Just Because I'm Learning About Distributions.....

Doesn't mean my blood sugars need to give me a lesson in standard deviations and variability. Yesterday I felt awful, but as so many of us have realized just because our blood sugars are all over the place doesn't stop our life from continuing. High blood sugars that were resistant to insulin started Sunday evening. My basal rates continue to edge down from getting back into a workout routine so Sunday morning I encountered a series of lows. I took this as a green light to have a "fat day" and ate a big Harris Teeter Cheeseburger for lunch, with a tomato stuffed with orzo, pine nuts and feta cheese then an enormous bowl of ice cream (I went on a 40 mile bike ride Saturday, figured I deserved it!) By Sunday night I was in a war with my blood sugars at learning team as I was above 200 for 3 to 4 hours.

I woke Monday morning to a blood sugar of 140 but was greeted by 230, 2 hours after a breakfast of egg whites on a piece of whole wheat toast. Throughout all my morning classes my blood sugar was above 200 and did not get under 120 until after 2 pm.

Although I really didn't have that many carbohydrates on Sunday the high fat meal at lunch made it that much more difficult to correct my blood sguars. I'm continually surprised by how big of an impact the nutritional mix of food has on insulin needs. A low glycemic, low fat food requires less insulin to account for the same amount of carbohydrates in a high glycemic, high fat food. While Type 1 diabetes acts much differently than Type 2 diabetes most of the time, the nutritional mix of what we eat is the most direct comparison between the two diseases. I'm not going to give up the occasional burger but I know I'm not chasing that burger with pumpkin ice cream anymore, the 24 hour long headache, shaky eye sight and irritability just isn't worth it.

Slowly But Surely

My basal rates continue to creep down each week. The day before the Ironman my basal rate was 6.25 units of insulin/ 24 hour period. Two to three weeks after that my basal rate over a 24 hour period climbed to 13.5 units of insulin. While I know other Type 1s who have a much higher basal rate requirement the doubling of my basal rates led to blood sugars that were less stable and less reliable. Today, after slowly easing myself back into a regular workout routine my basal rates have dipped to 10.3 units/ 24 hour period.

The best news out of all this is that maintaining more stable blood sugars hasn't required training 18 to 23 hours a week. Each day I'm afforded about a half hour to get into the gym, or get out for a run. The Darden case load is simply too demanding to do any more than that. Over the past two weeks I've been on two half hour runs, lifted for 45 minutes 3 times, gone on a 42 mile bike ride and playing a rousing hour match of racquetball (with a former pro triathlete!). Not only has this helped stabilize some shaky blood sugars but it has also done wonders for my mental state.

Since March I've been dealing with an Internet stalker. Normally I don't get too personal on this blog as I try and keep it as professional as possible as I look to be an outlet to help people with a chronic illness. However, after yesterday's encounter, enough is enough. In the days leading up to IMLP this person had left me dozens of comments asking what my "excuse" would be for Placid, after I became an Ironman they consistently harassed me over a time I'm very proud of. This individual has consistently e-mailed me and began to sexually harass a person who is very special to me via the web. They have obviously compromised my e-mail account because they have made some comments that no one but me and one other person know about.

I confronted whom I had hoped this person to be last night, but was not shocked when that person convinced me it was not them. The person who has been leaving these comments and harassing people I know is someone from my past and totally inconceivable that after all this time they still spend this much time on me. I find it disgusting that someone who has set up a non-profit to help children try to derail the efforts of someone who has put himself in a public forum to help so many.

The anonymity of the Internet provides an outlet for cowards everywhere to have a voice. No matter what public service you are trying to provide immature individuals will try to detract from those efforts with insane comments that can best be described to acting like a 7 year old. I've stayed silent for too long about this and simply want to say I'm disgusted by this person's actions and believe it speaks volumes about their character and is truly pathetic.

Good Luck Triabetes!

This weekend Team Triabetes will take on IM MOO, aka Ironman Wisconsin. The group has done so much for diabetic research that their year long effort has already been a wild success. Tomorrow these 12 athletes will finish their year long quest to become Ironmen and complete what hopes to be a ground-breaking documentary on how blood sugars are affected by extreme exercise.

Good luck Team Triabetes! Can't wait to race with you all next year.