The 6th Sense.

Don’t worry, I don’t see dead people.

I do however have an innate sense about my blood sugar. Without a test I can guesstimate where I am, so a test never really brings a surprising result. Don’t worry I never rely on just the feeling, I’m a frequent tester. Some would say too frequent.

My 6th sense has always been based on little clues from my body. The earliest one I can remember is a shaking right leg at age 7. Lately this sense has been failing me. The signs have been changing, and apparently my body forgot to inform me that a new boss was in town.

The surge of heat I usually feel to warn me of a low now means nothing. The feeling of my hands being under a cold blow dryer, has lost it's accuracy. I’m not jolting out of my sleep through the night in my test, juice, repeat mode. Instead of being irritable I’m talkative. It’s now all about groggy middle of the night lows, and zoning out at 55mg/dL during the day.

The dry mouth isn’t a sign of a high, instead I’ve been feeling this weird weight on my chest. Headaches have never really been a definite cue, but now they are a sign of absolutely nothing. Highs aren’t making me sleepy, I’m still able to function. I’m feeling hyperglycemic starting at 150mg/dL, instead of over 200mg/dL.

It’s all very strange. I wasn’t ready for it. But as usual change is the name of the game when it comes to Type 1 Diabetes. I’ve been taking the “test don’t guess," motto to the extreme. It’s safe to say my poor fingers have taken a beating because of this. Just in case the old signs don’t come back, I’m learning the new ones. If the 6^th sense is ready to change, I’ll just have to do the same.

I owe you guys this one. My first drive.

Let's set the scene.
My friends and I always have trouble making plans so that everyone can attend. For almost a month the girls and I had been talking about a girl's day. So we picked Monday (MLK day) when we knew everyone would be off and free. Most of my friends just happen to live in a town about 25/30 minutes away, because the school I used to attend allows students from more than just the town it's in for the Science & Technology program. So we usually end up hanging out somewhere closer to their houses, of coursed we picked the local outdoor shopping center on one of the coldest days but that is beside the point. Now that I have my license these sort of trips will become a little bit easier, because my mom would usually sit in the book store while I walked around with my friends or go waste money somewhere and I always felt bad about it. It was just easier for her to stay than drive the almost 1 hour round trip.
I was permitted to leave the house a little early to go sussy shopping and eventually meet my friends. The ride there was fine. I tested in the 120ish range at the house, got behind the wheel of the van, popped in my Dixie Chicks CD and sang the whole way there. When I arrived at the book store I checked my blood sugar again and it was 91, I drank some juice because I knew I wouldn't be there long but 91 was only going to drop. I left the bookstore, checked my sugar again, and headed for the near by mall to have lunch with my friends. We spent the day going in and out of the stores trying to keep warm, buying a few things (a pair of purple sequin ballet flats for me), and eventually ended up at the movie theater to see Juno. I checked my blood sugar before the movie and came in at 190, I gave less than half a correction bolus and went in to enjoy the show (go see it, it was my second time, I still laughed and cried). I knew that my basal rate would start to kick up towards the end of the movie because it was around the time I usually prepare to eat dinner (I have weird evening highs I'll call it dinner phenomenon) . So after I cried my eyes out at the end of the movie, I made sure my friends were with their parents and went to the van. I turned the engine on to warm up, then checked my blood sugar, 67. Can't drive with that. So I pop a juice box and call my house. I talked to my sister, and told her I was doubling my usual treatment and then I would head home when my blood sugar was over 100. She tells our parents and they say okay. I was actually wasn't too surprised by this reaction, my mom is of the "she won't always have us to save her" school. I waited retested, 122, and started the trip home. When I got home I found out my dad had been freaking out, and had suggested that they drive the half hour out to get me. I just laughed and told him I was prepared and not to worry! All in all it was a great day. I wasn't even upset that diabetes had to tarnish my first driving memory.

Quick question.

I'm heading to my Endo on Thursday for my 1 month pump check-up. I have a quick question for anyone who uses Animas supplies (Insets). I'm coming upon my first reorder towards the end of the month, I want to make sure to do it before our insurance switches to CIGNA in January. So say I wanted to change my cannula and tubing length, do I have to get a new prescription when I go the Dr. on Thursday to do this? Or can I just change what I want on the website ordering thing, and the insurance company will be billed without a glitch? I'm sure I can have my mom call to ask, but I figured I would ask here too.
I've been having a boat load of overnight lows so I have been tweaking my basal rates, we'll see what happens. Expect a pump and doctor update Friday.

Thanksgiving...

Today is Thanksgiving. A day that I am sure most diabetics either loathe or just let go and eat, but let's not talk about that. I want to share what I did for my Thanksgiving.

This morning I woke up at 6 AM, earlier than I have woken up in a while. I showered, dressed, and got on with my plans. Double checked my purse for all of my D supplies, printed out the Secret Santa names and wish list, ate breakfast, changed my shoes 3 times, the usual holiday prep. Around 8 AM we hit the road, with my mom asking her signature "Does everyone have the essentials?" before we left the driveway. This is a question always directed at me, and I was ready with my kit in my bag and my pump at my hip. So we were off, and after an hour we were at a rest stop and I got behind the wheel. Before I even turned the key, I check my blood sugar. 95, a little lower than I would like to drive at, I ate 15 carbs and my leg of the journey began. This lasted for about 45 minutes, because even though I ate before driving as I drove through the country roads of Lancaster I felt hot and less focused.
(Amish Horse & Buggy)

I told my mom I needed to pull over as soon as possible, so thankfully within 5 minutes we found a gas station. I checked in at 67, there was a driver switch and Swedish fish for me. After I was back into range I turned on my boy band playlist and the whole family rocked out to my lover's former band.
When we arrived, we were greeted with open arms from cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We watched 2 parades on TV with the horrible lip syncing, and then it was game time.
(Packers v. Lions, my sister is a huge Packers fan.)

At 1PM we sat down to dinner. Stuffing, mash potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetable medley, maple sugar brussel sprouts, rolls and turkey is the only thing with no carbs!

After the tryptophan kicked in I plopped into a chair and cuddled up for a 2 hour nap. When I woke up, the wind was blowing outside and it was time for pie! After eating enough pie to feed a small country, it was almost time to go. My little cousin Cara and I began our Secret Santa rounds. I am training her to take over as manager of the wish list and making the little name tags to put in the basket.


Then we headed home, and arrived in time to have a nice dinner of last night's leftover roast beef.

I just want to say that this year, I am definitely most thankful for all of you and the support that you have given me on my road towards better control. Happy Thanksgiving to all my virtual blessings out there!

I can NOT believe this...

First, this morning I watch a relatively good interview with Dr. Tim Johnson & his wife on Good Morning America, about her Type 1 Diabetes. She was diagnosed when she was in her 30's, a poster adult for LADA. It was pretty much factually accurate, she showed her pump, tested her blood sugar on the air, they talked about a cure, hypoglycemia, etc.
I was thinking alright, go GMA!

Then I went to checked out the website after the show like they direct you to do.
I stumbled upon ABC's On Call + Diabetes.

And this is the part where I hop onto my soapbox.

So I looked around, and found this, which pissed me off. So according to this guy diabetes is caused by diet. Wow, I didn't know that doctor, so you are telling me that when I was 5 I was not following the right diet and I ended up skeleton skinny and this caused my (type 1) diabetes? Please, can you just say Type 2 before diabetes. It's an extra 2 syllables, I'm sure it won't kill you and all your other medical professional friends! I get the fact that Type 2 is the more prevalent disease, but that doesn't mean you can put us all under that same big blue "diabetes" umbrella. Also, some Type 2's are not even overweight!!! I could go on for days...
Now I will step off my soapbox.

5 S's

Software
Recently I started using SugarStats to see if it would help me document the trends I see in my readings. I do not have the software for my Ultra Smart, so I needed something else to create graphs and logs. I would have to say that I am not satisfied with SugarStats. I can see how it is helpful for some, but I didn’t feel like the graphs were detailed enough, and I also hate how you have to enter meds and readings separately. It took FOREVER! So I went to trusty Google and found something better GlucoseOne. It has the graphs I wanted, individual days showing the ups and downs I see daily not just averages. You can enter meds and readings at the same time. I love it!!

Sprained
I sprained my ankle while helping my sister move into her 3rd floor apartment on Wednesday. My blood sugar was low, but being stubborn I was still trying to help. So somewhere walking down the steep and narrow stairs, my ankle twisted in and whalah sprained ankle. If my blood sugar hadn’t have been low I would have had better reaction time and coordination. Stubborn should be another a “S” in this post. Now to one of the things that could have caused this low.

Symlin
So Thursday evening I decided to stop using Symlin, for a few reasons. Mainly the fact that I was having excruciating headaches. I know they were Symlin related headaches because when I would skip a dose the headaches didn’t happen. Before taking Symlin I would rarely get headaches, and Symlin is the only thing that has changed. Plus, the headaches happened just as I would be mid way through any meal that I took Symlin before. This is the scenario: I would test for my before meal number inject my Novolog, inject the Symlin, go eat, and about halfway through my head would be throbbing, and I would become so nauseated that I could never complete a meal. Then for 2 hours after all I could do was sit with my eyes closed. Now this wasn’t really happening when I started, and when it was it wasn’t this bad. It wasn’t like a migraine, it was just a little nausea and a slight twinge in my head. But now its horrible, plus I don’t really know if my improved numbers were just Symlin, or Symlin combined with my new found dedication to Diabetor. Which leads me to the next “S”….

Settling
I think before I started taking the Symlin I was settling. Just taking whatever my doctor said, following that and not trying to make anything better on my own. Tweaking has become my new hobby, carb ratios, correction factors, timing, testing. I think that if I hadn’t started with the postprandial blood sugar checks, constant note taking and correcting. I would not have seen success. I do not doubt that Symlin as a drug actually helped me, but I think it actually motivated me to gain more control overall. And since stopping, I have actually had the same or better numbers (weird I know), by just using the things I learned while on it.

School
I think I mentioned in another post that I was beginning the process of home schooling myself, using a self directed program. So as of a few weeks ago I became and official student of Keystone National High School. I have been having a lot of trouble with motivation and my mom is stressing this fact. I think it has a lot to do with the fact, that this step solidifies that I will not be returning to my high school. It’s not the actual school, seeing as I had a horrible time there and they did not cooperate with the many health issues (anxiety, depression, and Diabetor) that prevented me from being the best student I know that I can be. It’s that this distances me from my friends, and being a person with anxiety it’s already really hard to get myself to a place where hanging out with people is actually fun and not overwhelming. I just feel like it will cause my friends to grow away from me, because I won’t be participating in a huge part of their lives anymore. I guess time will only tell. And for another "S".

Sayônara!