Sick? Naw, just High

With a nasty rash of illness going through the house, Starting with Rylee, then Father and Brother-in-law, then to Kenny - where he ended up with Strep Throat - then onto my Mother-in-law I thought that MAYBE I escaped since it has been 2 weeks and I have yet to come down with the symptoms.

Beyond disappointed doesn't even describe the feeling when this morning it appeared that I had the symptoms everyone else did. Your fine one moment then it just HITS you. I got up, got Rylee started to do something then I instantly felt like I was going to Puke.

Feeding Rylee breakfast was an interesting feat,  I couldn't stay standing or sitting upright for more than a couple minutes at a time.

After I got back to the couch to lay down for the rest of the day I ached. I was nauseous, weak, THIRSTY, and my lower back hurt. A lot. I started with my blood sugar at 180mg/dl this morning, then without any food at all it shot up to 488 (I suspect fowl play on the part of my meter).  No amount of bolusing would bring it down. Not entirely a-typical of illness with diabetes.

Retracing the thoughts of my symptoms in my head to figure out what I could do to not feel so terrible it occurred to me that my lower back hurt, but it was more internal like my kidneys hurt.

Playing Diabetic Detective, as we must do almost daily, I had to wonder if my insulin didn't spoil when I left it out in my car overnight a few days ago, and I had just refilled my pump yesterday.

Ironically enough it was my last vial and I am waiting for my insurance company to send my next 3 month supply so I didn't have any readily available to test my theory out.

Anyone just love their doctor? I do! We've had our irritations in the past but she is ALWAYS there when I need her. I called them up, let them know my symptoms and why I thought my insulin had spoiled - they came through with not just one vial of insulin but 2 insulin pens (which I haven't used in years) as well! I was able to give myself a huge shot right outside the office back in our car (Oh, did I mention that Kenny, who had just gotten home from work early, drove me there so I wouldn't have to limp along feeling as absolutely horrid as I did!? Well, he took me and he's awesome!).

Still running higher blood sugars at the moment but starting to finally feel better. I'm thankful I recognized that my insulin was bad. I would have gone all day essentially with no insulin and certainly would have wound up at the hospital for diabetes related problems for the first time in 5 years. I like to avoid visits like that. As I am sure most everyone likes to avoid trips to the hospital when it can be avoided.

Since pregnancy my symptoms of High and Low blood sugars have changed. Also the way my body handles things have changed dramatically. Before I would be able to (as an eating disorder riddled fool) let my blood sugar run high with no insulin in my system and handle it just fine with no 'side effects' other than thirst and peeing every 10 minutes. 

Now, a single night running high with no insulin lays me out flat in borderline Diabetic-Ketoacidosis and sore kidneys to boot.  Not to mention the extra priorities of taking care of my Munchkin even when I'm sick - which is a feat in and of itself.

So, back to hoping I don't get sick from what everyone else has and hopefully back to a "normal" day tomorrow! :)

Conundrums

A few months ago Rylee brought home a nasty stomach bug she decided to share with me and caused us both to be laid out flat for a week. She, of course, recovered quicker than I did so it was all I could do to keep her entertained and not be running to the bathroom to puke while Kenny was at work.

When I finally decided food would be awesome  the first thing I did was make myself homemade bread. It was YUMMY.

Then I got sick again. This has got to be the stomach bug from hell! I thought.

About a week later once I was feeling a little better again and I wanted nothing to do with bread a foreboding thought entered my mind: Celiac Disease.

I've known about it for years. When I was first diagnosed with Type 1 8 years ago there were very few websites for diabetics - especially for young diabetics. I spent tons of time on www.childrenwithdiabetes.com and there were a lot of things on that site about Celiac. So I learned just because I can and I love to learn anything medical.

I knew that being Type 1 was a risk factor for Celiac as it is also a Auto-Immune disease. As soon as that thought entered my head I then started thinking about all the other things that have been "going on" with me the past year and it all just fell into place.

As research addicts do, research I did. I found not only would I need a blood test to 'confirm' I would also need a biopsy of my small intestine to really know. ...So I've been putting it off. Still putting it off.

I hate co-pays. I know that the insurance companies deserve them, it's not a huge co-pay for the amount of 'costs' they cover. Yet, I hate them, so I avoid going into the doctor all the time.

So, there has been a tiny battle going on in my brain for the last couple months: Self diagnose and cut out gluten just to see, or bite the bullet and go in to the doctor? You have to have a minimum of 6 weeks of gluten in your system for the tests to reflect accurately. ...Self diagnose and cut out gluten just to see, or bite the bullet and go in to the doctor?

This week I've gone a couple days 'gluten free' and I've definitely noticed the difference.

With the recent event of my car blowing up I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do. I'd like to just have the diagnosis - because it's a huge lifestyle change and I'd love to not make it if that's not what the problem is. However that is a lot of money in co-pays that we won't have because of having to buy a new car.

I'm still debating this conundrum in my head even now. Maybe I'll have an answer in a few days! ...or maybe not...