Sleep Testing?

Last night may or may not have been one of the strangest nights of my life. This morning I was told that I had been sleep walking around my entire floor in residence. I do have a couple past incidences of sleep walking, it is not a regular occurrence. I wound up going to bed in a friend of mines room because I had managed to lock myself out of my own and conveniently my room mate wasn't home.

This morning I went to add my blood sugars from yesterday into my log book and I noticed that I had tested my blood sugar at 3:37am. Definitely while I was still in zombie mode. Fortunately it happened to be a lovely 6.2 mmol/L. Not quite sure how I managed to do something so fiddly while still asleep though. I get frustrated with all the little bits trying to test during the day.

I know people can do some pretty strange things while sleep walking. It makes me wonder if this has happened to anyone else? I guess it's good to know that my subconscious is still concerned about my health even at all hours of the day.

hannathedrivingdiabetic :)

YESSSSSS!!!! I did it.......Miss Hanna Taylor passed her drivers test. Just like any other teenage girl..... Sure I have to have a medical screening in order to re-class my license, but it's done. Here is my "driving prep" list:

1.) Make sure I know where I'm going, how long I'm going to be gone, and if I plan on eating anything while I'm out. This isn't just so my parent's know what I'm up to, it's so I know in advance what could possibly happen to my blood sugars.

2.) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure I keep fast acting sugar on me. Last thing I need is getting pulled over by a cop who thinks I'm drunk just because I'm having a low.

3.) This builds on the last one: I, without fail, make sure I check my blood sugar before the keys go in the ignition. If it's below 4.4 mmol/L, I eat something.

4.) I stop every so often to check my blood sugar while I'm driving. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

5.) So this hasn't happened yet, but I'm going to get a decal for my car that let's other drivers know that I have diabetes. This is good for two reasons, a.) if my driving is affected in anyway, people may be less like to to "road rage" while around me. b.) in case of emergency, people automatically know what my condition is.

So my last piece of advice to you is to be aware of your body and your blood sugar, but don't become obsessed to the point where you're forgetting about the basic road rules. And please please please, do not try to check your BG while actually driving.

SAFE DRIVING EVERYONE!!!!

First A1C!!!



A1C Comparison Chart

At my appointment last week I got my very first HbA1c result.  My number was a beautiful 6.5%.  was told the average A1C of a non-diabetic was 6.4% so I felt pretty darn proud of myself. Your A1C is basically like a report card to tell how well you have been managing your diabetes. Now I know that I am still in the "Honeymoon Phase" of type 1 and that my pancreas hasn't completely crapped out on me yet, but I have still been doing everything I possibly can to keep my blood sugars in control. Time to kick diabetes up it's backside for the next three months and see if I can keep it that way :D

It Just Hit Me

This weekend it hit me just like that. I have type 1 diabetes. I wasn't really doubting my disease beforehand but I never really actually sat down and thought about the fact that I have a life changing condition. I guess it was something to do with the fact that by the time I got out of the hospital two months ago, I felt completely normal again. I felt like I did before I was sick and nothing felt different. But these past couple weeks with the stress of finals, piano examinations, work, my drivers test coming up, and just plain teen angst (I will admit I do suffer from that one haha) my blood sugars have been going a little bit out of whack. Now I'm pretty good about counting my carbs, taking my insulin on time etc. But I've realized that it's way more than that. It is a constant juggling act of  food, insulin, stress, exercise, activity, even horror movies set them off because your heart starts racing. I came to terms with diabetes as soon as I found out I had it, but I didn't quite understand how it's kind of an "allover" disease. I am learning everyday though.

SO DISAPPOINTED!!!

     Okay so this really upsets me. Joining the Canadian military was something that I had been considering for the past couple years and just today, I found out that I will never be allowed to do so because of my diabetes. I'm not sure I agree with this because I could not have better control of my condition right now and I am very aware of what is going on in my body.

     These "health standards" have been around for ages now and they exclude anyone who is on insulin or oral medications for diabetes from joining the military. And these standards aren't just for soldiers. They are for practically everyone! This includes nurses, mechanics, etc. I was reading another blog post on this subject and this one fellow said that he believes that we should be allowed to join the military because the technology to manage diabetes is so much more advanced than it was back when these standards were created. I couldn't agree more! If you can prove that you have really tight control over your condition then I don't see why you shouldn't be able to join.
   
      This being said I can somewhat understand their justification behind this. It would be a risk is you had a hypoglycemic episode while using a firearm and you cannot always eat on a regular basis. But say you were using CGM and were on an insulin pump. You would be aware of what your blood sugar was and you wouldn't have to eat until you were ready. There are definitely ways of fixing these problems and I think that it is discriminatory to exclude people simply because of a condition that they have. Especially one that can be controlled so well.

     I do believe that there are ways that a diabetic can successfully serve in the military and I also think that it is extremely outdated to prohibit pwd (people with diabetes) from joining.

p.s I'd like to point out that there are many police officers who are diabetic that also carry guns. Jussayin.

3 AM Blood Glucose Checks :/

Tonight is one of those nights. Yup you know the kind. The kind where you're not only going to have to wake up dead in the middle of the night but also have to get blinded by your overhead light while you proceed to stab your finger with a lancet. It's TEST NIGHT! Blahhhh...

So I do "Test Night" probably about 1-2 times a week. I try to pick nights where I have done a lot of activity in the daytime and when I'm not going to need to be up super early the next day. Although I hate them, I can understand why they're necessary. About 40% out of all the nighttime checks I've done, I've been low. I have since adjusted my insulin dosage and somewhat fixed this (keep in mind that I am still in the honeymoon phase so my pancreas hasn't fully crapped out on me yet). But alas..........I'm going to bed now.......SWEET DREAMS!!!!