If there's anything those of us with diabetes know, it's that we have to be flexible. Blood sugar levels and blood sugar maintenance equipment and medications take a lot of brain power and we are often at their mercy.

Which is why I'm up at 11 p.m. -- one solid hour after my bedtime -- writing this post. The house was actually quiet for once. The Mr. had gone to bed early, the kids were in bed, I had made lunches for tomorrow and done the dishes. I sat down to watch a little of the Olympics, enjoying the semi-silence; before I knew it it was 10:30 p.m.

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I'm (cough) just wondering a few things about your products (sniffle). You see, before I had diabetes, I had many, many wonderful choices of cough drop flavors to help me get through a cold or even to ease the pain of a scratchy throat (blow nose). Now, though, I'm limited to a very few, select flavors in your sugar-free line.

(sneeze) And while we're on the topic of your sugar-free line, can you kindly explain why there are fewer cough drops per bag than the sugar-filled variety? Why (sniffle) do I have to pay the same amount for fewer pieces of relief? (cough) Furthermore, can you tell me why the "value pack" of your regular variety has 80 drops and the "value pack" of the sugar-free drops has only 70 and I pay the same amount (coughcough)?

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Last week when I suggested that the diabetes community design an awareness symbol akin to the breast cancer campaign's pink ribbon, I apparently hit a nerve with someone.

Nordtorp says he's not into the secret handshake thing and that ribbons and pins don’t make a difference. He doesn't think that wearing a trinket will cause more money to be funnelled into diabetes research.

I have to say that I whole-heartedly disagree. If someone asked you what are the major illnesses -- chronic or otherwise -- that affect the U.S. population, would the common person identify diabetes as one of them? Without a connection to diabetes, I doubt it. Does the common person even really understand what diabetes is? Not many. (READ MORE)

Elizabeth commented on yesterday's Pump Nostalgia post, saying she has been type 1 for 38 years and has in the past resisted the idea of going on a pump. She wants to know what I find so thrilling about it.

For starters, and probably the biggest things for me, it's the precision and the convenience. As for precision there are a couple of aspects: I don't have to conform to a certain number of carbs to match my insulin:carb ratio. For example, like many people, I am more insulin resistant in the morning, so my insulin:carb ratio is lower. So if I'm having 45 carbs and my insulin:carb ratio is 1:12 and my sugar is within target, I can't take 3.75 units with an insulin pen. So I either have to decrease or increase the number of carbs or the amount of insulin and deal with the consequences later. (READ MORE)

A friend of mine emailed a few days ago to tell me she got her first pump. She was scared and excited at the same time.

I felt like she told me she had gotten engaged -- I had so much happiness and joy for her. It reminded me of the day my own pump arrived. I was in the middle of a deadline at work, but I still ripped into the box and tore into everything. I put Toohey on my hip almost immediately. It would be several days before I had my training, but I immersed myself in pump life immediately. Although I had had reservations about being attached to a contraption for 24 hours a day, those fears went out the window as soon as I was hooked up. I just knew this was going to be better.

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There is a number that I won't go to bed below. Typically it's 100 depending on what I've eaten. I havent' figured out what my upper limits are, though.

Two nights ago, for example, I was 198 somewhere close to bedtime. I bolused and went to bed. I woke up at 110. I would have liked to have been lower, but again I haven't figured out where I need to be prior to bedtime to get a good fasting.

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