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 :-)

The start of summer...

School is out. Time for my summer break. The end of the school year was pretty crazy. I had to say good bye to 14 students in sixth grade who will be moving on to junior high in the fall. A couple of the kids are boys that Dixie "grew up with." Those were the ones that had the hardest time saying good bye to her. (and I had the hardest time saying good bye to them :-(

But it's summer. Everything should be all good, right?

I've had a heck of a last couple weeks. I was working at a week long summer camp for kids with special needs. I came home on Thursday night. I was hot and tired. I had a cocktail and sat on the couch. Then I got a phone call.

The call was from my dad's wife. She was calling to tell me that my dad had been in an accident. He was burned and had smoke inhalation. He was in the process of being transferred from his local hospital to a major medical center's burn unit. It was late. He was intubated. I talked to my dad's cousin, who is his physician. He told me that my dad was unconscious, and not in danger of dying. He said that I should wait until morning to come to the hospital. I had a restless night of sleep, and Dixie and I took off for the hospital early on Friday morning. Seeing him with tubes and wraps was really difficult. The doctors determined that his lungs were functioning alright, and they would extubate him in the afternoon. It was amazing how quickly he "came around" after being unconscious. He spent three days in the burn unit, and then was released and able to go home. He has burns on both hands, his entire right leg, part of his left leg, and spotty burns on his back, nose, cheeks, and bottom lip.

He is very lucky to be alive.

He's healing.

My brother and sister both came to see him from out of town. It was an unfortunate event that brought us together.

My best friend's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks ago. I went with her to the hospital while her mom had surgery. It turned out the best that it could. The tumor was stage 1, and with radiation, there should be complete elimination of the cancer.

Another good friend's niece, just had a recurrence of cancer. She had surgery this week to remove a tumor on her spine.

My teaching partner's mother just had knee replacement surgery. She has been visiting her for two weeks, and helping to figure out a plan for her homecoming.

I keep thinking... am I getting old and that's why I know so many people who are dealing with horrible medical issues? Or is 2008 just not a great year for my friends and their families??

Diabetes was a pain during my dad's accident crisis. Friday, I went to spend the day at the hospital. After driving the 35 minutes to the hospital, I realized that my cartridge was almost empty. I would only have enough insulin to cover my basal rate for about 9 hours. I didn't have enough extra to bolus for meals. So I skipped breakfast and lunch. It's kinda hard to find low carb/no carb food in a hospital. I drank a couple diet dews, but that was it. I ended up leaving before I wanted to so that I could make it home through traffic to get insulin. Dam diabetes.

Also on the diabetes front... I ordered a free accu-check aviva and multiclix lancing device. I'm not really interested in the meter (because heaven knows I've already got a number of them), but wanted to try to multiclix. I like it. It's kind of refreshing to have a new lancet automatically provided each time I test. I just ordered more replacement cartridges for it.

I also got a mailing from Smith Medical, offering me a Freestyle Navigator at a discounted rate since I use their product. (my trusty Cozmo) Has anyone tried his out yet? I love freestyle products, but still can't really bring myself to having another device to insert in my flesh.

Here's hoping that the rest of the summer is easy sailing. (or canoeing :-)

Happy Birthday Little Bit

I don't write about her often, but I have another dog.

Her name is Ella, and she just turned 7 years old. She is little, but strong.

Ella is a rat terrier mix. She came into my life when I needed a friend the most.

She was with me to welcome Dixie to my life. She taught Dixie how to live with people.

It's ying-yang. Ella is white, Dixie is black. Ella is little, Dixie is big. They love each other.

Happy Birthday my Little Bit.