SweetLifeStories Diabetes Blog

why oh why is it SO difficult to focus and get anything done with high blood sugars?  i hate when that happens!

today after working on trimming a porcelain plate in a local clay studio, i went out to lunch with a few friends. nothing much; just 1 mini lunch-sized chicken enchilada and taste of beans. gave plenty of insulin to cover those carbs. i actually left hungry. came home and gave yet more insulin to cover a sugar-free dark chocolate-covered ice cream bar. and then my b.s. started to rise. and rise some more.

groggy. sleepy. eyes hurting. whatever was on my to-do list vanished, brutally conquered by those blood sugars.

a short nap might be just the ticket, i thought, before getting some things checked off my list. very important to me–accomplishing things, moving forward every day. so after giving a small bolus on my insulin pump, i crawled under the covers to nest with my crazy sleep-loving dogs.

and here i sit six hours later, blood sugar level slightly lower but still sleepy, unfocused; dare i say unmotivated? guess that growing to-do list will have to wait for tomorrow. my dogs are calling me with an invitation to give up the stress of personal accountability and just sink into blissful sleep.

surrender or escape? win or lose? who knows! feels like i’m starring in my very own diabolical version of Lost . . . 

ok, i’m busted.

in the nice warm spring weather, i labored in my rock garden for more than 3 hours when my arms and lips went a little numb. then my legs started to tingle. oops; low blood sugar, i said to myself. candy, need candy NOW!

slipping off garden sneakers, i stumbled into the kitchen. suddenly i remembered: there was a single dark chocolate covered marshmallow peep bunny tucked away (out of sight, out of mind!) in the pantry. Ooh, the perfect fix for my dropping blood sugar.

and it was. then it wasn’t. hare and gone, you know?

rescued, feeling better, i returned to another 2 hours’ work in ze jardin. happy, satiated with a few bites, and glad another peep wasn’t tucked away somewhere (it was that sinfully good).

went in yesterday for a tiny dermatology procedure–got a small mole taken off my upper lip, as it needed to be checked for skin cancer. i’m not worried about it, but i was surely thrown for a loop by the effects of taking 1 lower-dose valium just prior to the in-office procedure: it (and maybe the physical stress?) pushed my blood sugars to the mid-high 200′s! it seemed no matter how much insulin boluses i gave, the levels were the same. i slept for hours!

finally this morning, i got a 152, waited an hour to eat something light, and now feel more normal than not.

now i’m up (physically and mentally), ready to face an early-spring kind of day: abundant sunshine, slowly warming temps, and lots to accomplish. not a minute to waste! my crazy dogs are still burrowed under the blankets as if it’s winter (don’t they smell the sunshine?), but not me! up, onward, and outa here, loop de looping and leaping forward into the spring sunshine!

January 17, 2010

Argggggghhh! Wouldn’t you know it? Decent blood sugar control smashed to smithereens by an unforeseen detail: My rising blood stubbornly refused to respond to more and more boluses of insulin, so when I got up just the other morning, I decided to take a more careful look at what might be causing this “insulin resistance.” What did I discover? Jeez; the insulin I’d put into my newly-changed pump which was flowing into my body for the last 2-3 days actually had an expired date on the bottle! I can’t believe that an expiration date of just 3 months can make all the difference in the insulin being effective, but apparently it does. Of all the stupid things to discover. Sometimes being too familiar with my routine of self-care really backfires, as in this case. I guess I only thought I was being conscientious. Glad I discovered the problem, though, and only had to suffer thru 2 days of high blood sugars–which was unpleasant enough. One step forward–and a little gold star, please, for being conscientious. Two steps back, I’m afraid, for being too rushed to check the details when I loaded my pump, thereby ruining my blood sugar average for the month! Where do I go now–to detention?

Sunday, Jan 10, 2010

Suddenly just around the bend from the holidays and roaring into the new year, more light is filling the sky. A touch more warmth in the air brings the hope of spring. There’s just something so magical about this time of year and its promise of new beginnings that I love! It gives me both hope and pleasure in the small promises and joys of living day-to-day. It may even be enough to tempt me to try using the new (to me) Minimed QuickSet in my pump which–those of you who are reading the blog may recall–gave me mega headaches and supersized blood sugars the last time I tried this type of set-up.

Went x-c skiing last Friday. Proved to myself that I could get out and do it after 7 years off skiis. But had a few bruising falls and killer-sore ankles, too! Thankfully, the aches and pains lessened over 24 hours. My blood sugars were great during the actual skiing; I got to eat anything I wanted and didn’t even have to take ANY insulin boluses while I was moving. That’s the miracle of this type of exercise mixed with Type I diabetes. On the other hand, the minute I finished and sat down in the bus for the trip back home, whoosh! Up jumped my blood sugar levels . . . and they stayed in the 180-low 200 range for a few hours. But the exercise inspired me enough to plan waking up early Monday morning to tackle an exercise class–something I stopped attending during the holiday pressure and madness.

Hooray, a new day dawns with new opportunity!

Dec 20, 2009

Boy oh boy how a week or two or three can upend the sometimes happy status quo of life! I decided to try a new insulin pump infusion set-up–one that’s different from the Sof-Set QR I’d been successfully using with my treasured Minimed pump for years–and have been chasing very high blood sugars. Like in the high 400′s and then crashing down to glucose levels in the 30′s & 40′s with heart-pounding vision-darkening effects that are all part of the package. Wanting to give up, even. Jeez: I thought I’d left these sensations behind when I switched from shots to the more measured control offered by an insulin pump! But here it is again, just to humble me and remind me that sometimes, there’s no real winning in the war on diabetes. Sigh.

So after my last go-round of being tossed smack into the whirling eddy of failure, I somehow accessed my desire to master this overwhelming battle by going back to my trusty old set-up. Sure enough, almost a full day later, my blood sugars are leveling out. I want to shout: Take that! You can’t win! What I do and want . . . matters! But I don’t want the gods of retribution to hear me . . . so I’m just offering a small thanks for riding out these episodes to move forward in this battle and reclaim doing more of what fuels me . . . family, friends, photography, playing with clay. Another lesson learned to help me walk into another day. Grateful, but definitely tired.

Later, friends.

Kath

OMG, what a day and crazy way to start sharing my thoughts about living with Type 1 diabetes–on a blog, of all venues  . . . the weekend after T-day! But what else is new–diabetes and the struggle with food.  Same old-same old, I guess! You know:  Eating too little or too much, and reaping the consequences of whatever decisions we make regarding insulin/meds and every speck of food entering our bodies . . .

For me, it was the 1/2 of an honestly small slice of pumpkin pie that did me in; had to take extra insulin before crawling into bed. That’s always worrisome. But I woke up feeling ok and within a normal b.s. range, thanks to my trusty Minimed insulin pump and Rachael, my trusty medical counsel, helping me to fine tune the basal levels.

A few walks around the block the last few days and conscientious eating–just before snow threatens to move in by tonight–have done wonders.  Feeling much better! And wondering how the rest of you fared with blood sugars over the Thanksgiving holiday . . .

More, later, including info on what I’m up to & why I’m driving down the blog-way!  Take care, friends!

Kath