Kindle Paperwhite (and other Amazon gifts) giveaway

I'm not hosting a giveaway (though I wish I could) but Chautona Havig is giving away a Kindle Paperwhite on her blog just the write escape....  The other Amazon gifts are $15 Amazon gift card, $10 Amazon gift card, and a $5 Amazon gift card.  A gift card would be perfect for purchasing her ebooks which are .99 this weekend!  So everyone wins.  :)  Again, you can go to this link.  You have 2 more days until this giveaway ends.

A happy doctor visit?

I've had some thoughts on this issue rolling around in my head for a while.  My family went through TrialNet testing in April.  Our oldest daughter is a type 1 diabetic (I've written about it here and here).  So we qualified to go through TrialNet's testing and went during my daughter's normal endocrinologist visit.  I didn't expect the results we got.  Nor the changes that would affect our family.

I've googled a lot about TrialNet positive results and haven't found very many.  (Of course this could be due to how people spell TrialNet, I've seen Trial Net and Trialnet and TrailNet, I'm not sure what trailnet is!)  In May, we received the call that I came back positive and our 2nd oldest daughter came back positive.  I misunderstood the nurse and thought she said I had a GAD score of 2 and our daughter had 4.  However, the true results were I had 2 autoantibodies and our daughter had 4 autoantibodies.

They warn you not to freak out, that anyone can have autoantibodies present and never develop diabetes.  But we both have an increased risk.  They can tell me not to freak out but it doesn't mean I'm not going to freak out!  I called the nurse back and got straightened out on which autoantibodies were positive, the amounts, and how to proceed.  She recommended taking our blood sugar if we were concerned.  And we could go to the next step of TrialNet testing of the Natural History Study (NHS). 

I didn't expect my blood sugar to be so high.  It ranged from 70-400.  Then I started to freak out a little more.  And I started to watch what I was eating.  I called the nurse back and scheduled an OGTT, which is the next step for the NHS.  I had a feeling I'd flunk the OGTT and I did.  I was already a diabetic.  Ugh.

So I made an appointment with an endocrinologist in our town.  He diagnosed me Type 2 and started me on metformin.  I saw a dietician and have changed my diet to 150 grams of carbs per day.  That has been the hardest change for me but I've already lost 10 lbs!  :)

My problem was researching diabetes types, I was pretty sure I wasn't Type 2.  From the TrialNet testing, I seemed to be Type 1.  And reading online I felt I might be LADA or Type 1.5 because I had features of both Type 1 (positive autoantibodies) and Type 2 (insulin resistance).  I felt like I was in diagnosis hell.  My daughter's endocrinologist faxed my doctor a letter saying I needed to be on insulin.  Reading online, I felt I needed to be on insulin even if it was just a little bit (if I'm truly Type 2 I could stop taking the insulin later if my blood sugar came under control).  My endo didn't think I needed it and recommended calling him when my blood sugar numbers went higher.  I felt I needed a second opinion with a different endocrinologist!!

Yesterday, I had that appointment and he recommended short-acting insulin at dinner.  Last night I gave my first Humalog Kwik* pen shot.  For the first time in a while, my after dinner blood sugar was where I want it to be.  So it was a happy dr visit after all.

This is LADA awareness week and yesterday was the first day, so I felt it was very appropriate that my dr visit was yesterday!

I'm going to post more of my story and will try to post every day this week to help raise diabetes awareness, but especially LADA.  And I'll talk more about our 2nd oldest and her TrialNet results.  :)  My circle of influence isn't very big but every little bit helps.

*I'm not advertising Humalog Kwik pen, this is just what my doctor recommended and gave me samples of it.  My daughter has used Humalog and currently uses NovoLog as backup for her pump.  I think both are great products and am hearing good things about the newer Apidra.  Humalog is from the Lilly USA company.  NovoLog is from Novo Nordisk A/S.  Apidra is from Sanofi-Aventis U.S.

Review of The Widow of Saunder's Creek

Tracey Bateman seems to write a wide genre within Christian fiction.  Her latest book, The Widow of Saunder's Creek, will probably raise some eyebrows for writing about the supernatural.  But much like Brandilyn Collins' Coral Moon, The Widow of Saunder's Creek discusses ghosts and evil spirits using a much-needed Christian viewpoint.  The Widow of Saunder's Creek starts as the book blurb describes but soon descends into unmentioned territory (see my previous review of Tandem).  When Corrie decides to move back to her husband's grandmother's home, she doesn't realize that a spirit lives there.  Could it be the spirit of her just passed away husband or the grandmother's friendly ghost friend?  You'll have to read to find out.

I do appreciate how Corrie is given wise counsel about spirits, and arguments from a biblical point.  We live in a world where we war not with flesh-and-blood but spirits, constantly depending on God to keep us safe.  I liked how Corrie developed her hobby/talent/possible career of art.  And her relationship with her sister was hilarious!

Once again, I see a trend for Tracey Bateman books of the blurb sounding very benign and then the book broaching a whole different topic.  However, this time I liked it better (call me hypocritical if you want).

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Multnomah Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book review Submerged

Submerged by Dani Pettrey, first in the Alaskan Courage series

It's rare for me to read the first book in a series when the first book is published.  I've found myself, in recent years at least, usually 2 or 3 books behind when I read the first book in a series.  But it was great to take an opportunity from Bethany House Publishers to read and review this book.

Submerged was really good, the romance had a good amount of give and take.  The story was told from multiple characters' view.  The book wasn't as suspenseful as I expected given the blurb from Dee Henderson on the cover about the book keeping me up at night.  I thought it was a great book for a first-time published author.  I was surprised that there were no discussion questions in the back.

I made notes of many pages and quotes, 9 in total, I thought the religious point-of-view and Christian thoughts were great!  Bailey is like an onion, those who know her today see a very different picture than those who knew her in high school.  She battles between the two images and her own thoughts of herself.  Cole is trying to get her to see herself as Christ sees her, a new creation made perfect in Him.

I love that at one point in the story Bailey chooses to not wear makeup but then she applies mascara and cherry Chapstick.  She asks herself, "What is she doing?  Trying to look pretty for Cole?  Not that there was anything wrong with wearing makeup.  It was the desire to focus on her looks and others' acceptance of her based on her looks that was the problem. [p. 105, paperback copy]"  Wonderful thoughts for a woman of any age. 

When you read the book, be ready to look up a recipe for pryaniki.  You'll thank me later!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review of Finding Our Way Home

Finding Our Way Home by Charlene Ann Baumbich was a wonderful book about (mainly) two women Evelyn and Sasha.  Sasha is a forced-into-retirement ballerina suffering from multiple injuries from a terrible fall during a ballet performance.  Evelyn is the young woman, putting off going to college and recently engaged, who is working for Sasha doing odd jobs and being a live-in helper.

One of my favorite parts was how Sasha introduced Evelyn to pedicures.  I've only had one pedicure but did love it!  Evelyn is suprised too by how much she enjoys it, even trying unexpected nail colors.

This is a very enjoyable story of how the two women relate to each other and grow from getting to know each other.  They help each other through horrible circumstances and grow as a result.  They truly become friends.  One plot point is Sasha's snowglobe and this book is part of the Snowglobe Connections series but I haven't read the other books and didn't feel like I needed to or missed anything.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Multnomah Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Where have I been?

I haven't written a post in so long that blogger looks a lot different! :) I guess you can't stop progress and change. Well, I got a Kindle (the basic new one, $79) for Christmas. I had already been "buying" free books for my Kindle for PC but it is nice to have an official one. If I had reviewed the features a little bit more, I probably would've chosen an older edition that has the capability to read the books out loud. I've heard it's very basic and only one voice but it would've been handy to switch to that feature sometimes.

I've also been reading some books from the library so look for some book reviews coming up. I've been reading several series so I might wait to read the whole series before I do a review. I also joined Swagbucks, so I've been pretty busy doing that. Earning points and AMAZON gift cards! So I can buy more Kindle books. :)

My family and I went to the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention so I got to meet Crystal Paine from Money Saving Mom. And we got to meet her husband Jesse, who was humbly passing out handouts for her workshop class! I think he also worked the table at her booth. I think my daughters' new favorite from the convention are the EZ Bun(s) we purchased. They've been having fun trying all the different styles and practicing on Mommy's hair (ouch!). :)