Category Archives: Diabetes

Veterans’ Day

November 11, 2016 Michael Leave a comment

So…..Today is Veterans’ Day. I appreciate all of you who have served, are serving now, and will serve. My sense of appreciation encompasses your husbands, your wives, your mom, your dad, your children, your extended family, your friends. This weekend is UFC 205. It is a stacked card with 3 title fights. Conor Mcgregor is fighting Alvarez. Big fight with the most bombastic fighter in the “game.” Whether or not you feel you lost or whether you won what is needed right now is to find the athlete within you. For all my friends who have played a sport you know what it is to lose a big game and you know what it feels like to win one too. Politics is a game. I know this because I had the opportunity to study political science and philosophy and religion at the University of Rochester and have continued my inquiry throughout my life. This week is my 40th anniversary of being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. This has been my fight. We all have something….right? Look….we live in a world of duality, at a minimum. You may think you are right and those who disagree with you are wrong. WRONG. It is so ironic that those who embrace relativism are so absolute in their views. The Bhagavad Gita says that humility is the foundational condition necessary to enter the path of enlightenment. Be humble in your confidence, righteousness, judgements, perspective. Inject all of these things with Mercy. If you lose then pick yourself up, allow yourself to be embraced. Make a game plan. If you won then care for your opponent. While it may appear that these fighters are trying to hurt each other just like the fight for the presidency appears like people were destroying each other…..you are right. They want to “submit”, knockout or win a decision. This is the objective of the “game.” But once it happens…….Once the fight is over then it’s over and what is needed is humility, caring, compassion, respect. The Decision has been made. Don’t be a bad winner. If you do that you are an asshole. Don’t be a sore loser. If you do that then you are a victim. The yoga path starts with the Yamas. The first Yama is Ahisma – Non Violence. At a deep level this means to not put distress on another. You might be distressed over the decision. That’s Life! The “isness” of life is that you win some and you lose some. Both the Democratic Party and The Republican Party are now divided. We have just undergone the last stage of a double mitosis in the political landscape in our country, and for that matter, on this planet. It really doesn’t matter what you believe or you don’t believe. Belief is not what is needed right now. The visionaries of today are those who can suspend their disbelief. Watch the video and understand that the UFC is a metaphor for fighting the good fight. I predict the UFC is going to expand and go through a huge growth in the next few years. I am not a huge fan of the sport although I recognize that they are truly the most refined athletes in the world. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a metaphor for how to engage in the game of life. They all have great respect for the Art and each other. There are rules. It is one of the few sports that puts emphasis on following the rules. Those who disregard them are shunned. Golf is the epitome of an integral sport. Other sports encourage stretching the rules or trying to get away with breaking them. The recent political fight was not very integral. Anyone can see that. But, nevertheless, the decision has been made. Our only free will is to either see this moment as a threat or an opportunity. Choose opportunity…….Please. If you stay in fear and feel threatened you will shrink and then strike out in fear. Diabetes is a difficult dis-ease. It is 24/7 and it is dangerous. The root of the word Diabetes is Diablo. The game of life is, ultimately, a spiritual war between The Light and The Dark. The paradox is that one cannot be revealed without the other. It’s a Brave New World. Don’t run away from it or try and abort it. Embrace it. Love it. See it as an opportunity.

Moments of pure sportsmanship between fighters

Beautiful moment of sportsmanship & respect between fighters MMA T-shirts – http://www.frenkel7.com/search?q=MMA

YOUTUBE.COM

Diabetes, Metaphysical/Spiritual, Yoga

Now….That is A Yoga Pose!

April 29, 2016 Michael Leave a comment

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in November of 1976 at the age of 14. My biggest desire in life has been and remains to find the root cause and correct it. Seventeen years ago I was introduced to yoga.

My first yoga class was at a Bikram Yoga Studio in Boca Raton, Florida in November of 1999. The room is heated to 110 degrees and there are 26 postures that are repeated each class. I sweated so much I lost 4 lbs during the class. The postures are designed to “squeeze” the toxins from every aspect of your being; physical, mental and emotional. Class is over and the 90 degree heat in Boca feels like a cool breeze. I would go to Bikram yoga classes almost every day for the next 6 years. Sometimes I would do two classes; “A double.” In 2002 I had the opportunity to take three months off from work. I would wake up, go to the 7am class. Come home, go for a 3 mile run around 1pm and then go to the 4pm class. I literally, transformed myself. Bikram began to get old. The same routine, the heat, the stink….

I decided I wanted to deepen my practice so, in September of 2006, I went to a 200 hour yoga teacher training course at Kripalu in Massachusetts in the Berkshire Mountains. While Bikram had systemized yoga into a 90 minute “torture chamber” that had tremendous benefit, it was very narrow in its exploration of the “map” of yoga. Kripalu enlightened me to a much deeper understanding of what yoga is. The yoga postures; poses; Asana’s are but one aspect of many in the map of yoga. When I told one of the senior teachers at Kripalu that I had been living with type 1 diabetes since age 14, she said, “Now that is a yoga pose.” Since 2006 I have continued to practice yoga and even guide some others in the inquiry of yoga. Yoga is, ultimately, not something you do…….It is, instead a path of inquiry. As such, it has accelerated my quest to understanding and correcting diabetes.

Diabetes

Is Diabetes an Addiction??

October 6, 2015 Michael Leave a comment

I have sometimes used addiction as a metaphor for Type 1 diabetes. Think about it for a minute………

A type 1 diabetic must inject insulin daily. If still taking shots then a Type 1 diabetic might have to partake in a “fix” up to 8 or more times a day. If on the pump, we are constantly “hooked” up to our drug of choice.

But, Michael, we don’t crave insulin?? Try not taking it for a day or two and see if you begin to crave it.

But, Michael, it is good for us unlike being addicted to something like drugs or alcohol?? Yes, it may be good for us but we are addicted to it. We need it. Without it we will have symptoms of withdrawal.

What I am asking you to do by contemplating being an addict by being a type 1 diabetic, is to hold a mental perspective that you may not have thought about. When thinking of our disease as an addiction there are a few pathways that may open up. Explore these. Think about the people around you. Are they acting like co-dependents or enablers? Are you treating them like co-dependents or enablers? Do you hide your disease? What is it that caused the addiction in the first place? Do I own any responsibility for the onset of my situation? Is the goal to overcome my addiction? Has my life become unmanageable?

Check out the 12 steps of AA. The first step says…..”We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable.” Does having diabetes imply we are powerless over something and that our lives have become unmanageable? What is the something that we are powerless over? For sure the immediate task is to manage our disease. If we don’t, our lives do become unmanageable.

I don’t bring this thought exercise out to be provocative. No, my intention is to offer a momentary shift in the way we see our disease so we may obtain additional tools to combat it. I have had type 1 diabetes for 39 years now. I can tell you with 100% certainty that if you are able to increase your level of awareness you will increase your ability to respond to your disease on a moment to moment basis. Denial is one of the hurdles in the recovery of an addict. Some say the opposite of denial is acceptance and it is acceptance that will “set you free.” Screw acceptance. I don’t accept this disease. However, I am willing to be aware. Work on awareness and the quality of your disease control will increase and you will be on the healing path………..

Diabetes, Yoga

Type 1 Diabetes. “Now that’s a yoga pose.”

June 10, 2013 Michael Leave a comment

I have been living with Type 1 diabetes since 1976. I was 14 when diagnosed.

I will spare you the whole story for now.

About five years ago I completed my initial yoga teacher training at Kripalu Yoga Center in the Berkshire Mountains. After a very profound session with one of the senior yoga teachers, I had the opportunity to speak with her. I told her I had Type 1 diabetes since I was a kid. Her verbal response was….”Now that’s a yoga pose.” Her emotional response was dripping with compassion. I was immersed in one of the most profound training experiences of my life and being introduced to the deeper aspects of yoga. I had been practicing yoga for six years prior to going to Kripalu for the month long teacher training course. My yoga practice had transformed my body and mind. I saw yoga as a metaphor for what I am tasked to do as a Type 1 Diabetic. Both yoga and living with diabetes involves issues of restriction, alignment, balance, attention, focus, letting be and manifestation of life force energy (prana). I did not want so much to be a yoga teacher, instead, I was seeking to deepen my understanding and practice.

Now that’s a yoga pose.

Diabetes

Port/Infusion Set Malfunction

March 12, 2013 Michael Leave a comment

I had an interesting day yesterday. I had a 10am meeting. It was a 90 minute drive to get to the meeting. I changed my infusion set at 7am. It went in kind of weak. I assessed it and thought it was ok. My blood sugar was 114 when I changed the infusion set. Took a shower and began my drive to the meeting at 8:15am. On the way I stopped at a rest area and checked my blood sugar. It was 185. I found this to be a curious number because I had not eaten anything. I did have a cup of coffee but I had covered it. I attributed it to the stress of the drive and gave myself a correction bolus of 2 units. After my meeting I checked again – it was 185. Now, I was becoming suspicious of my site. I checked and and smelled for insulin. It looked OK. Took another 2 units. Had lunch and on my drive back home I felt I needed to check again. 475! NO! This is not a reading I get. I was driving so I gave myself some more insulin and planned on stopping to get gas in 45 minutes so I would check again. When I stopped it was 500. That’s it. I decided I needed to change my site. I also decided to take an injection of insulin to insure I was getting some in there. I took 6 units by injection. Put another port in and took another 5 units. I got back home in about an hour and I had come down to 185. Drank a lot of water to cleanse my body from the highs. Now, I had another concern. I had 6 units On Board from the pump and the injection I had taken was another 3 units at least. I began checking every 15 minutes. Next reading was 122. Then 96. I decided to take off the pump and drink 6 oz of juice. 61. Ok I was feeling low. I was crashing. More juice and a pretzel. 63. 65. Now I had balanced it out but I needed to get higher. I was getting hungry so I ate some. I knew I was going to go high but I wanted to get out of the tailspin. I was feeling better. 185. Ok. I was back. Now I bolused 2 units to get level again.

What are the lessons:

1. If you feel an infusion set does not go in correctly then maybe it is best to put a new one in right away. Putting in infusion sets is a ritual for me most of the time. I take great care in putting them in and caring for the site when I take them out. Perhaps I was in too much of a hurry in the morning to take the care I usually do.

2. If you are going on a trip make sure you have insulin, syringes and extra infusion sets. You never know what will happen. Because I have made this a practice I was able to do something about it.

3. Going high is a problem. We need to be “on it” when it happens. When I took out the old infusion set I bled a lot. It got all over the place. That was confirmation that it was a site issue. But going low is the real problem in this lesson. I obviously over corrected. I knew enough to check every 15 minutes while I was “crashing.”

4. Drink Water!