Friday, April 23, 2010

Continuous Glucose Monitor

A few days ago I received a call from someone at Medtronic to see how I'm doing with my insulin pump. Unfortunately, I had to tell her that I haven't used the pump in about 4 years. I basically tried it for one day and hated it. I know I should have given it more of a chance, but I just couldn't handle my life with it on. I think I was bitter because the nurse who was showing me how to use it was trying to make it more appealing by comparing it to a beeper. Now why would I want people to think I'm wearing a beeper? Am I that lame? The best part was that it was never actually explained to me how to properly remove the stupid thing. I pretty much just ripped it off myself, which was the worst idea ever. It left this huge hole where the tube was inserted and the blood immediately started flowing. I looked like I was shot! I ruined a nice pair of jeans because of that. Maybe one day I'll want to try it again--I do see the benefits of having a pump (once I learn how to remove it the right way).

So the Medtronic rep. on the phone proceeded to tell me about this other device that she thought I might like. It's a continuous glucose monitoring system that attaches to your body and continuously checks your blood sugar throughout the day. This doesn't scare me as much because it's about the size of a quarter and there are no tubes attached to it. I like that it alerts you when you are too high or too low. I love that the data can upload to a computer and you can view the results in a graph. I think it would be interesting to see what my blood sugar patterns are throughout the day. I'm considering trying it, but want to talk to my doctor first to see what she thinks. We will see!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Clumsy Lows

I’m always walking into things, tripping over myself, etc. When my sugar is low, I’m 10 times clumsier. Last night for instance, my sugar level was around 45 or so, which is low enough for me to feel the effects of it. I was of course craving anything sweet so I grabbed a chocolate granola bar and poured myself a glass of milk to go with it. As I was walking back to the table I somehow walked into the wall and spilled the milk all over the carpet and myself. The funny part was that I sat there eating my food drenched in milk, not really caring. I looked ridiculous. It’s great though, because I can always pull out the “low blood sugar” card and blame it on that.