Something New

It's been a while since I've written.

As it gets close to time to go back home I'm realizing that once again I've slacked on taking care of my diabetes. There was a month or so while I was home that I had perfect blood sugars. The best blood sugars I've had since a long time ago, before puberty when my mom was doing everything for me. It was hard work, but I felt really good. Everything went well until I stopped doing the work and now that month of hard work has been overshadowed by about two, maybe three months of really poor work on my part. Something has to change. I've had diabetes for almost twenty years and my blood sugars are still "out of control".

I have a plan. It's the same plan I had back in that month that I did really well. Only this time I want to write about it.

I have a planner. Planners and myself have never been the best of friends but I've decided that it's time we got over our differences and worked with each other. That month that I had really good blood sugars I wrote down EVERYTHING. I kept track of my daily and weekly blood sugar averages and if the average was ever below 180, which is where I want it, I got to put a little pink tab on it. It's amazing what rewards you can give yourself when you're easily amused. A little colored piece of sticky paper was all I needed. I want to be testing 4-5 times a day. Once when I wake up in the morning, once about noon, once between 5 and 7, and once when I go to bed. The fifth test is if I have any lows during a day.

So here's how I'm going to write about it. I'm going to not only keep track of my numbers in my planner, but also write them down here, so that anyone who is interested can see them. I'm hoping that this will also give the me the extra push to do this daily.

If you are interested, there are some vocab words you'll need to know.

A1c - the fancy name of this is a glycosylated hemoglobin test. Basically its the average blood sugar a person has over a three month period. Mine has been at or above nine since I was nine. This means my average blood sugar since I was nine has been somewhere around 250, probably higher. A person without diabetes would have an A1c between 4 and 6. Most diabetics are happy if there's is 7. 7 is my ultimate goal but I'd be happy just to get it down to an 8.

Basal Rate - I'm on an insulin pump which gives me the option of having a steady amount of insulin being pumped into my body. It's similar to an IV. Right now I'm getting (throughout the day) between 24 and 33 units of insulin.

Good blood sugar - I had a doctor once tell me there were no good and bad blood sugars. I think there are. To me my blood sugar is good if it is below 180 and above 90. Bad blood sugars are everything else.

I can't think of what other words I might use from the language of Diabetes. If you're interested and at some point I use a word you don't know, just ask. I'm more than happy to explain.

My plan for writing about all of this is to write every night and post the four or five blood sugars for the day, plus any insights, or rants, or explanations I feel like for that day.

Thanks for reading!