It seems I've been slacking off in terms of checking blood sugars and being aggressive in catching and correcting any sort of highs lately. My boyfriend looking through one of my meters and almost having a heart attack at the 14-day average was a definite sign that things aren't as well-controlled as either of us would like. A bit dramatic, but certainly a wake-up call. It's not like I woke up one morning and decided, "I think I'll give myself sub-par diabetes care for a while." I don't think anyone does it, it just happens. Life...STRESS...insurance companies...and a million and one other things all conspire against us once in a while. I really don't have an excuse, though. While life is crazy and stress is a constant for me, at the moment I have a good supply of test strips and there is no reason why I can't do more than my typical 4-6 checks per day to make sure basals are set correctly, boluses are working as they should and my overnight levels are stable.
Waaaaaay back when I set this goal I came very close to achieving it. I wanted an A1c of 6.3 and ended up with a 6.4. Close enough to make me happy and definitely something to be proud of! My doctor told me she had to do a double take then check to make sure that it was the right result with the right chart when she saw it, since my A1c before that was quite a bit higher and she was amazed at the dramatic drop. Well, a dramatic drop is what I'm aiming for again. If I did it before, I can do it this time. Instead of 6.3, my goal is 6.0. Is it going to be tough? Of course. But, I'm determined and I've got the resources (unfortunately not a CGM, but I can't even think about that now!) and a wonderful boyfriend who is very supportive when it comes to my diabetes. So, now it's up to me to reach my goal...
How am I going to do it? Well, the two things that helped me most the last time were to give my bolus about 5-10 minutes before eating (ugg...I hated this, and never could do it back in the days of Regular insulin when it was required) and making sure to do 2 hour PP checks. For the most part my 2 hour PPs were pretty good, so I guess I have to give most of the credit to the 5-10 minutes I waited to eat after bolusing. Anyway, If I go back to doing those two things, that'll be a great start. Making sure to ALWAYS check before I eat, doing random checks throughout the day (in addition to the regularly scheduled ones I typically do) and the occasional night time check wouldn't hurt, either (but, oh, how I hate to lose any sleep!). Getting back into exercising and being more careful about the foods I choose to eat are probably good ideas as well...
Friday, February 01, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Getting back into the swing of things....
I'll get some new posts up soon. I tried logging into my accounts months ago and it just wasn't working out, so I gave up on it. Finally got it to work today and spent a good amount of time cleaning up the spam that was left in the comments sections (One entry had 90+ spam comments....not fun to get rid of!). Now that it's up and running and spam-free, I'll be posting more often, so check back soon. :)
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Highs, Lows & Kudos….
So many things going on, and so little time to write about it. Plus, my thoughts are currently too scattered to coherently string together enough sentences to create a post on one topic. So, I’m just going to hit some “high-” and “low- lights.
Blood sugars in the 30s are not fun. You all know this. Well, I’ve recently had three numbers in that range to remind me of this fact (30, 36, 38... On different days, so the “fun“ was spread out over a period of time). I was completely coherent and fully able to correct the lows myself, so I wasn't really too worried. However, one of them (36) caught me way off guard and another (30) happened while I was sleeping. I only woke up for that one because of the dream I was having! I was quite shocked at the way it all worked out. (A post for another time, maybe.) Anyway, I was continually tweaking and dropping my basal rates to prevent lows…which made the events of the next paragraph even more puzzling for me.
After a week of lows, I had highs to deal with. Yes, there were high blood sugars, but the highs I’m talking about are something else…the units of insulin I’m currently taking each day to keep my blood sugar level in check! Normally, increasing my basal isn’t something that causes me too much concern. During a certain time of the month, I know I’ll have to increase all of my rates by .2u/hr (for a total of 4.8 extra units per day, which I can live with) to keep everything in a decent range. However, for no apparent reason, I’ve had to increase more than twice that…yes, for you mathematicians out there, I’ve added more than 10 units to my basal…I’m not happy about it. And that is in addition to what my basal normally is, not what it was when I decreased it to prevent my lows the previous week. My pump is certainly working overtime! And, for the first time, I’m disliking the small reservoir size that my Paradigm uses since I’m having to change it much more often than I’d like to. I’ve switched insulin vials and sites without any improvement. I don’t have any infections and I don’t think I’m getting sick. Scar tissue, maybe? But, everywhere, all of a sudden? I highly doubt it. What I am dealing with is a lot of stress. A lot. For now I’m going to have to be content with assuming it’s the stress that’s causing my resistance. I just hate not knowing, and every time I have to correct a high, or I review my basal rates, boluses and TDD, it bothers me even more that I don’t have any definite answers. I know it’s probably futile, but I still plan to “waste” time trying to figure out exactly what’s going on. By the way, I know that some people are probably thinking that it doesn’t matter how much insulin you use; as long as it keeps you in range. Well, it’s not so much the actual number of units I’m using that really concerns me; it’s the dramatic (and for me, unusual) change in my rates and TDD.
Sigh.
On to happier things. Although I haven’t been writing, I have been reading. There are so many great blogs with awesome people behind them! I realize everyone knows that already, but I wanted to bring it up and give a shout-out to a couple of them…..
When I read a post on any diabetes-related blog and look at the comments, it’s rare that I don’t find one from Scott, who always has something friendly/supportive/encouraging/thoughtful/humorous to say. I enjoy reading his comments as much as I do his posts on his own blog. So, thank you, Scott, for taking the time to give so much support to all of your fellow D bloggers and exemplifying what makes the Diabetes OC so great!
While cruising the OC, I came across George‘s blog and discovered that he has made the commitment to stop smoking. YAY for you, George!! I’ve not been in your situation, but have watched others close to me go through it. I understand it’s not an easy thing to do! So, just know that it’s a wonderful that you’re committed to quitting and you have a supporter here in MI rooting for you.
Blood sugars in the 30s are not fun. You all know this. Well, I’ve recently had three numbers in that range to remind me of this fact (30, 36, 38... On different days, so the “fun“ was spread out over a period of time). I was completely coherent and fully able to correct the lows myself, so I wasn't really too worried. However, one of them (36) caught me way off guard and another (30) happened while I was sleeping. I only woke up for that one because of the dream I was having! I was quite shocked at the way it all worked out. (A post for another time, maybe.) Anyway, I was continually tweaking and dropping my basal rates to prevent lows…which made the events of the next paragraph even more puzzling for me.
After a week of lows, I had highs to deal with. Yes, there were high blood sugars, but the highs I’m talking about are something else…the units of insulin I’m currently taking each day to keep my blood sugar level in check! Normally, increasing my basal isn’t something that causes me too much concern. During a certain time of the month, I know I’ll have to increase all of my rates by .2u/hr (for a total of 4.8 extra units per day, which I can live with) to keep everything in a decent range. However, for no apparent reason, I’ve had to increase more than twice that…yes, for you mathematicians out there, I’ve added more than 10 units to my basal…I’m not happy about it. And that is in addition to what my basal normally is, not what it was when I decreased it to prevent my lows the previous week. My pump is certainly working overtime! And, for the first time, I’m disliking the small reservoir size that my Paradigm uses since I’m having to change it much more often than I’d like to. I’ve switched insulin vials and sites without any improvement. I don’t have any infections and I don’t think I’m getting sick. Scar tissue, maybe? But, everywhere, all of a sudden? I highly doubt it. What I am dealing with is a lot of stress. A lot. For now I’m going to have to be content with assuming it’s the stress that’s causing my resistance. I just hate not knowing, and every time I have to correct a high, or I review my basal rates, boluses and TDD, it bothers me even more that I don’t have any definite answers. I know it’s probably futile, but I still plan to “waste” time trying to figure out exactly what’s going on. By the way, I know that some people are probably thinking that it doesn’t matter how much insulin you use; as long as it keeps you in range. Well, it’s not so much the actual number of units I’m using that really concerns me; it’s the dramatic (and for me, unusual) change in my rates and TDD.
Sigh.
On to happier things. Although I haven’t been writing, I have been reading. There are so many great blogs with awesome people behind them! I realize everyone knows that already, but I wanted to bring it up and give a shout-out to a couple of them…..
When I read a post on any diabetes-related blog and look at the comments, it’s rare that I don’t find one from Scott, who always has something friendly/supportive/encouraging/thoughtful/humorous to say. I enjoy reading his comments as much as I do his posts on his own blog. So, thank you, Scott, for taking the time to give so much support to all of your fellow D bloggers and exemplifying what makes the Diabetes OC so great!
While cruising the OC, I came across George‘s blog and discovered that he has made the commitment to stop smoking. YAY for you, George!! I’ve not been in your situation, but have watched others close to me go through it. I understand it’s not an easy thing to do! So, just know that it’s a wonderful that you’re committed to quitting and you have a supporter here in MI rooting for you.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
My Diabetes O.C. Bio
For those of you who found your way to my site via the Diabetes Online Community/web ring, I thought I’d take this opportunity to expand upon what I put in my bio.
Some of it is pretty self-explanatory (such as my habit to procrastinate). However, for the bit about Lantus I thought I’d share a few words. Yes, I did start Lantus without my doctor’s permission/knowledge. However, I was not completely unsupervised. In fact, I was probably in one of the best places a person could be for this type of thing: I was working at a diabetes camp and was surrounded by a great deal of (wonderful!) medical types. I’d been having trouble with my numbers all week, and an awesome nurse practitioner from my group’s med team asked why I wasn’t on Lantus (I had no good answer for her) and wondered if I’d like to try it. Of course I said yes. She questioned me about what I thought my doctor would have to say (a whole other story there) and I assured her that it was perfectly fine to go ahead with the experiment.
Camp ended 2 days after that and I was comfortable enough to continue using Lantus at home, so I did. My favorite NP made sure I had some Lantus to take home with me but it wasn't enough to last forever. So, yes, I called soon after I was home to make an appointment with my own endo. I was a little nervous about telling her that I had made the switch, but she barely batted an eye.
So, am I glad that I made the switch? Absolutely. I ended up achieving the best A1c I’d had so far by going on it: 6.7 or 6.8 (don‘t remember which).
Do I wish I’d first talked with my endo about it? No, I’m comfortable with the way things turned out.
Do I recommend anyone switching insulins unsupervised? ABSOLUTELY NOT! (Remember, I was surrounded by every type of med person there is!)
Did I have any point in telling that story or including it in my bio? Yes. And, I’ll leave you to guess what it was….
Just kidding! I realize not all of you are mind readers! :-)
I wanted to share the story to let you see a bit of my personality. I can be quite impatient at times and I think this demonstrates that quality somewhat. I knew that it would take a while before my doctor would “agree” to switch me to Lantus, so I ran with the opportunity when it arose.
To ramble on…. Typing this story reminded me of when I got my pump. Let me start by saying that no one needed to persuade me to go on the pump. It was something I had been researching and wanting for 5 years. So, when everything fell into place and it finally happened, I was ready to go. Luckily, there was a mix up and my pump shipped later than it should have. Why is that lucky? I’ll get to that in a minute.
As soon as the box was in my hands I tore it open and preceded to familiarize myself with my cool new piece of technology. I popped the video in, followed along and when it was all done I explored the pump on my own. I learned everything I possibly could without actually having it attached to me and infusing insulin.
Back to the part about luck. The class I would have to go to in order to get it set up was only held once a month. When I called, I found out that the next class would only be a couple of days away. As it was, I could barely stand to wait those couple of days and was itching to hook myself up. If the pump had come any sooner (thereby making the wait even longer) then I probably would have done it myself. I‘d have had a bit more trouble explaining that one to my med team! And, who knows what would have happened then. Going on a pump without supervision is different from “merely” switching insulins.
One more note…when I went to get trained, I was with two other people. I asked, and NEITHER of them had taken their pump out of the box to check it out. WHAT? I could barely believe it. There I was, ready to do the whole thing myself…and I’m met with 2 others who were completely opposite. I was very surprised.
Well, I guess I’ll sign off for now and save my explanation about “what I’ll do when there’s a cure” for my next blog.
Some of it is pretty self-explanatory (such as my habit to procrastinate). However, for the bit about Lantus I thought I’d share a few words. Yes, I did start Lantus without my doctor’s permission/knowledge. However, I was not completely unsupervised. In fact, I was probably in one of the best places a person could be for this type of thing: I was working at a diabetes camp and was surrounded by a great deal of (wonderful!) medical types. I’d been having trouble with my numbers all week, and an awesome nurse practitioner from my group’s med team asked why I wasn’t on Lantus (I had no good answer for her) and wondered if I’d like to try it. Of course I said yes. She questioned me about what I thought my doctor would have to say (a whole other story there) and I assured her that it was perfectly fine to go ahead with the experiment.
Camp ended 2 days after that and I was comfortable enough to continue using Lantus at home, so I did. My favorite NP made sure I had some Lantus to take home with me but it wasn't enough to last forever. So, yes, I called soon after I was home to make an appointment with my own endo. I was a little nervous about telling her that I had made the switch, but she barely batted an eye.
So, am I glad that I made the switch? Absolutely. I ended up achieving the best A1c I’d had so far by going on it: 6.7 or 6.8 (don‘t remember which).
Do I wish I’d first talked with my endo about it? No, I’m comfortable with the way things turned out.
Do I recommend anyone switching insulins unsupervised? ABSOLUTELY NOT! (Remember, I was surrounded by every type of med person there is!)
Did I have any point in telling that story or including it in my bio? Yes. And, I’ll leave you to guess what it was….
Just kidding! I realize not all of you are mind readers! :-)
I wanted to share the story to let you see a bit of my personality. I can be quite impatient at times and I think this demonstrates that quality somewhat. I knew that it would take a while before my doctor would “agree” to switch me to Lantus, so I ran with the opportunity when it arose.
To ramble on…. Typing this story reminded me of when I got my pump. Let me start by saying that no one needed to persuade me to go on the pump. It was something I had been researching and wanting for 5 years. So, when everything fell into place and it finally happened, I was ready to go. Luckily, there was a mix up and my pump shipped later than it should have. Why is that lucky? I’ll get to that in a minute.
As soon as the box was in my hands I tore it open and preceded to familiarize myself with my cool new piece of technology. I popped the video in, followed along and when it was all done I explored the pump on my own. I learned everything I possibly could without actually having it attached to me and infusing insulin.
Back to the part about luck. The class I would have to go to in order to get it set up was only held once a month. When I called, I found out that the next class would only be a couple of days away. As it was, I could barely stand to wait those couple of days and was itching to hook myself up. If the pump had come any sooner (thereby making the wait even longer) then I probably would have done it myself. I‘d have had a bit more trouble explaining that one to my med team! And, who knows what would have happened then. Going on a pump without supervision is different from “merely” switching insulins.
One more note…when I went to get trained, I was with two other people. I asked, and NEITHER of them had taken their pump out of the box to check it out. WHAT? I could barely believe it. There I was, ready to do the whole thing myself…and I’m met with 2 others who were completely opposite. I was very surprised.
Well, I guess I’ll sign off for now and save my explanation about “what I’ll do when there’s a cure” for my next blog.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Why I Should Always Have My Pump Alarm Set to Vibrate
I don’t know what it is about me, but I have this bad habit of sleeping through alarms. I actually have to set two alarms in the morning, just to have peace of mind that I won’t be late for work or wherever else I have to be. So, thank goodness that pumps repeatedly alarm (for hours, if necessary) when there is a problem.
At some point while I was sleeping my pump alarmed. I actually woke up enough to see that it was the automatic shut-off alarm. I quickly cleared it and went back to bed (I don’t know why I had it set in the first place). Sometime later I think I remember hearing my pump alarm again.
I realize before looking at my pump that I went to bed with a reservoir that was almost empty. I know that I need to replace it, so I fill a new reservoir, put it in my pump, prime it and reattach to my old site. All is well. I drift back to sleep, content that there will be no more interruptions.
Suddenly, I’m startled by a siren blaring. No, it’s not an ambulance. It’s my pump. I’ve slept through the alarms to the point where it’s no longer merely beeping at me. It’s in “siren” mode. Not wanting to wake the whole neighborhood, I swiftly clear my sleepy head and get to work to solve the problem. I had already filled my reservoir and turned off the automatic shut-off feature, so what could be wrong? A horrifying thought jumped to the front of my mind as I glance at my pump to confirm my suspicion. Yes, I did dream it all! I never actually put a new reservoir in! Shoot. I then wonder how long my pump had been telling me that I had an empty reservoir. I didn’t feel horrible, so I figured that it couldn‘t have been that long. After pinching myself to assure that I was really awake this time (not really!), I set out to reenact my dream sequence: fill a new reservoir, put it in the pump, prime it and reattach it to my old site. This time, however, I didn’t fall back asleep. I scrolled through the pump’s menu to see exactly how long the alarms had been going off.
12 AUG 05:20A E-Res
Granted, that doesn’t tell you much unless you know what time it was when I woke up and fixed the problem. In my prime history it says I primed my pump at 7:32A. Considering it took (way) less than five minutes for me to wake up and fix the problem, I had been without insulin for a couple of hours. I check, and I’m only at 215 mg/dL (surprising, but I wasn’t going to complain!). I immediately corrected and had no other problems. In other words, I was lucky. Who knows how long I’ll sleep through alarms next time. If I had set my pump to vibrate rather than give an auditory alarm, I’m sure I would have been up much sooner than I was (provided that the pump was attached to my body somehow and I could feel it).
You know what's strange? Upon realizing that my reservoir ran out of insulin at 5:20 in the morning, my first thought actually didn’t concern the fact that I’d been without insulin for more than 2 hours. My first thought was “how did I sleep through alarms for 2 hours?!” especially since, I’m sure, it went into siren mode long before I woke up.
By the way, does anyone know how long you have to “ignore” an alarm on the Paradigm before it goes into siren mode?
I’d love to end this post by saying, “Lesson learned!” But, I know that’s not really true. I’m sure the future holds nights where I’ll sleep through alarms and instances where I’ve not made sure that I have enough insulin to last the night.
So, instead, I’ll close by sharing something that I discovered during the days I really wanted to use every last unit of insulin I could (and really doesn't have anything to do with what I just wrote about)….
When the Paradigm 511 pump (don’t know if it’s true for any other versions) says 0 units are left…there are really 11 units remaining. PLEASE don’t rely on this or take my word for it-- I’m not responsible for anything you do--I'm not qualified to give medical advice. Talk to your CDE/doctor …etc. etc. etc. MY personal experience has taught me that I can reliably count on those 11 units…and I do, regularly. Actually, I count on 10 just so that I’m not caught unaware in the middle of the day. Anyone else let their pumps run dry before they change the reservoir?
At some point while I was sleeping my pump alarmed. I actually woke up enough to see that it was the automatic shut-off alarm. I quickly cleared it and went back to bed (I don’t know why I had it set in the first place). Sometime later I think I remember hearing my pump alarm again.
I realize before looking at my pump that I went to bed with a reservoir that was almost empty. I know that I need to replace it, so I fill a new reservoir, put it in my pump, prime it and reattach to my old site. All is well. I drift back to sleep, content that there will be no more interruptions.
Suddenly, I’m startled by a siren blaring. No, it’s not an ambulance. It’s my pump. I’ve slept through the alarms to the point where it’s no longer merely beeping at me. It’s in “siren” mode. Not wanting to wake the whole neighborhood, I swiftly clear my sleepy head and get to work to solve the problem. I had already filled my reservoir and turned off the automatic shut-off feature, so what could be wrong? A horrifying thought jumped to the front of my mind as I glance at my pump to confirm my suspicion. Yes, I did dream it all! I never actually put a new reservoir in! Shoot. I then wonder how long my pump had been telling me that I had an empty reservoir. I didn’t feel horrible, so I figured that it couldn‘t have been that long. After pinching myself to assure that I was really awake this time (not really!), I set out to reenact my dream sequence: fill a new reservoir, put it in the pump, prime it and reattach it to my old site. This time, however, I didn’t fall back asleep. I scrolled through the pump’s menu to see exactly how long the alarms had been going off.
12 AUG 05:20A E-Res
Granted, that doesn’t tell you much unless you know what time it was when I woke up and fixed the problem. In my prime history it says I primed my pump at 7:32A. Considering it took (way) less than five minutes for me to wake up and fix the problem, I had been without insulin for a couple of hours. I check, and I’m only at 215 mg/dL (surprising, but I wasn’t going to complain!). I immediately corrected and had no other problems. In other words, I was lucky. Who knows how long I’ll sleep through alarms next time. If I had set my pump to vibrate rather than give an auditory alarm, I’m sure I would have been up much sooner than I was (provided that the pump was attached to my body somehow and I could feel it).
You know what's strange? Upon realizing that my reservoir ran out of insulin at 5:20 in the morning, my first thought actually didn’t concern the fact that I’d been without insulin for more than 2 hours. My first thought was “how did I sleep through alarms for 2 hours?!” especially since, I’m sure, it went into siren mode long before I woke up.
By the way, does anyone know how long you have to “ignore” an alarm on the Paradigm before it goes into siren mode?
I’d love to end this post by saying, “Lesson learned!” But, I know that’s not really true. I’m sure the future holds nights where I’ll sleep through alarms and instances where I’ve not made sure that I have enough insulin to last the night.
So, instead, I’ll close by sharing something that I discovered during the days I really wanted to use every last unit of insulin I could (and really doesn't have anything to do with what I just wrote about)….
When the Paradigm 511 pump (don’t know if it’s true for any other versions) says 0 units are left…there are really 11 units remaining. PLEASE don’t rely on this or take my word for it-- I’m not responsible for anything you do--I'm not qualified to give medical advice. Talk to your CDE/doctor …etc. etc. etc. MY personal experience has taught me that I can reliably count on those 11 units…and I do, regularly. Actually, I count on 10 just so that I’m not caught unaware in the middle of the day. Anyone else let their pumps run dry before they change the reservoir?
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Support Group in Michigan
I have never, in my twenty years of having diabetes, attended a support group. When I was younger, my pediatric endo mentioned it occasionally but I wasn't interested. Now that I'm older, and interested, there aren't any around! At least none that I can find that fit what I'm looking for. Or maybe I just haven't tried looking hard enough. I don't really want a "lecture" type group, led by medical professionals.
I suppose something like the informal get-together scenario that the folks over at Reality Check (see link on right side of page) have is more what I'm looking for. You know, real world contact with people who deal with diabetes every day... Don't get me wrong: I love the support I get from all of my on-line friends. I'm just looking to supplement that with some real world interaction. Anyone know of any groups like this in Southeastern Michigan? More specifically, somewhere near Detroit (preferably downriver).
Alternatively, are there any folks near here who are interested in starting up an informal group like this? Let me know! Leave a message. Also, if there are any people who started such a group elsewhere, do you have any tips or words of wisdom? I'd love to hear from you as well!
I suppose something like the informal get-together scenario that the folks over at Reality Check (see link on right side of page) have is more what I'm looking for. You know, real world contact with people who deal with diabetes every day... Don't get me wrong: I love the support I get from all of my on-line friends. I'm just looking to supplement that with some real world interaction. Anyone know of any groups like this in Southeastern Michigan? More specifically, somewhere near Detroit (preferably downriver).
Alternatively, are there any folks near here who are interested in starting up an informal group like this? Let me know! Leave a message. Also, if there are any people who started such a group elsewhere, do you have any tips or words of wisdom? I'd love to hear from you as well!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
My New "Toy"
Feeling a bit low after getting home from work the other night, I began to dig my testing
paraphernalia out of my purse. Meter: check. Test strips: check. Lancing device: MIA. Shoot! Realizing that I must have left it in the car, I weighed my options. Go back out to get it, and risk waking everyone up while tripping over things in the dark (it was close to 1 A.M.) or find one of the many other lancing devices I had packed away somewhere in my room. I chose option #2.
The first useful item I came across was an unopened Accu-chek Aviva kit, so I decided whatever lancing device was inside would suit my needs for the moment. I figured that all of these things are basically the same, so it would just be a matter of putting one of the sample lancets that came with it into the device and getting on with the show. Or, just using one of the lancets by itself to poke my finger. Hmmm...not possible! Rather than having actual single lancets, there was a sort of drum with holes in it. Now, other diabetes toys I know about: they interest me and I enjoy keeping up to date with all updates and improvements. Lancets and related products are boring, so I don't bother with "the latest and greatest" advancements in this area. And that, folks, explains why I wasn't previously aware of this particular piece of diabetes gadgetry.
Confident that I could work the device without aid, I didn't bother to pull the directions from the box. I don't know if it was due to the low that was becoming more apparent, or my plain stubborness to do it myself, but I sat there for longer than necessary trying to figure it out.
Becoming increasingly aware of my low and realizing I needed to get on with it, I finally gave in, walked back across the room and retrieved the piece of paper that told me I was trying to pull off the wrong end of the device to put the lancet drum in! Duh! I'm going to blame that on the low (and the fact that it was 1 A.M. and I was exhausted). Anyway, I got it all set up and proceded to check my sugar...the result?
Well, I don't recall at this moment what my blood sugar was, but the outcome was that I found a fabulous new lancing device. I LOVE it! As I mentioned above, I'm not one to get overly excited about lancing equipment. However, this time around I can't help it! I was very pleasantly surprised to find out how well it worked. I didn't feel it at all and I got enough blood on the first try, with the device set to 1 1/2. Now, it is quite possible that I'm making something out of nothing...After all, the lancet in my old device was a few months (yes, I said MONTHS!!) old, so in comparison, anything as sharp as a pointy stick would have probably felt like an improvement!
As I was getting it ready to use, I thought that it would only be a stand-in until I retrieved my beloved mini-lancing device from my car in the morning (beloved only for the fact that it was small and could easily hide in my jacket pocket while at work). This conclusion was based on the false assumption that I'd only be able to use each needle in it once before I had to put in a replacement drum (remember, my old lancet had been around for quite a while...I know I should, but I really hate being bothered to replace my lancet regularly). However, I soon discovered that I could, indeed, reuse the needles in there. Nice! And, since there are six of them in one drum, it'll be a long time before I have to put a new one in! Yay!
After thinking it over, I could only find one drawback: it is bigger than I am used to. I can work around that, though. I'll probably keep my old one for the times I need something small...but, for everyday use- it's the Multiclix for me!
Anyone else using this and think it's great, too?
paraphernalia out of my purse. Meter: check. Test strips: check. Lancing device: MIA. Shoot! Realizing that I must have left it in the car, I weighed my options. Go back out to get it, and risk waking everyone up while tripping over things in the dark (it was close to 1 A.M.) or find one of the many other lancing devices I had packed away somewhere in my room. I chose option #2.
The first useful item I came across was an unopened Accu-chek Aviva kit, so I decided whatever lancing device was inside would suit my needs for the moment. I figured that all of these things are basically the same, so it would just be a matter of putting one of the sample lancets that came with it into the device and getting on with the show. Or, just using one of the lancets by itself to poke my finger. Hmmm...not possible! Rather than having actual single lancets, there was a sort of drum with holes in it. Now, other diabetes toys I know about: they interest me and I enjoy keeping up to date with all updates and improvements. Lancets and related products are boring, so I don't bother with "the latest and greatest" advancements in this area. And that, folks, explains why I wasn't previously aware of this particular piece of diabetes gadgetry.
Confident that I could work the device without aid, I didn't bother to pull the directions from the box. I don't know if it was due to the low that was becoming more apparent, or my plain stubborness to do it myself, but I sat there for longer than necessary trying to figure it out.
Becoming increasingly aware of my low and realizing I needed to get on with it, I finally gave in, walked back across the room and retrieved the piece of paper that told me I was trying to pull off the wrong end of the device to put the lancet drum in! Duh! I'm going to blame that on the low (and the fact that it was 1 A.M. and I was exhausted). Anyway, I got it all set up and proceded to check my sugar...the result?
Well, I don't recall at this moment what my blood sugar was, but the outcome was that I found a fabulous new lancing device. I LOVE it! As I mentioned above, I'm not one to get overly excited about lancing equipment. However, this time around I can't help it! I was very pleasantly surprised to find out how well it worked. I didn't feel it at all and I got enough blood on the first try, with the device set to 1 1/2. Now, it is quite possible that I'm making something out of nothing...After all, the lancet in my old device was a few months (yes, I said MONTHS!!) old, so in comparison, anything as sharp as a pointy stick would have probably felt like an improvement!
As I was getting it ready to use, I thought that it would only be a stand-in until I retrieved my beloved mini-lancing device from my car in the morning (beloved only for the fact that it was small and could easily hide in my jacket pocket while at work). This conclusion was based on the false assumption that I'd only be able to use each needle in it once before I had to put in a replacement drum (remember, my old lancet had been around for quite a while...I know I should, but I really hate being bothered to replace my lancet regularly). However, I soon discovered that I could, indeed, reuse the needles in there. Nice! And, since there are six of them in one drum, it'll be a long time before I have to put a new one in! Yay!
After thinking it over, I could only find one drawback: it is bigger than I am used to. I can work around that, though. I'll probably keep my old one for the times I need something small...but, for everyday use- it's the Multiclix for me!
Anyone else using this and think it's great, too?
Monday, July 31, 2006
The Low Road
Despite wanting that A1c of 6.3, I don't plan to achieve it by having lows!
I'm not off to a very good start.
Though I set my alarm for 2 a.m., I slept through it...and the one that had been set for an hour after that, as well. When I finally woke around 4:30 a.m. I was soaked in sweat and it didn't take a genius to figure out that I was low. 49 mg/dl, to be exact. Three tabs and fifteen minutes later I was sitting at a pretty comfortable 92 and fell back asleep. And, I'm happy to say, I didn't rebound and wake up sky high (119- yay!).
On the mental front, I'm still feeling positive about my goal and ability to reach it. I know it's not going to be easy, especially once the school year starts and I'm in a different classroom with a different schedule every day. But, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
I'm not off to a very good start.
Though I set my alarm for 2 a.m., I slept through it...and the one that had been set for an hour after that, as well. When I finally woke around 4:30 a.m. I was soaked in sweat and it didn't take a genius to figure out that I was low. 49 mg/dl, to be exact. Three tabs and fifteen minutes later I was sitting at a pretty comfortable 92 and fell back asleep. And, I'm happy to say, I didn't rebound and wake up sky high (119- yay!).
On the mental front, I'm still feeling positive about my goal and ability to reach it. I know it's not going to be easy, especially once the school year starts and I'm in a different classroom with a different schedule every day. But, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Choose a path; set a goal
I signed up for this blog quite a while ago, but only recently decided to actually use it. Why? Mostly because I've been looking for a way to keep myself motivated. I need something to prevent me from falling off the track. It would not be an understatement to say that my level of attention to care, with respect to diabetes, hasn't been top notch for a while. It's not that I didn't care or didn't try my best. It's just that it's been so hard. I finally came to a point where I had to choose a path: either the dark road where I just give up completely or the difficult road where I (attempt) to be the model PWD...by making it THE focal point in my life. At this moment, I can't find a middle ground where I can coexist peacefully with this disease, so it has to be all or nothing. Fortunately, I choose "all." Maybe, in time, I'll be able to have that excellent control everyone expects of me without obsessing over it 24/7. But, for now, it's going to take over my waking--and, most likely, sleeping-- hours so that I can reach my goal.
But, how will I tell when I've reached my goal of being a "model PWD"? I'll need something to measure. I guess in this case, I'll have to use that standard test...Of course I'm talking about the A1c. I don't want to set myself up for failure, but I do need to challenge myself. Therefore, my official goal is an A1c of 6.3. Believe me, that is no small feat! I've got about two and a half months before my next appointment, so tomorrow I begin micromanaging...retesting basal rates and bolus rates...subjecting the six finger tips I test with to endless jabs (more 2 hour pp checks)...setting the 2-3 a.m. alarm (which I know I'll sleep through more times than not!)...counting carbs more accurately (meaning: less guestimating, more measuring!).
I'm in a surprisingly positive mood about all of this now. I suppose it's all setting the goal and taking the first step...
But, how will I tell when I've reached my goal of being a "model PWD"? I'll need something to measure. I guess in this case, I'll have to use that standard test...Of course I'm talking about the A1c. I don't want to set myself up for failure, but I do need to challenge myself. Therefore, my official goal is an A1c of 6.3. Believe me, that is no small feat! I've got about two and a half months before my next appointment, so tomorrow I begin micromanaging...retesting basal rates and bolus rates...subjecting the six finger tips I test with to endless jabs (more 2 hour pp checks)...setting the 2-3 a.m. alarm (which I know I'll sleep through more times than not!)...counting carbs more accurately (meaning: less guestimating, more measuring!).
I'm in a surprisingly positive mood about all of this now. I suppose it's all setting the goal and taking the first step...
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