Month: September 2022

8.

This blog recently notched its eighth anniversary. Woah! As time elapses, my anniversary posts usually cover the same theme: I am certainly not as into blogging as I once was, but I can’t seem to let go entirely, either. This year is no exception. Please know that although I may not be as vocal here, I do try to keep up with what our community is doing and I’m always rooting for us.

I’m not the same person who started out here, and although the growing process has been ugly and painful, I’m more firmly in a better place now. Some friends in advocacy didn’t stick around to see this version of me, and I can’t say I completely blame them. (Albeit we all deserve support through the good and bad times). This road has been long and lonely and grueling. But I suppose this explains part of my reluctance towards blogging as frequently as I once was: I’m simply busy doing other things now. Still, a part of my heart will always be here, and my advocacy will never waver. Thanks for being along for the ride, for whichever part or for however long each of you has visited.

Stability

Content warning: discussions of A1c, blood sugar, and diabetes management

Stability is often an elusive word. Lol… But in this case, I’ll take it when it comes to diabetes.

Since starting on Tandem’s T:slim pump four months ago, my A1c has dropped 2.6 points. I’ve blogged previously that my diabetes team and I chose to run the pump in exercise mode 24/7 to create a blood sugar buffer which would gradually lower A1c for safety reasons. Still, a 2.6 point drop feels a bit aggressive to me. One can only outsmart the algorithms of these fancy pumps so much, which I ultimately believe is a good thing for someone like me. Being forced to take a leap of faith and trust, to relinquish some control, has immensely helped my health. We are going to try to keep the A1c drop at a slow pace for awhile by continuing exercise mode 24/7 for now. Again, there is no perfect answer to this diabetes conundrum and this is our best shot.

I was curious what pump effects may be shown at my diabetes eye appointment, but thankfully the doctor felt that all looked good and that ultimately the goal of feeling better with a more in-range A1c, achieved gradually through exercise mode, is the ideal course of action in protecting my body for the long term. I share this part of my diabetes story openly here because globally, these concepts are not on the radar as often as I have encountered them based on my geographic area, alone. Decreasing A1c gradually may seem counterintuitive, but such is almost everything with diabetes.

“Stability,” indeed.