Hey Sugar, Sugar

It’s funny (odd, not haha) that as much as I know about many kinds of medical, health, and wellness issues, I am for all intents and purposes, fairly ignorant of some of the most common ailments. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. The learning curve on this Diabetes has been Alpe d’Huez steep. Mont Ventoux, even.

For the last two weeks, I have been diligent about taking my long-lasting insulin, taking my rapid-acting insulin, counting carbs (!), and actually paying attention to what I eat for the first time ever. Even with all that, I “stacked” my insulin in the first week (2 doses in less than 4 hours), sending myself into hypoglycemia, and forcing me to straight-line it down to the base of Park City Mountain so I could drink juice and jack my sugars back up. Thank goodness the credit card I had allegedly hooked to my ski pass worked at the little coffee shop. Or else Patrick might actually have gotten to use the Glucogon rescue syringe, which he no doubt would have found exciting. It’s a scary-looking syringe that’s attached to a vial with powder. You have to mix the liquid in the syringe with the powder, then inject the whole thing into the passed-out hypoglycemic person. Patrick has visions of reenacting the scene where Mia o-d’s in “Pulp Fiction” and is saved by an adrenaline shot into the heart. If you are around and Patrick has to rescue me, please don’t let him stab the needle in to my heart. (We also now know that the rescue in real life is not as cool as Vincent Vega saving Mia, because as parents of a Diabetic and good friends of ours, Rob and Sara, told us, the shot would probably make me puke all over Patrick.)

Good God, that was a long aside.

I was getting a pretty good handle on how much insulin I needed to preload before eating. Then I started adding in daily skiing, working at Deer Valley, riding computrainer, and, horrors, swimming. All of a sudden, I can hardly keep up with the eating part. I’ve almost always been at the hypoglycemic borderline in the last week. The catch as to what or how much to eat is that if I overdo it, I’m hyperglycemic and all the symptoms of THAT come back. I have an all new respect for folks who are lifelong Diabetics. It’s a crazy balancing act where the weights of all the components are always changing. It’s not easy. And the consequences, well, they suck.

And another aside, this one about returning to riding indoors on the computrainer. I hadn’t done much cardio the last couple of months.. I know, hard to believe. When I jumped back on the bike and started pedaling, I realized that I have been so consumed by my Diabetes that I’d forgotten that I still have asthma. I think I laughed out loud when I could breathe again. I had to dial back my resistance. But at least I’m back on a bike, where I belong. (I also had to stop three times while swimming 500 yards yesterday. Me, who swam 2.4 miles in 6 Ironmans. Humbling.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning yesterday, most of last night, and all of this morning, snow fell in Park City. (It’s still falling.) As one of the city’s most avid skiers said, “This is the storm we’ve been waiting for for 4 years.” Of course, this was also the day that I had my follow-up appointment with my endocrinologist in Salt Lake City. At 10:30 am. Which meant I would miss the best snow morning we’ve had in years. The doc even called to make sure I could make it to them, since the highways would be covered in snow, ice, and accidents. Do I want to reschedule? Thinking it would be impossible to get back in before I go back to Georgetown, I kept the appointment and was rewarded. My blood sugar level has been low because my pancreas must have returned from its sabbatical. The doc took me off the rapid-acting insulin, which means I don’t have to preload insulin before meals. And she cut my long-acting insulin dose in half. All good news. I don’t want to jinx myself, but it’s looking like the Diabetes may be temporary after all. The doc did also say weird things happen so don’t get my hopes up too high. If (when) the blood glucose stays stable in the next few days, the doc will write a letter to Dr Giaccone at Georgetown, and I’ll get to start the next trial, That’s a good thing, since I’ve now been between trials for almost two months. And if you count the time that the Keytruda wasn’t working, I’ve been off effective meds since some time in September. I go back on January 5 to see AGAIN if I can get into this trial that only works for 10-percent of people who are in it. But it’s something, and I am terrifically lucky and grateful that I am able to give it a go.

I’ll get to spend 5 whole weeks in Park City before I go back, which is the longest span of time I’ve been home since sometime in late spring. I am loving it, especially with our (almost always guaranteed) white Christmas. The ebbing of the Diabetes and the insulin are fantastic Christmas gifts (from my pancreas) and I am appreciative! Getting into the PHA (CDK) trial in January would be a rocking way to start the new year. Being in the 10-percent would be sublime.

Til then, here’s pretty much the first thing I did when I got home from the Diabetes Center. Don’t worry, I (probably) won’t eat them all. Happy Holidays, y’all.