Any suggestions on handling stress of graduate skool? I got all A’s, but my A1C’s were a far cry from the Dean’s list. Even with my pump, I just can’t seem to do what needs to be done to keep my sugars in range. The more stressful days my numbers would be (extra) spikey and the lack of sleep was no help either. Hints, tips, comedy, remedies, hope or other follies much appreciated.
What sort of program are you in? My first two years of grad school had lots of “eh” A1cs but the pump has really helped me throughout year three.
Two things that will probably help. One - test often and take note of what patterns you see. If long lab sessions keep you firmly attached to a chair and on the high end, do a temp rate for a little extra. If you tend to go low during meetings with faculty (a perennial problem for me), keep some candy on hand or juice, and make sure to test before those crucial meetings so that you’re not distracted. Essentially, pay attention to your numbers and see what you can do to prevent problems ahead of time.
Number two would be to tell a colleague or two about your diabetes so that if you are caught unawares with a high or low, or on an impromptu late night snack/pizza run, you’ll have someone to back you up on good decisions health-wise and run interference where needed.
I’d love to talk more … drop me a line!
-Sarah
I’m in social sciences (specifically Design and Human Environment - so my long hours are hunched over a drawing board designing floorplans/surveys/literature etc). I am researching children’s behavior and sense of place/security based on their near environment.
Thanks for the tips! You sound like you managed well. I have a ways to go still - I just finished my first year and am doing a master’s bypass, so I figured I need to get a handle on it now. I seem to have this perpetual problem of keeping track of my numbers for a bit and then just falling back into my ‘comfort zone’ (not going low…). I just need to make that concerted effort to keep track and notice the patterns and then do something about it.
I tell everyone who would need to know about my diabetes, so I don’t feel too isolated. I just can’t figure out why I’ve created the no-low comfort zone (meaning, of course, that I let myself run in the 200’s instead). I’m feeling optimistic about making some lasting changes for myself this summer.
What is your program for school?
I’m in sociology, specifically sociology of religion - my longer hours are spent reading up on stuff for my dissertation, tracking down archival material, occasionally making calls in our computer-aided telephone interviewing (CATI) lab, and prepping an introductory class for fall (this is my first time solo-teaching). Oh, and getting ready for a conference in August and revising in-progress journal articles. I’m doing most of this from home at the moment, so it’s not quite as crazy as it sounds, just various projects that are on my plate at the moment. What department does Design and Human Environment fall under? Psych? Architecture? It sounds nifty!
I’m a big fan of having an automatic way to download stuff from meters and pumps. It saves soooooo much time figuring everything out when you feel like you have a funky pattern going. There’s a really great piece of software called SIDiary that will import data from virtually ANY meter, and while it’s not foolproof, it makes it a lot easier to look at everything. You can find it here . A second solution that I like is using a meter that will show you a graph of your numbers like the OneTouch UltraSmart - pre-pump, that was a big help.
On a non-diabetes-related note, you should check out www.phdcomics.org . It’s hysterical, especially after you’ve been in graduate school for a while.
Cheers! Let me know how it’s going!
-Sarah
Hey Sarah,
I love my program - it is super cool. Design and Human Environment is its own department - the undergrad portion does have Health and Human Sciences as its parent dept. We have the graduate school. My emphasis is interior design. Psychology comes into it - as ‘environmental psychology’. It is more human centered than architecture tends to be - but we do learn architectural/structural info.
Are you heading towards being a prof? I went to Boston College for my undergrad - so I’ve got some Jesuit background. Good for you that you have stuff off to journals. In between looking dor part-time work, I have some submissions to prepare.
Anyway, my main trouble with all of the computer software for bs’ is that none of them seem to work for macs. I tried the one you mentioned and I got an error messgae after I input my profile. I need a mac friendly program. maybe I’ll post a new query about that one. Thanks for the comics. Its wonderful! Laughter is good!
Davis-- what kind of mac are you using? We just bought a macbook. My brother-in-law, the tech guru, says there is a way to petition off part of your hard drive for a windows-based program. As a musician, that translates to “blahblahblah” for me, but I am trusting. He will be working on that for me this weekend so I’ll let you know how it works out. It does seem that the software should be mac compatible…
Hi,
I uses a macbook, (which i would never trade for a silly ol PC). I’m a faithful Mac user. The macbook has the dual-core processing - so I actually do have access to PC on this very machine. Stubborn me, though, I detest switching the mode over to PC -unless I have to (my AutoCAD work, for instance.) I especially don’t like the idea of switching over computer modes to help me do my sugars - I may as well just keep using a pen and paper, you know? Glad to meet another 1976er. I’m like you - in still deciding how to play by the rules. Thanks for the input, let me know what you come up with.
For sure, Qi Gong meditation will help you with your stress and will make a notable physical change in your body. And you need to make sure you get enough sleep, your brain will be nicer to you if you do 
Yes, partition the drive and keep PC separate from Mac. This means your single internal drive will act like 2 separate drives, you will actually see ‘2’ drive icons appear on your desktop. This makes it impossible for one system to interact with the other. Highly recommended.
Per your actual post topic ( i tend to travel in my own direction) – I see you do yoga? That was invaluable to me in grad school and continues to be invaluable in “real life” ( i never travel without mt mat). bubble baths with a good book. cooking. good wine. good wine and a good book. good wine and a good book in a bubble bath.