Story of my life!

It seems like just yesterday, but last October a very good friend of mine told me she was pregnant. And now here we are, 8 months later and she will be the mother to a baby boy in just a few short weeks. I see her every day and it has been such a pleasure to be sharing this journey with her, and all the ups and downs of pregnancy, especially the food cravings and food do's and don'ts of being pregnant. Thankfully for her, she never had to deal with morning sickness or very many other annoying pregnancy symptoms, except for some pretty crazy heartburn. The other day she made a comment about having to really think about every piece of food she put into her body, because she knew what would or wouldn't give her heartburn and also what would or wouldn't be good for the baby. And my IMMEDIATE response was, "Story of my life!"

Not that I have heartburn or a baby growing in my body right now ... But I could completely sympathize with having to scrutinize every piece of food or drink that went into my mouth. Everything we ingest gets processed in our bodies and insulin is surely a factor in the digestion process of, I would say, about 98% of what goes into our stomachs. Put simply, insulin is responsible for making sure the sugars/carbs we eat are appropriately distributed into our cells and blood stream. Not having insulin poses GREAT problems.

I remember sitting in the pediatrician's office on the day I was diagnosed and the doctor on call was telling my mom and I about diabetes and what it meant to have to take insulin for sugars. My Mom asked the doctor if I could eventually go on a diet where I wouldn't need to take insulin, and simply put, the doctor said that would never be an option. Almost everything we eat has carbohydrates, from bread to soda to meats and veggies. Of course there are foods that are much lower in carbs, and those are my favorites, but there will never come a day where I could just eat and not take insulin. 

Therefore, anything that goes into my body is scrutinized completely. There hasn't been and there will never be a day where a donut in the break room looks so good that I would just grab one and take a bite or two and think nothing of it. Walking around Costco with all the free food samples kind of sucks. Just taking a handful of chips and guacamole at a Memorial Day BBQ isn't even possible, without insulin involved. ANYTHING that goes into my body requires an action on my part, which really makes me think more than twice about what I choose to eat.

The negative to this, is it really sucks to take up so much time to over analyze what I am eating.  I would love to sit down at a restaurant, order a burger, and devour it when it's served warm with some great fries immediately. Instead when the burger arrives, I do my best to count the carbs in my head, check my blood sugar, wait for the insulin to be injected from my pump, and then ideally wait 15-20 minutes to eat for the insulin to start working.

The positive though is that analyzing all of this food REALLY makes me think about what I am eating, and a lot of the time I end up making healthier choices. Surely I enjoy a cheeseburger here and there, but mostly during my thought process of what I am about to eat, 9 times out of 10 I will choose an overall healthier option because of the fact that I am constantly scrutinizing every ingredient. Not only do I count carbohydrates now, but since I have gotten so into nutrition, I am taking into consideration several other factors as well. I'm not any special diet. I'm just on a plan to eat healthy, natural things. And for me, it totally works and I feel great.

6.0%

I only have a few minutes but it's time to brag. The other week I had an appointment with my AMAZING doctor, Chris Sadler. One week before each of these appointments I ritually give blood for testing. I imagine several tests are run to make sure everything is looking good, but really the most important number from those tests is the A1c.

The A1c tests an average blood sugar over the last 3 months. The test is calculated as a percentage that correlates to an average blood sugar. Over the last 13 years I have seen the results from my A1c test yo-yo up and down, and while I was a teenager it was mostly up. I would have to say that I vaguely remember getting results anywhere from 10-13% .. which if you know diabetes at all, this is REALLY high and puts people at risk for future complications. Here is a link to how an A1c test correlates to average blood sugars:

A1c and Blood Glucose Equivalents

When I reached my early twenties I finally had the mind-set (and a new doctor in the Bay Area) that really helped me start to get on track. Over the last 6 years my A1c numbers have fallen drastically, to the point where going to the doctor is now more fun than ever, as my husband and I try to guess what the number will be this time.

I especially knew that this last appointment would go well, since I've been on the insulin pump and using the Dexcom meter. These two pieces of technology have made SUCH a difference in keeping my blood sugars more consistent and I knew this would really make a difference in my A1c test this month.

Sooo ... drum roll please! My most recent (AND BEST EVER!) A1c was 6.0%!!!!! I feel proud that this was such an amazing feat and I know it's just going to keep getting better and better. I am a healthy and happy diabetic and couldn't be more on top of the world right now.