Ah, the weekend!

Well everyone the weekend was great! I started off the weekend with a 30 mile ride on Friday. I felt great and is was my second ride with the pump! Everything seemed to go well and all I had to do was reduce my basal rate to 50% for the duration of the ride. My BS after riding was a respectable 96. I did my best to get to bed early for the big day on Saturday.

Saturday I went to Cedar Point with my brother, friend John and brother's friend Josh. We had a great time and just barely missed the massive storms blowing through at night. My brother and I were on the Wicked Twister strapped in and ready to go when they released the lap bars and made us exit the ride. :( So we headed for the exit since it was 8:30 anyways. My head looked like a tomato it was so burnt. A 77 and partly cloudy forecast turned into 88 and sunny. Not that I'm complaining, i just wasn't as prepared as I should have been. On a lighter note my blood sugars were great the whole time never creeping above 140. This pump is awesome!!!!
The best part of the trip was when my brother and our friends got out of my car to help tear apart the fence at CP. They had their heads so far up their asses at moving traffic we moved 30ft. in an hour while all of the other lots were empty. I had no problem driving through the gaping hole along with the other 30 cars. It was kinda fun as well!

The two infusion changes that I have done so far have been pretty easy. The change on Friday was perfect, very little air as compared to the first change. We'll see if tonight goes even easier!

Sunday was an incredibly lazy day. I woke up at 10:30a took a nap for two hours promptly at 12:30! :) Watched the Olympics all day and did some cleaning and ran errands in between. Now it's Monday and I'm sitting back at work. Boo!

In other news I decided to join a relay team for the Akron Marathon in Sept. I haven't ran in 10 years so this should be interesting. I'm hoping my cycling fitness carries over at least a little. Any words of advice for training would be greatly appreciated. Also, I think I would like to go to the Olympics, what's a good sport that I could go in? Cycling may be tough, I was thinking more like table tennis or badminton. Hmm...who knows.

I'm Still Alive!

Yes, over 48 hours on the insulin pump aka: digital pancreas and I'm still alive and well. No severe reactions on it, yet. I had a pretty good weekend but wish I went riding. It feels like it's been forever! Well, it has been since last Friday! Now that I've had a few days to get comfortable with the pump, it's time to work it into my cycling regimen. I'm excited to be on the pump, I feel like I've done something to truly help my body. More than just eating better an exercising.

Pro's with the insulin pump:
1. No more multiple daily injections!!!
2. Less lows in the middle of the night
3. Only one type of insulin is needed at the drug store (meaning one less co-pay :))
4. Amazing control with the bolus wizard! This programs figures out a recommended insulin dose for a meal or snack by crunching the following things automatically: blood glucose (transmitted directly from meter), grams of carbs (figured and entered by me), my carb gram to insulin ratio, insulin sensitivity and amount of active insulin in my system. Basically everything I had to figure out on my own is done for me now.
5. Eat what I want, when I want

Con's:
1. I'm attached to an electronic device 24 hours a day
2. Carrying extra tubing with me in case of tubing failure. If not fixed quickly could hospitalize me or even kill me.
3. Becoming desensitized to hypoglycemia reactions and going into a coma in my sleep
4. Sleeping and #1 Con
5. Sex could be interesting with a pump attached

Hmm...that's all I got right now! Like I said, it's day number two. I'm sure I'll have more as the time on the pump increases. Check back soon!!!

Of Note!

Saturday August 8, 2008 at 11:00am I started pumping my insulin! Details to come soon! Same bat time same bat channel!

Reflection

As I sit here at work becoming incredibly farther behind I can't help but reflect on my life. For the past 15 years I've been injecting myself with insulin to live. Tomorrow morning that all changes. I haven't done anything else except live for longer than 15 years. Kind of crazy! Somebody was asking me what an insulin pump was like and I replied, like an external hard drive for your computer. All the non-diabetics out there have a normal operating pancreas, I don't. My normal operating pancreas will be on the outside now.

As I enter this world of unknown I take comfort in the fact that the pump will make my life better. No more carbo loading right before rides just so my blood sugar doesn't crash. No more digging for a patch of stomach in the middle of winter under all of my button down shirts to give a shot....8 times a day! No more $30 co-pays every 50 days for humalog AND launtus. In time, no more getting up every night because your crazy metabolism breaks down 24 hour insulin in 19 hours.

I'm excited to see where I'm at in a year. Next summer will be the summer of cycling. My life has changed a lot in the last year. I'm single now, live alone, moving to an insulin pump, cycle regularly, volunteer often, have a brother who is showing cancer that it picked the wrong mofo to mess with, picked up massive accounts at work and reconnected with my spirit a bit! I feel like my life is heading in the right direction. I am happy!

It's Here, It's Here!!!

Yes, to most people it means nothing but to me, the world! My new insulin pump!!! Yes, I did open it at work because I was too excited! Check out all the "stuff", now if I could only get some to show me how to use so I don't accidentally kill myself! lol I did make a trip out to restock glucose tabs and instant glucose gel in case of emergencies. I will keep everyone up to date as I learn more and get this party started!

The real question of the day is can I keep numbers like this once I start on the pump? I hope!

For those who can't read horrible, blurry pictures:

7 day average after 26 checks is 110

14 days 109

30 days 119

60 days 120

90 days after 393 checks 120!!!! Freaking Awesome!

Package delivered at work:

Package contents on desk at work:

Package contents spread out on table at while reading the literature:

My weekend!

This weekend was great! I went riding Friday and put on a solid 30 miles. Did I mention I love riding? lol The whole time I was thinking about getting my insulin pump, how will I ride with it? Where will I put it? How do I adjust for exercise? All the normal things running through people's minds! Right?

I slept in until 8am on Saturday! Funny, I know, but getting up at 5am all week long means 8 is 3 extra hours!!! I went out to my parents to help with some projects as usual and visit with my brother. He is doing well with his chemo and all, here is a picture of him and I. So keep him in your thoughts and prayers and hopefully everything will keep moving along pretty well.

Sunday I rode the Sweet Corn Challenge put together by Eddie's Bike shop. It was an in credible day for riding!!! Perfect temp, perfect weather!!! I met a group of guys training for the MS 150 and rode with them for most of the 53 miles. It was a great ride, fairly challenging for the area but fun as well. I finished in 3:10:00 but the best part was that my blood sugars were perfect all day long. Now that I'm finally getting these under control while riding so I don't go low I'm moving to the insulin pump. My goal is to be up and running for the STOMP metric century at the end of the month. Wish me luck!!! On that note check back to see pics as I get my pump delivery tomorrow!!!

FINALLY!!!

Monday my insulin pump will arrive! A whole new era in my life with diabetes! I feel like it's Christmas in July! I will admit that I'm a little nervous about getting started but know it will better in the long run. I'll keep everyone posted on how this journey goes and how it changes my life, hopefully for the better. :)

Here is a pic of the pump in the color I will be getting: