Doing Fine

I've noticed that my posts here have become somewhat less frequent.

Part of it is that I've reached a sort of plateau in my understanding of the condition. My numbers are looking pretty good, and I'm expecting a fantastic A1C when I get it checked on Wednesday. (Naturally, I'll post about that.)

I'm setting into what a lot of people in the DOC have noticed: the daily grind. It doesn't change much, from day to day. Wake up, check blood. Shoot, eat. Check in 2 hours, or thereabouts.

I did do something new last week. Remember in December, when I had a really aberrant week? I had all kinds of crazy numbers, including a 320 that I cannot begin to explain. It was during a training session.

I had another training session last week - only this time, instead of being a student, I was the teacher. Guess what? My numbers were good, and perfectly predictable. No surprises. I'm at a loss to explain that. I love teaching, but it takes a lot of energy, and it can be kind of stressful. That would suggest that I'd see spikes and other strangeness, but not this time.

The difference may be that class was taught in the building where I work, not offsite, so I didn't need to "sneak around" to test and shoot. So yes, there is such a thing as a pleasant surprise.

I will definitely post about my A1C - whether it meets expectations or not.

New Low

I hit a milestone of sorts today - s new recorded low of 42.

It wasn't all bad though - since I was so low, I drank an entire can of Classic Coke, the first sugar drink I've had since my diagnosis.

I woke up 65.

Either my insulin sensitivity is improving, or I'm making more of it myself. This might be a "honeymoon" period. We'll see, if it lasts for a while.

The rotten thing about lows is that I usually feel kind of icky for the rest of the day after one. I think it has to do with the adrenaline that produces the symptoms of a low.

I'd rather not have them, but I have to say I'm still grateful to be sensitive to the symptoms.

Diabetes: Life-Changing diagnosis?

Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately.  I've got my 3-month checkup coming up in a couple of weeks, and an optometrist appointment in the same approximate time frame.  Well, I haven't made them yet, but I will this week.

I did have lunch this week, a friend from work who works for another company.  He heard through channels about my diagnosis, and when I talked to him on the phone a couple months ago, he called the diagnosis "life-changing".

In many ways, it is life-changing.  I wish I could count all the donuts, cookies, candies etc. that I've turned down.  Not because I have to, but because I wasn't inclined to bolus right then. :)  I had butter pecan ice cream at lunch today - Yarnell's - so I'm not being held down by the diabetes police, or whatever. :)

But I try very hard not to think about it that way. I think that puts too much emphasis on the hardship of the disease, and I'd rather not do that. It's true, the disease comes with its hardships. There are days I feel like a human pincushion. I deliberately pushed a needle into my own body 9 separate times today, and today was fairly typical. Most of the time it doesn't hurt much, sometimes it doesn't hurt at all, but I still flinch a little when I do my fingersticks and every once in a while I hit a blood vessel when I bolus. That hurts, and leaves a nasty-looking bruise.

But I don't want to focus on those things. I like focusing on the difference between my condition now and my condition in, say, August when I was too tired to do much of anything. I like to think about how I'm under fairly good control now, and in good shape to avoid all the complications of this disease.

Has the diagnosis changed my life? Sure it has. But it hasn't all been bad. I'm eating better (and eating a lot less). I'm enjoying a lot of the things I eat a lot more, since a lot of the stuff I used to eat was carb-loaded, and those have a lot more meaning to me now.

It would be nice if I could just grab a handful of M&M's and munch on them like my pancreas worked right, but that would be silly. It's a bolus now or later kind of thing.

People still occasionally hear about the diabetic routine and say, "I don't think I could do that." I've seen some more people on TV who do not take care of their diabetes like they should. (The current Biggest Loser field has two admitted Type 2's, one of whom was eliminated last night.) I know people who haven't taken care if it. Most of those outcomes are not ideal for the patients in question.

I'm going to take care of mine. I prefer not to think of it as life-changing, because there's a lot more to my life than that. I prefer to think of the things that haven't changed, and hopefully won't, because I'm taking care of it.

Treating Lows: Being Prepared

I am finding that most of the difficulty in having lows is in being properly prepared to treat them.

I always carry Smarties with me for such situations.

I like Smarties because:

1)  They keep almost indefinitely
2)  They're almost pure sucrose
3)  They have well defined carb values (6g/roll)
4)  They're easy to unwrap and eat, if a little noisy
5)  They're relatively small and discreet

I started with Lifesavers, which I still like.  I don't carry them for lows anymore, though for these reasons:  Lifesavers rolls are hard for me to open, especially when I'm to the point where I really need to.  Also, getting them in bulk can be tricky.  (Our local Sam's club sells a box of 20 rolls for about $10.)

On the other hand, Smarties always come in larger bags, either for $1 or the big party bag for about $5.50.  The big bag is a couple pounds worth - I've barely made a dent in the one I got almost two months ago.

Having 4-5 rolls seems to be more than enough for most purposes.  I keep stashes at home and at work; I keep 4-5 on me in case I go low when I'm away from my supplies.  I try to take a roll when I'm in the low 80's, which is when I normally feel impaired.  The most I've ever taken at once was 3 rolls, when I hit 48 in the middle of a training class.