Thursday, December 01, 2005

A day in my life

Today was pretty intense.
First number of the day was 273, so I bolus that down and hit the road. Grab some breakfast on the road, but lose my appetite half-way through the sandwich.
Today is the day I have an appointment with the neuro-opthamologist, I've waited 3 months for this. My stomach is doing flip-flops.
A neuro-opthamologist is like a brain surgeon- you wait forever to see one. (only like 250+ in the entire United States) Rarely does anyone cancel- and its imperitive that you be there WAY early. ( So you'll have time to get lost, use bathroom, check blood sugar, etc. )
Drive several hours to major medical center. Wander around aimlessly till you find the right place. Get registered.
Back to exam room..
In bops the neuro-opth, along with his personal dictation device/recorder. Half of the time he talks to it, half of the time, to me. Its hard to tell whom I'm supposed to talk to.
Oh well, least it isn't a resident- this guy looks knowledgable.
Review chart. Gloss over faxed records. Answer a ton more questions. Most of them are about the D...
Get eyedrops put in, go off for various eye tests. (Another 1.5 hours) Get two more sets of eyedrops put in. Wait half hour for neuro-opth. to get back.
Nice and dilated now! Get through "retinal" exam. Everything looks nice and normal. (retina wise) Thank goodness he didn't ask my latest a1c.
Well- he absolutely loved the state of my interocular lenses.(6.5 years ago, I had cataract surgeries, and no clouding(thus no lasar, yet..) We talk about diabetes, and whether its to blame for my double vision problems. His take on the matter- probably not, generally when someone has a palsy of the(6th?) nerve they have got greater double vision then I've got, and, it goes away after several months. Enchanting- I'm glad diabetes isn't to blame for this. One of the tests turned out abnormal, so he wants a facial EMG done. (to rule out Myasthenia Gravis) Antibody test my opthamologist ran was negative- but it frequently is in 50% of the eye form cases. So, if the EMG is negative it doesn't mean I haven't gotMyasthenia Gravis, it means things will likely stay stable enough to do surgery.(on the eye muscle)
I'll be able to get the EMG done close(r) to home-which is good. Results faxed to them.
Signed up for another diabetes research study- this one was too good to pass up. I've been doing research studies for 4 years, it seems like every time I get done with one- they want me to do another one. This one is pretty simple-just using a One Touch Ultrasmart/their strips for two weeks, turn the meter back in. Lifescan wants to develop a "smart" (suggest an insulin dose) meter, like a smart pump I guess. Did a study two years ago, they determined my exact basal needs(a fairly complex process), its a follow up to that study. I pointed out to the research coordinator that my current insulin requirements could have changed from two years ago, she didn't think that was a problem.("Most people tend to remain pretty steady") End of study, they download the meter and then, I get to keep it. ($100 payment) I love free strips, and free money..(and it never hurts to have another meter)
1 pm- blood sugar 192. I've had worse, so this is good enough to drive home on.
5 pm- Rescue main blood sugar meter, pump, ipod, cellphone, and coat from car. Car is totaled(I had an accident Sunday) Haggle with guy over cost..
9 pm- Arrive home. Realize I've only eaten a salad, small burrito, half a breakfast sandwich(and checked my blood sugar twice in 15 hours)
Eat a Sub, bolus an ample amount. (don't feel like checking) This is probably why my a1c is less-then-can-be desired. Tomarrow, I'll do better(I tend to remember to check more, when I eat more!)

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