From FatCatAnna

Of all days, I am hankering to eat breakfast. I rarely eat breakfast during the work week as it's never been a big thing for me.  I'm happy with my usual Americano which gets me by until noon. C'est tout!

Today though I woke up thinking ... it's time to do my a.m. basal test to see how my basal settings are doing on my insulin pump. I've only ever done the overnight basal test so far. My blood sugar (BG) was good, so I switched off the espresso machine that I'd had warming up for my Americano, and I went downstairs to my office to start working.

I am now soooo hungry right now as I type away to you.  Why of all days does this happen to me ? I know I can resist the urge, I can do it.  To make myself stick to the "plan" I'm tweeting every hour my #bgnow results so I do what I set out to do in the first place.  My first test was 5.9 mmol/l (106 mg/dl) and the latest test was 7.1 mmol/l (128 mg/dl) - so it's looking like I'll be adjusting my basal settings on my pump program.

How often do you do test out your basal setting?  Whether you use injections of Lantus/NPH/Levemir or a pump, do you ever question how your slow acting insulin is doing its' job?  Trying to replicate what a functioning pancreas does is a tricky thing, but it can be done as long as you follow the guidelines (I'm using the Pumping Insulin  book by John Walsh/Ruth Roberts to lead me thru' the steps).

So, tap, tap, tap, it's almost 11h00, and I only have until 16h00 to do the basal test. I thought the night time was was difficult (you always have to perform the overnight one first before attempting the daytime basal tests) but this is hard.  I'm awake, my body wants food (which it usually doesn't demand ).

The only good thing that's binging in my mind is that if my BG's keep on rising up, then I'll have to stop the test to correct with insulin.  At that point in time, test can't be continued, then I can eat.  Oh dear, is it horrible for me to be thinking this?  Okay, wiping out the pictures of a baguette smeared with butter and strawberry jam.  Back to work I go.

From FatCatAnna

Back in my clubbing days of the 80's (am I aging myself here? ) - Freak Out was the chic song to dance to!  Right now, this song is going thru' my head as I try to cope with having low blood sugars since basically the last few days.  Add to the top of my problems with having a computer shutting down on me at its will as I try to type this out to you.  It's another Freak Out, as my bread and butter depends on a functioning computer and just trying to cope like a normal human being. Scream!!  Who said diabetics lead an easy life, wait, wasn't that me at the IDF World Diabetes Congress, spreading the gospel truth of life with diabetes is easy ... NOT!!!!

I thought at first this was due to my having the H1N1 vaccine yesterday.  I've heard other diabetics having to cope with high blood sugars due to the vaccine, and of course, I seem to be the odd one out (why should that not surprise me one bit) in experiencing low blood sugars.

Well, so far, no curly pig tail has developed with my having the vaccine.  I'm feelling fine, except for having to deal with life as a space cadet and at the same time, function as a normal human being.  I am NOT happy.  It's day like this that I wish I had an endo or medical team at my finger tips that understood what we diabetics go thru', and also someone that understands a diabetic on a pump.  Scream!

So, I am now going to go and test my BG.  It's not something I really have to do, as I know I'm low, again, but I'm just curious as to what number I'm sitting at, after having food to eat, again. It doesn't seem to really bring me up much past 5.0 mmol/l -which is fine, but then I'm back down to 3.0 mmol/l range again, and that's without any insulin!  This is not fun when I'm spinning the roulette wheel of life with trying to figure out, what the heck is causing me to use very little insulin at meal times, snack times, whatever times!  What is freaking me out more is that 'm going on holidays in a few weeks, where I use less insulin.  I want to remember this holiday without having continual episodes of lows and going into la-la-land!!!  Scream (please note - I am not a screamer - it's just appropriate at the moment for my frustratiion).

Any advise is much appreciated, as I try my best to cope with this latest curve ball in the life of a diabetic, looking thru' a semi haze here (thank goodness I can type without looking at the keyboard or screen).  Wait, maybe I'm no longer needing as much insulin after 42 years with this disease???Maybe I've been cured by the H1N1 vaccine???

From FatCatAnna

After experiencing some wacky daytime blood sugars (BG's) during the last week, I decided to go ahead and test out my basal settings on my Animas 2020 insulin pump today.  I have never a daytime basal testing  before, sad to say, and as in my prevous blog, I had asked others - "how often do you test your basal rates?".  No comments yet, and it makes me wonder, are they like myself, not finding the time to test their basal rates, when perhaps we should from time to time when BG's become abit wacky?

I just know for myself, that if I'm going to get the most use out of my pump, I have to learn how to use it properly, so that my BG's stay stable and not having to do continual BG corrections and giving extra insulin.  I mean, I might as well go back to multiple doseage injection (MDI) - ugh!  To me, that defeats the purpose of owning/using a pump, because theory wise, if the pump settings are correct, you should have steady, stable BG's, depending on what is happening in your life of course. 

Well this morning, I decided, this is the day to do a 09h00 - 17h00 basal test, as I'm not doing anything strenuous (no Running of the Bulls), no work deadlines, etc.  I already know that my night time basal rates that I have set on my pump are working fine for me, since John Walsh/Ruth Roberts the coauthors of the Pumping Insulin advise you to get this figured out first prior to doing any other basal tests.  Also, the basal test should only be done when your BG is 5.6 - 8.3 mmol/l (100 - 150 mg/dl) OR between 6.7 - 10 mmol/l (120 - 180 mg/dl) if you have hypoglycemia unawareness or a fear of going low.  I woke up with a 5.5 mmol/l (99 mg/dl) BG, a little bit below what is recommended, but I felt good to go, as I'm not sure when I'll have another "stress free" day like this to do it.

So, I proceeded to wait for my next 2 hour test of my BG, and when that approached an hour ago, I tested  - 8.8 mmol/l (159 mg/dl).  Darn .  The directions in the book say to STOP - correct the BG and retest another day.  Double Darn!  I've gone and made the adjustment to my basal rate according to the table in the book (it's pretty straight forward to read even for a non technical gal like myself). In my case it was .2 units of insulin, seems abit scary to go from .65 units per hour to .85 units, but according to the book "the suggested basal changes below are less than may be needed".  So, I feel abit secure in going ahead as I trust these authors, they know their stuff.   I have presently programmed my new basal settings into my pump and will have to wait for another day to perform the test. 

I have to admit I'm abit disappointed that I had to stop the test and I guess I shouldn't have really said "D Minus" in the title above, at least I'm one step ahead in the game is the  main thing, I'm finely doing it!   Hopefully my basal settings in my pump will soon be perfected so that I have the freedom that a pump allows you to have over MDI.  I  mean, my life has changed so much since going on the pump, I know so much more about diabetes now then before, even after 42 years, I'm still learning!  Just to be able to have balanced BG's when I  skip a meal and not go low or high is what I'd really like to attain.

So, off I trot upstairs to have an Americano (I so missed not having my morning cup of java as the caffeine we all know would have buggered up the test even more LOL ). Oh and a nice slice of  toasted whole grain bread smothered in butter and jam, and abit of cottage cheese!  I am famished!!! Drool! Drool!

From FatCatAnna

So,  I'm shutting down my work part of my brain - closing down the PC - going into non-techno mode until Tuesday. We're heading off on the FatCat, our 25' Catalina early Saturday morning - to hit destinations west of us along the water way.  I've got lots of good food prepared to make life easy on the water - along with some junk food (chips, nuts, dark chocolate).  Hopefully we'll meet up with liked minded boaters along the way (we always manage to meet up with new people where ever we drop our anchor).

Mike and I are so looking forward to a w/e of good weather for a change and just getting away from the stress of work life! Get some swimming in, good winds to sail in, relax with a Dark 'n' Stormy (rum/ginger beer/lime juice).  I'll be lowering down my basal rate to about 50% on my pump - as in relax/unwork mode I use less insulin - sweet!

So to all of you celebrating Labour Day on this side of the world - you deserve it as we all work hard and don't you forget it!!!

From FatCatAnna

Well, last time I wrote I was hoping to go on a motorcycle trip to Mount Washington. In the end, we left abit late, decided to just cruise closer to home in the Adirondacks.  We had intentions of going to Whiteface Mountain - but ended up in a Saranac Lake, a quaint little town.

One thing I noticed on this ride (was in the saddle for almost 6 hours) - either the tires, which  are designed for on/off road riding - cause a lot of vibration - or my buttocks are getting older - and can't handle sitting in the saddle for as long as  I used to .  Ohhh, my aching cheeks (I now TOTALLY can relate what my friend Jaimie went thru' on a trip from Seneca Falls, NY to Montreal)!!!  There were a few times when I thought I was going to have to turn my head aside and hurl - it was that uncomfortable.  Now, I don't get this when I'm the driver - but as a passenger it's another story.

The scenery though made up for a lot of the discomfort, plus the stop off for lunch at this little restaurant that makes up wood fire pizzas.  Being on the bike, you don't get much of a chance to a) hear you pump beeping to tell you to test blood sugars (BG); b) get a chance to shout to the driver that "I have to test my BG's NOW!"  I didn't want to be a pain in the "you know what" to Mike (my hubby) - so I just hung on, nausea and all.

It turned out, 3 hours later when we stopped, that my BG's were good despite my thirst making me feel I was high.  I was amazed that for sitting still for that length of time, I was reading 4.2 mmol/l (75 mg/dl)!  Obviously basal settings are good - pat on the back to moi.  I was so hungry, so decided to splurge on a good dark ale from Lake Placid along with a few slices of pizza, followed up by a sinful dark chocolate dessert.  I did a guesstimate on the amount of carbs for everything - and managed to come out pretty good when testing my BG 5 hours later with a small correction to bring me back to what I like my BG's to hover around (long wait at the border to come back into Canada - Ovey - my aching buttocks).

We've now decided that a) we need to get my other motorcycle up and running as I'm fed up with being a passenger; and b) take a break at least every hour.  When I think about it - motorcycling is abit like sailing, something that can't be rushed, just take your time and enjoy the scenery!