First Day of Work....

I have been unemployed for the past 16 months. Normally I have hiked with the dogs, and started getting ready for a bike ride by this time on most days. Today, I am installing software on my work computer.... not complaining as a job has been a long time coming. Blood sugar is running higher than normal! Transition, the four letter word for a diabetic!

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Kingdom Trails Again!

 Kingdom Trails in East Burke, VT have to be some of my favorite since moving to Boston. It's a 3 hour drive up, but is worth it! A few weeks ago the trip to Kingdom Trails was a bit of an adventure with my blood sugars, as I could not get my sugar up even though I was taking in plenty of carbs. Just one of those days!

Finding a Doctor

I may have found a Doctor. After going to see 3 endocrinologists, and 2 CDE's (Certified Diabetes Educators), and one primary care doctor since moving to Boston, I may have found the one...... but I won't know until Nov. 3rd! And, that's Ok.....

I want to try to start this entry by giving credit. I will have had diabetes for 21 years this Thanksgiving. In that amount of time you meet a lot of doctors, CDE's, specialists, pharmacists, salesmen, etc. By far, hands down the best healthcare professional I have ever had the fortune to work with is Leigh MacHaffie. She works in Colorado at a small endocrine clinic that I had the fortune of being a patient. Leigh is largely responsible for me utilizing technology to take control of my diabetes. She was a motivator for me to take care of myself and never showed any doubt that I could tackle the bike riding I wanted to do. She took all the time that I needed to make sure I understood what was happening with my pump, continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and more importantly the data that I was receiving from these tools. She even put me in touch with some semi-pro racers with Type 1 that could help me with specifics of long rides and such. After being in Boston for nearly a year, I am about ready to fly back to Colorado (with my bike) for appointments just so I can see Leigh again!

Willowdale Ride

So I haven't really been on a ride since my FOMBA adventures last week. I have been on a few hikes with the dogs, but nothing to blog about. I went for a short ride out at Willowdale today. It was about 10 miles (full loop), and it was the same course as the race on 5/21/2010, with a little extra single track at the end. Legs were not feeling that great when the ride started, it took me about a half hour before I really felt warmed up. In addition, my glucose sensors have not been real accurate in the last couple weeks, and today was no exception. I suppose this is an entirely separate issue/post, but the sensors have not been recognizing rapid or drastic changes in blood glucose, which is kinda one of the main features! I was using sensors that were a tad on the old side, so a new one will be inserted tonight for a Sunday morning calibration and hope for better results this week.

Basically how the glucose sensors works is that there is a transmitter that wirelessly transmits blood sugar data to my insulin pump. Attached to the transmitter, and inserted into my abdominal area, is a sensor. It has a tiny tube that, after insertion, lies in ythe interstitial fluid and measures blood glucose. There is a possible slight lag in the glucose readings from the interstitial fluid and actual blood glucose (blood sugar) levels, but Medtronic says 20% accuracy. That means if the sensor reading says your blood sugar is 100, and actual finger prick reading should be between 120-80 roughly.

So I started my ride at 185 mg/dl. That's a good place to start a ride, it usually drops like a rock in the first half hour for me even though I have temp basal rate set. Today I set a 55% temp basal, and I did it 1.5 hours before ride start. I normally do it 1 hour before ride start, but I am trying to work on the 'drop like a rock' blood sugars in the first half hour! My sugar stayed elevated today, even up to 209 according to the sensor 50:19 minutes into the ride. I was running a little low on energy so ate a GU. Do you really eat those? They really can't be chewed, or swallowed whole... I guess it's more like chewing gum with no dentures! I digress. So the ride was finished by 1hour 17 minutes, and sensor was still hanging at 205. I checked with the glucometer and it said 274! Ouch! I took 3 units for correction, and another 3 an hour later, and threw the sensor away and opened a new box.

All in all it was a good ride, although the 274 says why I wasn't feeling that great. I got in around 10 miles, mostly single track, and rode for about 1:17. I did take 11 minutes off my time from the race on 5/21/2010 on the same course so I was pretty pleased with that! Might have to time trial this in  the weeks to come for a good spring to fall fitness comparison!! Go ride!

Roller Coaster @ FOMBA

So I had the bike ready, the backpack packed, food & water ready and I hit the road by 6:30am. Blood sugar at wake up was 133, and my CGM said 135 which was really accurate. On the drive to the trails I got a low alarm (89) on my insulin pump. Odd.... I had already set a temp basal and had a Cliff Mini, and took bolus insulin for the carbs so I knew it wasn't low. I checked with a glucose meter and it was 190. I calibrated my CGM hoping it would be accurate by ride time. Not the case. I checked with a glucose meter again at the start of my ride and it was still 190 with CGM at about 100... I started the ride and within 45 minutes I was feeling low. I ate a Cliff Mini, and a GU 15 minutes later, but CGM said I was now trending up above 150! Grrrr.

On a bike note, I was seeing all the rocks, big roots and the lines I wanted to take. Problem was I was riding into all those obstacles head on, often nearly endo-ing into next said obstacle! It was one of those days! Blood sugar up and down and MTB skills like Jamie.... I was on a MTB Roller Coaster!

The day wouldn't get better as I would have to stop 10 miles into my planned 3 hour ride. I had a strange pain on the top oh my hand above my right wrist. I tried to shake it off (literally), and I felt something pop. After this point I couldn't grip the handlebar with any control and the pain was hardly tolerable. After navigating the rest of Lady Slipper with a couple close calls, I decided to call it a day. I couldn't squeeze a water bottle on the drive home or grip the steering wheel.

I got a total of 10 miles in out of a planned 20ish so I was bummed. I planned to finish with Fireline in both directions, and I didn't get to ride it in either direction. My blood sugar was up to 260 at this point, so I was again bummed. My pace was 1 mph faster at that point than my previous rides at FOMBA so I was headed home to soak my sorrows in an ICB (ice cold beer).

Here is my graph from the last 12 hours, you can see the roller coaster! Although not a fun one, these days will happen now and again and you need to take them with a grain of salt! I still got in an hour and some change on the bike, and I was in the forest! I also didn't die, and after an ibuprofen and a nap my hand is oddly enough feeling almost 100%! Cross bike ride to come soon and hopefully with better blood sugar and less amusement park!