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.