January 11, 2012

I have to admit there is something nice about waking up earlier than usual, especially when you're doing something worthwhile, like going to your second appointment with your Diabetic Nurse Counselor. What isn't quite as nice is getting there and seeing the shocked look on her face which tells you before she does that you idiotically wrote down the right day and time but the wrong date. I was a week early. Good thing she was in her office.

We chatted for a bit. She looked over my numbers and advised me to go down to 11 units of basal insulin with the goal being that my blood glucose stays the same during fasting. She did this knowing that there would probably be a trade off. My morning numbers will probably be higher, but hopefully I'll avoid post-meal lows. It will also almost certainly adjust the carb:insulin ratio I've been using, but that's not an exact science to begin with so I'll just have to keep working on my patience and flexibility and have confidence that the numbers will begin to take care of themselves.

Numbers... did somebody say numbers?

pbpk: 180.2
9:16 -> 130 Taken when I woke up. At 9:30 I took 4 units of Novolog with cereal 105c and an apple 20c.
11:08 -> 135 Took the test early because I was at the Nurse's office. At 1:00 I had a 1/2 pb&j 21c, green tea and a multivitamin. At 2:00 I had a Lara bar 30c. And at 4:00 I had another half pb&j 21c.
5:07 -> 189 Took 4 units of Novolog with Turkey Chili 50c, tabouli 32c, 6 oz of raspberries 20c, and a cup of sugar snap peas 12c.
7:02 -> 51 Where the hell did this number come from? I had a cookie 20c and a packet of pez (gross) 9c.
7:33 -> 83 Good, I'm rising but not too high. Had half a clif bar 15c.
8:58 -> 110 Two hours after my low and I've adjusted perfectly. I only tested here because it was somebody's birthday and there was cake. But I decided the annoyance of having to figure out sizes and then deal with being high until I could adjust at my next meal was too great. I opted instead for the other half of my clif bar 16c.
12:08 -> 134 Took 11 units of Lantus (that's a decrease) and 3 units of Novolog with a dinner of 10 oz steak, 2 sweet potatoes 50c, greek salad with avocado and without cucumbers 28c and an apple 21c.
2:26 -> 111 Done! I'm going to bed, and with some luck I'll be under 140 tomorrow morning.

Total Insulin: 24 units (the 11 unit Lantus counts towards tomorrow)
Total Carbs: 470
Ratio: 19.6:1


I also finished reading the book on Diabetes today. In it was lots of useful but easily accessible information about what sort of lifestyle encounters the fewest complications (diet, exercise, positivity). But there was also a wealth of information on supplements, what to take in what dose and for what reason. They even claimed that there is some clinical evidence, albeit not overwhelming, that certain strict vitamin supplement therapies have caused type 1 Diabetes to go into remission. I asked my nurse and she had the decency not to laugh in my face but seemed dismissive. I'll ask the endocrinologist tomorrow. She seems more the type to consider me an individual rather than a statistic. In the interim I've started drinking two strong cups of unsweetened green tea per day and have also added a multivitamin to my daily routine.

It can't hurt, right?

And as a brief and hopefully unrelated side note, the once modified sensation of feeling that has afflicted me left quad for almost two years seems to have moved, spread and intensified. It is now numb on the surface but sore underneath.

Oh, and as for the "fittest" part of this blog. I'm now doing probably around 150 push-ups per day, about 50 pullups, and some exercises that are supposed to give me the curved buttocks I've always wanted.

Day 23