I want stuff.

Right now, I am taking a break from homework. (Yes this is a legitimate break, I've been doing homework for an hour.)

My blood sugars have been going low around 10 or 11 PM for the last few nights and they stay low for 45 minutes- 1 hour.

Here are my blood sugars in order from Monday (1/23) night:

1. 11:26- 62
2. 11:37- 60
3. 11:52- 49
4. 12:02- 52
5. 12:20- 86

The fact that we had no glucose tabs, juice, or any sugary food for me to eat, so I had to eat brown sugar from the bag probably didn't help either.. I woke up the next morning at 78. (SO much for the Dawn Phenomenon.. [Ha! I spelled phenomenon right on the first try!])

I also want to talk to my endocrinologist (I spelled that on the first try, too!) about getting a CGM, so I can see when my blood sugars are dropping before they go low. This will help me with the dumb A, B, and C Week schedules at school. (To "optimize learning potential" my school has three separate weekly cycles, which means different classes at the beginning, middle, and end of the day. It also means three different lunch times. A week: 11:59, B week: 1:05, C week: 1:20. Therefore, my blood sugars go low at different time because of each annoying, changed week. My mom is even thinking of having A, B, and C week basal rates!) <-- [Longest parentheses ever!]

I'm thinking of the Dexcom Seven Plus CGM because it is not a Pump/CGM duo (My pump's warranty doesn't expire until the end of this year.) and the sensor lasts seven days instead of just three. Then again, Animas is also coming out with a CGM/Pump duo, so I might want that as my new pump. (Animas has always been my pump company; I had the Animas IR 1200 before my Ping.)

I also want the One Touch VerioIQ meter because it looks really cool and can tell you trends. (Pretty, pretty, shiny, shiny.) There is a blog post on Six Until Me, which introduced me to it. (Did I mention she is an awesome poet?)

Moral of the Story: Sarah likes parentheses today, and can spell long words! (And I want stuff. [And I am having random lows. {A lot of them lately.} {Sorry, I wanted all three in one pair of parentheses}] [And now I need to finish my homework.])

The Pump Spirits are Haunting Me.

So, when I made my original blog, it had the same URL and it was about my journey untethered; on an insulin pen. (DUN.. DUN.. DUN..) Let's just say that I now appreciate my Animas Ping a lot more. My blood sugars are so much easier to control because of the accuracy and my stomach actually has time to heal after being poked and prodded at. (At least most of the time..)

"I appreciate you pump."

Anyways, today was the OFFICIAL Writing Test. (A.K.A The one that gets sent to the state to decide if you still need four more years of torturous writing classes. [Vocabulary word!]) So, today the Pump Spirits (Capitalizing for safety..) decided to get back at me. They made my pump site leak. (Once again, the Inset 30 is evil.[Not the Spirits, though. The Spirits are amazing!]) Therefore, I had to change my site in the counselor's office bathroom, (Did you know that they have hair straighteners in there?) and take the writing test separate from the rest of my class. (They pulled me out while everyone was silent, so it was really awkward.)

Then, while I was doing my homework, my sister's guinea pig decided to chew on my tubing, so I had to steal the tubing out of another pump site and waste one. (I changed my insulin while I was at it.)

Another pump site wasted..

In good news, I got my Inset pump sites Tuesday! That means (hopefully,) no more leaking sites. The one down-side to getting a new type of site? They need different caps for when I take a shower or go swimming. I mean, after all of the years I have been on a pump and now I have to change them!? < Insert sarcasm here.

New pump sites!

 The caps are pretty and shiny, though.. (Pretty pretty, shiny shiny..)

My cap container.

Moral of Story: Do not anger the Pump Spirits.
(You rock, Spirits!)

Only pumps are always by my side.

Since I dropped my iPod in the toilet and I needed an MP3 player to put my all state music on, we got me a Sansa MP3 player. (Did you know that the cheapest ones are $40?) I was listening to it while folding clothes, so I clipped it on the other side of my pants. I walked around and realized that it was awkward to have two devices attached to my body, so I decided to ditch the clip and put it in my pocket. And I proclaim: "Only pumps are allowed to be attached to my pants!" (Imagining myself on the balcony in a castle and a crowd of thousands cheering for me.)

Today we went to the movies because my mom was hosting her monthly book club. Let's just say I walked in at 88 and came out at 368.

Moral of story: Movies + Diabetic = High Blood Sugar. (The formula never fails..)

Animas is nice.

My pump sites kept leaking, so my mom finally called Animas.
I am so glad she did.

After waiting about 3- 7 minutes, (sorry, I don't time how long we wait) someone picked up.
They told us that my doctor didn't have to write a prescription again and that they would clear it up with our insurance company.

My new inset pump sites (not the evil inset 30) will be arriving sometime between Tuesday and Friday. (1/17-1/20)

The evil Inset 30

My blood sugars have been pretty good otherwise.

Moral of the Story: Call Animas if your doctor's office doesn't write prescriptions in a timely matter.

Animas' Toll Free Number: 1-877-937-7867

(Note: We used to have a prescription and we thought that we needed it again, so the insurance could approve it.)

I've got it now.

The last two days my blood sugars have been pretty steady. I went low once yesterday because I forgot to brink a snack and I went high before dinner tonight. Otherwise, my bloods sugars have been great! My basal rate is .600 units per hour. (all day)
Wednesday night I went low and had one of the rare, but heard of often: My low blood sugar is making me extremely hungry right now. I basically had a bunch of cereal, sun chips, and some rice cakes. (At least I didn't eat a bunch of sugary stuff.)
Well, off to bed.

Lows, lows, and more lows..

I have been low all day. In fact, I am munching on glucose tabs as I type.

At 12 AM last night, I was 67. I had 4 glucose tabs and retested in 15 minutes. I was 61; I had more glucose tabs. I stayed up reading and tested an hour after(1:49) that because I was really shaky and nervous. Guess what I was? Low! I was 58, so I had more glucose tabs and moved into my parents' room to sleep because I heard a weird crashing noise. (Turns out it was the wind..) 15 minutes later, I was 63(at 2:01). I had more glucose tabs and consulted my mom. She told me to suspend my basal until my BG came back up. I went to sleep because at that point I was very tired. I woke at 5:20 feeling low and I was 46. Keep in mind that my basal had been suspended for three hours and I was getting no insulin.. I had more glucose tabs and resumed my basal.

At 11:19 AM, I woke up at 48! Yay! (More glucose tabs.) At lunch I was finally around normal (143) and covered my lunch. At 4:43 I tested and was 76. I had some wheat thins and did not cover them. 30 minutes later I was 50! (Insert more glucose tabs into mouth.) At dinner I was 106 (Yay, normal!) Now, an hour later I am 43. (Well, actually that was 15 minutes ago, now I am 70 [Barely in my range. :P])
My basal rate has gone from .775 to .675 because of all my lows. (It went down to.75 at 5 AM and down to .625 just now.)

And of course, the doctors won't talk to us because there are only two on call right now, since it is still winter break. :P

It's been fun, folks. < insert sarcasm here

Okay, this time I won't bail...

Yeah, I haven't been on here since last month, but I will stay on this time! I promise.
Anyways, my pump sites (inset 30) have been really annoying these last three days. It leaked on the 31st and it just started leaking again today. I have no idea why, but my mom thinks it is because they are really old and since her closet's temperature is always weird, the plastic got worn down. I don't think that's what happened, but everyone can have their own hypothesis, right?

The front of Count BG or Blood ² if you are feeling mathematical.

I've been having "Infrequent Testing because of Break Syndrome" since school got out on December 20th. I only test about 4 times per day, which is bad, and my blood sugars are always a little weird anyways during a break.

I finally had to change my lancet, yesterday when I felt low, tested and my meter (Contour USB named Count BG. [Like Count as in Count Dracula as in Blood and BG as in blood, so the actual name should be Blood ² or you could take the name in its' literal form because it does count the sugar in my blood.]) read: 523. I was surprised because I have never felt low when high. I asked my dad what to do and he said to test it with a different meter. I decided to change the lancet and I got: 74. I tested one more time on Count Dracula and he said I was 69, so I treated for a low and moved on with life.

The back of Count BG/ Blood²

Moral of Story: Change your lancet more than once every 4-5 months.