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I'm the kind of person who, no matter how horrible I feel, at least attempts to get out of bed to go to work. It's a philosophy that stems from my childhood when my parents told us that if we weren't barfing and didn't have a fever we were going to school. If we still felt bad after we got there then we could call them and we'd talk.

It's a philosophy that has served me well. At least I think so. And I've happily passed this philosophy on to my children. I don't think I'll ever forget the day that No. 1 woke up with an upset stomach and I told him he at least had to try to eat breakfast. Yeah, he barfed. Nice job, Michelle!

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"What's the best diabetes advice you've ever been given," Kerri asked the other day.

As a health writer, one of the perks of my job is that I get to talk to experts. One of the questions I often ask is, "What is the best advice you'd give someone with diabetes?"

And of all the interviews I have done, I think the best response came from Linda Dale, RN, CDE, Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Outpatient Diabetes Eduction Program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center. The article was about testing your blood sugar.

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Nope, not a new Nancy Drew mystery, unfortunately. It's much more prosaic.

Olivia has been using the One Touch Mini since last summer. She got a new, downloadable one at the endo appointment in February. It's her favourite meter.

However, yesterday I went to put her numbers for the last couple of days in the meter and I noticed that she tested her blood sugar at 4-ish on Friday and never checked it again until the next day. She swears up and down that she did check it, but there's nothing in her pump and nothing in the meter. Check that - there are carbs and insulin doses in her pump, but no blood sugar readings.

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I went to bed early enough to get eight hours of sleep the night before surgery. Before I fell asleep, my blood sugar was 168. I lowered by bolus by about 20%. I set an alarm for 3:45 am (9 hours pre-op) and an alarm for eight (to call the doctor's office). Not too long after, I was fast asleep (thankfully!)

At 3:45am, my blood sugar was 185. I ate 45 grams of carbs and bolused for both the correction and food. I decreased the bolus by 15%. I set my basals to decrease by 30% at 8am, since that would put me at 5 hours pre-op and awake (and nervous!).

When I woke up at 8am though, my blood sugar was 233. I bolused, lowering it by 40%. I called the doctor's office to confirm my pre-op instructions and ask about my basal rates before I came in for surgery. The nurse told me that the oral surgeon wanted me to keep my basal rates at a normal level. If my blood sugar dropped, I was only to treat with Sprite.

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When testing Charlie’s blood sugar in public, there was a time when I would crouch down in a semi-secluded corner of the store and prick his finger to avoid full-on display of bloodshed. Not so much anymore. While using some gift cards at Best Buy the other day, Charlie said he felt low. The diabetes bag folds open quite nicely on the DVD shelving while curious shoppers look on. I had it wedged between Night at the Museum and Star Trek, I believe.

Maybe I should collaborate on the Zagat guide to the top public places to test your child’s blood sugar in.

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"So what should we take with us in the RV," I asked No. 3 as I drove her to the sitter one day last week.

"Um, cereawl and hot dogs and... um... oh! your blood sugar."

"Yes, my blood sugar supplies," I said almost as if I had forgotten.

"And skeetles and juice for you," she said.

"Yes, in case I go low. You're right." Such a good caregiver.

I forgot so many things packing for the RV trip, but insulin, pump supplies, test strips and alcohol swabs were not one of them. I was surprised, actually.

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At 1 a.m. I woke up to go potty. It was weirdly dark and I was really in a stupor. It was almost like I was drunk. I can chalk part of that up to it being 1 a.m. and part of it to one of the meds I take for bipolar having a “sedating effect.” In other words, I sleep reeeeeeaaaallllyy well now.

I drank lots of water. And then went back to bed. It wasn’t until I woke up at 3 a.m. to go potty again and drink tons more water that I figured I was high. My One Touch Ultra Smart showed “HIGH GLUCOSE.” I had no clue what that meant, but I knew it was super duper ultra high, so I bolused for a blood sugar of 500 mg/dL. Then I tested again. Got the same “HIGH GLUCOSE” reading.

The light woke The Mr. He asked if I was OK and then we talked a little about why we thought I might be high. He thought it was weirdly dark, too. (Usually there is light from the computer, but he had turned it off before bed.)

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It has been a week of disgustingly high blood sugars for no apparent reason. It started on Monday night when I woke up twice and tested over 600 mg/dL at 3 a.m.

I have done everything I can possibly think of to keep my sugar in check: changed my site, drowned myself in water, taken an injection, cut out snacks, barely eat carbs. There have been a handful of blood sugar checks that were normal and that caused me to jump for joy. Which also lead me to believe my site is not the issue, nor is my diet, nor that I'm not bolusing correctly.

The only thing I haven't done is to either set a temporary basal rate, change my basal rate and/or call my endo to see what the heck I can do. 

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In this post I will rant and rave in a way I don’t think I ever have about something that when I look back at this post in about 20 minutes may see incredibly trivial. Or not.
 

Seriously, what is the logic behind checking my blood sugar at the endocrinologists office? Not *me* checking my sugar, but the nurse checking it during the course of blood pressure, weight, pulse, etc.
 

I mean really, for them it’s a totally random time to check someone’s sugar. They never ask when I ate last or when I last bolused. What is the reason for this?
 

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