Monday, April 20, 2009

The Square Root of Genius

Things have a tendency to level out, in the end.

Highs and lows, toward the perfect(or not so perfect) a1c.

The ingredients in a recipe, toward the sweet,salty,sour or bitter primary taste/sensation.

And it stands to perfect reason, that in a class of about 24 individuals, the only two type 1’s will end up at the same table, the same half of the same table, the same lab group of 4. They’ll have the same insulin pump, have gotten diabetes at the same age, but their the similarities come to grinding halt. Then the other two people in the lab group will drop the class so its only its only the type one’s. (I am a type 1 magnet,some people say they've gone their entire lives without meeting another one..I met my "first" about 4 days after diagnosis,in the ER room next to mine she heard that I was newly diagnosed and came in to offer her condolences/reassurances.Since then,I've probably known hundreds of D's,both type 1 and 2.)

Because there’s the smart(best grades in the class) one, with an a1c in the mid 6’s.

And there’s the doing-just-better-then-surviving one, with an a1c in the low 8’s.

Some people have an easier time with their diabetes, and are geniuses to boot. Somehow, I always tend to end up at the lab table where they stress endlessly over the 1 or 2 measly questions they got wrong on the exam(s). I am not that person; knowledge does not penetrate and soak into my gray matter very easily.(I cherish any and every good grade) So it works out ok, she supplies the right answers and I keep my mouth shut + try to learn something. And we average out perfectly, with the rest of the class. As it applies to diabetes,I am the veteran but this isn't a Diabetes 101 course.I know too much about too little.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree completely that D is much easier to manage for some than others, but I don't believe it is the fault of the person who has it (too much or too little "grey matter", etc.) I have tested my niece's blood sugars every four hours, five at the most, round the clock since diagnosis 3 plus years ago. Her Mom does the same when she is taking care of her. We sometimes have had short periods of time when no amount of insulin seemed to bring her down, limiting carbs, etc. No reason for it; she was not sick, etc. Could not get her body to cooperate. Thankfully, those periods of time were short. She is 12. When this happens, even for short periods of time (two weeks) it does effect her A1cs, though they have always been good; A1c will go up if this occurs. If your body is not cooperating with you right now, don't give up or feel bad about it. Just keep trying to get to the bottom of things. Hoping your endo has some good ideas:) Maybe switching insulins? Using Symlin? Maybe there is another drug?

Anonymous said...

P.S. We test two hours after eating, that four or five hour would be the longest time between tests.

Anonymous said...
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Scott K. Johnson said...

And sometimes it seems the more we learn the more we realize we don't know!