The late seventies were a different time for me. I was on the company softball team and a member of their bowling team. A motorcycle was my primary means of transportation. My career as a machinist was in its infancy. The price of gas was going up but then again, it rarely goes down. Remember when President Carter was attacked by a rabbit during a fishing trip in Plains Georgia? Ahhh, the 70’s, life was great.
I had visited my doctor because of increased thirst and frequent trips to the men’s room. On a sunny afternoon in April I was told that I was now a diabetic and I needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible. I thought that my life was over.
Yes, things were different then as compared to now. I spent a week in the hospital while the doctors tried to normalize my blood sugars. The instruction manuals they used to teach me about the disease were paper; there were no You-Tube videos or phone apps to help me out.
Somewhere in my attic is a pile of notebooks listing what I had to eat and what my sugar levels were and how much insulin I had injected. Page after page of scribbled notes. Like all diseases, diabetes is something you have to work on. By participating with the doctor, planning your meals and exercising you can make it manageable.
To find out where my sugar levels were I simply ran a test strip through a stream of my urine. Then I would compare the color it had changed to with a chart on the bottle. It wasn’t a very exacting science back then. But it did get me in the habit of washing my hands frequently.
Testing progressed into putting a drop of blood onto a test strip. To get a drop of blood to test you have to poke your finger with a lancet. Using a meter gives a much more accurate number than comparing colors. In the modern world there are CGMs, Continuous Glucose Monitors which attach to you and give almost up to the minute readings. They can be paired with a pump to help determine your present needs for insulin along with slowing down the dosages to help avoid lows.
When I first started giving myself injections I would mix different types of insulin together. There would be some slow acting insulin acting as a background dose during the day and some fast acting insulin to cover what I had just eaten. Care had to be taken to avoid mixing the different types; your health depended on it. Ask any diabetic something that they all carry and chances are the answer will be glucose tablets. If you get too much insulin you risk possibly passing out or worse. These tablets help prevent these lows.
Presently about 20 or 30% of Type 1 diabetics use a pump. The others that need to inject insulin use needles. Thankfully the diameter and sharpness of the needles has improved. I can’t say it is painless but most of the time I really didn’t mind it. Not that I had a choice.
In the year 2003 I finally got my first pump. It was 18 years ago this week! To say that it has made my life easier would be an understatement.
The human body needs something to convert our food into fuel for our muscles to use. Insulin is that magic elixir. Without insulin the sugar in our blood would remain there and eventually cause problems. Thirst and frequent urination could be the least of these. Type 1 diabetics produce no insulin at all and need to inject it to keep their bodies working properly. Type 2 diabetics produce less insulin than they need, often they can compensate for this shortage by closely watching their diets and exercising.
Getting back to the pump, this can supply a diabetic with a set maintenance dose of insulin during the day along with additional doses to cover meals. Along with the help of your doctor pretty good sugar levels can be attained.
Two days ago I received a new pump. It is a Tandem T:Slim X2. It is coupled with a Dexcom G6 Sensor. (CGM) The sensor checks my blood every 5 minutes and sends the numbers to the pump which uses that info to better control my blood sugar levels. It puts it on a graph (the line crossing the screen in the picture above) which shows me the patterns my levels are taking helping me understand where I stand at the present moment. It has the feel of technology at its best. I’ll find out soon!
I am looking forward to seeing how it will work. There will definitely be a bit of a learning curve but that seems to be coming along fine. It is very user friendly. I am looking forward to seeing how my sugar averages will drop! Since I got the pump, I figure I have missed about 14 or 15 finger pricks already…things are looking up and my sugar levels are going down!
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