Seeing a number above 120 on my meter is like receiving a C in school.
Seeing 200 or above is like utterly failing.
I don't like how I can't control this all too well. Before my last endocrinologist visit, I thought for sure my HBA1C would be not too good- a 7 or so- yet it was quite acceptable (though still diabetic). I dread this upcoming visit, too, because I don't foresee having a good number (miraculously) again. Too many 200s. I hate to know that the damage is- and will- add up. But I hardly know what to do. Should I eat more fat? Less? Should I take insulin or eat less carb? If I exercise for 30 minutes, will my blood sugar be alright if I eat this extra portion? Etc. My guessing-game almost always is off. But how could it be anything but? I am not a pancreas, I don't know how to be one, and I don't want to be one.
5 comments:
Look at it this way - if you suffered a horrible accident and you lost an arm, say, you would need time to adapt to not having an arm. Same thing with your pancreas. I think trying to make your life as routine, as predictable as possible, will help your blood sugar.
It may sound odd, but one benefit of you getting sick is, you post more. So we in the electronic hinterlands are fortunate. ;-)
(and this is Marvin, I've been messing with my Google profile because it's acting oddly and associating things I don't want it to.)
Ah! Marvin! The Bilbo bit really threw me for a loop for a moment. I'm guessing your google account must really be acting up for you to modify it so, huh?
Eh, I think I fixed it. Sometimes I really despise Google. It's so hard to remain anonymous anymore. And of course, that's what they want, to drag people out of the shadows and into the light, where they cannot say what they think.
If it's possible, I highly recommend the book, Think Like a Pancreas, by Gary Scheiner. He is a longtime type 1 diabetic and his book is an excellent one that can help type 1 diabetics figure out how to make sense of using basal and bolus insulin. Because you're still very new to this, it can seem overwhelming and like everything is complete guesswork, but it doesn't have to be that way.
But no, you'll never be as good at regulating your blood sugar as a healthy pancreas is, but you can become able to handle most everything, be able to handle the foods you want to eat, be able to exercise in the way you want to.
I won't tell you that it's easy. I've got 26 years of practice at being a diabetic and there's still stuff that happens which is frustrating and baffling. But it can be better. You can learn and you can become more knowledgeable -- and then be healthier with that.
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