I don't hate Diabetes--Exactly

I have to qualify my first post where I said "I HATE DIABETES" in big capital letters(or at least that is what I was feeling like that day)

So many blessings have come into my life since I got diabetes that I can't discount all of the good that has come to me because of this diagnosis. I'll just name 5 blessings

1. I have better health than ever before. Since I have to eat more healthfully to keep my Blood Sugars under Control, the natural byproduct is better health. I also have to exercise and that is definitely a benefit for my body.

2. I have my husband. I had no intention of getting married after high school. I wanted to make my mark on humanity and I thought that was in the working world. I would never have moved to the town or frequented the places I met him if I hadn't gotten diabetes.

3. I have my children. I never wanted kids. I never liked babysitting other peoples and why would I want some of my own.

4. I have God. He was always there but I wasn't interested in what He had to offer, getting diabetes forced me to examine how I was living my life and what I wanted, really wanted out of life, and I realized that I wanted His help, and it was there for me....nuf said

5. I have friends. That sounds so contrite. I had them before but now I get to see their mettle, and if they are really my friends: the ones that stay long-term. Thanks you guys, you know who you are.....

Just one more

6. I have this blog: is it a blessing or a curse? I would never have started a blog of any sort, but diabetes gives me a platform that I know some small thing about; it allows me to be just different enough to satisfy my need to not follow the crowd.

I sweat sugar!!! Needs more tests

I just ran into something fascinating about my body that I wanted to share. I just went to the doctor and I have been waking up low, ie: 59 BG instead of the wanted 90 so the doc changed my Basal Insulin Rate from 2AM at .95/u per hour to 6AM at .95/u per hour.

The first morning that I had the new basal rate change: my morning score was 266 which is about 180+ above normal range.

I had my long run which is up to 5 miles so I gave 1/2 the amount of insulin and got dressed and ran on the treadmill. I did a run walk routine for about 70 min. to complete my 5 miles and then I checked my Blood sugars.

Just a note that substantiates my claim about sweating sugar: I had been sweating profusely and I had been wiping it off with my hands to prevent the sweat from getting in my eyes. I was literally dripping when I finished.

My Blood Sugar reading was 186 which for my response to exercise, was much higher than I was expecting. Considering that I had just exercised continuously for more than 1 hour, I was expecting that my Blood Glucose would be in the 50-80 range. I thought that was strange but whenever I have a reading that I don't understand and is substantially out of what I am expecting, I always go wash my hands and then check again.

When I did this: my BG was 116. WOW!!! And I am therefore led to believe that when I have High Blood Sugars, my body uses every tool at its disposal to get rid of the excess sugar; IE: I sweat sugar----SWEET!!!

Of course to substantiate my claim: I will have to redo the test again.. If my BG is higher than 250 tomorrow morning I will try the test again: run 5 miles and see if the same result happens. I don't think I want to do this more than once so I hope that I will prove my theory right.

Back up and Running

Is there ever a way to be back to normal? What is normal anyway?

I have been dealing with an infection on one of my toes. It started out as a hangnail that I just pulled off.
A week later it got infected and then I had to go through two rounds of Antibiotics and putting antibiotic cream on it twice a day. The doctor also ordered X-rays to rule out an infection in the bone. That kind of scared me because who knew how soon it would heal if the infection was there. He said I was doing the right things but the bacteria were just hanging on. 100.00 worth of X-rays later and I found out that day that my bones are clean and there is no infection.

I had almost given up hope that it would ever heal because I have to keep it covered to keep the germs and dirt away and every night, I would look at it and despair of it ever having that completely healed look. Thanks heaven I am almost out of the woods on this one.

It has now been two months, and a lost toenail later that I think it has finally healed. There is no more pain and that is all I can hope for. At least I can still feel my feet.

Since I have been going through this, I haven't been able to wear my normal shoe: a Saucony Running Shoe because they are the most comfortable shoes on the planet in my opinion.

I signed up to run a 5K on Thanksgiving morning and then found out just yesterday that I haven't completed the sign up process. So I can back out if I want to: but I won't because my goal is to run a marathon. I think a 5K is a good start but I am a little nervous because all the time I could have been spending on training has been spent on healing. I will go out tomorrow on my long run and see if I can run 3 miles. I can't actually run more than a few blocks in a row right now but I am going to be working on building my endurance and using Jeff Galloway's Walk-Run routine seems like the best way to run without injury.

I just finished reading Jeff Galloway's Book on Running and he saved the injury section for last. I think it was because the description of them, not to mention the pain involved would talk me out of running in an instant. He spends the entire book educating you how to run so you don't get injured and encouraging you that it is within your reach and then gives the bad news at the end.

I wasn't fazed -That Much-- I really want control of my diabetes and I feel this is the way to get it and get all of the benefits of running combined. Plus I don't like taking insulin and I would love if I could reduce my habit to almost zero. That is control in my book.

I also want to live to see my kids grow up and graduate, go to college, get married, go on missions, etc. I won't be able to do that if I don't get a handle on this Diabetes thing.

I am just working out how I will control my blood sugars in a marathon or any other race for that matter. I tend to use all of my sugar and am more sensitive to the insulin than when I am not exercising. I wouldn't want that to happen while I am running. I don't think I have seen a drunk sailor running and that is what I would look like with low blood sugars if I don't collapse altogether.

Hallelujah Monday

I got a call from my supplier of Pump Supplies. When I called back, I got the whole rundown on upgrading my pump. The person also said they, meaning the Company, had already sent the necessary paperwork to my Doctor to start the approval process. I asked about the CGMS (AKA: Continuous Glucose Monitoring System) and said supplier said they had run the CODES and they had come back approved.

This is really cool because I had a conversation with my DOCTOR last week and he said he hadn't been able to get any approval on this item. This says to me that my insurance company is going to pay for CGMS!!!!

I am only so excited because the actual cost for this option and the necessary supplies run in the ballpark of:(don't let the air suck itself out of the room please, which would sound like a sharp intake of breath)

1500-3000 for the Sensor and 250-350 per month for the supplies. This is so I can have the A!C of a normal person which is currently 4-6% ( this is a whole math problem of the amount of sugar divided by the total amount of blood)

I don't know about you but that is a prohibitively expensive (do you think I could have used a bigger word?) amount of money each and every month.

Just so you know, I really do talk this way in real life and I am very excited about this because I think all of my efforts to keep my blood sugar levels under control will not go wasted on the whim of whatever is happening to me at any particular time during the day.

It's not Over till it's OVER.......

I have finally started and I know it is very early in the morning but I had to do this. Tomorrow I will start adding raw data about what I am doing to take care of myself.

I will do this every day so that I will have a record of what I did.

I don't know if this will include what I ate (do I really want to give that information?) or if I exercised; I think it might because it does fall into the scope of things here so bring it on.

(My Significant Other says: Bring it on and bring some caffeine!! Anyone who knows me will know: I don't drink that stuff and I would be a hypocrite if I did because I spend so much time telling everyone that it is bad for you and not to do it; and maybe I shouldn't blog what he says...)

I wonder what the Doc will say. Oh I know; he will just laugh and chalk it up to: that is Wife of Ski. Yes that is what I am calling myself (you didn't really think I would leave my real name here did you?)

I just have to say: I hate Diabetes.

There. That being said: I will never give up fighting to have a better life in spite of it; and I mean that, not because I think anyone will read this (which I don't) but because I want a better life, even if I throw my hands in the air, some days, and say, "I give up today because I can't handle the stress"; or something along those lines.

So now begins my JOURNAL; what a horrible word; of my struggles and triumphs with Diabetes. And maybe sometime, I will post something that happened in the past.

This is a work in progress, as is all life and it just isn't over until it is over.....