I had my 3 month visit with my
HCP today. I wasn’t thrilled to be going. I fully expected a higher A1c and a
subsequent “discussion” about how/why it was going up. I just don’t have the
energy to argue. I was armed with my reasons:
I’ve been binge snacking in the
afternoons now and then.
I’ve chosen to eat a few
high-carb meals that I knew would raise my bg, and they did.
But…
My A1c is solid as a rock.
Steady as she goes. Not wavering and a bloody good number at that. Color me
stumped.
I told Terri (my HCP) that I was
quite surprised and we discussed the above-mentioned reasons why I expected a
higher number. She empathized with me regarding the stress eating (elder parent
care). She applauded me for allowing myself a splurge now and then. She told me
that I’m doing very well. (Have I mentioned how much I like this woman?) She
knows me and also knows that I am fully aware of what I need to be doing and
she gave me confidence that I can get there again. It was an uplifting visit
(but my arm hurts because I finally
got my flu shot. Whine.)
While driving home I thought
about why I was so surprised. I’ve mentioned previously that I haven’t been
dwelling on my diabetes care much lately due to other issues that require my
attention. Again, I’ve not been ignoring it, just not dwelling on it. Looking
back over my bg log I can see that the only time I’ve been testing, other than
fasting, is when I expected it to be high. I had Chinese food with my son: 197.
I binge snacked all afternoon. BEFORE dinner bg: 196. Obviously, those types of
occurrences need to become rare but, also obviously, the rest of the time I’m
doing just fine! Because I was only checking my blood glucose when I expected
it to be high, I had a skewed view of my over-all blood glucose.
I don’t plan any drastic changes
to what I’m doing, other than curbing this dang tendency to snack on carbs in
the afternoon. I rarely eat a high carb meal and often feel “bad” about it
afterward (ie: not really worth the glucose spike). I don’t see this as a
problem. Bottom line is that I’m doing just fine even though I thought I was “failing”
now and then. Score!
Lesson: It’s important to look
at the big picture and don’t make assumptions based on a few high numbers. Oh,
and regular exercise makes all the difference. Rock on!