I did it

Disclaimer - remember that your mileage may very; also I am not a doctor I just practise on myself.

I had previously talked about my frustrations Running with Pump. Conventional wisdom that advices on reducing basal insulin and / or skipping pre- meal bolus insulin prior to excising only works for me if I am going on a long walk which is not practical especially during the winter months.

This past Saturday morning we ran for about 8miles before breakfast and my starting blood glucose was at 5.3mmol/l (95) I bolus 2 units of insulin I am extremely sensitive to insulin a side effect of running as a result, with a correction factor of 1 unit of insulin to 4.0mmol/l (72) I was scared shitless, with images of having a really bad low where I can not help myself and my sister not being able to handle me by herself swimming in my mind. My sister’s fear was apparent when she grabbed her cell phone an item that is normally not part of our running arsenal. For a little peace of mind I washed down a few pieces of milk chocolate with water 10grams of carbs worth. I was also counting on chocolate being a low GI food to help hopefully!

45mins into the run and my blood glucose was 5.4mmol/l (97) normally I would be around 11mmol/l (198) or higher at this point. I was feeling good and was happy with the lack of high blood glucose symptoms I have come to associate running with lately. I crossed my fingers and prayed I do not go hypo, did I mention I am scared of lows. Another 45mins pasted my meter said I was 5.8mmol/l (104) still feeling great I remarked to my sister

“So this is how it feels like to run on normal blood glucose eh!”

I finished the run with a blood glucose reading of 5.4mmol/l (97) not bad at all if I say so myself, I opted to have a late breakfast devoid of bolus insulin to take care of the delayed workout lows. My blood glucose for the rest of the day was stuck in the 5 – 6mmol/l (90-110) range.

Success will be achieved if this formula works for me 80% of the time I hope it does, I really hope I have found what works for me.

The inspiring statue above greets hundreds of runners / joggers and walkers who make their way around Stanley Parks Seawall daily. It is a statue of Harry Jerome, during his career, he set a total of seven world records, including running the 100 metres in 10.2, 10.1 and finally 10.0 seconds successively, despite suffering an injury so severe at the Perth Commonwealth Games 1962 that doctors initially believed he would never walk again.

Taking it to the next level – I have a dream………….

All through 2005, I dreamt of better control over my blood glucose and overall health but did the bear minimum. Most of 2006 saw me doing the same till I started literally dreaming a different kind of dream, complications, I wake up in panic from a nightmare where I loss my vision or where my limbs are being hacked up by a very mean lady who keeps singing.

Weeping will not save you
For you had time to learn
But you chose not to do so
Now you ripe what you sow

A song my dad sang to a seven year old me when I brought home a bad report card in tears, - OK I know I have daddy issues but that is a different post. After the fifth nightmare I resolved to take back the control, which eventually lead me to an Insulin Pump “Pumcy”.

My toolbox contains a number of things some of which I use and use well and others I use but not to it’s full potential. Pumcy and my blood glucose meter are the most used items in my toolbox that also holds the beautiful seawall at Stanley Park I love to run the seawall, I love the ever changing scenery, the calm I feel in the mist of a bustling park that attracts an estimated eight million visitors a year.

Then there are the ones I dream of using even as they collect dust, a set of measuring cups and a nifty nutritional scale both to aid in accurately counting carbohydrate to help tighten my overall control. Last but not least is the all important bathroom scale to help attain and maintain a healthy BMI.

I have a dream that by the end of 2007 I will be using all the tools available to me in my toolbox and will have learnt to use Pumcy and the insulin contain in it to their full potential.