An Endo Update

Today was my third quarterly visit to the endocrinologist and as usual it was exciting and simultaneously unexciting because that's how endocrinologist appointments go. The night before, I introduced my little sister to Diasend because both of us are eternally lazy when it comes to logging and this program makes it easy to upload data from all of your medical devices onto one easy to read chart that my endo likes. (And it's a little important that the endo likes it, since she is the one helping interpret the data.) My sister has a t:slim, so she can easily plug in her pump and upload data. I felt inspired to do the same with mine, but mine is an Animas Ping. That means that I had to pull out an IR Reader. 

At this point you may be wondering: "Sarah, what is an IR reader?" Oh well in the ancient days when I began using Animas pumps, they used these things to wirelessly transfer data from the pump to the computer. I even remember using one to change the song for my pump alarms. They may seem innovative/ easy to use, but it's not the wireless/ bluetooth type thing you're probably thinking of. I have to take my pump off, suspend, it, place it on a flat, non-moving surface with the back facing the reader, and hold it as still as possible until the green light that confirms it is lined up stays solid green. This process takes way too long and I may have had to hold my pump in place for an amount of time that made my arm sore. #thanksanimas (Here's a video if you care to know how this thing actually works.) Now back to your regularly scheduled endocrinologist-themed programming. Let's skip to the next day because all that happened after that was complaining about the previously discussed ancient technology and printing charts.

I was awoken at 6:45 in confusion because we had to leave at 7:15 AM to get to our appointment at 8:45. (You know, to compensate for Atlanta traffic.) Apparently everyone is on vacation and we didn't get the memo because we got to Atlanta at 8. That's uncalled for record speed. So of course, we did what any group of tired people that got up way too early for a doctor's appointment would do: we went to Starbucks. In case you were wondering, I got a hot chocolate with a shot of hazelnut (because #nutella) and an egg and cheddar biscuit, my mom got an Earl Grey tea and a blueberry muffin, and my sister got a iced green tea lemonade. I'm sure the endo was very happy that we all had a bunch of sugar before coming over.

We left Starbucks and arrived fashionably late (by two minutes) because that's just how we are. I signed us all in and I got to sign my own HIPPA release, so my parents can still see my medical files. (The excitement of being an official adult.) My mother also talked to the office about my CGM upgrading issues. (There will be a whole blog post for that next week because the story behind that is too long and exciting for just half of a blog post.) Thankfully, those should be mostly solved by next week and I should be getting a CGM soon. 

My A1c, which never seems to change according to my sister, was 7.2%. (It went down by 0.1%, so her point may be proven.) I'm not complaining about it, but I definitely want to work on going below 7%. We changed some of my sensitivity factors, since I always seem to be going to bed high as well as my evening basal to combat highs. I'll be sending logs in next week after I test those changes, so we should be able to see if those help out soon. We also talked about college and talking to my roommate about diabetes, as well as the Disability Resource Center, since I'm being put into their system next week. I'm doing this mainly so I can have testing accommodations. I'm having my official meeting with the DRC next week, so I'll share more about that in the next few weeks. I'm also super excited for my sister because she will be getting a Dexcom soon! I love my CGM and I think it will help her a ton, so I'm psyched for her.

I'll update you all on how my basal/ ISF changes worked, my CGM woes, and college, so stay tuned for that. I promise it's coming!