A positive spin

I'll be honest, this has not been the best of times for me lately, and I realize that this effects the tone of my blog. Therefore, I will briefly summarize my bitchings here before looking at the bright side of things.

The bad:

-It's been nearly 4 weeks since I've started my new medications and I haven't had more than a single consecutive day where I didn't feel.... not so great. I look forward to having a settled stomach.

-I'm not getting much composing done, and I'm getting close to zero hours of piano practicing in. Considering I'm in a music program, I sure don't feel like a very good musician.

-I got my hopes up: finances were looking good and I was encouraged to apply for a different credit card so I could do a balance transfer and reduce my interest payments. Turns out, I'm still a pile of financial shit - I got rejected, and that's exactly how I feel.

- There was a call for scores for an art exhibit concert on the topic of faces. They were looking for pieces that addressed the concept of faciality. I put far too much effort into my proposal and felt really confident. Now, my confidence is shattered - I got rejected, and that's exactly how I feel.

Blergh, that wasn't very uplifting...

But let's give it a try,

The good:

-The infusion set problem has been solved! For the last 2 weeks, my site changes have gone off without a hitch. It turns out that I can only wear them for 2 days, not 3, so as long as I change them every 48 hours, I'm in the clear. I'm am super grateful for BC insulin pump supply coverage for giving me the flexibility to experiment and discover this.

-My sugars are in much better control! 11.0 mmol is starting to feel 'high' (it always has been, but it was too common an occurrence to feel as bad as it should...).

-My TDD (total daily dose) of insulin has dropped to a 7-day average of 68u , compared to the 78u average from when I re-started the insulin pump. The Metformin seems to be doing its job, even if it is through making me eat less due to a constantly upset stomach...

-Despite what the credit people think, finances ARE good right now! My debt is falling, without sacrificing lifestyle - actually, I'm living it up more than I have in recent years. By living it up, I win with fun; by living more modestly, I am richer - so either way, I win!

In conclusion, things ain't so bad!

Nov 15-21

Ya, so I've given up on NaBloPoMo...

It just wasn't the year for it.

I have, however, been putting much more effort into my diabetes management, so I feel that everything has worked out rather well.

I'm now up to 2 metformin, twice a day, and it's going pretty well. It's been a few days, and I'm finally starting to see a more pronounced effect on my sugars. I lowered my basals across the board, but my sugars are still dropping at times, so I'm back to tracking sugars all day long to understand my patterns.

Nov 11, 12, 13, 14

So, I suck at NabloPoMo and I'm fine with that!

I also missed the testing thing today and really did nothing for diabetes education or advocacy.

What can I say - today has been a pretty bad day. My email got hacked this morning and sent out a whack of spam. I slept in far too late and decided to do kung-fu 1) before eating anything and 2) with high sugars (starting at 12.1 mmol).

I should have changed my infusion site before, as I didn't even get a chance to eat anything until 6pm tonight - I have a new infusion set in now, but I still feel wretched.

Everything sucks right now - I'm stressed because of school, the metformin is giving me heartburn, and I haven't been fully hydrated in over 2 weeks. Also, my daily insulin dose has not come down at all, in fact it's gone up - probably the stress-induced poor eating choices, but who knows.

Mumbly mumbly, motherfucker gah mumbly.

Days 8, 9, and 10

In addition to my plans to improve my diabetes control, I'm also bettering myself in terms of credit!

It's been a good month. You know how credit card bills now tell you how long it would take you to pay off your debt at the minimum monthly payment level? Well, this month I shaved off 2 years and saved about 12 dollars in monthly interest!

The insulin pump has been working pretty well lately. I had a perfect site change the other day - I bolused for my meal with the old site and then didn't eat anything for a few hours, so I'm not sure if the new site was working right off the hop, but that's good enough for me.

Just half an hour ago, getting ready for my shower, I pulled out my Sure-T site in the back of my arm... I had a quick shower and then put in a new site and I just bolused for my lunch, so I'm hoping it's working already - this is the real test. I'm about to head into a 3-hour lecture, so I'm REALLY hoping my sugars aren't going to spike!

I have a feeling that tonight is going to be an all-nighter. I have a lesson tomorrow (still lots of music left to write); usually, I work all night after my class on composition, but I have a concert to go to tonight.

Anyway, ciao for now!

Days 5, 6, and 7

Oopsie, I failed already!

In good news, I've been very good and regimented with my glucose tracking. I've been testing about a dozen times a day, keeping track of all my carbohydrate and blood glucose numbers. After I made a few very minor changes in my basals, it appears that they're good and holding me steady. Carb ratios are also seeming to be in check.

There's no surprise here, but the only real problem with my pump is that my sugars are jumping up around pump change time. I was hoping that Metformin might be a magical solution to that, but no such luck.

Possible solution to my infusion-set problem that I will test out next:

Change sets LONG before they even come close to expiring on me! As in, wear a Quick-Set for 2 days instead of 3. Last year, I tried a milder version of this, but I couldn't afford to shorten the life of my sites quite so much in Ontario- now I'm fully covered, so I can afford to do the tests I need to do to get real answers.

I'm looking forward to seeing if it solves my problem, but if not, it's back to the drawing board again!

Day #4

I've been feeling out of sorts for the last few days. I won't lie - going on Metformin has been kicking my digestive system's ass. At the same time, I'm also feeling out of sorts due to my sugars. Here's the odd part - it's not that my sugars are jumping all over the place, which can throw you off, instead they are staying very stable; I haven't had a sugar over 10 since yesterday at noon.

That's the reason I'm on the new drug - having a day where you sugars don't go over 10 shouldn't be such a surprise! Anyway, my sugars have been trending downwards (I had to snack on leftover* halloween candies while cooking dinner tonight) and that can make you feel kinda wonky, a little stoned even. I haven't been able to concentrate on working for the last few days, so I've just been staying pretty close to home and not getting much done.

With some diet adjustments and some bright-pink juice, I'm feeling better, but not yet 100%. Either later tonight or tomorrow, I will lay out my sugar logs from the last few days and look for some trends so I can start adjusting my basals.

*let's be honest, I didn't give out halloween candy this year, I shut the blinds, turned off the porch light, and hid.. I did, however, buy discount candy on Nov. 1'st!

Day 3 - Looking forward to World Diabetes Day

November 14th is World Diabetes Day and there are some great initiatives in the works. I always make an effort to inform people about diabetes on that day, advocating all over the place.

Last year, as a member of TuDiabetes, the big thing was that everyone was supposed to test their sugars at a certain time and post their result - it was called the Big Blue Test. I missed the time because I was in class or something and I wasn't really that excited about it. This year, it has a better pitch - you test your sugars, do 14 minutes of activity, and then test again - the point is to show the effect of exercise on your sugars.

Roche Diabetes Care has agreed to make a donation to organizations that get insulin to kids who can't afford it, for every view of the video below - SO WATCH IT!

There, didn't you like that - it's got a good beat and makes you happy to be alive, don't it?!

That's all for today!

NOBLOPOMOMAJIGGER!

Happy November, everyone!

If you're a douche, you'll be celebrating mo-vember, which I think is stupid. I'm fully aware that my disdain for idle moustache -growing is based solely on my jealousy/inability to grow decent facial hair, but that doesn't invalidate my opinion, haha!

Instead, I will be partially participating in NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month. The goal is to post every day of the month, but I'm not sure how much I care this year. For the first few years of my life as a blogger, I posted every single day, if not more; I think I also posted daily last year for November, but I'm just not that motivated this year.

So, today I had my endocrinologist appointment. I went in with a list of things to cover and they all got addressed. I got my prescriptions refilled, the paperwork filled out so I can get reimbursed for all the money I've spent out-of-pocket on strips this year, AND I got a prescription for Metformin. My doctor was fully supportive when I asked about it - he feels that it will help me get better control, lower my insulin requirements, and make it easier for me to lose weight - how can I argue with that?!? I'm gonna start tomorrow, and I'll keep you posted on how things are going.

Anyway, it's almost midnight, so I should stop writing or else I fail at NaBloPoMo on the very first day...