How I went from an A1C of 81 (9.6%) to 62 (7.8%)

From this...

I wish I could tell you guys a magic cure for this. It didn't happen overnight. In fact, this drop in A1C took just under two years. Part of it I can attribute to switching to an insulin pump but on it's own an insulin pump isn't a magic cure. I would like to highlight that before this happened I made a 10point drop on my own. The pump is great but you do have to be prepared to put the work in. 

Pre Pump

I've talked about this before here but I found my diabetes managed to be like one big giant jigsaw puzzle, you try one piece and if it doesn't work you try another. That is what I was doing to start with. The first step came from wanting to have an active role in my health care. I had gone through the last 5-6 years, floating through as a passive participant in my health. I had terrible habits but not so terrible that it was unmanageable. My blood sugar levels were dangerous in the long run because they were contributing to a high A1c but in the moment I was able to live. The only point in which I needed medical intervention was when I ran out of insulin one weekend and I thought I would be okay till my doctors appointment on Monday. I wasn't and this showed my lack of knowledge about how intrinsically important insulin is. I went into DKA at the end of 2010 and came out of it being prescribed lantus which evened out my blood sugar levels. In any event, I was still running higher BSLs than I should have been and  I was consistently tired, grumpy and struggling to get out of bed in the morning. I put this down to stress and a heavy work load. I also continued to blame myself for these high levels.

And then halfway through 2011 I got sick. I rarely get sick and this one just completely wore me down. It was a combination of being run down, having the flu and a chest infection. I started paying a bit more attention to my levels and found that they weren't making sense even when my sickness go better. I emailed the Diabetes Nurse Educator and the hospital and organised an appointment to see her. From there we started working on the jigsaw puzzle. We adjusted my nightly lantus dose, my insulin to carb ratio, my correction factor, my insulin sites (I was asked to stay away from the left side of my stomach), and it felt like everything else under the sun. I even wore a CGM for a week (loaned to me by my local hospital) I was trying so many different things and trying to keep a brave face of it. Blogging helped but it did get me down to not see a better result than a 71 (8.6%).  Eventually the idea of a pump was brought and I was slightly hesitant at first. And then I had to go through an approval process with Pharmac which was terrifying. I did all this research on pumps and it made me really really want one!

Post Pump and becoming an active participant in my health care!

I've talked a little bit about my experience with my Animas Vibe here but one of the positives of a pump was my acceptance of my freaking enormous dawn phenomena. I now know that I need 3 times as much insulin during the hours of 2am and 6am compared to what I use during the day. When I discovered that it lessened off some of the intense blame I had been carrying for the past few years. With a dawn phenomena like that I was never going to be able to manage on injections. And that brings us to August 2014 where my latest A1c is 62. I know that I have a way to go before I am in a safer range but after 8 years of sitting in the 8 and 9 % range. I think that a 7.8% (or 62) is a pretty good sign. There was something amazing at looking at it and realising it was my lowest number since I moved to Dunedin in 2006. 

I can attribute my better levels to my discovery of the Online Diabetic Community. Diabetes is so isolating that it is damn great to have someone to share it with. 

Almost 11 years of finger pricks

Sometimes I look at my finger tips and think they are hideous. Other times they are my battle scars, the ones to show each individual battle I've won.

What are your finger prick scars to you?

There's just something about being sprayed in the face with blood

One of those days

#Showmeyourpump

I love this hashtag. And I'm glad that Miss Idaho's pump has made an appearance in NZ media!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/10291216/This-beauty-queen-bikini-has-everyone-talking


Here's mine :)

Running

It's amazing how the pain of exercise can make you feel so damn amazing!

A while ago I decided I would be a SERIOUS runner. I spent some time researching what I needed to do to become this. I told my boyfriend I that would do a half marathon later in the year.

Annnd about 5 or 6 weeks ago I finally stopped researching and went for a run. I started the Couch 2 5K program and continued with that. I've just done Day 3 of Week 4. Today's run consisted of a 5min warm up walk, 3 min running, 90 sec walking, 5 min running 2min,30 sec walking and 5 min running.

And I did it. Even though I find running very hard and I haven't been for a run in over a week.

I feel amazing!

These feet and shoes have actually been running!

The Year of the Horse - Galloping by Diabetes Style

The days are flying by. I remember the older people in my life always used to say that the days go quicker as you get older. Younger me always thought this was stupid. However, 26 year old me says slow the heck down world.

May was a pretty great month in terms of Diabetic things. I wrote all 7 blog posts for the 2014 Blog Week, I tuned into the Diabetes Hope Conference, My blog got a shout out from Amy over at Diabetes Mine, I got my lowest a1c in 8 years and to top it off, I got renewed funding for my insulin pump consumables. That is a whole bunch of great things!

There's more to come with June too. I'm determined to continue to get amongst the DOC by reading and commenting away on blogs. I'm also starting training for a half marathon... keen eyes may have noticed my exercise log on my blog. It lists my training runs and some data I've done around it. Going to put up a separate post about this my reasons why I want to run a half marathon and how I'm feeling about it.

Feel a little like I'm caught up in whirlwind but I am enjoying it so far!

Year of the Horse I tell you! Credit to Artist Centauressa

Thoughts on Diabetes Hope Conference 2014

The Diabetes Hope Conference was just over a fortnight ago and I've spent a bit of time reflecting on how I found it. There were a lot of things I loved about the Conference and only one minor thing I didn't really enjoy. In a nutshell - I loved the theme, the participants, the conversation and the ease of access. The one thing I wasn't such a fan of was the early start it required. 

Theme
First and foremost I loved the idea behind this conference. From the About page on the website:

"We thought that this lack of hope should change. We thought that someone should take up the mantle of hope and at a minimum, start creating hope by getting people to talk about complications like DPN. By talking about it amongst each other, with members of the medical community and yes, even with the pharmaceutical companies that supply the devices and medications for diabetics, we can share knowledge. And it is our belief that knowledge is the first step towards hope."

Diabetes is relentless, it's unforgiving, it's incurable and sometimes it does truly feel hopeless. Talking about hope and talking about the things about Diabetes that make you feel hopeless was only ever going to be a great thing. 


Participants:
Great range of speakers and topics. They were conversations that I was truly interested in. I missed about half of the first conversation due to timing schedules (I was in bed snoozing... it was 4am!) but I still was immediately interested in it even though it was 4.20am NZ time. The whole complications thing can sometimes weigh on my mind. I'm 10 years in to my diagnosis, if they are going to happen, the time is only coming closer. Also, having just finished Diabetes Blog Week - was great to be able to Karen live in person! :)

As a blogger, the Value of Blogging Chronic Illness immediately jumped out when I first looked at the topics. It was really interesting hearing about the research done into this by Pamela Ressler and it gave me a bit of perspective. I spend so much time wrapped up in my own blog and the Diabetes Online Community that I hadn't given thought to what other chronic illness communities may be out there. I can only assume a lot!

The Doctor/Patient relationship is something that I come across in both a personal and professional way. In my professional life as an Advocate, I know what rights people have when it comes to health care in NZ. I know what quality means and I am find I am speaking up more about this  in my personal life and embracing this idea of being an active participant in my health care!

The biggest thing about the participants and their topics is that 99% of them are names I have come across before. They are the celebrities of our online community and I was a bit starstruck. Like so many of my peers, these bloggers are cornerstones of my online community - I read about them, tweet them, see them pop up on TuDiabetes etc. It was really fantastic to tune in and be a passive part of their conversations. 

Access:
As a kiwi it is so so amazing to have the chance to participate in something like this. I have to admit I get very jealous hearing about the events that are held in the States. So, having the opportunity to get involved in this conference was something I jumped at. I invited a friend for a sleep over so we could both get up earlier in the morning. I organised bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and croissants. And I got the laptop hooked up to our big TV screen - check out the pic I posted on twitter: pic.twitter.com/cQxcQ4e0Er.

I rocked my dressing gown and pajamas for the entirety of it and when it finished I jumped in the shower and headed to work for the day. I wasn't watching intensely for the whole time, I balanced between cooking breakfast, drinking coffee, chatting to my D Friend (thank you for joining me that early!) and watching the goings on. I like that side of it, that I could relax and be in my own environment. I sure did enjoy being in my pajamas! Comfy! That brings me to the only thing I wasn't such a fan of - the timing! It meant an early start of 4.30am for me and I was exhausted by the end of it. But it's a non issue, so much so I am purposely not putting it under a heading. Being in NZ means that timing is always going to be an issue and with something like this I would rather it be on in the early hours of the morning NZ time. The DSMA chats are on at night time in the US (I think?) but 2pm here in NZ so its sometimes hard to participate due to work. 

All in all - such a positive experience for me and I can't give enough thanks to the organisers, speakers and every one else behind the scenes. You all rock.