Monday, November 26, 2007

My First Turkey Day

Well first as a type 1. I went into my Thanksgiving meal absolutely terrified. How the heck could I bolus for mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, stuffing and green bean casserole! All home made and not by me - what did my Aunt put in this dish, did my Mom use 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup or 1, was that gravy from a jar or did they make it old school style? What about pie - could I possibly have a slice of pumpkin pie after all these carbs????

Beads of sweat developed on my brow as we got closer to saying grace. Oh boy here we go - time to bolus, I took out my palm pilot and consulted by Calorie King database - 65 grams of carbs seemed like a good estimate so I gave myself a square wave bolus to be delivered over an hour. Less than an hour after I ate my blood sugar was down to 78! How the heck did I go low on Thanksgiving???? My reward - a big slice of Pumpkin Pie with a table spoon of Whip Cream! Now my low wasn't intentional but having an unbolused slice of orange creaminess was almost worth it. Plus treating a low with pie is way better than glucose tabs.

I made it through my first Thanksgiving without going over 200 and without a trip to the hospital from over bolusing - all in all a success.

In other news (from my season ending note to my parents):


I'm thrilled with how the kids competed on Saturday. While we all would have loved a different outcome scoring on our last drive with only 11 healthy players and our 4th string quarterback taking snaps is a huge testament to how far your sons have come. On our first day of practice this year I wasn't sure what I had, I wasn't sure if we could come together as a team or learn the fundamentals of the game. I can now say with confidence we became a team, and a great one at that.

On Saturday we all saw an opponent who played football at the level our organization would like to reach. The Brooklyn Renegades had a high level of discipline, were able to move into multiple formations on offense and kept their responsibilities on defense. As I told the kids on Saturday, this game was a tremendous learning experience and a great end of the season. For two and a half quarters we hung in with a team who had more experience, more players and had competed against a higher level of opponent. For two and a half quarters we showed that the Pee Wee Downtown Giants are becoming an elite team.

End of season record: 7 - 4

7 comments:

Shannon said...

I feel bad about you sweating it out for Thanksgiving, but thrilled that it all worked out.

Brendon totally missed out on his first Thanksgiving as a type 1 because he was still in the hospital after diagnosis. We chased away the volunteer who brought a turkey dinner to the room. It was too overwhelming for us to deal with.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the accomplishment. This was my fourth Thanksgiving with diabetes, and this was the first year of not going over 200. I think I did it because I didn't eat any dessert at all, I had fruit salad while everybody else ate double chocolate cake and pumpkin spice pies.

Good Luck with the rest of your Thanksgiving and holiday meals.

Ashley said...

Hi, I'm a new friend of Mary Egger's (which is how I came across your blog).

I'm sorry to hear about your diabetes diagnosis. However, I would like to direct you to my friend Jay's site: http://www.jayhewitt.com/

He is a diabetic triathlete... I've raced with him many times, and he has some great nutritional tips that might help you.

Happy Holidays!
~Ashley (http://ashleylong.blogspot.com)

Dances with Corgis said...

So happy that you had a good thanksgiving and esp. because you were able to have some pumpkin pie... but seriously, WHO BUYS GRAVY FROM A CAN???? Ugh!! And I thought Cranberry sauce from a can was bad... :-/

Ashley said...

Yes, yes... you should email Jay. He's a Super nice guy - and very knowledgeable. Tell him Ashley says hi!

Anne Findlay said...

Send me an email (my address should show up with this comment) and I'll get you in touch with the group. I know they are already starting to think about 2009 participation... It would be great for you to also be involved!
-Anne, re Triabetes

Anonymous said...

congrats on your first thanksgiving with diabetes.. seems like you did well!