Before I got a pump, my A1C wasn't horrible but my control was all over the place. I'd react or perhaps overreact to *everything* with a shot or some exercise to fix highs and snacks, often oversnacking, to fix lows. I gained weight until 2004 then decided to try to lose weight. My A1C before was also varied, not horrible, I had a 5.8 the first time I went to the doc after about 5-10 years of very intermittent doctor visits and then a hodgepodge of 6s but these were definitely the average of big swings a lot. I didn't do any carb counting or precise counting of carbs, just cut out stuff that seemed bad. I also started working out regularly, 2x Tae Kwon Do classes and quickly adding in walking and later cycling to try to get in better shape so I didn't run out of gas @ TKD. I liked the incremental approach of TKD a lot and made progress with losing weight which was also good. I started doing TKD more but then my A1C went up 7.7, then 7.2.
C. Feb/ March 2008 A friend @work said "hey, my wife has a pump and loves it, you should talk to her..." so I did and she sold me on trying it out and it was like a switch went on. I was an avid fantasy baseball player and knew about message boards from that so I looked up D-boards, found the ADA one, had some weird password issues and started hanging around Tu about a year later. W/ the pump, I also learned about carb counting (this in 2008, about 15 years after everyone else? Hee hee...) and that made a lot of sense. My first post-pump A1C (this would have been maybe July/August 2008 I think?) was 5.8 and it was 5.8 each time with the pump.
In 2009, we had a hectic year. My office closed and I was able to move with the company but it was a crazy time. I *just* earned my black belt before we left but A1C held at 5.8. That fall some friends and I decided to run a 1/2 marathon and I signed up for another one two weeks before the one I signed up for with them for a good cause.
With all the running, I decided to try the Medtronic CGM, although many folks seem to like the Dexcom better. I haven't had an A1C > 5.6 with it (once) with mostly 5.3 or below. With the CGM, I learned that very small increments can make a big difference in numbers and the smoothness of control. It also showed how if I'd "fix" a number at one time of day, mid-morning, post-lunch or whatever, it would often "pull" other numbers "down the road" into line. I had suspcions about some of these things but well, I was able to get them in line. I am also convinced that using a normal goal, I use 85-90 in my pump, makes it much easier to hit a normal goal. I don't seem to have problems with catastrophic lows nearly as much as during my pre-pump years because I am very fussy about my rates and ratios and am not taking gonzo correction boluses very often although they still crop up occasionally. My last 3 A1Cs (all I can remember...) have been 5.1, 5.1 and most recently a 5.2. Running is very good for cholesterol but, in 2011, as I trained for my first marathon, I ate lots of eggs, cheese and ham in the AM, turkey sandwiches, etc. thinking more calories would help running. It ticked up to LDL 110 (don't recall HDL...) so I switched to spinach and broccoli omlettes w/ egg beaters (which are easier anyway, pour and cook...) and started pounding more veggies in general. Last year, my LDL was 74 w/ HDL of 77 which I was pretty pleased about. This year I've slacked off (two weird injuries...) and am only running a 1/2 (11/10!) but have kept active so I hope my cholesterol doesn't blow up too much.
