After a long patient time, I found out a week ago that I won my ordinary disability claim with the State of Maryland Retirement. I can now retire. It is a bittersweet decision, but I believe the right one.
I have found ways to connect with young people to encourage those who need positivity in their lives. I am also considering volunteering in a program called AVID at the high school to tutor students. If there is misbehavior with students, I can opt out of helping them. I may also consider tutoring privately in math.
I spend my days visiting friends, riding my horse and taking life at a much slower pace. This gives me time to manage my diabetes and live my life with much less stress. During my time off, I have thought a lot about my life. It has taken me this long to realize, my thoughts and attitude are in my hands. No one can make me happy. I am the only one who can make me happy. I will not tolerate others bullying or negativity, nor will I allow it to make me unhappy. Stating this clearly to others, has reduced their abuse on me and actually allowed them to have a more positive attitude. Clearly better for everyone! Life is far too short to be miserable.
I have one more claim to file. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
By the way, we are in my most favorite time of year. The days are cooler, yet not too cold. The woodstove has been fired up to take the chill off and the coziness of being home is wonderful. Sometimes, I wish the days were longer since the sun's presence keeps depression from trying to creep in. Mostly, I am very happy and grateful for my life. Being able to cook again and allowing heat from cooking into the house is a pleasure. Cooking in the summer is difficult. By freezing, canning, and dehydrating, I am able to save money, live frugally and eat healthy.
Off to clean the kitchen floor!
Have a great day,
Tammy
About Me
- trym215
- T1diabetic for 25+ years. 2 successful pregnancies. Teacher of high school math. Married. Love to cook, strive to be healthy and happy, love my pets, love to garden,...
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Contributing
It has been a while since I have written and posted. Life has been very good and busy. My daughter is nearing the end of her first year of college and her lacrosse season has been going strong. It has been so fun traveling to watch her games.
I have contracted with lawyers to prepare my case for disability retirement. There are only two highly rated law firms in the state of MD that do this. I am grateful that I located the firm I chose who believe they can win my case, actually two claims. One for ordinary disability through the state retirement policy and one for long term disability insurance that I opted to pay for that coverage when signing my contract 8 years ago.
Day to day life is busy with taking care of the 3 dogs we now have, caring for our horse who has a foot injury, gardening, caring for the home and preparing meals. I love the slower pace of my life and am able to step back to care for my diabetes as needed. My A1C is slowly coming down too.
With the warm weather expected today, I plan to bathe the horse and dogs before the cool air returns and I miss my chance.
Something occurred yesterday while driving and I am sure many of you T1's have experienced this. I took a break from my CGM for the weekend and thought I was dropping low because my focus all of a sudden became difficult. Luckily, my husband was with me and I pulled over so he could drive and tested. I was 87, but the symptoms felt like I was dropping lower so I ate some almonds. My focus slowly improved. This feeling of reduced focus and difficulty thinking was what I dealt with in teaching day in and day out. Whether my sugars were high or low, my thinking could be affected. Looking back I do not know how I persisted in the classroom with the type of students I had and did not have something awful occur.
Life is much better. For those of you new to this blog, see my history for a more in depth description to why I left teaching due to my diabetes.
Have a great day!
I have contracted with lawyers to prepare my case for disability retirement. There are only two highly rated law firms in the state of MD that do this. I am grateful that I located the firm I chose who believe they can win my case, actually two claims. One for ordinary disability through the state retirement policy and one for long term disability insurance that I opted to pay for that coverage when signing my contract 8 years ago.
Day to day life is busy with taking care of the 3 dogs we now have, caring for our horse who has a foot injury, gardening, caring for the home and preparing meals. I love the slower pace of my life and am able to step back to care for my diabetes as needed. My A1C is slowly coming down too.
With the warm weather expected today, I plan to bathe the horse and dogs before the cool air returns and I miss my chance.
Something occurred yesterday while driving and I am sure many of you T1's have experienced this. I took a break from my CGM for the weekend and thought I was dropping low because my focus all of a sudden became difficult. Luckily, my husband was with me and I pulled over so he could drive and tested. I was 87, but the symptoms felt like I was dropping lower so I ate some almonds. My focus slowly improved. This feeling of reduced focus and difficulty thinking was what I dealt with in teaching day in and day out. Whether my sugars were high or low, my thinking could be affected. Looking back I do not know how I persisted in the classroom with the type of students I had and did not have something awful occur.
Life is much better. For those of you new to this blog, see my history for a more in depth description to why I left teaching due to my diabetes.
Have a great day!
Monday, March 5, 2012
Monday
Not a bad Monday, as Mondays go. I am grateful to be available to help a friend who is a neighbor and is elderly. She is 86 and is in need of rides to visit her husband who is still in a nursing home and is suffering from a stroke. I do not have living parents so I do enjoy spending time with them. These are the neighbors whose dog I watched for 5 weeks.
I am still dealing with high blood sugars after most meals. My endocrinologist has contacted Animas who is to send me someone to show me how to use the combo bolus feature on my Animas Ping pump. I will try this for meals before trying a drug called Simlyn which replaces the hormone Amylin. Amylin prevents the liver from producing too much glucose with meals and upon waking in the morning (dawn phenomena). I suffer from this, but the drug is dangerous because if you go low with it, even when you eat, the drug prevents glucose in the liver so no matter how much you eat, it may not be enough. It also slows down digestion.
The other issue I need to get an answer to is my CGM. It will occasionally shut off and make this awful beep. Then the word 'INITIALIZING' will go on the screen and after a few minutes the monitor will beep loudly twice again. At this point, sometimes it comes on and sometimes is shuts off. I have not been able to get it to come back on unless I plug it in to charge. I have no idea what is going on with it. This is why I stopped using it when I was teaching because the sound of the device was so loud and I could not predict what made it beep so loudly. Now that I am home and not teaching, I use the CGM more often and find the information it gives me useful.
I made two good recipes through AllRecipes that we had for dinner tonight. One is Chorizo Lentil Stew and the other is Blueberry Cornbread Muffins. They compliment one another nicely and the carbs are included with the nutritional value!
I hope everyone had a nice day!
I am still dealing with high blood sugars after most meals. My endocrinologist has contacted Animas who is to send me someone to show me how to use the combo bolus feature on my Animas Ping pump. I will try this for meals before trying a drug called Simlyn which replaces the hormone Amylin. Amylin prevents the liver from producing too much glucose with meals and upon waking in the morning (dawn phenomena). I suffer from this, but the drug is dangerous because if you go low with it, even when you eat, the drug prevents glucose in the liver so no matter how much you eat, it may not be enough. It also slows down digestion.
The other issue I need to get an answer to is my CGM. It will occasionally shut off and make this awful beep. Then the word 'INITIALIZING' will go on the screen and after a few minutes the monitor will beep loudly twice again. At this point, sometimes it comes on and sometimes is shuts off. I have not been able to get it to come back on unless I plug it in to charge. I have no idea what is going on with it. This is why I stopped using it when I was teaching because the sound of the device was so loud and I could not predict what made it beep so loudly. Now that I am home and not teaching, I use the CGM more often and find the information it gives me useful.
I made two good recipes through AllRecipes that we had for dinner tonight. One is Chorizo Lentil Stew and the other is Blueberry Cornbread Muffins. They compliment one another nicely and the carbs are included with the nutritional value!
I hope everyone had a nice day!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Leap Day 2012
A new day and many new readings. At least the day began on a good note, but the trend of my bg was rising steadily. I gave extra insulin for breakfast since I have real issues with dawn phenomena and liver glucose with eating. The two combined can be awful and set a vary bad trend for the day.
Today I have my first riding lesson and it is raining. I plan to get to the barn around 12:30 to get the trailer ready, get Boots ready and load the horses.
I must find a replacement protein bar for the kind trainer who gave me on last week when I dropped low and had no food plus the soda machine was broken. I have looked at 2 grocery stores and a health food store for a bar by Nature Valley called Recharge and the flavor being cherry dark chocolate. It is very good. I think today I will look at Sheetz for this so I can pay her back.
Tomorrow I drive to Silver Spring to turn over my disability papers to the lawyer. I need to get this over with and pray that this decision is the right one.
Have a SUPER day!
Today I have my first riding lesson and it is raining. I plan to get to the barn around 12:30 to get the trailer ready, get Boots ready and load the horses.
I must find a replacement protein bar for the kind trainer who gave me on last week when I dropped low and had no food plus the soda machine was broken. I have looked at 2 grocery stores and a health food store for a bar by Nature Valley called Recharge and the flavor being cherry dark chocolate. It is very good. I think today I will look at Sheetz for this so I can pay her back.
Tomorrow I drive to Silver Spring to turn over my disability papers to the lawyer. I need to get this over with and pray that this decision is the right one.
Have a SUPER day!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday
Life is pretty good. My blood sugars are substantially more stable. I have really focused on reducing carbs, especially processed carbs.
The American Diabetes Association gave me a call from a legal advocate. This person gave a me a list of lawyers to contact for assistance with my disability forms and filing. Of the 4 that I contacted only one responded and seems to want to do everything over the phone. I am skeptical since I have not dealt with legal issues before and it is hard to trust. A friend said he will try to help and speak to a lawyer friend for someone who he would recommend for this type of issue. I hope this lawyer has heard of the lawyer I am using or will suggest someone even closer geographically to me. I really want to get this turned over to a professional and filed so I can get an answer.
Have a wonderful weekend!
The American Diabetes Association gave me a call from a legal advocate. This person gave a me a list of lawyers to contact for assistance with my disability forms and filing. Of the 4 that I contacted only one responded and seems to want to do everything over the phone. I am skeptical since I have not dealt with legal issues before and it is hard to trust. A friend said he will try to help and speak to a lawyer friend for someone who he would recommend for this type of issue. I hope this lawyer has heard of the lawyer I am using or will suggest someone even closer geographically to me. I really want to get this turned over to a professional and filed so I can get an answer.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Saturday
Last night I had 3 bouts of low blood sugars! Unbelievable! I couldn't eat enough and have no idea why this happened. This morning I had another incident and ate too much. It seems I can't win. So frustrating and no rhyme or reason.
I hope everyone else is having a good Saturday!
As the day progressed, my blood sugars continued on their roller coaster ride, up and down, all day long. It really takes it out of me and makes it hard to persevere to do anything for the day. I just felt like laying around all day.
Thank God, my husband is understanding. I love him. He has to put up with so much. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow will be better.
I hope everyone else is having a good Saturday!
As the day progressed, my blood sugars continued on their roller coaster ride, up and down, all day long. It really takes it out of me and makes it hard to persevere to do anything for the day. I just felt like laying around all day.
Thank God, my husband is understanding. I love him. He has to put up with so much. Hopefully tonight and tomorrow will be better.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Friday
Good morning! I am mentioning a wonderful page on Facebook called TypeOne DiabetesAwareness. A lot of questions and conversations occur on this page that are very helpful. The website is http://type1diabetesawareness.org/ Here is a description: Type1DiabetesAwareness.org is a website that was started in November 2011 that aims to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes. The tag line is Bringing Unity to the Type 1 Community. The website is managed by an individual with a connection to type 1 diabetes. The website is not affiliated with any medical organization nor does it give medical advice. Although only 5-10% of all diabetics have type 1, that still makes up millions of people all over the world that have this autoimmune disease. The website prides itself on having accurate information. It offers a forums section where several type 1 related topics are listed which is beneficial to those that live with this disease on a daily basis. It provides those an outlet to discuss very important topics. Managing type 1 diabetes can costs hundreds of dollars each month without health insurance. Unfortunately, many people can not afford it and need help. The website also offers a programs/info section that directs those in need on where to find assistance with insulin, blood glucose meters and test strips, blood ketone meters, lancing devices, assistance for those on an insulin pump, and information about type 1 diabetes. There is also a pump comparison chart listed to help those trying to find the right insulin pump. The purpose of this website is to bring people with type 1 diabetes together as well as their families and friends. It is a place to learn and share real life experiences with others that understand. The website also promotes awareness of type 1 diabetes.
On another note, I contacted ADA about my job issues and disability. They are so kind and helpful. I was given a list of lawyers who are well versed in disability claims and cases. I plan to call some of them today.
Have a great day!
Well, it is 11:47 pm and I am up treating a low blood sugar, ugh! I went to sleep at 10 pm. Such is life with this disease!
On another note, I contacted ADA about my job issues and disability. They are so kind and helpful. I was given a list of lawyers who are well versed in disability claims and cases. I plan to call some of them today.
Have a great day!
Well, it is 11:47 pm and I am up treating a low blood sugar, ugh! I went to sleep at 10 pm. Such is life with this disease!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
January 25, 2012 - Wednesday
I haven't posted in quite a while. I am floundering, but am figuring out how to adapt and accept. I have gotten some help with filling out forms and learning the best way to present information.
Blood sugars have been in pretty good control.
My neighbors, who are elderly, are both in a nursing home unexpectedly and I am taking care of their dog. Hopefully, they will get well enough soon, to be back at home (all 3 of them). My dogs have accepted this new elderly dog into their pack very well. I am hoping to take some weight off of the dog as well. She is much more active at our house.
Today I am filling out a form for the American Diabetes Association for discrimination. The union I belong to denied me payment through their sick leave bank because the wording my doctor used was severe depression and T1 diabetes. The mental part of that diagnosis is preventing me being granted the $. The only way I can receive it with the mental diagnosis is to be put into an inpatient facility.
In my research, mental health can be a complication from diabetes. I need to be able to show diagnosis as ONLY diabetes being the problem to not being able to do my job.
More later...
Blood sugars have been in pretty good control.
My neighbors, who are elderly, are both in a nursing home unexpectedly and I am taking care of their dog. Hopefully, they will get well enough soon, to be back at home (all 3 of them). My dogs have accepted this new elderly dog into their pack very well. I am hoping to take some weight off of the dog as well. She is much more active at our house.
Today I am filling out a form for the American Diabetes Association for discrimination. The union I belong to denied me payment through their sick leave bank because the wording my doctor used was severe depression and T1 diabetes. The mental part of that diagnosis is preventing me being granted the $. The only way I can receive it with the mental diagnosis is to be put into an inpatient facility.
In my research, mental health can be a complication from diabetes. I need to be able to show diagnosis as ONLY diabetes being the problem to not being able to do my job.
More later...
Monday, January 2, 2012
January 2, 2012
The Christmas tree is put away and the needles cleaned up. Two loads of wood on the back porch in preparation for the cold that is to hit our area in the next few days. Finally, thank you notes are written too.
I did contact the Delegate for our area, who is a good friend, about my needs in filing disability papers. He has assured me he will help me. I am so very grateful. It is a shame that the union that I pay dues for is not more helpful. What a waste of money!
I inserted the continuous glucose monitor to check myself out since the holidays are now over. I hope it proves informative and shows that my control is improving. The site is hurting and I hope within a day or two it will stop hurting. I think it is sitting on a nerve or pushing against a blood vessel or something. I may have to reinsert it.
Tomorrow I must get up early, contact the Dr.'s office to see if my letter for FMLA extension is there and deliver it to the board of ed. Then drop off the sick leave papers to the union office so I can collect once my sick leave is used up. All of my leave will be used up tomorrow.
I look forward to putting this all behind me. It really has been a nightmare when I think about the conditions I was teaching under.
I did contact the Delegate for our area, who is a good friend, about my needs in filing disability papers. He has assured me he will help me. I am so very grateful. It is a shame that the union that I pay dues for is not more helpful. What a waste of money!
I inserted the continuous glucose monitor to check myself out since the holidays are now over. I hope it proves informative and shows that my control is improving. The site is hurting and I hope within a day or two it will stop hurting. I think it is sitting on a nerve or pushing against a blood vessel or something. I may have to reinsert it.
Tomorrow I must get up early, contact the Dr.'s office to see if my letter for FMLA extension is there and deliver it to the board of ed. Then drop off the sick leave papers to the union office so I can collect once my sick leave is used up. All of my leave will be used up tomorrow.
I look forward to putting this all behind me. It really has been a nightmare when I think about the conditions I was teaching under.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
New Year's Day 2012
Checked my blood sugar at 11:30 pm last night, and realized it was 529! Boxed brownies I think. They always make my readings go up. I woke up at 3:30 am and it was dropping so I treated that. I woke up this morning, reluctantly. I will take it easy today and do what I can and feel like doing. I wonder why the highs and lows take it out of me so much?
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