Does that make today D-day? I may be part of the "plugged in" generation, but Twitter's not my thing. Instead, I'll give a brief run down of the diabetes aspects of my day.
Wake up groggy. Roll over and tug on husband's arm. "What time is it?" He sighs, goes digging through the covers for my pump, and pushes the "ok" to light up the screen. "6:20," he says, and rolls back over. 6:20am. Is the groggy a sleepy groggy, or a crud-my-blood-sugar-is-anything-other-than-where-it-should-be groggy? Learning to trust myself and my symptoms has been hard recently, since I've had some hypo unawares and some lovely 360s that felt like lows. I yawn, stretch, go back to bed.
An hour later I'm awoken by a back rub (come on, it's ok to be jealous. We're newlyweds and still head over heels in love!). Backrubs turn more physical, and before we go further, I have to push back. "Hang on. Gotta move the pump." Releasing the tension on the tubing, I toss it back over my shoulder. (more on the pros/cons of dis/connecting during sex later).
7:40. Time to get ready for work. My robe and towel are musts, but along with making sure I set my wedding ring somewhere that's no where near the sink, I disconnect the pump, make sure the tubing end isn't smacked up against the floor. I check the site to be sure it's not red or peeling up, then get in the shower. Have to be a little more careful than most when cleaning my abdomen. Towel off, find the deoderant, and reconnect. Contact lenses in, ring back on, and Beep beep beep! Low battery. I know the owner's manual (sheesh, I really could compare this thing to a car) says that the alarm guarantees a half hour to 45 minutes warning time before the battery dies, but sometimes it also means days. To ignore or change it? I can't remember at the moment where I stashed the last pack of batteries, so it's an ignore-for-now morning, with a mental note to find a battery at the office.
8:05. Blood sugar check. 95. Fist pump. Given the lack of attention to just how many sour gummy worms made their way into my digestive tract last night had meant a 367 at bedtime, and I was none too happy about it. I've been working really hard to get my numbers consistently in range, and this one was entirely my fault.So for the bolus to have behaved and actually brought me down to my target was a success. It also meant I felt less guilty about carbs for breakfast (a topic for another post).
Breakfast: oatmeal with peanut butter. On my way, right? Nope, let's think about it. I used 1/2 cup of oats, which according to Calorie King is 27.4 grams of carbs. Add in the tablespoon of peanut butter (3.5 grams) and the glass of milk (6 ounces, 9.7 grams) and I should be looking at 41 grams. Given the love-hate relationship my blood sugars have with food these days, I don't calculate in fiber, and I'm on a 1:8 carb ratio. That means a lovely 5.125 units this morning. Bolus, scarf down food, grab bag, book, lunch, and jacket, and I'm on my way.
Except not quite. Yesterday we (husband and I) went out to lunch to celebrate him finding a temp summer job that will work perfectly in the time frame we're looking at, pays well, and they like him! So it meant the salad portion of my intended lunch went in the work fridge, and the fruit and granola bar came home. Time for calculations. The salad's still at work, and has about 11 carbs. If I'm running high, it's more than enough and I can walk out the door right now. If I'm where I should be or, however unlikely, running low, I need more food. I find an apple, a soy milk box, and some trail mix, just in case. Soy milk is 9 grams, apple is 15, and trail mix is 13 per quarter cup. Good, let's go.
The drive to and from work is rarely a problem, but a half hour on the road can be tricky, especially if I'm dropping fast. Today that was not the case. Instead it was a locked office door. Apparently all those that come in at 8 decided for an early weekend, and as the lowest on the totem pole at work, I have yet to get an office key. Mental note to ask for one. Again.
Work kept me busy and on the phone for most of the morning. At one point I checked the clock, couldn't believe it, and went to compare to my pump. Yeah, you look at your cell phone, I look at my medical device. Neither of us looks at a watch. We can be friends :) Instead of getting the home screen, I got the low battery warning. Right, need to get on that.
It's now noon, when I normally have lunch break. But in order to get off at 5 rather than 6 today, I'm working through lunch. It makes it a little harder to handle, especially on those few days I'm really unprepared (you know, the day you flash back to third grade and leave your lunch on the counter). But today I'm planning on driving down to my old roommate's wedding reception, which requires leaving early. So be it. Blood sugar at lunch hour: 205. Yep, mornings and carbs may be permanently ending their relationship shortly, but that will be determined by the endo visit in two weeks.
Updates this evening after the reception to finish off the day!
Later Friday night:
Blood sugars held steady through work and the drive to meet husband. By the time I got to the bank to meet him and drive down to the reception, my blood sugar was 65 and dropping. A quick pork barbacoa salad and frozen root beer told me I was on my way up, but the evolutionary drive to eat all carbs in sight had kicked in. Thankfully, nothing was left in the car, I talked myself off the ledge and into bolusing, and proceeded to the reception.
I was rather proud of myself at the reception, keeping careful tally of what went in my mouth, sadly passing up the artisan breads, the raspberry limeade, and most of the desserts. I had two bites of gelato and a handful of fruit along with a glass of lemon water. Go me, right? Well, the monitor had other things to say. A whopping 379 greeted me on the way home and I still can't figure out why. Guess it's another mystery for the endo. Thankfully, the 379 started coming down, and by this point (shortly before midnight), I'm at 214 and still coming down. Diabetes reared its ugly head today, but I'm determined to bring back Dr. Jekyl.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
MDIs... or multiple daughters on insulin
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's multiple daily injections, I know. But around my house growing up, it referred both to the shots and to the girls. Three out of the four of us were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as kids.
N: age 5, 1992
B: age 2, 1991
J: age 2, 1994
B2: not diagnosed
We were the example family for other families in our area, for parents that insisted they couldn't handle a kid with diabetes, for the parents who felt bad when they learned someone had a second kid diagnosed. We were proof that not only could mom/dad do it, but all three kids were living it, and living it to the fullest. So, in two minutes, a snapshot at life with multiple T1s might look something like this:
The butter drawer in the fridge has not one, not three, but something like 9-10 vials of Humalog. With 3 kids on pumps, and a 90-day supply, that space fills up fast.
The blame game. Test strip on the floor can NEVER be traced to you.
A1c competitions. Sometimes motivation, other times the worst scenario of your life, especially if you're mid-puberty and hormone swings and the others aren't. Nope, even worse if all three are mid-hormone swings.
Pool time. It only took one experience for us to be on the phone with Disetronic (am I that old already?) and then MiniMed to insist that they needed different-colored pumps, and that no, black and gray won't suffice when you have three diabetics disconnect, throw the pump in the bag, and come back later and try to figure out whose is whose. Maybe it's our fault there are several color options available.
Orchestra at the dinner table. Guess who's family can play "Jingle Bells" on their insulin pumps? And now that some offer download options for alternative sounds, we're a pump-wielding von Trapp family waiting to happen.
Backup. Ran out of test strips at school? Low blood sugar supplies not looking particularly appetizing? Dropped a vial of insulin? Run 300+ all day with no observable reason? Finally hit that target A1c? Guess who's there to celebrate? Two other someones that get it.
N: age 5, 1992
B: age 2, 1991
J: age 2, 1994
B2: not diagnosed
We were the example family for other families in our area, for parents that insisted they couldn't handle a kid with diabetes, for the parents who felt bad when they learned someone had a second kid diagnosed. We were proof that not only could mom/dad do it, but all three kids were living it, and living it to the fullest. So, in two minutes, a snapshot at life with multiple T1s might look something like this:
The butter drawer in the fridge has not one, not three, but something like 9-10 vials of Humalog. With 3 kids on pumps, and a 90-day supply, that space fills up fast.
The blame game. Test strip on the floor can NEVER be traced to you.
A1c competitions. Sometimes motivation, other times the worst scenario of your life, especially if you're mid-puberty and hormone swings and the others aren't. Nope, even worse if all three are mid-hormone swings.
Pool time. It only took one experience for us to be on the phone with Disetronic (am I that old already?) and then MiniMed to insist that they needed different-colored pumps, and that no, black and gray won't suffice when you have three diabetics disconnect, throw the pump in the bag, and come back later and try to figure out whose is whose. Maybe it's our fault there are several color options available.
Orchestra at the dinner table. Guess who's family can play "Jingle Bells" on their insulin pumps? And now that some offer download options for alternative sounds, we're a pump-wielding von Trapp family waiting to happen.
Backup. Ran out of test strips at school? Low blood sugar supplies not looking particularly appetizing? Dropped a vial of insulin? Run 300+ all day with no observable reason? Finally hit that target A1c? Guess who's there to celebrate? Two other someones that get it.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Diabetes is for the Dogs
First post and I'm already sounding pretty cynical. Well, now that the blogging world is basically old news for anyone that knows his way around the internet, it's time for me to join in. I started this blog for three reasons:
1) Why is an adult type 1 diabetic basically an endangered species? I've joined forces with the local JDRF chapter and the Facebook groups, but they're all focused on, well, the kids, the kids' parents, and the stresses of new diagnoses. For those of us 18 and up, for those who've had this disease their whole lives and tend to cycle in and out of laziness/burn out more frequently, or just those who are ready for an online community that understands them, I'm throwing my two cents in.
2) Accountability. Because if I don't talk about diabetes, it's easier sometimes to pretend it doesn't exist. And that pretending can lead to some pretty lazy and dumb moves, like postponing and eventually forgetting to bolus. Or "feeling fine" so skipping that post-prandial blood sugar check. So I'm baring it all (all things diabetes, anyway). Bare with me?
3) Diabetes, if nothing else, is an adventure. We all chronicle our vacations, funny moments, and big events, so why not the diabetes parts, too? It's a small but ever-present and horribly non-consistent part of my life, but one that I make sure doesn't get in the way of everything else (more on some of that everything else in later posts). Twenty-one years fighting this daily battle of fingerpricks, measuring cups, and injections is enough for me to confidently say that I plan on being here awhile, so join the adventure.
So, in spirit of the accountability, the pre-lunch blood sugar wasn't pretty. The grimace as I skipped the banana and trail mix and moved straight to the salad was even less so. We're still having bolus ratio issues that will hopefully be resolved at an upcoming endo visit.
Join the adventure!
1) Why is an adult type 1 diabetic basically an endangered species? I've joined forces with the local JDRF chapter and the Facebook groups, but they're all focused on, well, the kids, the kids' parents, and the stresses of new diagnoses. For those of us 18 and up, for those who've had this disease their whole lives and tend to cycle in and out of laziness/burn out more frequently, or just those who are ready for an online community that understands them, I'm throwing my two cents in.
2) Accountability. Because if I don't talk about diabetes, it's easier sometimes to pretend it doesn't exist. And that pretending can lead to some pretty lazy and dumb moves, like postponing and eventually forgetting to bolus. Or "feeling fine" so skipping that post-prandial blood sugar check. So I'm baring it all (all things diabetes, anyway). Bare with me?
3) Diabetes, if nothing else, is an adventure. We all chronicle our vacations, funny moments, and big events, so why not the diabetes parts, too? It's a small but ever-present and horribly non-consistent part of my life, but one that I make sure doesn't get in the way of everything else (more on some of that everything else in later posts). Twenty-one years fighting this daily battle of fingerpricks, measuring cups, and injections is enough for me to confidently say that I plan on being here awhile, so join the adventure.
So, in spirit of the accountability, the pre-lunch blood sugar wasn't pretty. The grimace as I skipped the banana and trail mix and moved straight to the salad was even less so. We're still having bolus ratio issues that will hopefully be resolved at an upcoming endo visit.
Join the adventure!
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