Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Silly Thought
Today I showed my father how to draw up glucagon. My mother says if I need a glucagon injection, I should call her. Wish I thought I'd have that luxury.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Another Accu-Chek Aviva Failure
Remember in August I got mad because my accu-chek meter gave some pretty inaccurate numbers, how I called the company and got a new accu-chek aviva and a new accu-chek compact?
Well, I've been using the accu-chek aviva and been pretty happy with it. Until... a month ago, it started giving me a low battery warning. Okay, whatever. I changed the battery. It kept giving me the warning. Whatever. On Friday, it refused to operate, beeping ERR and a picture of a battery. OK. I tried three new batteries, none of which worked. Used the sample strips sent to me with the accu-chek compact. Tried the aviva again, hopefully. ERR. Found one of my other accu-chek avivas, one that hadn't been real accurate, and I'm using it again.
Well, I've been using the accu-chek aviva and been pretty happy with it. Until... a month ago, it started giving me a low battery warning. Okay, whatever. I changed the battery. It kept giving me the warning. Whatever. On Friday, it refused to operate, beeping ERR and a picture of a battery. OK. I tried three new batteries, none of which worked. Used the sample strips sent to me with the accu-chek compact. Tried the aviva again, hopefully. ERR. Found one of my other accu-chek avivas, one that hadn't been real accurate, and I'm using it again.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Life Masters
I got my first call from a real life health educator in the Life Masters program. She didn't seem to really know the stuff that I got quizzed on last time, but whatever. She strongly suggested I see dentist, said that she thinks it's probably still worth it to get a flu shot. Said she couldn't answer my questions about the workings of my glucometers or about the wackiness of Lantus.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Wondering about Scarring
I'd like to see a research study on scar tissue caused by injections. Do you get more or less scar tissue pumping? Does blood sugar control affect the rate at which your body scars? To what extent does scarring accompany absorption problems? What percent of diabetics have absorption problems after 15 years of insulin? To what extent does scarring affect A1c? To what extent does rotation minimize scarring?
In the last 24 hours, I injected myself 11 times. Yump, eleven times. Granted, that's about double my mean, and about treble my median, but days like this are still not that rare. Sometimes I wonder, when I do a shot before and after meals (which is what I do with most large meals), is the potential scar tissue worth the control?
I don't have any diabetic scars. I have been injecting insulin for just under eighteen months. 18 months x 30 days per month x 5 shots per day = 2700 shots. I think that that's probably a slight overestimate of the number of insulin shots I've had. I think about the fact that diabetics at one point tended to take only two shots per day or so, and still got scar tissue within ten to fifteen years. If we figure 2 shots per day for ten years, that was only 7300 shots to get to scarring. I'll be at 7300 shots in another three years.
Some days I find myself pretty desperate for a site that doesn't already hurt. What will it be like when instead of bruises I have scars?
In the last 24 hours, I injected myself 11 times. Yump, eleven times. Granted, that's about double my mean, and about treble my median, but days like this are still not that rare. Sometimes I wonder, when I do a shot before and after meals (which is what I do with most large meals), is the potential scar tissue worth the control?
I don't have any diabetic scars. I have been injecting insulin for just under eighteen months. 18 months x 30 days per month x 5 shots per day = 2700 shots. I think that that's probably a slight overestimate of the number of insulin shots I've had. I think about the fact that diabetics at one point tended to take only two shots per day or so, and still got scar tissue within ten to fifteen years. If we figure 2 shots per day for ten years, that was only 7300 shots to get to scarring. I'll be at 7300 shots in another three years.
Some days I find myself pretty desperate for a site that doesn't already hurt. What will it be like when instead of bruises I have scars?
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Bad Diabetes Day
Today was possibly my worst blood sugar day since diagnosis day.
I woke up with a blood sugar of 343, which is the third time I've woken up over 300 in the last seventeen months. I checked for urine ketones, which I think were negative (my vision wasn't so great).
I took some Novolog, some Lantus, skipped breakfast. Two and a half hours later, I realized I needed to get my butt out the door because I had a midterm to take very shortly. I took my blood sugar on the train, it was 54. I treated that with three packets of Domino's sugar. No, I don't know how many carbs that is.
My midterm was in a math class that I'm finding incredibly easy. My classmates, however, are not. In the quizzes we've had so far, the class average has been just over 50%, while I've made perfect scores. So, not a challenge. The test was in two parts, the first closed book and the second open notes (I didn't bother taking or using notes). The open book part I finished in about ten minutes, was the first to hand it in. I sat down and read a book while waiting for part II. I did not take out my meter, pricker, or sugar. I got part two and breezed through question one. Reading question two however, brought about the realization that my thinking was a little loopy; the question looked extremely difficult and I thought I might be hypo. I skipped question two and completed the rest of the test, then came back to two. Realized that the reason it looked difficult was probably a misprint. So I tried to walk over to the professor's desk. My gait was unsteady; I couldn't really gauge my distance from the ground. I'm sure I looked drunk. I asked him about the question and it was a misprint. So I finished that question, easy peasy, and turned in the test, first in the class to finish. My hands were shaking pretty badly. I went out of the room, sat down abruptly, fished in my pack for my meter, and tested. 33. Drank some sugar.
Later in the day I was very very hungry; I've eaten a ton today. I ate a lot last night too; I had gone to bed with a blood sugar of 203, but because I had active insulin and undigested food, I set my alarm for middle of the night and decided to sleep. The alarm didn't wake me, and I went high in the sky. My blood sugar today varied by an order of magnitude!
The rest of the day's reading were fairly uneventful. I talked in the class following to a classmate whose boyfriend's dad was recently hospitalized for hypoglycemia. I think I'm gonna bring in a glucagon and show her how it works and maybe even give it to her next week.
I woke up with a blood sugar of 343, which is the third time I've woken up over 300 in the last seventeen months. I checked for urine ketones, which I think were negative (my vision wasn't so great).
I took some Novolog, some Lantus, skipped breakfast. Two and a half hours later, I realized I needed to get my butt out the door because I had a midterm to take very shortly. I took my blood sugar on the train, it was 54. I treated that with three packets of Domino's sugar. No, I don't know how many carbs that is.
My midterm was in a math class that I'm finding incredibly easy. My classmates, however, are not. In the quizzes we've had so far, the class average has been just over 50%, while I've made perfect scores. So, not a challenge. The test was in two parts, the first closed book and the second open notes (I didn't bother taking or using notes). The open book part I finished in about ten minutes, was the first to hand it in. I sat down and read a book while waiting for part II. I did not take out my meter, pricker, or sugar. I got part two and breezed through question one. Reading question two however, brought about the realization that my thinking was a little loopy; the question looked extremely difficult and I thought I might be hypo. I skipped question two and completed the rest of the test, then came back to two. Realized that the reason it looked difficult was probably a misprint. So I tried to walk over to the professor's desk. My gait was unsteady; I couldn't really gauge my distance from the ground. I'm sure I looked drunk. I asked him about the question and it was a misprint. So I finished that question, easy peasy, and turned in the test, first in the class to finish. My hands were shaking pretty badly. I went out of the room, sat down abruptly, fished in my pack for my meter, and tested. 33. Drank some sugar.
Later in the day I was very very hungry; I've eaten a ton today. I ate a lot last night too; I had gone to bed with a blood sugar of 203, but because I had active insulin and undigested food, I set my alarm for middle of the night and decided to sleep. The alarm didn't wake me, and I went high in the sky. My blood sugar today varied by an order of magnitude!
The rest of the day's reading were fairly uneventful. I talked in the class following to a classmate whose boyfriend's dad was recently hospitalized for hypoglycemia. I think I'm gonna bring in a glucagon and show her how it works and maybe even give it to her next week.
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