Boxes are everywhere….seriously I can’t find my stapler to save my soul.  But I’ve gotta say….I LOVE THE NEW DIGS.  It is a little bit of a pain in the arse to have to drive across town to keep track of two locations.  But my office is SO big and the warehouse has much less foot traffic and none of the annoying daily rental phone calls.  I can actually get uninterrupted work time.  (or blog time)  no annoying owner just dropping by.  Big plus. 

I’ve started splitting my time….a few days here and few days there.  I’ve set up things so I can remote ‘office’ which means I can work in my pj’s if I feel like it.

Nothing has changed on the BG front….but the daughter and I are dragging each other to the gym fairly regularly, which helps. 

Ok….that’s all she wrote for now….

I always look forward to this time of year….things slow down at work and I have more time for friends, family and my favorite pastime….knitting. 

Not this year….this year work as been steady, with shows every weekend and here and there in the middle of the week.  Add to that the unexpected office move and things are darn right hectic around here.  We thought we would have 4 mouths to leisurely move 12 years of crap only to find out this week that we have until the end of November or be charged triple rent.  Triple rent in addition to paying rent on the two new places while we remodel is undoable if we plan on keeping the business going.  We just don’t make enough money to take on that kind of expense.  So we’re scrambling….rushing to finish remodeling the small warehouse across the street enough to make it at least workable for us…..scrambling to build the infrastructure of the big warehouse enough so it’s ready to except our gear….all while continuing to do concerts and PA’s because this year business just hasn’t slowed down at all.  Go figure. 

My office is a complete disaster….my employees are a bit freaked out over all the changes.  So am I but I have to keep it together and try to project a little confidence that everything is under control….We’re flying by the seat of our pants. 

Other then that….things are fine. **insert hysterical laughter here**

Work is stressful right now, someone bought the building we’ve been renting for the last 12 years and we have to move the business.  This is making me nuts. 

I’ve had a few these last three weeks.  Mostly blood glucose related.  Even though I’m not taking a sulfonylurea Byetta is kicking my ‘arse’.  I’m still experiencing lows in the evening (40’s and 50’s) which make getting anything accomplished nearly impossible.

It’s hard to focus when you’re struggling to get your BG up.  These lows last for several hours and by the time I manage to get my BG up into the 70’s I feel like a truck has drug me down the road by my ankles and all I want to do is sleep. 

I’m nervous about how I’m going to deal with all of this in the middle of this outdoor festival I’m doing the second week in September….dealing with a low would not be a good thing.  On the plus side this stuff has really made my morning numbers great and I’ve had fasting levels that would make a non-diabetic envois.  82 morning fasting when I take the dinner dose….140 when I don’t.  And of coarse when I start my day with a fasting of 140 my numbers the rest of the day stink.  It’s just those pesky evening lows….which by the way no one has an explanation for.  Not my doctor, not Lilly, not other people using Byetta….no one has every heard of that happening to anyone not also taking a sulfonylurea.  I’m an anomaly.

I hate being an anomaly. 

But again….on the plus side….I’m drinking a boat-load of juice….something I hadn’t be able to do in a long time.  I ‘heart’ juice.

I took 3 whole days off….3 days.  That’s nearly unheard of around here.  I had planned on taking Saturday off for my birthday and it just snowballed from there.  Of course this will be the last day off until ACL fest is over….

The daughter and granddaughter took me out from dinner on Saturday at Carrabba’s my favorite restaurant of all time.  I’m sure I ate too much (ok….I KNOW I ate too much and that 300 BG confirms it) and yes I did have the tiramisu complete with a candle stuck in it.

Byetta is kicking my butt.  I’m not getting the nausea that others have complained about, but it is having a very interesting effect on my body.  The minute I take the shot my BG drops….really drops.  I’ve gotten as low at 52.   This is something that isn’t suppose to happen unless you are taking a sulfonylurea…and I’m NOT taking ANYTHING other then the Byetta.  Of course I’m also not having the really ugly highs I was having either (well except for Saturday….bad evil tiramisu).  We’ll see how it goes.  I’ve only been on it for 13 days.  I could really do without the lows though since it wipes me out in the evening and all I want to do is sleep. 

Well it’s been an interesting week.  I had my first visit with my new doctor (an endocrinologist)….I like her.  Her approach is much different then Dr. N’s.  Her major interest is trying to preserve my beta cell function and getting my postprandial numbers under control.  To that end we’re trying something completely different….

Byetta….apparently GLP-1 has been shown to regenerate beta cells.  My c-peptide is low but not too low and she feels that if the new research is right using byetta might work for me since the autoimmune attack seems to be more benign.

We started off with a baseline C-Peptide test and urine test to check for protein (something Dr. N hadn’t done) and a free byetta 5mcg pen along with an instructional DVD.  Dr. H feels I might not have to move up to the 10mcg dose at all….in her opinion the 5mcg will do what we want it to do. 

We talked a lot about the progression of this decease….we sat side by side looking at my blood tests for the last year and she really took the time to go over all my numbers and what they meant. 

So….on Wednesday I started my romance with the lizard.  No nausea which I’ve heard can be brutal but I have had my share of tiredness.  (filed under too much information) But it’s also ‘that time of the month’ so my tiredness could be a result of that.  My postprandial numbers have looked a little better (180 and below, rather then 300) no ugly lows….this stuff seems to keep me pretty steady.  I don’t mind the needle prick and in fact I hardly feel it at all, except for one time so far when it stung a little.  I’ve also experienced the side effect of feeling cold….but it’s summer in Texas so right now I’m actually happy about that. 

We’ll see how it goes….Oh and her comment about me having LADA “hmmm….maybe, maybe not, maybe MODY….makes little difference, we’re going to treat YOUR diabetes, call it whatever you want”Yep…that makes me happy!  

I love you!!!

I went back in to have more blood drawn for my A1C on Thursday.  Nurse Ratchet must have rushed it through because she actually called me Friday afternoon with the results.  Once again she told me ‘Your A1C is just fine”….that’s it?  Just fine?  I told her we would get along MUCH better if she actually gave me numbers rather then just saying I was within range.  She didn’t take that very well but she did comply. 

My A1C is 6.  6?  I swear I don’t get it….my postprandial numbers are ALWAYS above 200 no matter how regimented I am with my carbs.  And they stay high for up to 4 hours before they plummet.  They must really be plummeting low to end up for a 6 average.  That would explain why I feel off.  But now that my A1C ‘looks’ so good Dr. N doesn’t want to change anything which means I’m going to keep struggling with extreme highs and extreme lows.  When I told him how high my numbers were going he acted like I was crazy and told me he wasn’t going to change anything because I’m well under 7.

So I guess I have to let my numbers go completely to shit before anyone will take me seriously and give me a little relief….or just suffer with the highs and lows and hope for the best. 

Just got a call from Dr. N’s office….my thyroid looks good (finally got those meds right) but when I asked what my A1C was Dr. N’s nurse paused and asked “what A1C?”

Ahhh….the A1C I was there to get….damn it.  Apparently they forgot to run it.  ~sigh~ this isn’t the first time they ‘forgot’ to run a test that I was specifically there for.  I don’t get it…..his office just hasn’t had its act together since his wonder nurse quit last year. 

His new nurse got testy with me when I asked.  Her answer was “well maybe it just isn’t time for an A1C”  Oh THAT’S right….you would know so much better then me….I mean hell what do I know?  I’m only the one living and breathing diabetes day in and day out. 

UPDATE:

Unbelievable….she just called me back…..felt it necessary to scold me for not coming in before I had my blood work done.  “You’re over due to see Dr. N anyway….you should have come in weeks ago”  Well I was trying to remedy that only she didn’t order the A1C….”well it’s customary to come in and see the doctor and then he’ll order the blood work”. 

Customary for WHO?  Not for ME….it customary for me to have the blood work done and then come in so Dr. N and I have something to discus.   Apparently the thyroid test I just had done was a standing order that I didn’t know about (because NO ONE CALLED ME) from March…..apparently she never even TALKED to Dr. N about ordering my A1C and just figured that I would make an appointment and then he’d order the test.  “Well now I have to go talk to him and have him call in the order”….that’s right you do!

SO….now I have to go in AGAIN and have more blood drawn….

Customary my ass….it’s customary for me to take charge of my own diabetes care.  News flash….we’re doing this MY way.    

I topped out at 317 this morning.  Ugg….what the heck did she eat you ask?  Well a cup (yes I measured) of cereal with Almond Delight ‘milk’.  And NO it wasn’t ‘sugar-are-us’ cereal, it was Fiber One and frankly I should be able to eat a damn bowl of cereal without my ending up feeling like I’ve been run over by the truck.  ~sigh~

I just ate 1.23oz of oatmeal (no sugar just plain old oatmeal) and I’ll test again in a little while to see how my body handles it.  Hopefully the oatmeal will put a stop to the nose dive my BG always does after I’ve been that high. 

I have no energy at all….I’m peeing like a race horse and I’m battling dizziness and nausea….all normal symptoms (for me anyway) of my roller coaster BG. 

I’m feeling very frustrated….there are days when no matter what I eat I can’t get my BG over 100.  Then there are days when I eat a piece of toast and my numbers shoot to 300.  Why is that?  And how am I suppose to combat that….it’s not like I know if it’s going to be a good BG day or a bad BG day in advance?