Category: Current Status

I managed to get a new CPAP mask during my planning period today.  I'm hoping that solves the sleeping problem.

I ended up spending the evening help another teacher install software, so I didn't get to dinner until 8:00 pm, so that might be a problem.

The glucowatch did well, showing trends, and was close to the meter sometimes — again, the secret seems to be using forearm testing rather than finger sticks.  I'm not sure they studied that, since they sure don't recommend it, BUT it's working for me.

Breaking up cardio into two sessions is working.  It doesn't affect the blood sugar as dramatically, but I'm planning to increase the sessions as the weeks go by.  As it is, I've done 30 minutes in two 15 minutes sets Monday thru Wednesday.

Keep fingers crossed!

I don’t understand why they are insistant on the surgery. He’s lost 400+ pounds with help, why can’t they just keep providing that same help?

MSNBC – Half-ton man recovering from obesity surgery

Good news:  I've managed to get up and walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes every morning, and I've managed it again when I got home from school.

Blood sugar is elevated, probably because my TDD (total daily dose) of insulin is elevated.  I've adjusted my basals and have the glucowatch on.

Sleep is an issue right now, and I'm hoping that getting a new mask will help.  I'm tired all day, hurt all over, and even Bextra isn't helping much, nor is any of the pain pills that I have for tooth pain etc.  (I haven't tried both in the same day).  Then I don't feel like going to bed, and waking up is painful too. 

As a result, food is an issue.  I working on better choices and portion control. 

I'm focusing on not eating in the evening, before I go to bed.   So I don't think reflux is an issue.

Frankly, I'm just miserable about the whole thing, though I am keeping my weight down.  I'm within 5 pounds of the CDE weight, and under 10 pounds of my latest lowest.

I "spent" the evening working on the too tired thing.  Doing a bit of activity now, so I don't hit a time crunch later.  I'm going to spend the next few days focusing on making sure I get enough sleep and on a good schedule.

I'm really frustrated right now.  I'm having trouble doing a couple of very easy things, that help my control my eating.

One of those is getting enough sleep.  If I am tired, I tend to eat to stay awake.  That makes my gastric reflux worse, making it hard to get to sleep and stay asleep.

Yesterday is a good example.  I was tired, but didn't want to go to bed too early, partly because sometimes I then wake up early, and partly because I get tired of feeling like I sleep every evening.

Then I woke up at 3:00 or so, because my pump went off and I was out of insulin.  Now that was something I could easily fix, because I'd already filled the cartridge.  But I trusted that I would have enough insulin.  Wrong!  And then it took me about an hour to go to sleep because I was refluxing.

So then I had trouble waking up, and I've been sleepy all day.  Tonight though, I am going to work hard at not eating anything in the evening so maybe I'll sleep all night.

I got off track last week, between all the mini-disasters, and I was very worried that I would have trouble getting back on track and staying on track.

All in all, it's been a good learning experience. 

I have gotten back on track and seeing weight loss again, a little bit slower than I was seeing but that's a good thing, the fast weight loss had been worrying me.  I'd go all week being healthy, lose 5 pounds and be out of control at least one weekend day.

One of the really good things, is that even my out of control days are better than they were.  I am limiting portions better, and making better choices.

Of course, my goal for myself is to make this a lifestyle change and not every think of any thing, be it eating, keeping track of eating, or exercise temporary.  That's been my mistakes before.

I'm still worried that my sleep doctor will keep pressuring me to do the gastric bypass thing.  Of course .. if I did do it, starting the process now and scheduling it for end of May would be the smart thing.  It's just not a place I want to go, especially since I am making progress now.

And even one of my greatest measures — dog agility is going better.  I was joking with my instructor Thursday night — she didn't like the way I handled the course at the end — and neither did I.  My only excuse, and it was VERY true, is that at a certain point you run out of oxygen and you just go and hope it's over soon.  And that is what happened that run — but at the same time, I was faster and more ambitious at the beginning of the run.

And I know at least one reader "gets" this, so today we did a beautiful opening run for Gamblers, well, at one point, Marcie started the border-beagle bit (when her brain gets taken over by a wandering border collie spirit), and started a huge looping run, but it picked up 4 extra points, and we still ended up where i wanted to be, but she just didn't have enough momentum to carry her through the gamble.  EE said that the gamble was harder than she would give in that class (she's a judge). 

We did a clean standard run but was 2.73 seconds over time.  I figure half of that was Marcie making sure she wasn't getting TOO contaimdated by the table, (sniffing and being Miss Priss).  She did a fabulous go on at the end, and was two obstacles ahead of me at the finish — a good thing and something I've trained or we'd have been more over time.

We had a super opening for Snooker — tough one, hard to find any flow, and everyone looked stupid getting theirs dogs through it.  Great finish too, but she knocked off a bar at obstacle 5.  We took the whole course, since it was on the way to the finish line — I didn't call it but she took it anyway.

Anyway the point of the blow by blow biopsy is that I've improved tremedously.

Blood pressure is good, and she saw the changes I made in my bolus rates.

Got to tell endo AND the CDE that the watch worked.  My endo was hestitant to sign for the watch,and was also wondering if insurance covered it.  Well, I haven't gone there yet.  I thought I would for the next order of auto sensors, now that we know it works.

CDE saw the numbers I got on Tuesday and Thursday and agreed they looked like good numbers.

Do remember though, if you see something weird double check it and if it is wrong, do a recalibrate.

It doesn't eliminate day to day finger sticks, but it is a good way to eliminate finger sticks for basal tests and for checking changes.

On the whole, I am happy with my Glucowatch.  I'm using it again today and again, the numbers are matching the blood sugar monitor.

I learned something, however, yesterday, just like the pump, and just like the sets, preparing is something not to rush.

Yesterday I wasted an autosensor, because I was too hurried to prepare properly.

Here is what is working for me:

I already have IV Prep, so take a shower, wipe myself down with IV prep, and then get dressed.  That leaves the arm a bit tacky, in addition to the alcohol.

Then I spray my arm once with the Cortozone spray, and prepare the watch and autosensor.  By that time, everything is dry enough.

The watch stays "stuck" better with the IV prep and the spray cuts down on the burn and scare.  You can't even see where the watch was on Tuesday or yesterday.

And as I said, the readings are good!  They show exactly what is happening and most of the time match the meter.  I do think re-calibrating is a good thing.

Also, I've been arm testing, not finger testing, which seems to be affecting the match.

I got very good numbers all day. Had a bit of a problem during the trip home, part of it was a blood sugar drop, which causes prespiration and part of it was that I was a bit hot.

I had a dip right after I ate, which it shows, which is good to see.

On the whole, the Glucowatch is doing what I wanted. I’d like the price to be lower, especially when it comes to the sensors.

Treo is working beautifully — I even took some time to make it work better for me.

My mouth hasn’t hurt since about an hour after the dentist “messed with it”. No other problems either. He’s exactly what I look in a dentist. Available in an emergency and fixes things.