This is where things started to go wrong. The afternoon came and went. I realized I was very thirsty, but didn’t think much of it because my CGM hadn’t alarmed me of a high. Why? Because my CGM wasn’t ON, but I had forgotten that. So I tested and was not happy with what I saw. 320!!!! I had indulged in some mini-doughnuts earlier in the afternoon, so I figured a carb miscalculation was to blame for my sucky number and bolused a big correction. One hour later I saw this . . .
So not cool!!!!! I decided something must be wrong with the new site, so I pulled it. My cannula was kind of bent at a weird angle, so I took a correction by injection and then popped in a new site. I also bumped up my basal to help get things moving in the right direction.
And it worked . . . it worked much too well. Here is what I saw an hour later . . .
Oh crap!!!!! And I had a ton of insulin on board. As far as I can figure, I must have gotten quite a bit of the first correction bolus, even though my cannula looked pretty bent. It was stupid for me to pile on a big correction by injection and bump up my basal - but I just wanted to come down so I could enjoy Friday Night Pizza and Martinis with Pete. Instead I got a big scare and ate a bunch of empty calories to keep my blood sugar from bottoming out.
Diabetes is tough. Sometimes we do things that don’t work out. Sometimes we make poor decisions because we just want to enjoy our night. I really screwed up this time - but hopefully I’ll remember this and do much better next time.
Wow, Karen. What a roller coaster. And you didn't screw up... like you said, diabetes is tough. I admire people with type 1 for everything they have to do to keep their glucose metabolism in order. Today is another day.
ReplyDeleteBTW, love your meter stickers! <3
I know this isn't the point of the post, but I love your monkey and your cupcake. (Sounds weird out of context ... #commentsPetelikes!)
ReplyDeleteHi, Karen. I'm glad you were able to get through without bottoming out. But, having said that, I guess I'm too old to understand why a couple of 300 readings could seem so scary. Not every day; not every month, in fact. But one day? I'd love to hear from you and your readers about why this kind of day is so frightening, only every once in a great while. Seems to me that, when living in fear like that, you would not be so hard on yourself. But I'm very old, I've had some side effects, and I have never been told in a way that I can understand why living in fear is worthwhile for one mistake. Please understand, I'm not saying my way is the better way. I know it's not. But I would love to understand.
ReplyDeleteHi Judith - while I was frustrated to deal with that high, I wasn't scared over it. The fear was that I had dropped over 200 points in just one hour and still had a lot of insulin working in my system. I was scared of a bad low. Luckily I was able to fend it off!!
DeleteKaren, I'm pretty sure we'be all been there...I've done things like this all too often and there was no Friday night fun even going on for me! LOL I hate seeing a number in the three-hundreds because that awful feeling is sure to follow. (If it hasn't already struck) You did what you thought was right, which sometimes is all we can do. *Hugs*
ReplyDeletePS - I, too, love the cupcake & monkey stickers!! ;)
i loved the post and the monkey and cupcake as well:) I can relate!
ReplyDeleteUgh - you're dealing with this on top of meeting with legislators? You are amazing! Good luck tomorrow, and am bummed I may not get to say more than that "hi" in passing yesterday - maybe next year!
ReplyDeleteI think they need to come up with a way that the pumps knows exactly how much insulin you did get with a bad site. It really is just a guessing game. I hope you were able to enjoy your pizza and martinis!
ReplyDeleteDon't you just LOVE that "oh, I'm high?" moment when you've been feeling off and then you feel stupid for not testing earlier? Like falling asleep several times while reading for a class, and then you test just because and say "Oh. I'm 210. No wonder."
ReplyDeleteI hope it didn't hurt your Friday night plans too much!
I can totally relate - that feeling of eating anything in site to avoid the low .. and then afterward thinking "I didn't really need to eat all of that!" - but it's almost like I convince myself it's a 'free pass' when my sugar is low (or going low). You are right - it IS tough ..and it's a crap shoot most of the time. :/
ReplyDeleteI just recently started blogging and am involved in my local JDRF chapter - I want to become more involved - advocacy, etc. I have been a T1 since 10/17/92 so I have plenty of experience to share. lol
ugh! :( i hope you still got to enjoy pizzatini night!
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