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Thursday Night, Diabetes Style

May 11, 2016 by Frank Leave a Comment


When I last visited my diabetes educator in February, I brought my meter along in order to show her my numbers. I was stepping outside of my comfort zone. I was essentially exposing myself, and all of my highs and my lows. I wouldn’t be able to choose what I would share with her. I wouldn’t be able to summarise. It was a big step for me, but one that I felt ready to do.

Unfortunately, the focus seemed to be more on what I hadn’t done – logging my insulin doses into the meter. I apologised, and promised that I would send through two weeks worth of meter reports before my pump day, so that she would be able to work out insulin ratios and settings.

It was a simple task, yet one that has been weighing heavily on my mind for weeks.

Every time I have attempted to make a start, something gets in the way. In March, I got sick and was rage bolussing stubborn highs like crazy. A week later, Easter rolled around and I was eating more than I should have. I took some holidays, and the numbers didn’t reflect my regular routine. But most of the time, I’ve just been telling myself that the numbers aren’t perfect enough to send through.

I can probably guess what a healthcare professional might think. Lazy, slack, non-compliant (insert your favourite word here). But when diabetes already takes up so much of my time and energy, a simple task like stopping to log my insulin doses is a big deal. It’s hard to carry the same meter around with me, rather than rely on the others that are stashed in convenient places. It’s hard to stop and punch in the insulin dose, when all I really want to do is sit down and eat.

But I knew that I was going to honour my promise. I knew that I wasn’t going to lie.

Come Thursday night, I generated 14 days worth of Insulinx meter data on my computer and printed it out. I took a seat at my desk for what would be somewhat of a long night.

I went backwards, day by day, reflecting on the past two weeks of my diabetes life. Recalling exactly where I was, and what I was doing on that particular day. Thinking about what I’d had for dinner that night. Remembering the circumstances surrounding that stupid low, that stubborn high, or that victorious overnight result. It took me a few hours. It was a little confronting, staring at those numbers on paper and being reminded of where I had gone wrong.

I attached a note to my meter reports, apologising to my diabetes educator for not directly logging the insulin doses into the meter. I explained that I had thoroughly gone through my last two weeks, and provided what I believe to be a very comprehensive overview. I wrote notes about my typical day. A work day, where I was on my feet, moving around and lifting things. Night times, where I was often chasing post bedtime highs from things like Pasta, Fat and Protein foods. Insulin to carb ratios, correction ratios and Lantus doses.

I carefully folded my paperwork, placed it into an envelope and stuck an express stamp onto it.

As I placed my letter into the Post Box on Friday afternoon, that big weight that had been sitting on my shoulders for weeks was finally gone.

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Posted in: Diabetes and Healthcare Professionals, Insulin Pumps, Multiple Daily Injections Tagged: BGLs, Diabetes, Diabetes Educator, HCPs, Insulin Pumps, Insulinx, Meter

An Insulin Logging Adventure

March 16, 2016 by Frank 2 Comments

My meter is a pain in the ass at the moment. Every time I’ve gone to use it over the past couple of weeks, I’m reminded of a promise I’ve failed to keep. A promise to my diabetes educator that I would log my insulin doses into the meter. I flicked past Monday, February 29 in my diary, where I’d reminded myself of that very promise.

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I feel so guilty that I’m not using this new, smarter device to it’s full capability. I feel like I don’t deserve the luxury of having a shinier, fancier looking meter that goes with this decade. I feel like I don’t deserve the smaller test strips that use less of my blood and make less of a mess on my desk.

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I’m slack. I just haven’t been bothered to do such a menial task, when diabetes is already so consuming in itself. It’s a task that seems so worthless when there are so many more important things to do in the grand scheme of diabetes. I’ve also been a bit worried that the numbers won’t live up to Gwen’s expectations.

But I’ve made the decision to switch to an insulin pump. For lack of a better phrase, I’m going to have to own the consequence of that decision. Carb counting. Logging my insulin doses. Sending the meter reports to Gwen, so that we can fine tune things and prepare my insulin ratios for the pump. If I want to maximise the benefits of insulin pump therapy, then this is something I’m going to need to make a habit of. And I need to stop obsessing over the numbers not being “perfect.”

Today marks day 4 of my insulin logging adventure. I’m no longer relying on 3 different meters stashed in lockers, desk drawers and satchels. I’m carrying my Insulinx meter around with me everywhere, which gives me no excuse not to log an insulin dose when I forget! I’m also hoping to be able to send off some data to Gwen before Easter next week (eek!). 

Four days in, and I’m already seeing benefits. I’m thinking more carefully about what I’m bolussing for. When I go to test 2 hours after a meal, I’m reminded of how much insulin is still on board in my system. I can see on the screen how much more of a drop I can expect, which has stopped me from my bad habit of over-correcting and ending up hypo later on.

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Despite being sick, battling stubbornly high BGLs, and being hypo more than two times in one week, I am powering through all of this. When I looked at my lunchtime reading yesterday afternoon, I kind of felt like I was kicking diabetes’ ass!

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Posted in: Dealing with Diabetes, Multiple Daily Injections Tagged: Carb Countin, FreeStyle Insulinx, Insulin, Insulinx, MDI

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