A Day in the Life

As I mentioned yesterday, I decided to write about my diabetes on Mondays.

Then I got to thinking about how much I need some diabetes support, how much I think talking about the different things that are going on with my diabetes would help me, and how I just found all these really cool diabetes blogs on the Internet and it made me feel so much better.

So I started one.

But still, I'm going to write a bit about diabetes here today as well. (Just forget for a moment that it's not Monday, okay? It's been a little crazy around here lately.)

I'm not sure exactly what I'll write about either here or on my other blog, but I figured I'd start today with a recap of my blood glucose tests yesterday, and what medications I took and all that other stuff that can affect how my day goes. Yesterday was a somewhat crazy b.s. day, all ups and downs. It's been like that several days within the last month or so, where I am suddenly higher or lower than I think the situation warrants, even though I can track why my blood sugar went up or down. Let me see if I can explain...

I woke up yesterday morning and at 7:30 my b.s. was 85. That's a pretty good fasting score, and I usually am right about there, anywhere from 75 to 100, but of course if I get a cold or am especially stressed or sleep late or whatever, then it can go up or down and cause trouble. So anyway, I took my morning Lantus and a Humalog dose of 13, which seems to be the norm for breakfast.

The last couple of months, my sugar peaks after breakfast; not really sure of the cause but it will head up toward the 150-180 range. If I take insulin to bring it down, then it crashes really low, and it usually doesn't go higher than about 180. If it does, then I can take insulin, and in fact, I need to, but this peak thing just seems to be normal. Not sure how to feel about that, and sometimes it worries me, but there it is.

I've been walking Ben to work in the mornings, so I can get some exercise to bring it down as well as to get James some good morning exercise so he sleeps well. Not sure what to do now that it's going to be getting steadily colder around here...we'll have to find something, though, since exercise is really the only thing that works for that blood sugar rise.

Anyway, midway through the 45-minute walk, I check my sugar to see what's up. This time, at 9:10 it was 159. But by the time we got home changed, and watered, etc, at 9:45 it was 137. Perfect. But then...10:30 56, so I had some banana bread. 11:00 72, so I had another slice with my lunch of lentil soup. James was frantically tired by the time we got done with lunch (since it felt like an hour later to him...oh, how I loathe Falling Back), so I put him to bed, then came out and checked b.g.=150 at 11:45. So I took my lunch shot then. Only took 6H because usually I get an after-lunch dip, and have recently figured out that it's easier to monitor closely and take a little extra insulin than get so low and have to eat my way back up. I am so sick of eating.

But then, at the time I expected James to be waking up, he wasn't. Stupid, evil, horrid Falling Back....did I mention I hate Falling Back? Anyway, at 1:45 it was 184. I waited too long to check on it, should've checked around 12:45 instead. But I was blogging! So anyway, I took only 2H...but *magically*, by 3:45 it was 64. Actually, I know it got low because we went outside and ran around playing with our friend Olivia....but still, ONLY 2 UNITS! Plus, if I hadn't taken any? It would've been high. Frustrating. So I had some yogurt with James. And a couple of crackers that he didn't want to eat....Very typical mom habit, eating what your kid leaves behind.

By dinnertime at 5:30, it was back up to 175. I honestly don't know why. I can think of some potential reasons, but truthfully, I don't really know. But there you have it. Yo-yo. So I took 10H because that's slightly more than the usual 8H I'd been taking at dinner...but the past couple of days I'd taken 12H because I was getting an after-dinner high.

I didn't take the 12 because I ate only about 2/3 of what I normally do for dinner...we had stuffed baked potatoes and I only had 1/2 a potato instead of my usual one. I know, I probably shouldn't normally eat the whole thing....which is why I didn't this time. But man, those tatoes are tasty. Anyway.

7:00 p.m. 200. Crap! Should've taken the 12....but then if I did? Probably would've been low. So I took 2H again. Again, conservative estimate, since sometimes it can take much more than that to lower.

8:15 p.m. 80. Okay. Must've fixed it. Feelin' good about that. Ate some snapea crisps because I was a teeny bit hungry. Put James to bed, which involved riding in the car for awhile amongst other things...This new teething issue is kickin' our butts. I was feeling a little shaky, so took ANOTHER piece of banana bread because hey, that's what we've got to eat. Ate it on the way home, felt better but still kinda hungry. But, determined not to eat, because I need to lose that weight! And because I know I'll just feel yucky and full from having to eat earlier.

9:40 p.m. 55. Oh. That's why I was hungry. Crap. Ate only a few more crackers. Refuse to eat more banana bread at this point. Am no longer hungry anyway. Oh, and take my evening Lantus, because it's actually way past time. But I was too busy getting James to bed to take it earlier.

10:00 p.m. 77. Am exhausted and go to bed. Worry a little that I might still be low later, but oh well. Also, blood sugar could ricochet and be high when I wake up. But probably it will be fine...

So there you have it. A day in the life of of this diabetic. Maybe a lot of it doesn't make sense to those of you who haven't lived with diabetes. Probably at some point I'll post about common terms and concepts and misconceptions concerning diabetes. At this point I'd just like to say this:

I am of two minds about getting advice about my diabetes. On the one hand, no one knows and understands my particular situation better than I do. I'm the one living it. So sometimes suggestions are just plain irritating. For example...."You should just get more exercise" or "Go see a nutritionist RIGHT NOW!" because....I am getting as much exercise as I can at this point (remember that whole thing where I have to take care of my one-year-old? Full of chances for exercise...but not for Pilates or a marathon jog) and I don't exactly have the money to run to the nutritionist...IF that would even help. Anyway.You know...there's always "behind the scenes" stuff that only we know about or understand or whatever.

On the other hand, sometimes I get so mired down in the details of keeping my life running that I don't notice the patterns that might help me do something better, etc. This is why I listen very carefully when my husband suggests I try something new or different with my diabetes care. He's almost always right, even when I don't like to admit that I didn't notice it myself.

But ultimately, I didn't put this post up to get advice. I did it to look at it myself, and to let you know what my experiences are. To begin to find a way to open up about my diabetes and BE open to suggestions from you as well as explaining things to you.

Oh, and also to fulfill that whole NaBloPoMo "post every day" requirement. ;)

Have a Happy Tuesday! More kid pics tomorrow.