Five point freakin' six!!

Dixie and I just returned from our summer trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. (BWCAW) We had an EXCELLENT time.

It's been a crazy summer. Really, it's been a crazy 2008. Thanks to all of you who sent support my way after my father's accident. He is doing well. His burns are continuing to recover as they should. He is very lucky.

The timing of this year's trip couldn't have come at a better time. I was desperately in need of a break from civilization.

The trip was great. The weather was superb. (highs in the mid 70s, lows in the mid 40s, low 50s) We only had one afternoon of rain. We paddled and portaged through some beautiful places. Dixie loves being in the wilderness as much as I do. The photo above is of Dixie chewing on a stick. She was roughing it too-- she had to find natural toys in the wilderness.

I returned and realized that I had scheduled an appointment with my endocrinologist. (probably before I knew when my BWCAW trip was scheduled) I scrambled with all of my blood testing meters to record three weeks worth of blood sugars to bring with me. It's really quite a site to see. Me sitting in pile of meters and trying to get all the numbers organized. Fortunately, I got it done.

My appointment was at noon today. I filled out the miscellaneous paperwork, and was guided to an exam room by the nurse. I got out my computer to share my results with my endo. While I was waiting for her to come into the room, the nurse appeared and said that she was going to do my A1c with me. This was a surprise. The clinic that I go to still uses the lab to do A1c's. I go there after my appointment to do all the lab work. I asked if I could use my poker to lance my finger. (yes) She collected the drop of blood from my finger and then left the room, telling me that she would return after the results appeared. (approximately 11 minutes)

My endo came in and we went through my records. She told me that the lab there gives lab values that are 5% higher than the rest of the labs in Minnesota. This portable machine would give results more like the rest of the state. (or something like that... she gave a long explanation, but I stopped listening) She said that my result would likely be lower than what it usually has been. (My last several A1c's have been 6.2 or 6.3)

The nurse came back in the room while we were chatting, and said that my A1c was 5.6.

5.6!!!

I was a little shocked. The average on my computer said 103, but it usually is somewhere around that, and my results are always 6.2 or 6.3. Try as I have, I've never been able to crack the 6.0 barrier. When I said that to my endo, she said that I could "...tell my friends that my A1c has probably always been in the 5.5-5.9 range."

She also said that I need to reduce my basal rates (which she had me do in front of her because she knows that I don't like to mess with my basals), and she would like me to shoot for 3 lows per week or less. (low being below 65)

But friends, today is a special day. My first A1c under 6. An average blood sugar around 100.

YES! (happy dance :-)