Scary Equipment Malfunction

This Wednesday was wicked scary for me.  Yes, the Boston accent is coming out on this one.  It was wicked. scary.  I've been on the pump for 10 months now and had not experienced anything like this before now.  A combination of things led me to skip checking my BG and dinner and before bed, with pretty bad results.

Tuesday night I got distracted while making dinner and did not check my BG before eating.   I also think I wasn't so focused on testing because I was making salmon and green veggies, a meal which usually has negligible carbs in it.   So, add the distraction and low carb meal, and yo have the fact that I didn't test before dinner.  I ate dinner, bolused and at some point later in the evening, fell asleep on the couch and then stumbled into bed in the dark.  Thus, not testing before bed either. I'm not usually so lax, but hey, these things happen once and a while.

Wednesday morning: wake up really really tired.  I can't get out of bed.  Hubs has to bring me coffee while I'm still in bed.  I think to myself that this is kinda unusual.  Every since I've been on the pump this really tired morning thing has all but disappeared.  I test my BG and its 329.  Not the worst ever, but pretty high.

That's really weird I think, remembering that I had such a carb conscious dinner the night before.  But, I bolus the correction dose and head down to our office to start reading and prepping for a mock interview I had to do that day.

Half an hour after getting out of bed and correcting with a bolus I  start feeling increasingly nauseous.  Eventually its so bad I run to the bathroom and throw up.  This kind of freaks me out.  I check keytones and sure enough, they are there- but moderate- so that makes me feel a bit better.  (mentally better, not physically)

After throwing up, the nausea is relieved but I feel even worse in other ways.  I forget the reading and interview prep I have to do and lay on the couch for an hour drinking water and willing my BG to do down. I test after an hour, and its 317!  WTH?!

I bolus again and start freaking out a bit because I feel absolutely terrible now.  I feel like I got the bird flu, and got it super fast.  I felt shaky, like I had the chills, and absolutely exhausted...  I test again after an hour and my BG is STILL in the 300s.  I decided to change my site and discover that the cannula I had inserted with the last site change was bent at at 45 degree angle at the end, and probably no insulin was coming out for 12-18 hrs.

Maybe it sounds like I'm being over dramatic, but this episode really scared me.  I have never been sick from high BG like that before.  I guess on the positive side, that might mean that my BG has been in pretty good control recently, but I still never want to experience that again.  It was such a disruptive start to the day and so upsetting because I had an interview to prep for and I can't stand letting D interfere with my life.

Luckily after I changed my site, my BG came down out of orbit. I did the interview and will let you know how I did when I get feedback, but I felt like I was battling the flu for the rest of the day. 

Lesson learned from this experience: do not skip your BG tests.  Realistically, there will be times when i don't test, but I will try my best never to skip two in a row (especially when one of those is before bed) again.  Phew.

Back to...

I'm back everyone!  I know the DOC wasn't quite the same without me this summer, was it?

The last half of summer was truly a whirlwind for me.  I went to Ireland, moved our furniture to Chicago, went back to VT for a "work-cation" to finish building the barn, officially moved (via road trip!) to Chicago and started grad school.

A fun, but at times, trying summer. And one that didn't leave much time for D-management. Rather than dwell on that though, I'm focusing on the quarter ahead, and my new resolve to live healthier.

As part of my back to school program, I walk to school and bring my lunch.  And, yes, I have a new lunchbox and backpack to make these things easier.

After a summer of grab what you can on the road style eating, I'm now eating a lot more fresh fruits and veggies.  One of the great things (there are a lot of great things, but I'll save that for another post) about my grad program is that I'll be learning and working in a medical center. This particular one really encourages health eating, exercise and general health promtion, so I'm happy to be in such a supportive environment.  I've started wearing my CGM again, too.

Two weeks down, and so far so good. This quarter is going to be really busy so I'm focusing on one (healthy) day at a time.

Its good to be back to school and in a routine that makes it easier to live a health D life.

A good start to our healther living focus
Visiting THE ORIGINAL McDonalds in Illinois, and not getting anything to eat!