159

This is my first blog post here at Tudiabetes.com.

For the last few months, I’ve been fortunate to enjoy the assistance of a close friend in complying with the daily drudgery of monitoring my sugar levels. He lives in California, I in Illinois and at least a couple of times a day he BlackBerry messages and tells me to check my blood sugar or message back where I am.

Yes, I see some of you there in the back row smirking and raising your eyebrows. Lol. Perhaps not everyone would want or need this type of encouragement.

But right now, I do. Until a few years ago, I was fairly hypervigilant about staying on top of things all by myself, thank you very much. I was a competent professional with plenty of via and vigor and stick-to-it iveness. But things happen. I’m currently dealing with a run of serious depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in addition to the diabetes. I am singularly preoccupied. The simple (can we call it simple?) task of monitoring my own blood sugar has become much more challenging.

All to say, I am thankful for the assistance.

But that’s all context. I really just wanted to share my response to what he asked a few minutes ago after I had messaged letting him know my sugar was 159.

He wrote,

“Slightly high but believe it’s in a normal range for u or am I wrong?”

And this was my rather long winded response:

"Yes. Thanks for asking. It’s a little above 80-115 where I’d personally like it to be. (my endo prefers I shoot a bit higher to avoid lows… ) The word “test” is intimidating… like one is just always taking an exam. I think that’s one factor leading to diabetics’ reluctance to consistently test sugars. It’s a constant reminder of our imperfection and mortality.

So with that in mind I go out of my way to frame it as user friendly as possible… to frame my results as a data set and to seek, but never expect, perfection. To remind myself that it’s no small task taking over the rather tedious and constant regulation of an otherwise working organ.

Honestly, there are so many damn variables --some recognizable and under my influence-- others less so… & all of it in an interdependent state of flux. But, of course, this is why I continue to test even though it can be discouraging. To collect whatever relevant objective data and make use of it to adjust my path and “hug the road” as closely as possible."

Then I thanked him for listening. As I do you reader, if you have made it this far. What a diatribe! But it seemed important.

~d