Might Be Getting the Hang of This

7 workouts up, 7 workouts done - went 7 for 7 last week, no exercise induced lows, no workouts that I had to shorten, hit all my training goals and had a great week exercise wise. This included a week where I had my final in a finance course, took the GMAT, and pretty much had my heart broken. I'm amazed that with all that went on last week I'm sitting here and typing about it.

Last week my training log was the following:

Monday - 1.5 hour primary muscle group lift
Tuesday - 3 mile speed test
Wednesday - 1.5 hour secondary muscle group lift
Thursday - 1/2 hour continuous swim (tried a new basal rate that day that worked great)
Friday - 15 minute recovery run
Saturday - 3.5 mile slow run
Sunday - 3 hour bike ride (conversation pace)

Added to that was the GMAT on Wednesday which I scored a 690 (90th percentile); I'm praying that this score puts me over the top for the MBA programs I'm applying to. If any admissions officers out there suggest I absolutely need to break a 700 I'll hit the books again though. Thursday was my financial management final (hopefully got an A) and Wednesday night I was up till 2am for the personal reasons mentioned above.

On Saturday I needed to make my way to the Upper East Side to retrieve my bike, ride it about 5 miles to football practice in Battery Park. I currently am the head coach for the 11 year old team for the Downtown Giants. After practice I noticed my front tire was totally flat, the C02 cartridge didn't fill up the tube so I had to walk my bike about a mile to the gym in insane NY humidity.

The only lows I encountered all week were after going out for beers with a friend on Thursday night. I think I may have over bolused for the cup cake I had; that coupled with alcohol was a dangerous combination, a full Gatorade and snickers bar later I was only up to 106! I needed to have 5 or 6 glasses of orange juice when I got home to make it to the 120s before I went to sleep.

All in all I pretty much felt like a normal person blood sugar wise last week, I'm getting adjusted to the pump and am starting to be able to work out hard consistently again. The folks at the Berrie Center and me will continue to adjust basal rates and % decreases prior to exercise until we have it down perfectly but last week gave me the confidence that I can still go after my workouts like I used to.

So that's why you change the infusion set!

I've been on the pump for a couple weeks now, up until Tuesday I hadn't had a problem with it. I had planned on changing my infusion site that evening when I got home from work - however, during a pretty tough speed workout at the gym the tape adhesion started to peel away from the skin a bit - no big deal I thought it will stay there until I get home. After I finish my run I notice that the adhesionison is half off so I hustle over to Duane Reade to pick up some athletic tape. As I walk up Broad St - I feel a pinch at my side and then realized that the damn thing fell out! Luckily I kept some extra infusion sets at my office but didn't have the minimed inserter - so for the first time I had to jam that big needle into my gut; not fun, I like the inserter much better!

I wanted to see how long 1.4 mg of insulin would last in my pump for so I didn't change the reservoir after the infusion site change - last night at the Yankee game I was greeted by a low reservoir warning - no big deal, I had enough left for the basal during the game and 1 bolus. But I learned two valuable lessons from this - change your infusion site every 3 days (not 4) and 1.4 mg of insulin will last me 5 days, I'll just keep learning this stuff as I go.

My Purple Pancreas

Yesterday I promised I would disclose the reason why a 28 year old male chose a purple Minimed pump over a more subdued color. But first I have to praise my pump to no end. The worst part of my day, every day, for the past few months has been that stinging shot of lantus. Having the lantus at room temperature took a bit of the sting out but I was still never comfortable with it and to never have to do that again brings a huge smile to my face. After 24 hours I feel so much freer, I don't have to rush to the bathroom at work to bolus before lunch, I don't have to worry about having some chips and salsa while playing Wii with a friend and am comforted by the fact that I now have even better control of my diabetes. Best of all I know that the chemical that is keeping me alive is constantly attached to me and can be altered to better fit my activity alot of weight was lifted off my shoulders yesterday and I can't express how happy I am to be pumping.

Why purple, you ask (not that anyone asked). My life is greatly defined by my past and my past includes three amazing years at Hobart College. As the starting center on the Hobart College football team for the 1999 and 2000 seasons I gained amazing friends, tremendous leadership experience and learned alot about myself. I've been able to take the dedication and commitment that it took to succeed as a college athlete and apply it to almost every facet of my life. Most importantly the adversity that I faced on the field, countless hours of preparation and sacrifices I had to make have allowed me to deal with diabetes running head first and taking it on. When it came time to choosing a pump and I saw that purple was available I had to go with it. Hobart's colors are purple and orange - I raise those colors high whenever I can; be it on my golf bag or shirt, a hat and now my insulin pump. Now each time I face a challenge with diabetes I can look down at my pump, remind myself of the dedication it took to succeed in a sport I loved and apply that same intensity to controlling this illness.

Pumping Away!

The morning of PUMP DAY has finally arrived and I'm happily basaling away!!! Last night I laid out the pump paraphernalia that I would need with me:

And took my last shot of Lantus for the foreseeable future:

I won't miss the Lantus a bit - every time I injected it burnt and I was getting sick of drawing blood every now and again - you are going to be much easier to break up with than my Novolog Pen.

I arrived at the Naomi Berrie center on 168th street at about 8am and was starving. Having taken only 5 units of lantus last night had my blood sugar running a bit high but that was to be expected. I met with Leigh and we set my settings and inserted the infusion set! Since I had done the earlier trial with the Minimed pump I only needed 1 appointment to set up. Right now I only have 2 basal rates, .35 from midnight to 4am and .4 for all other times. This process really is fascinating and I'm excited to see how my body reacts to different types of activities. It will be alot easier to do long periods of strenuous exercise now since I won't have to devour countless Carb Booms and Cliff Bars to maintain my bs.

At 9am my bs was 140 - I bought a blueberry muffin and a large coffee at the corner coffee truck and headed back up to the office. I delivered my first bolus with the purple pancreas and did GMAT problems for the next hour and 1/2 at the center. At 10:30 my bs was 170 - I always have a problem covering for muffins (note to calorie king - you need more muffin examples in the database!). Leigh said she'd rather have me high to start than low so I was free to leave and go to work. I just checked my blood sugar at 1pm and had a bs of 69 (guess it wasn't the lasting effects of my cold that made me feel shaky). Perhaps I need to lower my basal rate during midday but that will be shown over time. I did miss having to go into the bathroom to shoot myself in the stomach with my trusty novlog pen but I think I just might be able to get used to sitting in my chair, hitting a button and eating without having to retuck my shirt pretty easily. This is going to be alot of fun!

Tomorrow I will finally reveal why I decided to have a purple pancrease.

It's Like Christmas

The day I've been waiting for has finally arrived - I received my Minimed Pump in the mail! The box arrived at 6 pm on Friday but since my company has the worst mail room in the history of offices, I didn't receive it until about noon Monday.

I could barely contain my excitement when our mail guy approached me with this box:

Never before has a cardboard box with a logo that is the bastard child of Cirque Du Soleil and Leondardi daVinci brought me so much joy.

Opening the box filled me with excitement and anticipation:


But it was still a tease as I had to dig through 5 lbs of popcorn and countless packages of reservoirs and infusion sets to find what I was truly searching for :


Which contained my brand new purple pancreas:



My excitement is tempered by the fact that I can't get into see my diabetic educator at the Berrie Center until the 28th. However, this will give me a chance to take the online "pump school" offered by minimed and read all the instruction manuals. Once I get used to the square wave bolus I may just have to break my no Chinatown in the summer rule to have the dim sum feast I've been craving.