Vision & Trending Low

Sorry I keep experimenting with the look of this blog. Stick with me. I'll be satisfied eventually. Well, my day had two distinct themes today - (1) My very first eye doctor appointment of life; (2) Battle with the lows.

We'll start with the good news. I have had 20/20 vision my entire life. Ironically, I have also always wanted glasses. I'll admit it to you right now. I think they are beyond chic, so I buy fake ones and wear them like I would my favorite pair of earrings. You can laugh. I deserve it. Well, eye health is important for Diabetics because this is a disease that takes its toll on your small vessels. It was an interesting experience to say the least. They have this machine that blows puffs of air in your eye, and this poor girl had to do it on my left eye about ten times because I kept flinching. I also got to get/take/receive (unsure of the appropriate verb) an Opto-Map, which is a photograph of what is behind your eye. Then, of course, I had a vision test. Guess what? No glasses for me. No permanent damage caused by the Diabetes! Now, it is my job to keep my blood sugar under control so that I can keep up the good news for years to come.

Now for the not-so-good news: Just when I think I am getting the hang of this carb-counting thing, I'm wrong. I don't get so upset when I am wrong by giving myself too little insulin. When that happens, I'm like k, whatever, noted, or I go exercise. Breakfast has been a nightmare to dose. One morning, a meal of cereal and apple with peanut butter covered by 6 units is not enough, resulting in a high sugar reading two hours later. The next morning, the same meal with the same insulin dose resulted in lower sugars two hours later. Um, excuse me? So, this morning, I think I am doing great. One variable, I am eating very early, like 6:15 early. My level before breakfast is 88. Cool. I love my oh-so-reliable basal dose. It makes my first-thing-in-the-morning readings so joyful! I digress...so this  morning I decide to simply have one bowl of FiberPlus Cereal (1 Cup = 43 Carbs, 10 of which are Fiber + 3/4 Cup of Skim Milk = 9 Carbs + The Diabetic Roast = < 5 Carbs). For you math people, that is approximately 52-55 Carbs, 10 of which are Fiber. I am not "math people", so it is totally possible for my math to be flat-wrong. The rule my dietician gave me regarding fiber was that I could subtract half of the fiber from my total carb count. So, we will say 47-52 net carbs were consumed for breakfast. I gave myself 7 units this morning. I know what you're thinking - is that too much? Who knows? I know this - I require more insulin per carb in the morning than any other mealtime. So, I check an hour later because I want to know if my sugar is low enough for me to eat the other half of Andrew's delicious grapefruit. My sugar read 220 an hour after eating, so I didn't. Remember, they really want me to check two hours after eating because the insulin has had time to do its thing. So, I check two hours after breakfast, and it reads 181. They want me around 140 two hours after meals. At this point, I am thinking, Crap! Did I really need eight units for a bowl of cereal and coffee? Then something strange happened. An hour later, I felt a little clammy and anxious. I actually notice that my stomach feels warm and rumbly. I am thinking, I just read 181 an hour ago, what gives? So, I check because I am a good, neurotic Diabetic who listens to her body. 67? You mean to tell me that my blood glucose dropped 120 mg/dL in an hour? Three hours after eating? So, I snack myself back to normalcy. I had planned a noon Pure Barre with my mom, and I decided that I definitely needed lunch beforehand. Chick-fil-a was the choice because we were in the mall food court with slim pickins. I order 3 chicken strips and a medium fruit cup. I dip the chicken strips in fat-free honey mustard. (16 carbs for the chicken + 16 carbs for the fruit cup + 8 carbs for honey mustard because I didn't use it all). That is about 40 carbs. I gave myself 5 units of insulin because it was still early and 5 sounded right to me. This one, I will admit to you, was a flat-out misjudgment on my part. It wasn't the first, and I doubt it will be the last. Before Pure Barre, I check. An hour after eating, I am 140. Crap. That's what they want me to be TWO hours after eating. I can't just exercise! I pop a glucose tab. I get 20 minutes into Pure Barre and get the distinct feeling that exercise is not a good idea when my insulin is at the height of doing its job, arguably with one unit too much flowing through my body. So, I stop. I check my sugar. 76. Yep. 140 dropped to 76 just like that. So, I bowed out of the rest of Pure Barre class because I am not one to take chances with this stuff. I ate two more glucose tabs and 14 carb snack, and I wait....96. That's better, but eh, not a lofty climb for all those carbs I just ate. A Jolly Rancher brought me back up to a good place. I'll get this at dinner. Nope. Wrong. I just ate dinner at 6:15. We had grilled chicken with cheesy cauliflower mashed potatoes and an apple with peanut butter ( Chicken = 0 carbs + Cauliflower = a/b 6 carbs + Apple = 15 carbs + Peanut Butter-4TBSP =12 carbs). Sum? 32 carbs. I give myself 4 units because I added some carb to my cauliflower (milk, greek yogurt). So, around 7:15, I check my blood sugar because I am about to go for two-mile jog. 123. Crrrrraappp. Too low to run. There is probably something I could do to get it up for a quick jog, but I don't know what that is or how to do it safely. I am no gambler. I like to read 170ish before a run because I know it will look more like 96 when I get back. I have zero idea what to do when you want to run, but your sugar is low in pre-exercise terms, aaannd trending lower because of your insulin timing. I was not meant to exercise today. I was meant to learn a hard lesson - my insulin:carb ratio may not be 15:1, but it sure isn't 8:1 either. From now on, I think I'll stay closer to 15, especially if I am exercising. Just like the nice nurse lady told me, "Highs are only bad in the long-run. Lows are dangerous immediately." While I wasn't the lowest I have ever been (nothing below 67), I knew when my body was trending lower and knew when to stop do something about it. I knew when to call it quits. Because, with this Diabetes stuff - even with all my desire to exercise and manage weight -there is no use trying to be a hero and sweat it out. It is simply not an option.

So, that was rambly and probably riddled with enough typos and grammatical mistakes to make the law school consider revoking my J.D.

Here's today in photo form:

Yes, that does say 6:04 AM. Yes, I did wake up at 5:45 for no apparent reason. But, I sure do love that 88 reading :)

Look at it. It is the enigma that is breakfast food. Ha - fiber. You think you've gotten the best of me. I'll show you. Tomorrow, we dine. 

The waiting room of my new eye doctor - See Main Street. I think the guy's name is Dr. Hampton. He was very nice. It is such a convenient location! Which reminds me, I should probably schedule a dentist appointment. Bah...

This is dinner. I have to admit that I think this looks disgusting. Grilled chicken is atop a bed of cauliflower mashed potatoes. My old friends are in the background - apple and peanut butter. Why do I love it so much? I ran out of my Smart Balance, but I cannot wait for to try my PB2. It should arrive this week.