life with type 1 diabetes

Month: August 2017

Still. In. Range.

OpenAPS NightScout Dashboard

OpenAPS NightScout Dashboard

I posted this image on twitter already, but it warrants further explanation… at 9:30am I had a physical therapy appointment, at previous appointments I had to remember to set a temp basal and if I didn’t remember ahead of time I would end up dropping low and many times had to have carbs to correct — today I pushed a button on my apple watch and set a “pre-activity” temp basal when I arrived at PT and rode through it without a low. Then I had lunch at 12:30… when I ordered my food I hit the “eating soon” button, again on my watch without having to even take out my phone or my pump… then bolused for the sandwich when it arrived to the table, and look! still even. AFTER WORKING OUT AND EATING I AM STILL EVEN… I’m not sure how else to explain how incredibly awesome this is… thank you #OpenAPS

A1c and self-worth

I’ve always tried to distance my A1c value and my self-worth, but it’s really hard not to see yourself, or at least your success or failure in that number. Just like blood sugar everyday — is it a good number? have I been good? is it a bad number? is it my fault? am I good or bad? what does this mean for the rest of my day. I’m trying to get some other health stuff in order and to move forward I need a letter from my endocrinologist saying that I’m in good health enough for it and right now the answer is no… that phone call hurt. Everything else is in order, but my blood sugar. It’s a fucking kick in the gut… It’s been just about a month on #OpenAPS, but it will take 2 more months for this new life to be on an A1c instead of post-OpenAPS numbers balancing out pre-OpenAPS numbers. The ADA A1c calculator (average BG pulled from Dexcom Clarity) says that I should come in at 8.0… which should be enough (my last one was 8.9), but I hate having to depend on a number that I work so hard to not use to validate my self-worth. My doctor put in an order for a new test… I’m nervous, in a shitty way. I hate this so much.  (my OpenAPS only updated calculated A1c is 7.1 — waiting on that to become a reality…)