Tag Archives: heart

Artificial Pancreas With Some Heart

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Recently I was contacted by a reporter from my local FOX affiliate about a story she wanted to cover on the Artificial Pancreas for a segment called The BIG Idea.

Tonight, the piece aired on our local 10pm FOX 5 NY news.  My endocrinologist and the Chief Mission Office for JDRF were also interviewed.  It’s amazing to witness how so much footage is made into such a short but thorough news segment.  I was happily surprised by the accuracy of the story and pleased with how they explained the technology involved.  I owe a huge thanks to Kerry Drew and especially the editing team who made this come to fruition.  I have also decided I look exceptionally tired and should start going to sleep earlier.  Seriously though, I’m honored to have had a voice in spreading this story.  This AP technology is getting closer!  The UVA algorithm I tested in my first AP trial is now slated for 3 month AT-HOME trials which has happened in the time since they filmed this news segment.  Keep pushing forward (and get some sleep).

Here’s the video:  FOX 5 The BIG Idea.

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Thanks to my friend Deb who is my steadfast T1D supporter and puts together pics with amazing speed!

Today was full of surprises, many, but the one that sticks out the most is a moment right outside my office.  I saw it upside down as I walked down the street and it took my breath away.  It was not this shape a few hours later (just a wet blob).  I stopped a man who was about to walk across it and showed him how the snow melting on top of the scaffolding had dripped into the shape of a heart.  He smiled and told me how the cord for his computer sometimes makes the shape of a heart.  I told him how I tend to see a lot of hearts and I its a great thing.  Powerful heart moments… or possibly stranger danger (me, not the guy). xo

Snow drip love

Snow drip love

A Little Heart

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This week I’m mildly obsessed with the song “The Heart Wants What It Wants” by Selena Gomez (and don’t even get me started on that “Stars Dance” song.  Oh Selena where have you been all my life?  Oh wait, you weren’t born yet).  To anyone who knows me as a Motley Crue/Cinderella/Arcade Fire/TV on the Radio/Bjork fan, I’m sorry.  Yep, bubble burst.  So speaking of hearts, I LOVE Valentine’s Day.  A holiday created to sell cards?  HELL YES!  I love cards too!  I even love index cards.

Valentine’s Day is a fantastic IMG_0116reason/excuse to pay-it-forward.  There’s still time to Spare a Rose, Save a Child.

I don’t think of Valentine’s Day as a “romance” thing.  It’s about happiness, smiles, being kind (even when you really don’t want to be), doing someone else a favor, surprises, simply saying “I LOVE you”, and grilled cheese.  Why not right?  My only real Valentine’s Day disaster was when I decorated a coworker’s desk with hundreds of heart stickers.  Those stickers weren’t liartumblr_n9q6gjcaoJ1rk250ao1_1280s (so damn STICKY.  Tragic clean-up).  Well you win some, you lose some right?

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And if you need a little inspiration (and who doesn’t love a little magic a la scavenger hunt), please join me in finding some hearts.  Send’em my way (as you can see, February is looking a little skimpy): surfacefine@gmail.com

Do Good, Feel Good.  LOVE.  Oh and get some exercise.  Be good to your heart.

 

I Love You More

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There is so much D stuff going on around here that I crashed yesterday and …

TOOK a NAP (I am NOT a napper).  While my brain tries to process and absorb the past few days, I have some pics I just can’t wait to share.

I (oddly, nervously) HELD the encapsulation project from ViaCyte.

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My friend Cindy took this pic.  She is a lovely and a really funny D-Mom and we tend to make each other cry.  You know what she’s not?  A photographer!  Hello Blurry pic.

Next up: #JDRFOneWalk Conference in Washington, DC was wonderful.  HOPE is so beautifully motivating.  Facial tattoos while on a 20 minute walk by oneself in this nation’s capital, lends to some pretty confusing conversations (I kept forgetting I had it on my face… most of the confusion involved the World Cup).

Mike Tyson without the ear biting.

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My bike riding has taken on a new angle.  Details later, but I’m riding a 3-speed Citibike or a stationary bike at the gym, but more.  My joking is no longer a joke.  I’m training-ish.  I ring the Citibike bell like nobody’s business BUT mostly when no one’s on the path.  Yes, I’m a 10 years old.  Want to join the Manhattan/Brooklyn JDRF One Walk?  That’s the bridge in the background of my bike training pic.  Gorgeous right?

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And finally, I had an incredibly magical moment on Saturday.

Exhausted and pedaling along when I saw a BIG heart!

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Yes, that is a piano that appears to have washed ashore on the tiny bank of the East River.  I hit the breaks and wondered just how tired and dehydrated I could possibly be.

These pics are my proof that I did indeed see a piano in the sand, tagged with A HEART.

Magic, I’m telling you, magic.

More to come. xo

 

 

For Today

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“It’s impossible said pride.

It’s risky said experience.

It’s pointless said reason.

Give it a try whispered the heart.”

-Author Unknown

So lovely.

And here are some more Found Hearts.

Flying to LOVE field?

Flying to LOVE field?

Now back to being an undercover Wonder Woman (well, except my Rope of Truth is really pump tubing).

 

 

Thump, buzz, buzz

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I did actually start my “what’s up with my heart” post over the weekend but I have more heart stuff on Thursday so I figure I should combine it all into one post about the whole experience and heart health, blah, blah, blah or thump, thump.

Until then, here’s what I learned last night.

1. Having the heater break (less than a month old) really stinks.

2. My workouts might be more significant that I think.  Proof positive that I should have reduced my overnight basal rate (look at the time range on that baby):

67I treated a lot of lows last night and this morning.  I woke up in a zillion layers of clothing and the whole bottle of Glucolifts in my bed.  At 5am I was awake and answering emails.  Somewhere around 6ish I remember the Dexcom buzzing and thinking that 88 wasn’t the end of the world and I’d wait until it was time to get up.  It buzzed again in the 70s and I remember thinking I must be getting cavities so I only took one more Glucolift instead of 2.  A low bg and tired brain are not a good combo.  I ate a lot of Glucolifts last night.  My head still hurts but my bgs are in target now.  If I workout right after work I MUST remember to reduce bedtime basal.  Point made.  Live and learn (again, and again, and again).

3.  Always ask where the customer service person on the phone is located, before you complain about being cold.  No matter how cold it is in NYC, customer service lady in Chicago suburbs beats me.  Every.  Damn. Time.

 

Giraffe Masquerade

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This morning I had my 3 month Endo appointment.  I’ve decided I’m not ready to write about this appointment, yet.  Time to process.  My A1C was acceptable but elevated by .2% which wasn’t shocking or even surprising.  My problem though was with the rushed, interrupted and frankly uncomfortable conversation I had with my doctor today.  When I call the situation “not cool”, it is because I apparently cursed so much my first 15 minutes back at my office, that I may be in “time out” the rest of the day.

So, I left my doctor’s office this morning, shaking my head a bit.  The wind definitely knocked right smack out of my sails.  I started to walk and thought how very much I needed to find a heart  (note: if you follow me on Twitter, you get this.  I find hearts.  The hearts actually just found a new home but only a few have moved there so far.  Work in progress people, work in progress).  So I started walking.  I planned to calm down, shake it off a bit, find a heart, breathe, maybe grab a bite to eat and hop on the subway.

I never stopped for a snack, I realized the Upper East Side of Manhattan has a distinct lack of graffiti (especially on Madison Avenue), and I walked close to 50 blocks before I found this glorious yellow heart:

yellow heart leaf

 

 

 

 

 

While I attempt to wrap my head around today’s appointment, I leave you with the following from my post-endo walk:

giraffe

 

Somehow an inflatable giraffe wearing a fancy masquerade mask did cheer me a bit.