Accountability 7/29/14

I am SO EXCITED. My sensor average was 131 for the week. Amazing! That’s the best average I’ve had since being diagnosed. Of course, today I’m riding hard on the diabetes roller-coaster with a few rage boluses, but I am so happy with the past week that it makes everything better. Plus I set a new record on my sensor… 12.5 days! Woohoo!

Everyone needs someone

I’m a firm believer that living with type 1 diabetes would be a nearly impossible and miserable experience if I wasn’t lucky enough to have my husband by my side. (yes, this is going to be one of THOSE posts. Kind of.)

Why California?

I’ve been getting asked this question a lot lately. We live in Michigan, so California is pretty far away from here. So here’s a little back story..

The Never-Ending Story.

I got my pump in December. Because of Obamacare, I’m able to be on my dad’s insurance until I’m 26, which is awesome because my dad’s insurance is SO much better than the insurance offered through my employer. So I was easily able to meet my deductible when I got my pump.

Accountability

Part of the reason I started this blog was to keep myself accountable. I set a goal range of 85-175 with the intention of staying within that range as much as humanly possible while still living a happy, healthy life.

Here are my sensor readings over the past 3 weeks.

Encapsulated Cell What?

Something exciting hit the DOC (Diabetic Online Community) this week. The news is that ViaCyte (heavily backed by JDRF) had filed an IND (Investigative New Drug) application with the FDA to begin clinical trials for a new encapsulated cell replacement therapy system for type 1 diabetics.

Never be ashamed.

There has been a flurry of people stepping out and showing off their beautiful, successful lives with medical devices. Frankly, it’s nothing short of amazing.

Recently crowed Miss Idaho 2014 Sierra Sandison posted this photo on her facebook profile last night from the competition, with her insulin pump attached during the swimsuit portion of the contest. She wore her pump in a competition and won. It’s absolutely beautiful to see that she didn’t cave to the pressure to switch to MDI or go stretches of time disconnected just because she was on a public stage and it might not be considered “politically correct” or a “social norm”.

The things we do to stay alive.

The past few days have been intensely frustrating. The minute you start to think you have this under control, diabetes throws a giant curve ball and you’re scrambling to keep up, to make sense of it all again.

Two Years Ago Today.

Today (July 10th) is the big day. My two year diaversary.

My pump saved my life last night

(technically, the combination of my pump + CGM saved my life, but that isn’t as good of a title, now is it?)

I had been battling highs throughout the day yesterday. It was a bad diabetes day, and I was frustrated. We were having orange chicken and rice for dinner, and I knew that I was going to be fighting high blood sugar for the entire night because of it.

After dinner, my sugar barely popped over my 175 limit. And came right back down. And stayed down, even 4-5 hours later (usually I have a residual spike later after most of the insulin has worked its way through me). When it was 11pm and I was about to head to bed, my sugar was drifting into the low 80’s. Normally my sugar rises at that time of night, so I was pleasantly surprised. I grabbed a juice out of the fridge, chugged it down, and went to sleep, believing that tonight like every other night, I’d be just fine.

I don’t know if it was me or my husband who woke up first, but at 3am, my pump was emitting a horrendous sound. In my half-asleep delirium, I read the screen and reread it and read it one more time before I finally realized that it was suspended.