatile.

In addition, the HYGIENIKIT system of collecting milk makes sure that the generally tricky task of cleaning the Ameda Purely Yours breast pump every time after you use it, is considerably eased out. This system does away with all risks of possible contamination, by not letting the breast milk enter inside the pump.

Mothers who have regular jobs generally leave their babies with professional care givers or at day care centers, and hence, they use the following methodology to breastfeed the young ones.

§ In the morning, the first thing that should be done is to make use of the HYGIENIKIT system of collecting milk that the Ameda Purely Yours has, and get the milk collected into the system.
§ The bottles meant for storing the milk need to be taken out of the backpack, filled up with the milk, and then returned to the backpack again, with the cooling system of the pump keeping the milk fresh.
§ Use the AC adaptor to recharge the batteries.
§ The care giver or the person in charge at the day care center has to be given the backpack, with specific directives as to how to feed the baby at regular intervals of time.
§ Take the baby and the backpack home after the job is over.

While there are plenty of other breast pumps available, none come even close to rivaling the Ameda Purely Yours. While the Ameda Purely Yours would undoubtedly be of great help to the busy working mother, the other moms would also derive great benefits from it.

Swung by this event for a bit Sunday afternoon.  Gordon Sprague is like Gulf Breeze’s answer to Jay Leno, and he was auctioning off most of his private collection over the weekend.  Among the cars being auctioned was a 1969 Dodge Daytona that was driven by Bobby Allison.

The show was pretty cool; not only was there a nice selection of beautifully restored vintage cars, but there were innumerable lots of car and automotive-related incidentals; from tools to gas pumps.  I wanted to get a pump to put up in the corner of my room, but as I was lacking both sufficient cash and an unoccupied corner in my room, I had to pass.

One of my favz! Nice to track back.

“What It Takes” is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Desmond Child. It was released in 1990 as the third single from Aerosmith’s critically and commercially successful 1989 album Pump. In the video The Making of Pump, A&R man John Kalodner described the song as “a fuckin’ masterpiece”.

The album version of the song is followed by an untitled hidden track.

Chart performance

The single reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Music video

There are two videos for the song. One features the band performing in a bar. The other is culled from scenes from The Making of Pump, a film which documented the recording process of the Pump album. The latter received much greater airplay, and was also the version the band chose to include on their video collection Big Ones You Can Look At.