Scott Hanselman's ComputerZen.com

The toughest thing for me when travelling long distances is crossing more than two or more time zones. I'm a Type 1 Diabetic and I wear both an insulin pump and a CGM (Continuous Glucose Meter) 24 hours a day.

Time Zones and Blood Sugar

The body has a number of times in the day when blood sugar rises and falls naturally. For example, glucose is release into your system before dawn to encourage your body to wake up. For normal folks, this is no big deal, as you've got the insulin to keep things in check. For a diabetic, this means that my blood sugar will rise starting around 5am, and run relatively unchecked until at least 9am. I need to program my pump to deliver a compensating dose of insulin.

Stated differently, my blood sugar has a natural daily, cyclic curve. I need to match that curve (ignoring meals at this point) with insulin, basically using "curve math" to subtract one from the other and end up with smooth blood sugars all day. The first curve is the body's natural intent, or natural direction. The other is the compensating insulin needed. (This is all simplified, but it'll do for this post):

However, if I change time zones, like in this case where I moved 10 time zones East, the body doesn't get the message for a week or two. You, Dear Reader, as a non-diabetic usually don't notice this, from a blood sugar perspective. You might have a light night craving as your system knows it's dinner time when it's really 3am, but for the most part, you've got it made. 

For Type 1 Diabetics (who don't produce any of their own insulin) it's a hassle, as we'll have (seemingly) random spikes in blood sugar in the first week or more of a trip, as the body releases glucose into the system attempting to wake me up.

For example, at 4pm here in South Africa, I'll start seeing my blood sugar rise as it'll be 6am on the West Coast of the US. I'll have the Pre-Dawn effect in the middle of the day.

If I'm not careful and program my pump (or take shots) correctly, I can end up like this with everything shifted by many hours:

This can make for a roller coaster. It gets worse because the graph shifts an hour or so every day as I get oriented to local time. I can almost feel my "body" floating, moving slowly east over the Atlantic for the first week as I expose myself to as much light as possible in order to reset my circadian rhythms.

If you're a Type 1, possibly on a pump, I'd suggest that changing your pump to local destination time as soon as you get on the plane can help. I'd also try to eat as if you're on local time. For us, it took a little under 2 days to get here, and that time spent in the plane can be orientation time.

Reduced Usage

One other thing to watch for is daily insulin usage. I use about 30-40U (Units) of insulin, total, per day. Some use more, some use less. This a typical number for a reasonably fit guy my size. If I gain weight or lose muscle mass I'll use more insulin to accomplish the same goal of stable blood sugar.

Every time I go overseas my daily need for insulin goes down. So far, while I've been here, I've used daily amounts like 19U, 21U. That's a 33-50% improvement!  And, each time I come here I try to reproduce my results back home. So far I figure it's a (obvious) combination of:

For the life of me, I have never been able to get numbers in the US like I get in Africa. A friend of my has a theory that it has something to do with allergies. The area in the Northwest of the US that I'm from is legendary for really bad allergies. Some people check the pollen index like others check the weather. HIs theory is that the allergens are so great that they divert the attention of immune system and/or cause systemic stress, causing the body to use insulin less effectively.

I'm not sure what it is, but it'd be interesting to do some more organized experiments. I suspect it's 90% less stress, or at least, different stress than work stress. I'm hoping when I retire I'll have blood sugar like I have out here.

It was epic. Truly epic. Thfe stuff you tell, if not your grandchildren, your middle-aged nerdy neighbor about. We had a great time at Cinetopia and raised a lot of money for the American Diabetes Association.

You can make a tax-deductible donation today!

Big Thanks to Everyone involved:

And lastly, to everyone who donated and everyone who was powned or dispensed pownage all evening long!

Let's do it again soon!

Just a reminder if you're in Portland or SW Washington that now is the time to register for the Halo at Cinetopia for Diabetes Party. You need to pre-register and please, do tell your friends and family! Let's fill it up!

WHAT

We're renting out TWO SUPER HIGH DEF (2048p) 50 foot Movie Theaters and playing Halo. There will be soda and popcorn and pownage. Eighteen and older please.

WHERE

The Glory and Wonder that is Cinetopia just over the bridge in Vancouver.

WHEN

The event is this Thursday, October 11th from 7pm to Midnight.

HOW

Your donation of $25 or more at the door will go straight to the America Diabetes Association. You can also pre-donate and bring your printed receipt to the door. We have room for only 120 people so register today!

Register for this event at http://iammasterchief.com/ with the RSVP code "FIGHTDIABETES". The event is Thursday, October 11th from 7pm to Midnight.

WHY

Because it's Halo. And to Fight Diabetes.

We'll see you there!

Here's the big announcement. Strap on.

WHAT

Wanna play Halo 3? You might.

Wanna play it in High Def? Possibly.

How about playing Halo 3 in a 50 foot screen in Super Hi-Def (2048p^[1])?

Wanna get powned bigger than life? Join us.

WHERE

It's at Cinetopia, of course. It's in Vancouver, WA, just north of Portland, OR. This is the NW's most awesome theater. Actual waiters with actual food. Leather seats. Top of the line video and audio. Super HD in every theater. Seriously, this is the only theater Mo and I go to because once you've experienced it you're ruined for other theaters. It's a little pricey, but it's great for date night.

It's 18 or older unless you have a parent escorting you - note that Halo is an "M" rated game. We'll have one Large Theater with a 88 seat capacity and a Living Room Theater with 63 seats. The Living Room Theater is 21 and older. We'll also have a number of Xboxes and Plasmas setup. It'll be a social mingling, eating, fun event. We might have some Guitar Hero also.

WHY

We're doing this because Halo is fun and Diabetes sucks. We're hoping to cancel them out. The event is being organized by Rich Claussen and fellow MSFTie Jason Mauer and myself.

HOW AND HOW MUCH

Ok, this is important. We're trying to raise money for the Fight Against Diabetes and get folks to join us for the Diabetes Walk on October 20th. The fee is $25 (or more, and more is encouraged) at the door, with all proceeds going to the American Diabetes Association.

We're throttled to 120 people. We might raise this if some folks can't make it, but if you register for this event, DO SHOW UP because you're taking an actual human-sized slot that someone else could use. We'll have sponsors there with tables (if you'd like to sponsor a table, let me know) with their various geek wares.

Register for this event at http://iammasterchief.com/ with the RSVP code "FIGHTDIABETES". The event is Thursday, October 11th from 7pm to Midnight.

Note that the banner in the upper left of the reservation site does mention the “PRELAUNCH PARTY 09 24 07” even though the center box shows “10/11/07 – Cinetopia”. Just make sure to use the right RSVP code.

If you don't make it, don't worry, we're going to video/photo/save for posterity as much as we can and get it up on Flickr. It's going to be awesome.

Hope to see you there.

[1] Interpolated by a commercial line-doubler.

Hello folks. The Walk Against Diabetes approaches - it's coming up this October 20th, 2007. You can get details and join the Walk with my family and I at the American Diabetes Association. All donations go straight to the ADA for Research, Education and Advocacy.

Last year we (meaning, YOU, the readers of this blog) raised over $12,000, blowing past my goal of $10,000. Turns out we raised more money than any single team in Portland and they made me this year's Walk Ambassador.

So, I set the bar higher for 2007 with a goal of $50,000. As of this writing we are at $25,421.68! We've almost doubled last year, but only 51% of this year's goal.

What's Next

However, don't count us out yet. With only a month left I've got a few ideas up my sleeve. Along with Jason Mauer and Rich Claussen, we've got a fund raising promotion idea that will truly blow your mind. If you're in Portland, SW Washington, or willing to drive from Seattle, mark your calendars for Thursday, October 11th from about 8pm to Midnight and watch the blog for details. If you don't make it, there will be pictures and video galore - of the mind-blowing, face-melting variety. Watch for the announcement coming soon.

Again, do visit the Diabetes Site to DONATE or JOIN THE TEAM AND WALK.

Microsofties

If you're reading this blog and you work for Microsoft, perhaps you've not gotten around to giving yet. Remember that Microsoft will MATCH your donation dollar for dollar. Just visit http://give on the Microsoft Intranet, and select the Portland Chapter of the American Diabetes Association and mention "Team Hanselman" in the notes. Feel free to send me a copy of the PDF or screenshot and I'll make sure things get there they should.

What have we accomplished?

Maybe you've just started reading this blog recently? Here's some of the promotional stuff we've done this year to help raise awareness:

Get Educated about Diabetes

Here's some potentially interesting Diabetes Links for you to read:

Thanks

Thanks VERY much to everyone who has given so far. This has been an amazing here.

Special thanks to our MicroISV partners:

Kitsch and Merchandise for the Cause

Phil Deveau emailed me and said:

What a fantastically nice thing to offer! Of course, I have no merchandise, BUT I do have Jon Galloway on Skype Speeddial. Jon created a 2000x2000 Transparent PNG of the Team Hanselman Logo (also a Galloway creation), and fired it off to me, and 20 minutes later I present to you, Dear Reader, The Team Hanselman Fight Against Diabetes Store.

Just when you though you couldn't get away from my giant disembodied head, I show up on a T-Shirt. When will it end? It will never end, thanks to the Team Hanselman Diabetes Store. Madness.

 Here's your hat, Phil, along with T-Shirts, Sweats, Hoodies, Buttons, and, of course, the Team Hanselman Baby Onesie. Rock the Onesie on Oct. 20th to help in the Fight Against Diabetes.

Thanks again to you, the community. I'm proud to call you all my peeps. I appreciate you, your comments, your support, your emails. Even the anonymous cowards in the comments. Especially you. ;)