Living Well With Diabetes

This morning at 9:14 AM, I finished lacing the sail to the boom and yard and that marked the official completion of my eight and a half month long, ill-advised and epoxy-drenched journey into boat-building craziness.

To mark the occasion, I hauled everything into the front yard and hoisted the mainsail for the first time. Here is a photo from that occasion:

And, in the interest of full disclosure, here’s a photo of the very first time I hoisted the sail. I quickly realized that the sail was on backwards! Oops! Better here in the front yard than out on the water, I suppose.

So, now it’s time to go sailing!

Tomorrow is the earliest we can go. We wanted to launch it on Little Dell Reservoir, but it is still closed. The next closest body of water is East Canyon Reservoir, but the road through the mountains to it is still closed. The next closest body of water after that is Rockport Reservoir. The Rockport Reservoir State Park web site says it is open year-round, but the water is only 40 degrees. I guess we won’t plan on doing any swimming. The boat is on the top of the car and all ready to go (and the car still fits in the garage with the boat on it, much to our relief).

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I’m finally working on the varnishing of the interior of Barely A Wake, the Eastport Pram that, in a moment craziness last summer, I decided to build.

I’d like to put on at least three more coats, each of which takes about a day to accomplish, but I’d also like to launch this thing next weekend. Ideal conditions for varnishing are 55-65 degrees and 45-55 percent relative humidity and with the snow and rain and generally wintery weather that we’ve had here in Salt Lake City for the past week, I haven’t made as much progress on the varnishing as I had hoped. Oh well. The coming week should be better.

Here’s a photo of the boat in its current state. I’ve turned it on its side so I can more easily get to the undersides of the seats.

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Boy, if it were only that easy.

Researchers have identified a gene, named Rfx6, needed by cells to develop into insulin-producing beta cells. They found that mice lacking the gene did not develop insulin-producing beta cells either. In people, they found a deficiency of Rfx6 resulted in the development of diabetes in those people.

Researchers admit they don’t fully understand the process by which insulin-producing beta cells develop, but now they know that Rfx6 plays a central part in it. Let’s hear it for Rfx6!

There’s a summary of the study here:

Gene Critical to the Development of Insulin-Producing Cells Identified

If the summary leaves you wanting more information about the study, you can also find the complete article on the study in the journal Nature:

Rfx6 directs islet formation and insulin production in mice and humans

although it appears that you’ll have to pay Nature for your Rfx6 news fix.

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Pat and I spent another day sailing yesterday. We were crew members on a boat in the Spring Regatta on the Great Salt Lake.

I think we finished last in all three of the races. Dennis (the Captain) didn’t seem too concerned about how we did though. He said he mostly enjoyed just getting out on the water and sailing. I like that attitude and I couldn’t agree more.

Here are some photos from the day:

This was the third time I’ve been out to spend a day sailing and the third time I’ve watched my blood sugar go from normal to high during the first few hours of sailing even though I’ve eaten nothing during the entire outing. I’m not sitting idle in the cockpit either. It’s not aerobic exercise for sure, but believe me, there’s plenty to keep you active. There’s attaching the mainsail and foresail and running and affixing lines before you leave the marina. After you’re on the water, there’s raising the sails which, believe or not, is hard work. Those sails, even for this 28-foot boat, are pretty big and heavy. I now know why sailboats any larger than 25 feet or so come with winches to help you raise sails.

The first two times out sailing maybe I was distracted by the novelty of going sailing. This time however, it had to be something else causing my blood sugars to drift high because I was very careful about my blood sugar levels leading up to the sailing yesterday and I didn’t eat anything during the race. When blood sugars rise without being influenced by the intake of food, that sounds like an incorrect basal rate to me. Between now and the next day of sailing, I’m going to double-check my basal rates.

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A week ago or so there was a story in the Salt Lake Tribune about a study done at the University of Utah which found that teenagers with type 1 diabetes do better in managing their diabetes when their parents are more involved.

From the story:

A University of Utah study found when parents become less involved in their teens’ care of type 1 diabetes and when their relationship quality drops, teens are less likely to manage the disease. … When the relationship improves and when parents, say, monitor their children’s insulin levels, the teens do a better job of watching their diet, exercising and testing their blood-sugar levels.

The study authors suggest parents continue to be involved in their child’s diabetes management even as the child reaches an age when he or she is increasingly independent. By the age of 13, children can physically do the work of managing diabetes, but “They’re still making gains in cognitive development until late adolescence, ” says the study’s author. They need parental guidance while they fully develop problem-solving and reasoning skills.

The story appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune here:

Diabetic teens do listen

You can also find stories about this study in these places:

• Parents keep diabetic teens on track
• Parents Keep Diabetic Teens on Track
• Parents key managing diabetes in teens

This story really made me think back to my own teenage years. I was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 13 and I struggled with it throughout my teens and not really fully accepting that I had diabetes until I was in my twenties. I wonder what this study would say about the teenager who wants nothing more than for the whole diabetes thing to just go away?

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