Thursday, April 17, 2008

6.8%

Maddison's A1c today came in at 6.8%!! Yeah! I figured it had gone up a bit from the last, but 6.8% is still f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!!! Of course the nurse mentioned that 6.8% is on the "low" side of where they want most kids to be. (Our Endo shoots for 7-8%)But, she said since we have good "control" then they are fine with it, which makes me wonder why they think we have good control? They don't download meters or pumps anymore so how would they know if Maddison's A1c is based around alot of lows? Well, it isn't anyway, but it still got the wheels turning inside my mind. I guess you always think an A1c is never good enough. Too high, too low. It made me wonder if maybe she is having too many undetected lows, even though I know she isn't! God I hate the doubt that this disease inflicts upon us! Her A1c is in line perfectly with what her meter averages so I am sure she isn't having too many lows but my mind tells me to make sure! Every few days she has some lows, certainly not every day and they are typically 70's and 60's, nothing lower or scary.

We have been sitting very well at night, but I still would like to stop checking her blood sugar 12 times a day which is our average right now. I think that is just way too much. Do we have a great A1c because Diabetes is running our life? Are we working too hard on numbers? I don't personally think you can ever work too hard for good numbers. I don't work all that hard to get good results (right now anyway) we just seem to be at a good place. The hard work comes just from it being so damn constant!! Our typical finger pokes for Maddison are:

5am when mom wakes up

(sometimes again at 6:30 am if the 5am was corrected for a high, which isn't likely)

915am at school before recess

1045am before lunch

1230pm after PE only on PE days twice a week

215pm when she gets home for a snack

5pm before dinner

8pm before bed

check again while she is sleeping if there is active insulin from a snack before bed

You have to recheck anytime she was too high or too low going to bed

3am ALWAYS

**gotta check if she feels low. If she is low you have to give carbs and then re-check. If she is STILL low, give more carbs and RECHECK AGAIN! Gotta check if she is angry or grumpy. Gotta check if her tummy hurts, head hurts or she is tired. Gotta check before or after swimming. Gotta check before a walk.*** You get it!

I really do shoot for just checking Maddison about 8 times a day. Life happens. I talked to the Doctor about this today and she assures me to just keep doing what we are doing. I know, I know, I know! I feel guilty for our A1c because I think doing this well means I am working too hard at it! Too many finger pokes, too many hours of sleep lost. Too many "you have to wait 15min to eat that Maddison" too many thoughts and lost energy on Diabetes management. I guess Diabetes never just lets you feel good about how you are managing, even with a really good A1c. I still feel like it isn't good enough, not that I want it to be lower, but now I worry that Diabetes takes too much of our every day to get there.

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