I’m The Operator With My Elephant Calculator

Apologies for that last little bout of self-pity - sometimes you just have to get it out of your system. And, as my stepmom kindly reminded me, at least the bruises are not on my face.

In an effort to focus on the more positive aspects of diabetes, I’d like to start posting more about all the amazing foods I’ve discovered since switching to a lower-carb diet. Last night I took this recipe for Yellow Tail Snapper Baked in a Salt Crust and modified it for fillets by halving the ingredients for the stuffing, placing the stuffing on top of the filets, then folding them over and securing with a toothpick. I omitted the salt crust and instead topped with sea salt and additional fresh thyme, then baked for 10-12 minutes at 450. It was divine, incredibly aromatic, and of course low-carb (assuming you don’t eat all of the lemon slices). I can’t wait to try it again with whole snapper so we can do the salt crust.

Heard back from my PA today. She does not want to try a “regular” insulin, and said that most diabetics don’t cover proteins with additional units, but because I probably eat more protein than your average person, I can try covering any protein/meat over 3 oz, by counting it as 15 carbs per 3 oz equivalent. (Oh joy, more calculations!)

Speaking of calculations, my sweet husband bought me a calculator to keep in my kit. He didn’t even see this when he was buying it, but it has a lovely little splash of Engrish on it that says “Elephant: So Gentle, So Strong” which will surely make me smile every time I use it.

Allie Beatty of The Diabetes Blog posed an interesting question yesterday about whether eliminating the availability of pork insulin from the US was really in the best interest of diabetics. See C-Peptides and Pork insulin vs. Synthetic insulin and the follow-up Is Human Synthetic Insulin a Cock Block?.

Medical ID jewelry

At my last visit, the Diabetes Clinician reminded me that, especially now that I am using insulin, it’d be a good idea to get either an ID bracelet or necklace indicating that I am diabetic. I’d looked online a bit last week and was surprised how much more attractive my options are than they were 10 years ago when I first ordered a MedicAlert bracelet (which I reluctantly wore for about a year then lost). The one that most resembles a piece of jewelry I’d actually purchase for non-medical purposes is a charm bracelet made by America Medical ID:

Of course all the jewelry browsing made me wonder how the medical versions compared to the real deal. Long story short, this beauty, this beauty from Tiffany and Co. is now being hand-engraved to read “Diabetic”, and will be waiting for me at the store in about three weeks.

Sure, it cost more than the American Medical ID bracelets, but I justified the expense knowing that a) I’d actually want to put it on every day and b) it should last a lifetime.