Tag Archives: blood glucose

Just Words.

September 28, 2012 – 6:56 am

My company offered a great incentive recently. Answer a few questions, go through a health screening, get your blood pressure, cholesterol, and your glucose checked. At the end of it all, they put a few extra bucks into my flexible spending account, which I can use to pay for things my medical plan doesn’t cover (like the co-pay on test strips).

So I went for my scheduled screening about 20 minutes after my lunch. I informed the screener that I was Type 1 so he wouldn’t have a cow when he checked my BG. He went through all of the tests, including the glucose check (with a One Touch meter).

The result: 160 mg/dL

So I’m thinking, “Hey, I’m at 160 only 20 minutes after lunch? Brilliant!”.

And that’s when the screener said: “Sir, of course you know this because you’re type 1, but you should always maintain a blood sugar below 140”.

Me: “But I just finished eating a little over twenty minutes ago”.

Screener: “Yes, but FDA guidelines suggest that you should keep your blood glucose at 140 or lower constantly”.

Me: “Okay, first of all, I’m pretty sure that’s incorrect, and second, I just ate… wait a minute… you just came back before I sat down right?”.

Screener: “That’s right”.

Me: “Did you just eat?”.

Screener: “Yes”.

Me: “Go ahead and test yourself. I’ll bet you’re at 160 or higher right now”.

Screener: “Sir, what my blood sugar is doing is not…”

I stopped him right there. I don’t usually like to interrupt people, but I had to do it right then. I stopped him mid-sentence, and said “My point is this: Everyone, every situation is different. When you paint everyone with a broad brush like that, you’re going to scare the crap out of some people who may not have diabetes, and you’re going to make some people with diabetes feel bad”.

Maybe I overreacted. He was just doing his job. Just repeating what he’s told to repeat. They are just words, after all. I was just thinking that I don’t want the next person who sits down after lunch to worry unnecessarily, or feel bad about themselves.

As I was finishing up, he handed me a flyer with some general health information. Among the other items in the 3-sided pamphlet was this nugget, near the bottom of the page:

Hey, it’s just words, right? And maybe I’m a little over-sensitive to these kind of things now. But last time I checked, there wasn’t anything I could do to prevent my diabetes. Or anyone else’s Type 1. And eliminating my diabetes? Sorry for the cliche, but that’s a little like reversing pregnancy.

I know it’s just words, but I did get the e-mail address from the vendor doing the screening, and I sent an e-mail telling them that they should rethink the way they’ve worded their little handout. Again, it could make people feel bad. People who develop diabetes, or have already developed diabetes, could think that they’ve failed somehow. When really, they didn’t have anything to do with it.

Hey, it’s just words. But words can hurt. Or they can heal. Your choice.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Healthcare | Also tagged , , | Comments (7)

I’m number 1! No, really… I was #1

September 17, 2012 – 7:21 am

In short, I was the first person at the check-in table for the 65-mile ride at the Tour de Talbot, which benefits both the Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy and JDRF.

So they gave me number 1. And since I was wearing a yellow jersey (I always try to wear bright colors when I’m on the road), I became the subject of about 20 Tour de France-type jokes on the course:

“Number 1 and the yellow jersey? No pressure there!”

[While I’m being passed] “Yellow jersey, huh? And number 1 too? Where’s your team to defend you?”

Yeah, yeah, ha, ha, that was funny the first twenty times. Those kind of comments were understandable, but not fun. However, an interesting set of circumstances had me changing my mind.

At the first rest stop on my ride, I briefly saw John Anderson from Sanofi Team Type 1 (He’s actually part of Team Type 2). He lives in Annapolis, about an hour’s drive from the start. He did the 100 mile ride Saturday. While taking a photo of the volunteer table at the stop, I caught John as he was getting back on his bike.

I didn’t want to bother him as he was getting ready to take off, so I just went about my business and didn’t think about it again. I figured that was the only time I would see him all day.

Then at the next rest stop, I had a quick break, ate a granola bar, and got ready to go again. But I realized that I hadn’t checked my BG yet, so I pulled my meter out of my bag to check. I did a quick turn to my right as I checked, and who was there? John Anderson.

“Yeah, gotta check those numbers. How ya doin’?”
“I’m a little lower than I’d like, but I just ate, so I think I’ll be okay.”

We had the normal D-conversation… “Are you on insulin, or pills?”. “Pump? What make?” (we’re both using the Medtronic Revel). “CGM?” (he’s a big proponent of using the CGM, I’m not… especially the Med-T). I asked if I could get a quick photo, since I didn’t get one earlier:

Then I thanked him, shook his hand, and went to put my meter away and get on the bike to finish the last third of the ride.

When I started off, I noticed someone else was getting started again to my right, and when I looked over, it was John. We rode together for about a mile, talking about exercise… I mentioned my blog… and he told me a story about being in a run in Baltimore a few years back. And because he’s usually at or near the front of the alphabet in these events, he received number 1 for the run. “It made me feel good; I thought it was kinda cool. Everybody notices you when you’re wearing number 1”.

That lifted my spirits for the rest of the ride.

So what was the ride like? Well, it was a measure of redemption after the 100 mile ride I was a part of in June. I got advice from other riders and from my doctors in the interim, and my nutrition and overall preparation was a lot better than it was for the last ride.

I did not finish number one on this ride, but that wasn’t the point. In fact, this was the most laid-back event I’ve been a part of in some time. There was no official start/finish line. There was someone who gave a brief announcement at the start, but that person didn’t even say “Okay, Go”, or blow a horn, or anything. He stopped talking, all of the riders looked at each other, and then we just started. When we all finished, we just stopped, next to where we parked our cars in the lot of the country club where the ride originated. That was it.

But it was a nice ride, through some beautiful country near Easton, Maryland. There was a cold front that came in a couple of hours before the ride started, and that resulted in some strong headwinds through most of the first 40 miles or so. After that, it was great. Temperature at the start: 60 degrees, with 10-20 mile per hour winds. At the end, it was around 70 and the wind had died down a lot. This time, especially at the end, I stopped trying so hard and started enjoying the ride and the view from the saddle.

Time to finish: About four hours, not counting the time at the two rest stops.
Blood Glucose at the start: 158 mg/dL
BG at 1st rest stop: 91 mg/dL
BG at 2nd rest stop: 81 mg/dL
BG at the finish: 66 mg/dL (treated with juice and another granola bar, then lunch)

And best of all: I felt great after! Priceless.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Exercise | Also tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Can a visit with friends help you manage your blood sugar?

September 12, 2012 – 8:34 am

Well, no… it can’t. At least I can’t find any medical evidence to back up that assertion.

But last night, the stars aligned, we had a chance to have a couple of long-time neighbors over for dinner, and I felt great. We ate and talked, laughed, discussed their kids and my parents, and what we all thought we’d be doing in twenty years.

It was one of those impromptu gatherings on a perfect evening that helps the stress of the day and the week release like air from a balloon. What can be wrong about that?

My blood glucose level before our meal: 115 mg/dL

My blood glucose level after everyone went home: 118 mg/dL

Can a visit with friends help you manage your blood sugar?

It can’t hurt.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Diabetes | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

Low Redux.

August 30, 2012 – 7:05 am

This Sucks! Sucks!

As if it happened because I wrote about my Saturday night low, I was low twice Wednesday. This does not happen often.

Once at work, about 4:00 in the afternoon. Typical symptoms… shaky, sweaty (always appealing in an office setting), trouble focusing. No one noticed. That’s okay.

Then again, about 2 hours later, after walking to the train (it’s about 1/2 mile from my office). By the time I get there, I’m sweating again and very, very tired. I shut my pump off and reached for the candy in my pocket. Just then, my nephew walks up. He works nearby and rides the train too.

We rode together to my stop. I couldn’t put two intelligent words together for about half the ride, but by the time I got to my stop, I was fine. Of course, on the way home from there (it’s only a mile), I get a phone call from The Great Spousal Unit.

“How are you feeling?”

“You’re kind of late, and I was getting worried about you.”

“Yes, Brian called and told me you were low.”

How nice is it that I have great, caring family around me?

There is that.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Lows | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

The low from Saturday.

August 29, 2012 – 7:44 am

I’m not sure there’s a moral to this story. There doesn’t have to be one anyway.

I really don’t want to write about this, and as you can probably tell, I’m having trouble getting started. But if I’m going to tell my story, well… this is one of the chapters.

I’m a typical blogger in that I love to talk about myself. I also like to paint a nice picture of myself whenever possible. I don’t really want to mention anything that doesn’t make me look good. But that’s what this post is about.

Long story short: On Saturday, I over-bolused for dinner and whatever I snacked on later (I don’t even remember what it was). Later, about 1:45 in the morning, The Great Spousal Unit woke me up and said “You should go test your blood sugar”. It took me what seemed like a long time to actually get up. I was awake for sure, but… non-responsive would be the best way to describe it.

So Maureen did what she normally does in these situations.

Step 1: Try to shove juice, honey, peanut putter in my mouth.

She tried to shove some things in my mouth, but I was still feeling very full from whatever I had consumed earlier. By this point I knew I was low, but I wanted to take it slow. Bad Strategy. And, of course, I was tired and I really wanted to sleep. It was getting harder and harder to motivate me. We made it downstairs to the kitchen, but still, I was having trouble coping. Enter Step 2.

Step 2: If step 1 doesn’t work, call 911.

Maureen later admitted that she probably jumped the gun on this one a bit. But I reminded her that it’s not her job to know exactly how I am at any given moment, and if she’s at all unsure, make the call. It took a long, long time for me to come to this way of thinking. I never want an EMT to come and help me when they might be needed for something more important. But for Maureen, at that moment, nothing was more important. They were coming to help her as much as to help me.

I checked my BG once we got to the kitchen: 43. About 5 minutes later, the call went in to 911. About 5 minutes after that, the EMTs came through the front door (the local fire house is about a mile away). By this time, I’m groggy but able to make conversation, able to drink some juice and eat a little. The EMTs were great. They knew what was going on, and they were content to just wait it out with me.

So we waited. Those 15 minutes we were all standing in the kitchen seemed like forever. Then I checked again: 89.

Back to some semblance of normal. The EMTs left, and TGSU and I sat in front of the TV for a while longer to make sure my glucose was going in the right direction. Kelly at Diabetesaliciousness talked about waiting out a high Monday night, and being really tired, wanting just to sleep, and having to wait. And how that’s one of the things that sucks about diabetes. I agree.

Well, that’s what it was like for me, except from a low. I was super, super tired. And cold, very cold. Lows always do that to me. And I had to wait so I could check my glucose again. 20 minutes later: 131.

Not much more to it than that. Everything turned out okay in the end. I could have done without the drama though.
 
 
 

By StephenS | Posted in Lows | Also tagged , , | Comments (1)