Rather than the bell lap at a local bike race, one is the number of days until my second-ever Tour de Cure ride. 

The good news is, I have my bib and helmet number, my VIP wristband, and I've been able to up my goal twice: I'm now aiming for $900.

The bad news is, I may have come down with that same sinus infection that put The Other Half out of commission all of last week. I'm hoping it's just a reaction to a whole lot of insect bites which have not been behaving in a typical (for me) fashion, but the effect has been a systemic histamine reaction rather than something that's site-specific: I'm dealing with the whole running nose, watery eye, swollen face and extremities thing.

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It's about once a week now that my college sends out an important "Flu" reminder. Wash your hands, stay at home if you experience symptoms, and seek treatment immediately for the more severe. We've had several reports of swine flu, including some students in my friends' classes. And more and more of my friends are coming down with colds and "flu-like symptoms."

For me, every reminder and every swine flu diagnosis sends a tiny shock-wave through my system. I know that my immune system isn't that of a healthy, non-diabetic. It has its weak spots, its vulnerabilities. Especially lately with all these highs and crazy numbers.

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I posted last week about feeling out of the ordinary and just plain sick. It was off and on all week with some days feeling great and others feeling terrible. I waited it out through the weekend, trying to take it easy as much as possible and eat as best as I could.

I thought I'd made it through without needing anything other than my immune system. But Tuesday night, I was feeling the worst I'd felt so far. I had suspected a urinary tract infection before, but now I was almost positive. The urgency, the pain, all those telling symptoms were all much worse. To top it off, my blood sugars were lingering in the 200's despite boluses.

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Sakurako Kitsa on Flickr

I feel like I've been getting sick for about a week now. I was just feeling "off" after last week's finals. I decided it was due to lack of a balanced schedule, the added stress, and being a woman. So I generally ignored it, going on with my daily health routines.

But Sunday, I woke up with that "blah" feeling. It's worse than "off" because you really do feel sick, but not sick enough to just curl up in bed. My blood sugars were a little elevated. I felt like I might be getting a urinary tract infection (figuring it was from my crazy numbers in the last month) or being graced with "that time of the month."

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macrotim on Flickr

Sick days are usually rough when you're trying to manage blood sugars. Whether it's a cold or a stomach bug, the stress, medicine, and unusual food intake can really wreak havoc on controlling levels.

Satuday morning, I came down with a stomach virus. This is the second one I've had this year, so I feel like I'm an expert at managing blood sugars when I can't keep anything down for hours.

I don't really keep an active sick day plan. I usually just make changes as needed. Being on the pump has made being sick so much easier since I can decrease or increase basals as necessary and prolong boluses just in case I can't keep food down.

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Since Olivia had her turn with the 12 hour, puke-til-your-stomach-turns-inside-out bug, her blood sugars have been running low. I kind of expected it yesterday, but today they've been hovering around 60 for far too long for my liking.

I had her disconnect for a while, which helped, but as soon as she hooked back up again, she started dropping again. It's very weird. Is this normal? She's never had this happen before when she's had a stomach thing, but then, she hasn't had a stomach thing quite this badly in a very long time.

I've been checking her a lot more frequently than usual - and we already check 8 - 12 times a day - so I'm seeing these precipitous drops and they're kind of freaking me out. I think I'm going to have to dial back her midnight to 3 a.m. basal rate because she woke up yesterday and this morning at 50. That's verging on scary low, as far as I'm concerned.
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