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.

Happy New Year!

To all a healthy and happy 2007

Happy Last 2006 Friday!

The last Friday on 2006 and I wonder what 2007 have in store for me. I am hopeful and encourage by all the advances and lessons learnt this year in regards to managing diabetes.

The best health decision by far in 2006 was getting an Insulin Pump even though it meant paying for it out of pocket I am yet to regret making this decision. I believe broke and healthy is much better than rich and sickly. I am so grateful to have been able to get a pump, this saddens me because I know there are lots of people around the world today to whom the diagnoses of type 1 diabetes still is a death sentence. The thought that some people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes will also get possible preventable complications simple because they cannot afford medications is just not right.

Thank God for organizations like Insulin for life (http://www.insulinforlife.org/)
That strives to make a difference that keeps people alive. We are all hopeful of a cure someday but without the help of organizations like them, some people, and a lot more people than necessary will not live to see a cure. I wonder if we can afford a cure when it comes, will insurance cover it?

What is the price for health? What does healthy mean to me? These were all questions I had to ponder in 2006 and questions I am working through.

Running with Pump

Over the past six years I have been running, I learnt how to run on multiply daily insulin injections and never tested blood sugar during runs even on 10k runs. I only test before plus after, on NPH it was a hit or miss however, Lantus as well as Levimer was God sent. They handled running better I always carried glucose tabs with me - certainly not a meter as I did not want to carry medical supplies with me on my runs, lows were treated by the way I felt - Not a good thing to do, nevertheless I did this for years.

Now on my insulin pump, I am learning how to run again only this time I have been running with a meter and checking my blood glucose during my runs. This has been an eye opener for me as I find that my blood sugar rises within the first 30 - 45min of running and sometimes it rises rapidly as well as higher than I would like to see it go. I can start out at 5.2mmol/l (94mg/l) and clock in at 12mmol/l (216mg/l) 30-45min later this is with my normal basal pumping. I have played with giving myself a small - I am terrified of lows, so very tiny, bolus before the start of my run and that seems to combat the rise some, however I lack the courage to increase the amount of bolus cause I am terrified of a big drop hours after my run.

I am getting a little frustrated; I do not want to burn calories just to ingest it again to treat a low. Walking lowers my blood sugar gradually but I do not have enough hours in a day to walk the distance needed for as good a workout as running. Doing the stairs in my 12-floor building has the same effect on my blood sugar as running, I would like to loose some weight in 2007 with exercise but right now it looks like running high blood sugar for a few months to lose weight might be easier if not even pleasurable -- think all the food I can eat (Ok that was the devil talking) and who want to flirt with complications anyway.
I am thinking about maybe increasing my bolus, then running a temp basal for a few hours after my run I am not sure that will work. I also know that what works for one person may not work for me I however wish for a hint on what has worked for others.
I really want to be the boss of my blood sugar if that is ever possible.

Suggestions…………………………….?