Day 2: If you are what you eat, then I'm a CARBOHYDRATE covered in CHEESE

Some things I ate today:
An entire box of Spirals Mac & Cheese (extra butter, half and half)
an 8 ounce block of cheese
more cotton candy

Blood sugars: 119 (fasting), 177, 208, 140

It just dawned on me why my tummy might be a little nauseated.  Maybe I will try to mix better things inside it tomorrow.  Right now, it's tums and a banana for a little bedtime snack.

Day 1: OPERATION NORMALIZE GLUCOSE LEVELS

Since I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis Related Diabetes (CFRD) when I was 12, I’ve never been consistent with checking by blood sugars nor with doing enough insulin.  This is a graph of my levels since May 27, the day I got out of the hospital. 

My doctors want my blood sugar between 70 and 150 – at all times.  As you can see, it’s rarely below 200, often spiking dangerously high and bottoming out scarily low.  Terrible control.  And as you can see from the orange line, it’s been trending steadily upward all summer.   I’ve been lazy and complacent, and because I haven’t experienced any obvious ill effects, it’s easy to stay that way.  But the minute my kidneys fail I know I’ll be backpedaling faster and harder than I ever thought possible.  I know post-transplant I will need every bit of kidney function those little suckers can muster.  So today starts Operation Normalize Glucose Levels!  My mission is to test my glucose BEFORE every meal and to accurately count and portion carbohydrates so that I know exactly how much insulin I should be doing.

My fast-acting insulin guidelines:

1 unit per 15 grams of carbohydrate

Sliding scale:

1 unit for every 50 mg/dl above a glucose level of 150 mg/dl

DAY 1: Woke up this morning (barely, it was 11:30) and my blood sugar was 111.  Awesome start.   Rest of day levels: 134, 111(agian!), 100.  Success.

Some things I enjoyed today spike-free, because I counted carbs (accurately) and actually did the insulin:

Cotton candy

Gummy bears

A twinkie

Things I avoid, regardless of how much insulin it would take:

Regular soda (diet when I’m craving the bubbles, or just water – there’s a novel concept!)

Juice (though I do have a smoothie every once in a while)

The next challenge will be bringing my glucose monitor with me out into the world, and making sure I test before I eat.  Also, portion and carbohydrate estimation is another downfall of mine.  I been told, I’ve read the literature, but I still have no concept of how much is a cup of rice or how much is a tablespoon of honey, especially when I’m drizzling it into a cup of tea.  

In light of the fact that so many people are finding out about the Double Rainbow video, here are some pop references to the viral video

Today's Foxtrot in the Funnies

Not Perfect, but delicious.  So intense!

.  

Even THE NPH is into double rainbows.

Can he tell us?  What does it meeeeean?







and for those of you who haven't seen it yet, I give you "full-on double rainbow all the way across the sky"guy

Time for an update!

I have little to report on the health front.  Hot and humid weather causes me significant breathing issues, so I try to stay inside as much as possible.  Unfortunately, inside usually means sedentary at the computer for a gross (as in disgusting) amount of hours.  I'm in the middle of a reading ebb.  Not doing as much as I have been.  It's just too stinkin' hot.  I've been sitting in my room, enjoying my fan & my Scentsy flameless scented candles and collecting dust.  I do have a cat to entertain me, so here's what Zoe's been up to lately.

Pog-rich.  Yes, pogs ... I can't believe I still had (had, being the key word, as they went directly in the trash following this photo) these tucked away somewhere.  This photo taken in the style of Stuff On My Cat.  

Chasing her tail in a her new bukkit.

Harassing Skitter.

Annoyed that her scratching post has become my Helios resting station.

Found a bubble wrap bed.

Actually it looks more like a coffin.

Tuckered out.  Getting into so many things is exhausting when you're little.  

Hopefully this week will bring a call.  I'm very, very ready to get some new hardware installed.  My good friend, Cystic Gal got her lungs on Tuesday!!!  I got a text from her yesterday and SHE CAN BREATHE!  I'm so happy for her!  I'll leave you with one last photo of me, sporting my Cystic Gal t-shirt!