Stumble It!
Oh, Glorious Middle!
I’ve shared this tidbit with some of you already: whenever my girls and I are having a bit of relaxed fun, laughing and taking things lightly, my feisty 7-year-old perks up with a sideways grin and says, “Mommy, are you in the middle? You seem like you’re in the middle!”
This, I realized, is a result of my sharing the fact that “when mommy’s too low, she’s feeling pretty terrible — probably shaky and irritated and not at all right.” And “when mommy’s too high, she has a headache and might be cranky and impatient, you know?”
So there you have it. Whenever things are good, mommy must be in The Middle. That glorious place she always strives to be (not illustrated perfectly by this gauge, but you get the idea).
And Hallelujah, of late, she’s been there quite a bit! 14-day average on the mobile meter (always along in my purse) = 138, and on the house meter (in the kitchen napkin drawer) = 115. Yippee!
The perennial question: What have I done right? Well, for one thing there’s that food scale, which has certainly made carb-counting more precise. Also, I’ve become a monitoring fiend, checking at every quiet moment throughout the day, and at least once every night during sleep hours. I now correct at 2, 3, 4am — more strikes off the list of things I swore I’d never do.
Also, I’ve stopped fighting it. I try now to look at my BG levels not at as a constant battle to be won, but rather as a puzzle to be solved. There’s always some small tweak you can make to improve your progress on the puzzle. On this front, I’ve been inspired by the unflappable Phil Southerland, who led the first-ever team of Type 1 diabetic cyclists to victory in the 3,000-mile Race Across America last year. (I wrote a feature story on him for Close Concerns’ new diaTribe patient newsletter last month.) This guy’s got the most unquestioning “just do it” attitude imaginable. He never feels sorry for himself — or anyone else with diabetes, for that matter. It’s just another of life’s inevitable hiccups. You can do it. Let’s go…
Anyway, I find it kind of ironic that I’ve hit such a good-control groove just days before I start the OmniPod. No kidding. It shouldn’t be long now. I know this perfect patch can’t last. They never do. So onward to more glorious “Mommy in the Middle” days via the pump, I say!
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Amy, congratulations on your streak of great numbers and hard work. I love that phrase, “Mommy is in the middle.” The puzzle is always changing, maybe so we don’t get bored. lol I hope you have a great week.
Posted by: Vivian | February 19th, 2007 at 7:41 amI LOVE it! I’m definitely going to have to use “I’m in the middle” with my daughter when she’s old enough
Posted by: Megan | February 19th, 2007 at 8:51 amI hope that you can get your basal rates set properly on your pump once you start, so that you don’t have to wake up a million times at night. I’m sure you will figure it out!
Congrat’s on a great streak!
Posted by: Anne | February 19th, 2007 at 9:09 amAmy, your comment about puzzle solving hits the nail on the head. I was just diagnosed T1 last December, and am in the middle of figuring out all those nuts and bolts. I have diabetes; there is no battle to be fought or won there. I can however, manage the process needed to control my BG. Its all problem solving, just as in a manufacturing environment, with statistical process controls. And, as the saying goes in business, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” – I’m a testing fanatic – 8 to 12 times a day. You put that into perspective very well. Good luck with your OmniPod. I am facinated with all this technology that is available to us but, unfortunately, I live in the ding-wah toolies and am not likely to see the OmniPod anytime soon.
Posted by: Randy Bright | February 19th, 2007 at 10:07 amCongratulations.
Posted by: Jonah | February 19th, 2007 at 3:39 pmCan’t wait to hear about your impressions with the OmniPod!
I too think your comment on it being a puzzle to be figured out is a great way to look at it.
So many of us can feel that those numbers are judgements of our ability or willingness to do what we have to do.
Way to go on those averages! They rock!!
Posted by: Scott Johnson | February 19th, 2007 at 5:34 pmThat’s so awesome, Amy… I’m a little jealous. Things could stand improvement on all fronts around here.
Maybe I should start taking on your philosophy and stop fighting things so much myself- seems like it takes so much out of me!
And maybe I should look into a food scale too… I have a really cheap plastic one, but I never use it… might be time for an upgrade.
Thanks for the great ideas and I hope you continue to be in the “middle”…
Posted by: Andrea | February 19th, 2007 at 7:41 pmI am very happy for your sucess! Checking in the night really is valuable b/c it means you start the day off at a good level – and that for some weird reason seems to keep the rest of the day more level. I have no idea WHY, but this is what I have noticed. Good luck with your OmniPod. I am intriqued by the OmniPod, but worried that I may loose the “sender” part, since it isn’t attached to the insertion site. Please tell us what you think!
Posted by: Chrissie in Belgium | February 20th, 2007 at 2:26 amI think you hit the proverbial ‘nail on the head’ by weighing your food. Quite honestly, I think that’s where the majority of us miss it… we just don’t have a good grasp of what we’re actually putting in our mouths.
Posted by: Keith | February 20th, 2007 at 6:44 am