Joel Terrell

Maybe I was expecting some sort of Christmas miracle or something but yesterday I was completely out of control.

We had our Christmas Breakfast at my unofficially adopted sister Candee's house. She was up early brewing coffee, scrambling eggs, frying bacon and sausage, and slicing up coffee cake and other breakfasty pastries so we could all dig in when we got there. (READ MORE)

I sat at the stop sign at Love Street and Coal. Just a block away I got into my car after eating lunch. I had been good having just a sandwich, a glass of water and a handful of wheat thins crackers. I felt satisfied, not hungry and ready to go back to work. I was thanking Byetta for my lack of appetite. In fact, I remember thinking that I could have easily skipped lunch.

But between my house and Love Street the two sides of my brain prepared for battle. Going straight on Coal meant going back to work. It meant skipping the gas station or the drug store where I would break the $20 bill in my wallet for a cheap thrill. Going straight meant I had will power, that I didn't need chocolate, that I could make it through the afternoon at my desk without that rush. (READ MORE)

How many hours since a meal has elapsed
Before bg tests will ring true?
How many tests when blood glucose is tapped
Til we have enough points for a clue?
And then how can we process postprandial curves
With no CGMs for Type 2?

(with apologies to Bob Dylan)

One of the stricter schools of thought regarding "tight control" is that we should never let our blood glucose levels rise above 140, nor let them ever drop below 80 -- and if we really want to be vigilant about it, we should keep our peaks below 120. That said, there will always be some irresistable or unavoidable food, or some threshold serving size or combination, that in the past has sent our blood glucose levels soaring through the roof, and if we're being "good little diabetics", we will monitor the heck out of the expected excursion and, if we're on insulin, try to micromanage it.

  (READ MORE)

One of the side effects of not being able to get down to Virginia for Christmas this year was that of not having to drive back during, or in the aftermath of, the Boxing Day Blizzard that blanketed the Northeast. We ran errands early on Sunday to make sure we had enough food (and other staples) in the house to last a few days, then settled in for the duration.

  (READ MORE)