Altered Diabetic Directive

Great news- I bought only things on my list at Big Lots.

• tire gauge (First I wrote tired gauge)
• prong folder
• small notebook to keep track of blood sugar
• hairspray

Today was a series of ups and downs.  I woke up from my dreams of hunting Osama bin Laden (watched Zero Dark Thirty last night) and found that my blood sugar was high AGAIN.  This has become a frustrating problem lately.  Started working on that, getting ready for work, had more realizations that Chris is an asshole, blood pressure raised, can feel blood sugar following suit.  Start wondering why nobody at the VA has called me back, goddammit, stupid federal agency-

And then the phone rings.  It's not even 7:45, who the hell is at the VA yet?  Well, it's my team nurse, and she has wrangled me an appointment this morning with the pharmacist to try to work on my blood sugar spikes.  Suddenly everything's nice and calm and taken care of and I sit down on the couch, morning rush ceased, and pet Riley.  Ahhhh.

At the VA, I see the pharmacist, my team nurse, and my team's surrogate doctor.  He comes in and throws a wrench right into my world, changing how I determine my shot and when I give it.  I am thrown by this information, go to see Diabetes Educator to run this new plan past her.  She calls the Endocrinologist, who approves.  Diabetes Educator talks with me for a long time, answers questions, makes suggestions, solves my stupid meter's battery problem, encourages me, hugs me.  I leave feeling excited and ready to try out this newfangled system.

Normal procedure for the last twelve years: Test, determine carb count, determine correction, take insulin shot. Eat.

New procedure: Eat, wait 20-30 minutes, test, subtract 150 from blood sugar reading, divide by 10, take that number of units of insulin.

I started this plan today at lunch- right after I left the VA.  I got my kit out automatically, remembered that I'm supposed to just eat, put my kit away, felt really awkward, set my timer for 25 minutes.  25 minutes later, my timer went off, I tested, did the equation, and took a shot.

Snack time: Eat, wait 20-30 minutes, test, do the equation, reject the idea of taking 16 units of insulin.  Call Diabetes Educator.  No answer, leave message, take 4 units.  She calls back, informs me that I am not supposed to be using the new plan for snacks, just meals.  This is going to be so much fun!

Dinner: Am all prepared to try new plan, eat dinner, know the exact carb count (for logging purposes), write down the time I start eating so I can test at the right time, get distracted during the 20 minutes, leave the house without taking a shot.

Go to Big Lots, putter around in the notebooks, peruse the hairspray and wonder what in the hell I am supposed to buy, purchase items, start driving home, get distracted by huge full moon rising and dipping below Rattlesnake Mountain, drive around looking for a photo op, forget that camera phones do not have telephoto lenses, start heading home, get concerned that someone is following me, initiate evasive measures, start weaving back through the neighborhood, remember that I forgot to take a shot, get depressed.  Test blood.  328.  Feel like a ding dong.  Guess at insulin dosage.  Feel sorry for the medical professionals that have to help me.

So the exception to the normal procedure for the last twelve years is that if I test and I'm at, say, 97, I eat first and take a shot 20-30 minutes later.  The trouble is, I'm so used to taking my shots before a meal that I often forget to take a shot at all during these exceptions.  How am I supposed to do this full-time?  This strikes me as a recipe for disaster.  If anyone has ideas on what I can do to remember this absolute reversal, please let me know.  I'm very open to suggestions.

But hey- I'm writing this blog from home and not on my phone!  I'm stealing internet- yay!  And honestly, Mom- I have a whole pile of things to work on and an article taped to the wall that I think Marty may have sent to me about submitting writing.  I'll be working on it, but even though it's 7:40 at night, I am very tired gauge and am going to go brush Riley, listen to the radio, and pass out.