Monday, January 09, 2006

It's One Big Happy Type-1-berhood

Had one of those extra special "Connect with a fellow type 1" moments today. (of which, there are approximently FIVE in this area) Um, no, I take that back- there MUST be at least 20, cuz thats how many are slated to be in the latest research study..
This one is another Ultrasmart one. A1c(6x over course of year), pda, free strips, all of that. Super neat. $200 payment, and at the end of the year-a "Boost" mixed-meal glucose tolerance test. (for another $250) I'm assuming they really need to prove we're type 1's. On the morning of the test- you've gotta be between 70-200, ketone free. (or they'll reschedule it) Once they've checked bg and ketones, they put in an IV, you drink your Boost, and they measure your bg, c-peptide every 15 minutes (up to 2 hours). This should be interesting, last time I had a cpeptide I was 0.4 and 1,100 mg/dl. (diagnosis) All officially overseen by the Research Unit's "Test" endocrinologist, who probably never wanted to see me again 2.5 years ago when I flunked her driving study, and I'm sure will still remember me. At the end of the testing, you get insulin, and lunch (whatever you want! last time I had to bring most of it home, it was alot) and it is pretty good... I'm concerned about how high my bg is going to go in two hours (Boost + stress!) Starting out with no ketones is great, but I'll probably have them by the end! I need to look up how many carbs is in a can of Boost.
So, while lounging in the waiting room, waiting for my a1c I get into a conversation with another person in the research study. We swapped diabetes info, horrible hypo stories, etc. like all type 1's are wont to do- he'd been pumping 19 years, started in college. I'm sufficiently awed (5 years seems so rookie)
- and envious that his endo is also a type 1!

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