Diabetes-Johanna

So just to follow-up on my previous post, I did walk 1 658 932 steps before 1st September. Yaaay... I can see that a lot of new collaborative research projects are coming up. And of course there is a large comorbidity with Covid-19/Corona virus and other underlying diseases, like my diabetes. What I actually was thinking about is how different countries report on cause of death. If a person with diabetes dies with Corona virus present - is this reported as death by Corona virus or by diabetes? This play on numbers is a hugh reason to why some countries now seem to have no deaths at all from the present pandemic. Sweden has one of the highest death rates per capita but we are also almost the only country that has remained open and almost functioning as usual although many are working from home. So maybe we won’t get a second wave or at least not as big as other countries will cause we’ve had a steady stream of sickness progression from the virus with everyone still moving around and not...

 I joined this challenge on Facebook from an assistans company near us called ”God assistans” (god means great). It started on June 1st and the goal was to walk 1 million steps until September 1st, approximately 13’000 steps per day. Well it’s not deadline yet and I’ve already walked more than 1,5 million steps. It came easy actually. When I’m at work I often walk 14’000 steps from leaving the house and until I get back. When I’m working from home I try to walk in the morning before work starts and on my lunch break, then I often go for a walk in the evening. It’s been good for my diabetes and for my overall mental health. In these times you need to do what you can to keep your mood high. I don’t have mental illness but I had a period of depression, anxiety and being burnt out due to everything that happened around our youngest daughters diagnosis. Whats happening now, due to Corona/Covid-19, effects everyone I believe. I can’t really hug my parents and not really visit anyone I wa...

So... on a totally different point: Black Lives Matter. It’s not about white Lives doesn’t matter, it’s about black Lives are supposed to matter just as much. It’s about equality. But mostly it’s about us all being just one race; Human beings. I mean - we are all one. White lions and yellow lions are the same race just different shades and that shouldn’t matter. Everyones life should matter. We only have this one life and this one world and don’t we want it to be the best that it can be? And you can think or say what you want about the violent protests but you have to understand that they come from an eternity of repression, an eternity of segregation, an eternity of discrimination, an eternity of being treated as second class citizens. Change needs to happen. Change is needed now. Let’s be the change.

So Sweden has a very different strategy in the fight against the Corona or Covid-19 virus. We are all still very free moving around. There are restrictions like no more then 50 people at a venue, our higher education has lectures via web, fewer trains and busses, people are expected to stay home and work from home if possible. Also if you experience any symtoms of a cold or anything really you are expected to stay home, you need to be 100%. Every day at 14 the Public Health Authority has a press conference where they present the latest numbers and updates. Daycare and lower education is still open, because these young children can’t be expected to conduct their own education via web and if the parents are expected to work from home then they can’t educate the children. For now the strategy seems to be working. Because I have diabetes I was really worried and actually wanted them to shut down the whole country - but the days I need to be at work there is only people on ever...

Nu är det snart dags för diabetesgalan igen - tycker att det är väldigt bra att den finns och att man kan sprida kunskap för jag visste själv inte symtomen på diabetes innan jag fick det. Dessutom är symtomen diffusa som man dricker mycket och kissar mycket, metallsmak i munnen, viktnedgång. Diabetesgalan är det bästa Peter Jihde har gjort! Det sämsta med diabetesgalan är faktiskt också Peter Jihde. Inte för att han egentligen är en dålig programledare eller en dålig diabetiker utan det handlar om hur han framställer diabetes. JA diabetes kan vara farligt och som diabetiker kalkylerar man allt man äter och dricker - men så kan det vara med sjukdomar, inte bara diabetes. Peter Jihde framställer det dock som att han är på livets kant hela tiden, i hans IG ”varje spruta varje dag” drar han ner brallorna för att ta sprutorna i låret samtidigt som han ser ut att lida fantastiskt mycket och så har vi ”reklamen” där han berättar att varje dag dör 5 personer i Sverige till följd av di...

So this year PTHS Awareness day came and Went and we didn't even notice. Our life is hectic and our days filled and sometimes the stuff surrounding you just passes you by way too quickly. Some days are just about survival, you haven't slept enough, kids are fighting and crying, you need to make dinner, the kids have football (yes everywhere in the World it's called football exept for the US, so let's call it what it's really called) practice… and so on and so on. I have also undertaken a couple of courses at a University that I really want to finish. I like having my degree and being able to take almost whatever courses I want - learning for life. For spring I'm hoping to start my Masters paper. I have already done most of the courses needed for this undertaking and now I'm hoping to find the time to finally do the actual paper. I work at a research department and I'm planning to use the data from our research Project. Exiting things ahe...

As I said before we are very lucky and this year we actually got married, after 10 years as a couple. We`ve had a hard couple of years... We had our beautiful twin girls, which was a lot of hard work, and just wanted a normal pregnancy and birth, and a healthy child. Freja is a very happy child, most of the time, and we do fel lucky for that - she is content. But there is a lot of hard work, all the time. We can tell her ”no” but she gets angry with us for not letting her do whatever she wants. And there is a lot of stuff surrounding her whole care, she is just a baby in a 4-year-olds body, and that is a lot to deal with. There is so much love as well. This year she has learnt how to kiss and hug us and it’s the best thing ever. She shows very clearly what she likes and doesn’t like, but she doesn’t talk. She starten saying ”mamma” last summer but it didn’t last and it hasn’t returned, I wonder if it ever will. She does make a lot of sounds but nothing that sounds like wor...

Actually we are very lucky! We have 3 wonderful children, and when it comes to Freja it could have been so much worse. We didn't suspect anything was different until she was 6 months, and even though the investigation took 2 years, and no lie it was hard on us both, she is still developing and still going forward but it is a looong process. Soon after she turned 2 years she stood up in her bed for the first time and since then she has been practicing standing up and taking a couple of steps into our arms. But it wasn't until after New Years that she actually could stand by herself for several seconds, and that you could see and feel her finding that important stability - and she is 3,5 years now. We are hoping that it will happen now - she will walk. Could it really happen? We are also lucky having our twin girls - Frejas big sisters. They are so cute and both have different personalities and character, and they love each other and their baby sister so much. It...

Ja då var det dags för ett nytt år och det ska bli spännande att se vad 2019 har att komma med! David tycker att 2018 var året då det vände för oss - vi har ju haft mycket med allt kring Freja och min sjukskrivning. Ja för min egen del är jag tillbaka i arbetet med full kraft vilket definitivt är positivt - man mår bättre med social gemenskap! Min diabetes är mycket bättre efter ändrad kost och träning. Men det största är väl att jag är jag igen! Ett tag trodde jag aldrig att jag skulle bli mig själv igen - min psykiska ohälsa hade tagit över mig helt med depression, utbrändhet och ångest! Men sakta men säkert har jag kommit tillbaka upp till ytan och nu kan jag andas fritt igen! Jag har tur som har mina nära som stöttat men framförallt att jag har David som fått dra det största lasset i min mentala frånvaro! Jag sa flera gånger till honom att jag aldrig kommer att bli mig själv igen men jag fanns ju kvar långt därinne! Många säger att man blir starkare men jag tro...

Nu börjar äntligen min och Frejas 3 veckor långa dunderförkylning släppa! Det har varit riktigt jobbigt med hosta, halsont, snor, feber och gnällig Freja! Hon som är vår lilla solstråle och aldrig brukar vara tjurig! Det blev påfrestande för oss alla! Vi fick dessutom ta en tripp till akuten mitt i natten när hon fick 40 graders feber som inte ville släppa och en massa feberfrossa på det! Lilla plutten! Men som sagt börjar det släppa nu och de senaste 4 dagarna har hon varit en dröm! Glad, skrattande, nöjd och bara följt sitt schema! För mig har de här veckorna inneburit att jag inte kunnat träna och det har i sin tur påverkat blodsockret. Mitt bs har fortfarande hållit sig relativt lågt men istället för den där stabila kurvan så har det varit mycket upp och ner. Nu har vi tränat i tre dagar och det ger effekt direkt - jätteskönt! Det visar också hur viktigt det är med träningen även om man redan äter bra - det samspelar! Idag är det vilodag - det är ju nyårsafton!...

Jag har ju varit lite besviken på att viktnedgången uteblivit de senaste veckorna men förra veckan hände något. Jag vill inte erkänna hur mycket jag vägde som mest men nu har jag nästan gått ner 10 kilo för den senaste veckan gick jag ner 1,5 kilo... helt plötsligt. Det är ju kul att det äntligen börjar ge med sig. Känns som att kroppen hållit emot de där 6-7 veckorna då inget hände på vågen alls men nu kanske de kan börja rulla på. Diabetesen är ju fortfarande fantastisk. I förra veckan har jag inte kunnat träna pga dunderförkylning (har fortfarande lite ont i halsen faktiskt) och det märks på kurvan. Det blir jämnare kurva när man tränar och nu är det mer upp och ner även om det inte blir så många superhöga värden men det blir liksom inte den fina, fina kurvan som jag har haft utan toppar och dalar. Det bara visar hur viktigt båda delarna är för diabetesen. Kosthållning OCH motion/rörelse. Båda delarna har faktiskt gått väldigt bra sista tiden, portionerna känns helt...

Jag fortsätter att räkna mina kalorier och fortsatt ligger min diabetes fantastiskt bra! Tänk att det kunde vara så lätt ändå! Jag hade verkligen gett upp och bara accepterat att min diabetes var som den var och hade inte ens en tanke på att kaloriräknandet skulle ha den effekt som det hade! Jag tar nu fortfarande samma doser som när jag först fick diabetes för 15 år sedan och jag har fortfarande svårt att fatta det! När jag någon gång syndat och fått högre bs så har jag tagit för mycket insulin för huvudet är fortfarande lite kvar i det som var innan. Men nu har min acceptans för högt bs också sänkts så allt över 10 känns JÄTTEHÖGT för majoriteten av tiden ligger jag inom målområdet, 4-9, som är på Freestyle Libre. Trodde inte ens att det var möjligt. Jag ser ju inte heller detta som en diet, för jag säger alltid att man inte kan gå på diet som diabetiker, utan snarare som ett sätt att lära sig hur mycket man bör äta. Jag har ju ätit alldeles för mycket, för stora portion...

So yesterday we had an ultrasound on Frejas little foot to see if the bumps she got this spring were indeed ganglion, the results were inconclusive. They are a long the tendons and they seem to "grow" from pressure however they didn't really look like ganglion usually look on an ultrasound. Thankfully our refering doctor wasn't satisfied so next is going to be the child orthopeadist. Hopefully we will get some answers. Today Frejas broken tooth is gonna get pulled out. Thankfully David is with her for this one. I've never had any holes in my teeth and have never had to fix my teeth like that so it's a bit unnerving for me so I'm thankful David took that appointment. Next week, or maybe it's the week after that, I will go with Freja to try out new glasses. Thankfully she now seem to understand that the glasses help her and usually lets them stay on. She usually pulls them off when she gets tired - understandably! In between all this she has...

So I'm still on the same weight I've been for the last 3-4 weeks and I just don't get it. I still only eat 1300 kcals per day, I exercise and I try to choose better foods. So maybe next week I will try to go vegetarian, or at least half way vegetarian. I think that for example mixing minced meat with equal part quorn is a good way to start. Also I have a recepy for vegetarian lasagne with aubergine, mozarella and parmesan with a wonderful tomato sauce - so that's one recepy I know I will love. Otherwise there is always veggie sausage, falafel and vegetarian thai spring rolls. Haha... maybe not the best choices... I guess the declerations will determine what I will choose. I do like meze dishes so maybe I'll look for some of those recepies. Vegetarian for the win?

Well my weightloss isn't going too well right now. My body is still changeing due to my counting calories and the exercise but the scale has stood still for almost 3 weeks I'm afraid. This week hubby and I are racing to loose 1,5 kilo each so hopefully it will show some results - but it's still frustrating. But to be honest... this happens every time I try to get a healthier lifestyle going. It takes a long time for my body to catch up and do what every other persons body would have done - loose the weight. I remember before we went to Australia we went to the gym 6 days a week and still my body did not react the same way as my hubbys. I almost didn't loose any weight but then eventually something happened. I took a week off from the gym and just rested and that week I lost a lot of weight and after that the body started responding correctly. Right now a lot of stuff in my life is connected to my exercise and the gym. Exercising gets the endorfins going...

I read a lot of articles about how you can exercise and loose weight... well yes you can but you have to do 7000-7500 kcals to loose 1 kilo. I mean... that's too much. If the goal is to loose weight then it's 90% the food and 10% your exercise - so that's something to Think about if you're frustrated about not loosing any weight even though you're training. My diabetes is still perfect from counting calories and I couldn't be happier. I really should send in an HbA1c just to see the real differense. I'm expecting it to be grand so I really hope that it is but you never know until you get the results. Maybe I'll try and send it in on monday och tuesday. My weight have been still for a few weeks now and it's been frustrating for me as well but now it has started to move again. We've had a couple of weeks with sick kids, being sick our selfs and all routines you get from being at work just went out the window. But... three days back at ...

It's that time of year for me and my diabetes - time for eye screening. Well I have done this a few times during my 15 years with diabetes, it's just a part of living with diabetes. First you get pupil dilating eye drops (they sting), then you have to wait for 30 minutes and then they take photos of the bottom of your eyes in a very dark room. The procedure will show any changes, like small bleedings, in your eyes that are diabetes related. I do have some small bleedings, first showed after my youngest was born in 2015. When you've had diabetes for more than 10 years these kind of changes are common. Because your pupils are dilated your eyes get really sensitive to the light and they can't really focus so you often get blurry eyesight. I had my sunglasses on for at least 3 hours after - even inside when I got back to work. It worked out really good yesterday actually. I walked there (just a few houses away), got the eye drops, ate my lunch while waiting...

So while I'm doing this counting calories I've changed some things during my day but I still eat a lot of the same things just smaller portions. While I'm trying to loose weight I'm set to eat 1300 kcal per day but when I've reached my goal weight I will probably be able to eat 1500-1600 kcal per day - that's a 100 more kcal per meal. Due to my insulin resistance in the morning my breakfast is very low carb or no carb at all. Well this is how my food is planned. Breakfast - 325 kcal: 2 boiled eggs or a protein shake/pudding. Lunch - 390 kcal: Soop of some kind and one slice of bread with two slices of cheese (no butter) is a good lunch. Dinner - 390 kcal: Something more sturdy then lunch just to keep the blood sugar level for some excercize. Swedish fika ;) - 195 kcal: So breakfast is set at 325 kcal however I never reach that level and really with diabetes you need some "extra" calories during the day for snacks, s...

I never thought I would EVER do that but now I am. I've tried many different things but nothing has ever really worked and this way I can still eat things I love - I just have to calculate everything. Although right now pizza and chips are out of the question! Hahaha... I love salty so for me that's a big sacrifice but in the end I know I'll feel better. My diabetes is actually feeling excellent. I now take the same doses as I did 15 years ago when I first got my diagnosis! It's truly amazing. I try to exercise 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes and I'm focusing on cardio. And surprisingly it's going okay even though I don't eat as much and I don't have as many calories to play with in case I get a low blood sugar. The most eye opening thing about this experience is to learn how much more than I need that I've been eating! OMG!!! Now I eat about half the portions I did before so it's no wonder I didn't loose any weight. W...

... have me turning negative. Negative towards the racist party getting such a large amount of the votes. I mean they may "only" be tha third largest party in all of Sweden but here in the South of Sweden they are actually the biggest party in most of the small communities. I mean... what is going to happen with all of that? I don't want them to rule my Community, I don't trust them to do that! That is my kids wellbeing and education at stake. Also negative towards the ruling government to still be ruling. I mean... they have dismantled the whole help system for kids and adults with special needs. We can't trust them... Look at what they've done to these poor families. Feels hopeless...