About Me

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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,...

Monday, August 27, 2018

New Lifestyle

Good morning!  I really have not posted much on here.  I started Tumbler, but am not sure I like the format.  Anyway, I thought I would touch base and update.

Most of you know I began my own business.  It took me a long time to understand it since I have never been a part of something like this.  I also saw SO MANY people becoming successful, that I knew I could learn.  Through the struggles, skepticism, and my own skewed way of thinking, I have finally been able to overcome so much.  I am a better person due to my diligence with continuing to grow and learn because of my business.  The best is, I get to help others do the same.  Coaching has ALWAYS been a love of mine.

The business is two fold, health and wellness coach AND a coach to help people build their own business.  In the health sector, we teach people how to eliminate processed foods, and foods that cause inflammation and introduce clean eating as well as supplements that are packed with nutrition.  Due to being a T1 Diabetic, I had a lot of concern about trying this lifestyle, but knew if I wanted to do this business, I had to give it a try.  So, January, 2017, I began, and have lived this lifestyle 80-90% of the time.  I sleep better, have more energy, my blood sugars have stabilized continually and my cholesterol has reduced.  I have reduced my 10 mg of Celexa to every other day (or less) and I have stopped the statin I was prescribed.  I did not have weight to lose, but I was storing toxins in fat cells.  Those pockets of stored fat/toxins have disappeared.  I have learned so much about myself and am absolutely loving coaching and sharing the gift of health with others.  

Now, I can coach about internal and external health since my business is the #1 company for Health, both internal and external, in the world!  I can grow this business, currently, in 7 countries (and we continue to grow).  If you are ever considering a lifestyle change to take a hold of your life and take responsibility for your health, please reach out.  I am excited to help so many!v

Here is my website:

www.tammymiller2.arbonne.com

Saturday, February 24, 2018

32 YEAR DIAVERSARY

Today marks what I consider  to be my 32 year daiversary.  It was the last Friday in February of 1986 when I went to a doctor appointment to discuss some changes in my vision.  I was losing weight but thought that was due to planning my wedding.  The doctor ordered a blood test and called me that evening with the results and their thoughts.  I was told to report for a fasting blood sugar Monday morning which verified the diagnosis.

I already knew a lot about diabetes due to my sister having been diagnosed 12 years before.  Although, living with this disease myself is much different than watching someone else deal with it.  I must look at the positives about my diagnosis.  I do not know if I would have been as focused on healthy eating and nutrition for my body as I am now.  I believe that is a good thing and I really enjoy teaching others about their health.

Recently, I have added a more rigorous exercise routine to my life to continue to keep at bay the effects of aging and help my diabetes control.  It is amazing how much working out will continue to impact my metabolism and stability of blood sugars (as much as 30 hours).

When I started 32 years ago I was on needles twice a day and increased through the years to 4 shots a day and would end up in the ER once every six weeks with low blood sugars.  I did have two successful pregnancies (although large babies and one born two weeks early), but they were healthy.  After having my last baby, I did go on an antidepressant and have stayed on a low dose of different kinds over the years.  The reason for this?  Living with a chronic disease can become very difficult.  After a history of ER visits again, my doctor suggested an insulin pump, which really helped stabilize my blood sugars for a while.

I was very fortunate to be able to stay home with my children to raise them, I did work part time in education, be it home instruction, tutoring, teaching evening high school and substituting, but the hours did not take me away from my children for long.  In 2004, I returned to teaching full time as a high school math teacher.  I love this age group, and continue to work with them today.  By 2011, the stress from teaching had taken its toll.  I was suffering from cortisol overload and would be in the ER for high blood sugars every 6 weeks.  As much as I did not want to leave teaching, I felt I could no longer maintain my health and continue teaching.  I left in Oct. 2011 and was granted disability retirement in 2012.  This was not an easy decision, but after watching both of my parents pass away young in their life due to disease, I knew my health was more important than my job.  Near the end of my teaching career I switched my endocrinologist to one at John's Hopkins.  This made an even bigger improvement to my care and they added a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) to my repertoire.

In 2013 we began thinking about where we wanted to retire.  We knew we did not want to stay in Hagerstown and felt we wanted to move a little closer to family.  We also knew we had to move where there was quality health care.  We discussed with my doctor and her team at John's Hopkins and she encouraged the UVA area since that is where she obtained her medical degree in their endocrinology department.  We moved to Churchville, VA in 2014 and I switched my doctor to UVA.  I have become involved with artificial pancreas studies (a closed loop system) and am an advocate for this system.  Of course a cure would be the best, but this system is the next best thing.  With my results from the studies, my insulin pump has been able to be tweaked to get me in even better control.

In 2017 I tried the Arbonne30 Program.  This program allowed me to eat low carb, have the convenience of nutritious products as a healthy meal replacement, and I learned so much about how my body reacts to various foods like gluten and processed foods.  I have cut most of these out of my diet bringing me further into control.  My digestion is SO  much better and improved.  I also learned how much protein we should be getting in our diet.  Most of us eat too many carbs because we believe that is where we get energy.  I have more energy now and sleep much better.

This past week I had a quarterly visit with my endocrinologist and she looked at my reports that I download for information to tweak my 'artificial pancreas' so I can become even better in control.  I explained some of the things I struggle with and she explained the closed loop system will be the best way for me to become "normal".  She thinks this will be the answer for me since a 1/10th of a cc can drop my sugars a lot.  We also discussed my symptoms of frozen shoulder (for some reason diabetics are prone to this and thesis my second time), and we both agree that is what is happening.  I know now to keep moving it rather than allowing it to rest.  Resting only allows it to stiffen worse and freeze more resulting in lack of motion.

I admit each year my eye doctor appointment unnerves me.  I fear retinopathy and the loss of my sight.  So far, knock on wood, I have yet to show any signs of complications in this area.  Yes, there are other complications, like kidney disease, neuropathy, and heart disease.  My doctor keeps an eye on all of these and I am blessed to have my medical team.  Is this easy?  Hell, no!  Am I fortunate to have health care?  Hell, yes!

I have learned a lot about health and eating and what it does for my health.  I LOVE to help others with their food choices, gut health and overall health and encourage them too.  We cannot offer much to others without our own health.  Losing both of my parents, Mom at the age of 42 and Dad at the age of 55, I strive to help others to understand that the odds for a longer life resides in what you feed your body.  Looking back, I do not believe the way our family ate growing up was very healthy at all.  I know there were families who ate even worse than we did, but then again, there were not the studies in those days about food and its impact on us.  I cannot lie, I have thought about my own genetics and if I had eaten the way I do now when I was younger, if maybe I would have been able to fight the attacking of my pancreas by my own body's immune system.  "What if's" are not worth dwelling on, all I can do is strive to be the healthiest I can and help others, willing to let them, help them too.


Monday, January 11, 2016

Mold Journey pt. 2

Leaving the property Dec. 2, 2014, we were offered to stay at a neighbor's vacation home at Bryce Mountain Resort.  We stayed there for 10 days until our belongings could be cleaned and we found a rental to move into.  Dec. 16, we moved to a rental home in Staunton, VA.  We met with a builder, Darrell Marshall, of Marshall Home Construction.  Darrell was our rock and had many connections.  Because our property is in a flood plain, we had a more complicated case to rebuild and had many hoops to jump through.  Surveying of the land,  choosing a house plan, presenting to the county for approval of the foundation, tearing the old house down and removal of trees and bamboo to rebuild, and breaking ground.  Thank goodness all went smoothly, we believe because of our fortune to be guided to the right people.  Being outsiders in a small community, many times outsiders are not treated well (as we believe happened to us when we bought).

In the meantime, we did file a letter with those we feel were responsible for our predicament.  Of the 5 parties, we got one letter back from a lawyer of the home inspector.  We then proceeded to file letters of complaint to the state and were told those involved would have notations put in their file.  If this would have happened in Maryland, we would have had a case.  Virginia is a 'buyer beware' state.

The decisions were many, the weather was not always ideal, yet, all in all, the build went fairly smooth.  We broke ground May 18, 2015 and moved in November 12, 2015.

 The holidays were wonderful in our new house!  All siblings and family visited throughout the season and now we are settling into January 2016.  A storage unit awaits us to remove its contents, still.  How much of the contents are really necessary, we shall see.  The house needs special design for storage, such as bookcases and shelving.

Anyway, our dreams have been realized in our safe, beautiful house.  More to follow,...