It’s The Little Things

It’s the little things.

It’s about making it easy to travel prepared whenever I leave the house (hello, grey marle pencil case).

It’s remembering to set a temporary basal rate on the lousy days where I want to spontaneously binge on cookies and ice cream, so that I can cruise through a little more easily.

It’s mastering the art of how many Skittles I need to raise my blood sugar by just 1mmol, and not 5.

It’s using a bit of intuition and overriding the ezBG suggestion on my pump when I don’t think that my blood sugar is going to come down.

It’s setting a temporary basal rate if I’m going for a short walk around the block this afternoon.

It’s making a habit of weighing my food on the red scales that sit next to the fruit bowl in the kitchen.

It’s learning the difference between bolusing for a banana, and bolusing for a Woolworths White Choc Macadamia Cookie (let me tell you that’s one hell of a difference).

It’s being observant to the fact that my insulin sensitivity is completely different when my blood sugar is out of range.

It’s learning how to bolus for the protein content in a meal.

It’s checking my blood sugar 1 or 2 hours after a meal, so that I can correct a high or stop a low in its tracks.

It’s cottoning onto the fact that my blood sugars will begin soaring upon waking if I don’t get a decent night’s sleep.

It’s remembering to check for air bubbles in my pump line, when my blood sugars won’t seem to come down.

It’s patiently waiting for my blood sugar to come down, and not over reacting to numbers and trend arrows.

It’s writing notes in my diary to jog my memory next time I do the same activity or eat the same food.

It’s being kind to myself, because learning these little things means making mistakes. Several times over.

During a demanding couple of weeks, I’ve watched myself do a lot of these little things like second nature.

I am far from perfect.

But it really is the sum of all these little things that I’ve picked up on along the way, that make managing my diabetes just that little bit easier.

Throwback Thursday: I Am Obsessed With Perfect Blood Sugar Levels

It has been an extremely busy month, and I’m very much looking forward to a Winter break as of tomorrow. Today I’m giving you the pleasure of some diabetes attitude from 2015 Frank. I’ll just sit in the corner and cringe…

I think sometimes I can be over obsessed with the idea of perfect blood sugar levels. I am so obsessed that it takes over my thoughts and my actions.

Hyperglycemia. I absolutely HATE seeing a blood sugar level of, say, 20. It usually happens after a day of unhealthy eating. And other times its a complete suprise. It irritates me. It frustrates me. It angers me. It guilts me. It even cues scary thoughts of future diabetes complications. I’ll hastily grab my insulin pen, dial up a big dose, and jab it in. I know its too big of a dose, but I’m not thinking clearly. I just want to get my blood sugar levels back down to earth ASAP. And I’ll do anything to avoid seeing those numbers again. And more often than not, I’ll end up over bolusing just to ensure my blood sugar levels don’t peak that high. Which leads me to…

Hypos. Hypos make me feel weak. Tired. Powerless. Defeated. Seeing a hypo is disheartening, particularly on days where I feel I’ve done all the right things. Drenched in sweat, hands trembling, head spinning, I’ll reach for the jellybeans and start to shove them in my mouth. I hate them and the dry, sugary taste they leave on my tongue that will have me dying of thirst later on. Once I start to feel better, the feels of frustration and anger will begin to kick in. Screw it. I’ll get up and find the nicest, most sugary treat I can find comfort in. And before I know it, I’m right back where I started.

If there’s one thing I want to clean out, its my obsession with having perfect blood sugar levels. There’s no such thing. I don’t know of anyone who has perfect levels all the time. I need to accept that my blood sugars will rise and fall. I need to accept that some of the foods I eat will make my blood sugars spike higher than others. I need to stop testing five minutes after a meal and make drastic decisions to fix my blood sugar levels according to what I think they should be. I need to learn to be patient and wait for my blood sugar levels to come down naturally. And I need to accept that sometimes hypos happen, and I shouldn’t let them get the better of me.

Because if I don’t accept it all, I’ll be trapped in this vicious cycle forever.

Breathe.

It had just gone 5 o’clock. The sun had almost disappeared when I last glanced out the window. The ever so trusty Weatherzone app on my iPhone told me that the temperature outside was 15.2 degrees and falling. I had just eaten a handful of Red Rock Deli Honey Soy Chicken chips and a small lamington, washed down with a milky coffee.

My body wanted nothing more than to ignite the heater and curl up in front of the television.

But my head was telling me that I needed this.

I laced up my faded grey Nike shoes with the blue tick. My blood sugar was sitting at 5.8, although I was certain that I would need this walk if I had any chance of blunting the spike from my afternoon tea. I tapped my pocket, reassured by the familiar bulk that was my iPhone. I grabbed the headphones from my desk, despite being certain my mind would be too far in overdrive to listen to anything. I grabbed the grey pencil case on the dresser, containing my meter and glucose tabs, and headed out the door.

I could feel the cold, relatively still air brushing against my face as I began to walk down the street.

My headphones remained clutched in my right hand, as I tried ever so hard to focus on my breathing.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

I can’t say with any certainty that this walk took my mind away from the things that have been on my mind lately.

It’s usually during times like these that I struggle to find a place for my diabetes.

Yet I was amazed at how smoothly my diabetes management tasks had slid into the background, almost like second nature.

Type 1 Event: Relationships, Partying and Life

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always felt that there’s a bit of a gap in terms of the support available when you’re a young adult living with diabetes.

Here in Perth, kids and families are really well catered for by the Telethon Type 1 Diabetes Family Centre, Diabetes WA and Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital. Diabetes WA run a cycle of programs for adults, but they seem to skew towards an older crowd. And I can only watch on with envy at some of the awesome things happening in the diabetes space in other parts of the world.

Earlier this year I met with a group of young adults with diabetes, and from there the Perth Diabetes Care Youth Advisory Committee came to life. Basically, we’re a group of young adults with diabetes, trying to fill the unmet needs of young adults living with diabetes in Perth.

If you’re in Perth and have type 1 diabetes, we are holding the second in a series of type 1 themed events on Thursday June 22.

The theme of this event is Relationships, Partying and Life. Nikki, a member of our committee, will be our personal speaker for the night. Dr Martin DeBock, an endocrinologist and researcher at the Telethon Institute, will also be speaking about his latest research in the areas of relationships, intimacy and diabetes.

Events like these are simply a great opportunity to hear other perspectives on living with type 1 and mix with other people who have diabetes.

All the details are below, and if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or get in touch through my contact page.

Hope to see you there!