There's a great quote from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who wrote: "Progress, Man's distinctive mark alone. Not God's, Not the Beast's. God is, They are. Man partly is, and wholly hopes to be."
In my continued push for better diabetic control, I take that quote and adapt it for the progressive any diabetic always seeks in their own care. A week ago, I visited my endo and she wasn't happy with my lack of testing and care. My A1C was higher than it should be, and we vowed to work together and get it under control.
Today my first week's progress, and here's my progress report.
During the past seven days, I've made a consistent effort to do my best in monitoring and controlling my diabetes, and I have a pump history and full handwritten sheet of test results to prove it - at least six a day (depending on work day or weekend, when morning wake times vary). While I've had a few tests higher than 250, the majority have been in normal range and there's only been a handful to fall in the lower-than-wanted range. All but one or two of those higher ones can be attributed to inaccurate bolus dosing or a pump snafu, while the lowers appear to be basal rates that are slightly off. We learn, and tweak, and move on toward that progress.
It seems that the best motivation I have to keep up testing and monitoring is writing every result down on a sheet, so that I can see it and challenge myself to keep the tests lower. Without this step, I lose interest. It falls to the back of my mind. So, this is key. Not the technological advances or computer software with charts and graphs, but a pencil and paper. Old school basics of logging. It works for me.
We will never have the control of a Person W/O Diabetes, but we will also never be without the proper tools to manage this disease. For that, I am a Type 1 living in the 21st Century and I'm thankful for the progress I can make with the tools I've got at my disposal.
Hopefully, this continued effort will lead to lower averages and a drop in my next A1C, expected in mid-December. Here's to keeping it up through this entire week, which is shorter thanks to the holiday and likely to result in more out-of-the-ordinary food eating that will require extra care. I am confident it can happen, as we only have that progress to measure our ultimate success in getting through this never-ending D-Life.
In my continued push for better diabetic control, I take that quote and adapt it for the progressive any diabetic always seeks in their own care. A week ago, I visited my endo and she wasn't happy with my lack of testing and care. My A1C was higher than it should be, and we vowed to work together and get it under control.
Today my first week's progress, and here's my progress report.
During the past seven days, I've made a consistent effort to do my best in monitoring and controlling my diabetes, and I have a pump history and full handwritten sheet of test results to prove it - at least six a day (depending on work day or weekend, when morning wake times vary). While I've had a few tests higher than 250, the majority have been in normal range and there's only been a handful to fall in the lower-than-wanted range. All but one or two of those higher ones can be attributed to inaccurate bolus dosing or a pump snafu, while the lowers appear to be basal rates that are slightly off. We learn, and tweak, and move on toward that progress.
It seems that the best motivation I have to keep up testing and monitoring is writing every result down on a sheet, so that I can see it and challenge myself to keep the tests lower. Without this step, I lose interest. It falls to the back of my mind. So, this is key. Not the technological advances or computer software with charts and graphs, but a pencil and paper. Old school basics of logging. It works for me.
We will never have the control of a Person W/O Diabetes, but we will also never be without the proper tools to manage this disease. For that, I am a Type 1 living in the 21st Century and I'm thankful for the progress I can make with the tools I've got at my disposal.
Hopefully, this continued effort will lead to lower averages and a drop in my next A1C, expected in mid-December. Here's to keeping it up through this entire week, which is shorter thanks to the holiday and likely to result in more out-of-the-ordinary food eating that will require extra care. I am confident it can happen, as we only have that progress to measure our ultimate success in getting through this never-ending D-Life.
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