Wednesday, 25 July 2007

appointment and basal checking

I have an appointment for a pre-op assessment on my trigger thumb/finger on 9th August.

Last night I did some basal testing again because I will probably get a call from the pump nurse soon. Somehow I'd managed to get it down to 7.8 (140) before bed so I went for it. So..

11.00pm - 7.8 (140)
1.30am - 7.4 (133)
3.15am - 6.6 (118)
6.00am - 7.7 (138)
7.30am - 7.0 (126)

Pretty consistent I reckon. After breakfast it was 18.6 (335) - eerrrrrrrrrrr??????? But it dropped to 8.3 (149) by 12.00 noon. Incorrect bolusing again.

Tuesday, 24 July 2007

hands and floods

I went to the physio yesterday about my hands. I have been referred on now to the orthopaedic surgeons. So I have another wait for another appointment. The physio thinks that the little finger would respond to a steroid injection but that the high blood sugars that I run would make them think twice about giving it because it can raise the bgs even higher causing ketosis. The thumb however, will probably need surgery. Hmmm. It will be a day procedure if it happens though.

I have decided that I would probably go completely to pieces in a natural disaster. In the UK we have been having some dreadful flooding and on Friday we were almost caught in it. We were travelling down the country to visit a friend and about half way we got involved in the flooding. Luckily we turned around and headed back home before it got too bad, but the area where we were is now completely cut off. While we were in it, I got in a right old panic, and felt trapped in the car, with visions of going hypo and passing out and emergency vehicles not being able to get to me! I didn't tell my husband it was this bad but looking at my face told him enough to turn the car round. Just imagine if I actually had been cut off, what a state I would have been in. We are lucky really here in that we don't get massive extremes of weather like other places in the world, but with global warming it is only going to get worse.

Or is this just a case of me worrying about something else that probably will never happen to me?

Monday, 16 July 2007

Numb - part 2

So I went to see the GP this morning about my numbness. He had a feel around of my neck and face, and looked in my ears, eyes and throat. I then had to close my eyes and tell him if I could feel when he touched my face, first with a soft brush and then with a sharp point. Yes I could. He said that it could be an irritated nerve to my face, possibly neuropathy. Ulgh, here we go. Anyway, he said I could think about an MRI but that he didn't think I needed that at this point, and also some neuro tests at the hospital. But to give it a couple of weeks and see if it is still there, or worse, or whatever.

Next Monday I have to go to the hospital to the physio department to let them have a look at my trigger finger & thumb. I am an avid knitter and thought I had some kind of RSI from doing too much, but it is actually trigger finger probably exacerbated by the knitting. I cannot bend my left thumb or right little finger. So physio are going to take a look and then see if I need to see the ortho surgeon. I had it in my left little finger about 5 years ago which went off by itself, but I'm too keen to get back to knitting to wait this time. I haven't been allowed to knit at all for at least a month, it's driving me nuts.

Well, this weekend, my bgs haven't been great and my 7 day average has crept back up to 11.3 (203). And (whispers!) I had a 21 (378) earlier today. I think I need to take a bigger amount of bolus up front with breakfast, because even though porridge is supposed to be low GI it actually raises my sugars quite quick. I am also pre-menstrual which raises my sugars too.

PS Chrissie from Belgium - I will email you a response to your "rumblings" comment.

Friday, 13 July 2007

Numb

I have been experiencing some numbness on one side of my face recently. Well, not exactly numbness, but I don't know how else to describe it. Not tingling, not pins and needles, so I guess it is numbness. I can feel if I touch my face though, so its not completely numb, just an odd feeling. Anyway, I am going to see my GP about it on Monday morning.

I attempted to test another set of basals today.
7.30am - 8.0 (144)
8.30am - 8.1 (146)
9.30am - 7.9 (142)
I then left to drive to work. There was a lot of traffic built up in town so I turned off to go the long way round. As I drove up onto the bypass, I felt really hungry and my stomach was growling, and I started to get that tingly feeling in my arms. I got anxious because I was driving at 65mph, but knew I was only 15 minutes from work. I came off the bypass still feeling a bit low, and when I was stopped at traffic lights I had 3 mouthfuls of Lucozade from a bottle that I keep in the drinks holder. (It tasted yuck, I can't remember how long its been there but I must remember to replace it with a new one.) Five minutes later I was in the car park at work and checked my bg - 7.4 (133). So I wasn't low after all. I doubt it had risen from a low in 5 minutes (less actually), so it was probably the anxiety that made me feel odd, and the fact that I hadn't had any brekkie was why I was feeling hungry and tummy rumbly. Anyway, that put paid to my basal test as it rose to 10.7 (192) by 10.45am.

However, since my appointment last week I have been (mostly) bolusing correctly and doing these basal checks and my confidence has been increasing. My 7-day average is now 10.8 (196). I will be really happy to keep all my bgs under 10 (180) if I can and then lower that number in about a weeks time. I'm sure I'll be fine as long as something doesn't happen to frighten me and set me back to square one. But I am thinking positive, so that isn't going to happen. I AM going to get that HbA1c down again, I AM I AM I AM!!!!

Tuesday, 10 July 2007

Ravenous!

I am so hungry at this moment. I am basal testing and haven't eaten since 8am. It is now 3.30pm. I am trying to test my lunch/afternoon basals and it seems to be going okay so far, currently sitting at 8.4 (151) but I am expecting a drop anytime soon as the last couple of days I have been low around dinnertime. Low for me that is.....5.0 (90) yesterday and 4.8 (86) on Sunday. I have had hypo symptoms because I have been running high for so long and my body has readjusted itself. Therefore it feels a low at a slightly higher level than it should. Ok by me though. And they have been easily dealt with, with a couple of glucose sweets and a biscuit.


My sugars have been better since last Friday, but not for any reason really. I haven't changed any basal rates as yet, no extra exercise. I have been bolusing slightly differently but nothing major. And yet my bg meter 7 day average has come down from 13.3 (239) to 11.5 (207) in 4 days. A long way to go I know, but its a start.

Ok, it is now evening (8.30pm) and the testing went well. I did drop down as far as 5.5 (90) by about 4.50pm and had a sandwich cos I felt a bit wobbly. I'm now wondering which basals to change, if any. Here are my results.........
12:00 - 9.3 (167)
1:00 - 9.6 (173)
2:00 - 9.2 (165)
3:00 - 8.4 (151)
4:00 - 6.2 (111)
5:00 - 5.5 (90)
Bearing in mind I have had lows for 3 days in a row sometime between 5pm and 6pm. Any suggestions?

Monday, 9 July 2007

Blast from the past

Look what I found yesterday in my old diabetes supplies drawer........ an original Novopen, and my blood test meter from the late 80's!! There's a blast from the past.











Just incase Drea pops over for a look, this is my ID bracelet that I commented about on your blog.

Party!

On Saturday night I went to a surprise party for my ex-boss's retirement. It was great because he didn't have a clue, everyone had managed to keep it completely secret for months.

I don't usually do "dressing up" but I had bought myself a nice dress and some sparkly shoes. Hmmm, what about the pump? I thought. I got onto Roche and ordered a thigh pouch and it was perfect, no unsightly bulges. I didn't actually dance because we had to leave quite early, but I'm sure if I had, it would have been perfectly secure. I want to use it all the time now but it doesn't really go with trousers. I'll just have to do "dressing up" more often!

Here is a pic of me (with my new hair colour) and my friend Bex.