So far, so good for these first few days of 2009. I’ve pulled out my detailed logging sheets and made a resolution to pinpoint exactly why my BGs are all over the map. Just committing to that feels good.
I may have mentioned that my glucose control slipped into the unacceptable these last few weeks as I’ve been riding the wave of the holidays: bit by bit allowing myself more carbs here and there, and struggling to cover for it all with the right amount of insulin correction at the right moment. Ugh.
Then a few days before New Year’s, I had no choice but to force myself to set my alarm and get up early for those dreaded quad-annual fasting blood tests: the lipid profile. I have SERIOUS ISSUES with leaving the 
house in the morning without being able to eat anything (physical or psychological? who knows?) Luckily, my wonderful partner usually goes with me and turns it into a “Lab Breakfast Date” — as soon as they’re done sucking my blood, we hop over to surprisingly high-quality hospital café and order steaming double lattes and omelettes with spinach and feta cheese. With this addition, I actually look forward to it (sort of).
But this time, with it still being school Winter Break, we had no one to watch our three monkeys in the wee hours of the morning. I tried not to show how bummed out I was that I was going to have to face the fasting-blood-test music all on my own.
So do you know what my family did? They rallied for me! Despite a bad head cold, my husband got up with me at 7am and drove me right to the front door of our local hospital, so’s I wouldn’t have to park a mile off in the gi-normous parking structure and pick my way through the construction going on all around the main entrance on my way to the lab. Then he drove back home and picked up all three girls, who’d been lovely enough to cooperate with getting up early, getting dressed and ready on their own (!). They all came to meet me at the hospital a short while later.
Sure, I had to brave the actual blood-sucking-test part alone, but I always insist on their very best lab tech and a gurney anyway. And the whole thing went so much faster without the parking and hiking through the cold morning air (without breakfast).
Soon enough I was sitting in the café sipping my latte — when suddenly three bright little faces framed by Anne-of-Green-Gables braids peeked around the corner. My heart leapt! We shared a lot of hugs and a much heartier breakfast than we usually eat. And I kept thinking how wonderful it was that this hated procedure had actually offered up the opportunity for us to go out to breakfast as a family — something I normally can’t handle because I can never stand to wait until everybody’s mobilized and then drive to some restaurant and wait some more before we eat. So there we were, once again turning something bad into something good.
The epiphany of course was that I am NOT ALONE with this crappy disease after all. My Loved Ones may not know exactly what it feels like to live with this thing, but as long as they continue to back me up — really back me up — on the things that bother me most, no matter how trivial they may seem, then I am blessed.
To top it all off, I called the hospital the next day and discovered that despite the crummy month behind me, my A1c was 6.5! Which I can hardly believe… I guess I’ve been catching those highs and hammering them down faster than I thought.
In short, it’s just nice to know that things are often not as grim as they seem, especially when you have lots of love and lattes in the mix.
Awwww Way to go Amy! Congrats on the great A1c
and thats great that the kids rallied together and made it a good day for you!
“Anne of Green Gables braids”. Somehow, I don’t picture your young’uns as redheads… and the image evokes Nova Scotia (yes, I know, Anne was on Prince Edward Island — but there are so many Anne of Green Gables-themed tourist souvenirs in Halifax!) for me, rather than California…
Oatcakes, a small Halifax cafe, Cape Breton tartan, and a long-ago Halegonian holiday with friends…
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Sounds like a great time! grats on your A1c!
Amy, that is such a great story. It made me smile just picturing the kiddos peeking around the corner at you!
Congrats on the fabulous A1C – way to go!
Well, that’s pretty darn nifty! Hurray for the husband and kids for making your day special. I’m impressed.
Right, no redheads. We’ve got 2 dirty blonds and a light brunette — but they sure are cute in those braids!
it does make a world of difference to have such support! i had my stress test on monday (which of course causes me mucho stress), but dan met me at the starbucks in the med center where i was having my first caffeine in over 24 hours and my first food in 15. it made my day. and my stress test was normal. thanks be.
congratulations on your a1c. it’s nice to be surprised!
I spent some time in hospitals over the holidays, with some of my mentor physicians, and had the pleasure of watching decubitis ulcer treatment (horrific “bedsore” type ulcers) on a 30-year T1 diabetic — and not a diabetic who met the definition of poorly controlled diabetic, not by any stretch. I’ll skip the details of his story, but he was an active person who checked his glucose regularly, never had labs that were off the charts. Still, though — years of “so-so,” “decent” control caught up with him.
The lesson I learned from this: it’s wrong to ever think you get a day or an hour off from diabetes. My patient told me as much. He told me he regrets “every time I shrugged at a 180.” Your retinas, your kidneys, your blood vessels don’t care that it’s Christmas or you’re on vacation. These vital parts of our body don’t cut us slack. They’re going to suffer and unfortunately much of the damage can never be undone. Every day counts.
I always feel that I get my labs and take care of my diabetes for myself and my future, not for rewards or perks or for anyone else. I don’t really agree with extrinsic rewards for taking care of one’s health. After seeing that patient’s oozing foot ulcers, getting blood drawn seems like a spa treatment.
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