Just Call Me a Super Hero

How’s that for an attention grabbing title?

I feel like a super hero after the night we had. Chad was set up on his pump yesterday! YAY. We went with the Tandem T:slim. It seemed to be operator friendly. He isn’t a techy guy and it’s the one he felt most comfortable with. It’s amazing that he can dose whenever. He doesn’t have to dread the shot. he doesn’t have to “catch it up later”, because he dreads the shot. WE LOVE THAT PART!

However, it was a bit of a rough night. I told him I would get up several times to check his blood sugar, since it was the first night on the pump. He was 125 at bedtime and more than 3 hours after dinner, which is an amazing blood sugar for him. For the first time ever, he didn’t eat a snack or anything. That trust and confidence was so hard! When I woke up at midnight, his blood sugar was 50. I gave him about 40 carbs of chocolate milk. I woke up at 3 to check and his blood sugar was 70. Another 40 carbs! When he woke up at 5, took forever in the bathroom,  was stumbling a bit, I got up and checked him. 36!!!!

I told him it was okay to go into work late. Usually he doesn’t. He gets back on the saddle and makes it into work on time, but I wanted to make sure he was okay first. I quickly googled “How long does Lantus stay in the system?” He was taking it twice a day, half a day’s dose at 8am and the other half at 8pm. His trainer set his pump up so his basal (this is the background insulin that runs continuously all day) didn’t start until after 8pm last night, but we are pretty sure he still had the Lantus from yesterday morning in his system as well, since it can last 18-26 hours! He conferred with his trainer this morning and she agreed that it was likely. Just to be safe she walked him through lowering the basal rate just a bit. (from 2.0 per hour to 1.8 per hour)

As far as the first day on the pump, he is loving it. He really likes not having to take shots. He loves that he can input his blood sugar and carbs and it will figure out his insulin dose. This is a new thing for us and we are fumbling around a bit, but in a week it should be second nature. He has done one infusion set. He will be doing a cartridge change and infusion change tomorrow morning with the trainer.

He has been approved for a CGM (continuous glucose monitor). This will be his next step.

I am hopeful that today will be a better day. He did end up going to work and got there just a little late. He is an excellent family provider and he hates missing time from work. Sometimes diabetes comes first!

ETA: I guess I should explain the super hero comment. I feel like a super hero after saving his life three times last night. :p I’m tired, it makes ME feel better.

Diabetes is so easy to manage!

I think that anyone who has actually dealt with diabetes can hear the sarcasm dripping from that title. Or they were shocked and wondered what kind of snake oil I was going to sell. No snake oil here!

We are back to the insurance company only wanting to cover 1 test strip per day. “102 every 90 days”. Part of having any semblance of control is knowing where you are at. How can anyone do that on ONE test strip per day? I shouldn’t have done this, but I gave up. I said I would just pay out of pocket for them. I know that this gives the insurance  company what they want, which is more money in their pocket, but come on!

To break it down again, my husband has double insurance coverage. Generally the secondary picks up any co-pays or costs that the primary did not pay for. So, 3 test strips a day, leaves a $50 co-pay for us, which the secondary was picking up. They refused to pick up the $50 co-pay for 4-6 strips per day. It didn’t cost them any more, but they still denied it. Now they are back to saying that they will only cover the 102 every 90  days. We tried to explain that he is type 1, because the 102/90 is what they pay for type 2, while they do 102/30 for type 1, but somehow it’s not getting through. I just need the darn test strips, ok?

We have started the process to get an insulin pump for my husband. This should be helpful in managing his diabetes, if the stress of the process doesn’t kill him first. We met with the doctor, who sent  the information to the pump supply, who contacted insurance. Insurance will not consider paying for the device until he does a blood test that shows the level of c-peptides in his body. A Type 1 diabetic has low or no c-peptides, while a type 2 could have normal peptides. From my research, it seems that they would require a person with normal or high peptides to control their diabetes through diet and exercise. Since my husband is type 1, this is  not going to happen. 45 years of medical records seem to make little difference.

There are two requirements for the test:

• fasting after midnight
• blood sugar below 150

The first night, I woke up shortly before midnight and checked his blood sugar. It was 82, so I had him drink some chocolate milk. I woke up again at 3, and it was 62, so he had more chocolate milk. He could not do the test because he was no longer “fasting after midnight”. Last night, I checked him at midnight and he was a little on the high side, so I woke him up and had him take a shot. He was still too high this morning for the test, so we will have another go at it tonight.

It’s really frustrating that I know other diabetics who have taken this test, but they were not required to have a blood sugar under 150. Generally, he is under 180 in the morning, but it is rare that he is under 150. Even if he was under 150, there is no guarantee that it won’t go up between  here and the doctor’s office and waiting to be called in for the lab. Or, it could go the opposite way, he could be under 150, but drop rapidly because he has been fasting since midnight.

We will do this. WE WILL. I am flabbergasted at the amount of frustration that a insurance company is willing to cause a diabetic. He wants a pump to have better control over his diabetes. He wants a pump to have more normal blood sugars. Making my husband meet a list of requirements, although short, makes him feel like a failure when he doesn’t meet them.

We would love your prayers for better results tonight. If he could get this part out of the way, I know he will feel victorious.

We Are Making Progress!

I know it’s been a little quiet around here. First my husband went out of town and I found myself with a lot of free time! The night he left, I started painting the bathroom. I’ve been meaning to for a long, long time. We’ve lived in this house for a whole lot of years. It’s been painted once. It was time..

Speaking of my husband being out of town. He survived. Hurray! To ease my mind, he tested his blood sugar at 1:00AM and texted the results to me. This way he wasn’t going 8 hours without testing his blood sugars. They did run a little high during the week, but we attributed that to all the eating out. The first night, his dinner was 90 carbs! 90!!!

So, he’s home and all is well. Yay. 🙂

We went to a new endocrinologist yesterday. I really, really liked her. I have been to the same clinic with my father, but a different doctor and I don’t really care for her. His doctor discredits a lot of what I say and doesn’t listen to me. My husband’s doctor was good about listening to both of us, answering our questions, giving advice, etc. She told us that diabetes is NOT an exact science and that there isn’t a one size fits all approach to it. I told her that we often feel like failures when his blood sugar is too high or too low. I prefer when it’s just right, but she told us that it’s really hard to hit that magic number. She was impressed with his A1C, which is interesting, because his general doctor is constantly telling us he needs to get it down. His endocrinologist said that a lot of times when the A1C is in the ideal ranges, it comes with the risk of low blood sugars. So he was looking good!

She put in a referral to the nutritionist who is also in charge of all things insulin pump related. She feels that he is an ideal candidate for it. Even with all the research I have done, I didn’t realize that he wouldn’t need to take his long acting insulin anymore! I know that pumps can be expensive, but I am hopeful that with double insurance coverage, they will cover a good portion of it.

So now we wait for his referral to go through. I am so excited about the process and next steps. His endocrinologist feels that he could be outfitted with a pump within the next 6 weeks. So exciting!

Diabetes Yo Yo

It was a bit of a rough night. The morning started way too early for my liking, although our two year old seemed okay with it. (UGH!)

When my husband tested his blood sugar last night, it was in the 240’s. We kind of expected it to be high, because we had jasmine rice at dinner. We rarely have rice, but last night I was hankering for this for dinner. I will be having it for lunch today too. It was hard to stop at just one bowl. 🙂 At about 2:30AM, I heard my husband’s c-pap machine turn off. At 5:45, I don’t notice it, but my mind must have known it was the wrong time. I sat up, put my glasses on and asked what was going on. I asked if he had a low blood sugar and he said he thought so. He sounded a little slow, so I got up to check it for him. 57!

In the course of four and a half hours it went from 240 to 57.

This does not reassure me about his upcoming business trip!

After bringing his blood sugar back up to the normal range, covering the sheets from his sweat fest, and laying back down, I couldn’t sleep. First he was snoring. Then that two year old wasn’t interested in going back to sleep. I was going over “Where did we (I) go wrong?” And I couldn’t stop thinking about how to prepare him for his trip, to ease my mind and to help him in the case of a low blood sugar.

I told him that he had to wake up to test each night he is gone, no matter what. I am going to make sure he has some Squeezable apple sauce, pbj’s, and small sodas available. And I am going to pray A LOT.

(What are some other ready to go snacks he could have available?)

Parents of kids with diabetes, how on earth do you survive time away from your kids? I feel like a control freak, or that I am being really annoying about this. We’ve survived time apart before, but still I worry.

By the way, I went to the library yesterday and brought this home:

Just a little light reading for the kids’ summer break. 🙂

Back to that low blood sugar, what’s the deal with rice anyway?

A Diabetes Break

The thing with diabetes is it never gives you a break. It is constant and you always have to TRY to be one step ahead of it . Some days you will succeed and others you will fail miserably. Every day you have to get right back on the horse, or the bike, or your motorcycle and try, try again, because giving up is not an option. My husband will never ever get a break from diabetes. It will go wherever he goes. It’s a constant companion. No matter where he goes or what he does, he will have to consider diabetes. It’s almost like a girlfriend that turns into  a stalker when you try to make it go away.

My husband will be going on a business trip soon. He will take his diabetes with him. He will take a box full of goodies, hopefully enough for his time away. He will need some carb-y snacks and some low carb snacks. I’ll probably stick some peanut butter, crackers, glucose tablets, etc in there. I will also probably worry the entire time he is gone. Especially at night. He sleeps soundly, but I get up at least once per night. No matter what wakes me up, I make it a habit to check on him. Depending on what his activity level and/ or blood sugar was before or at bedtime, I might check his blood sugar.

These are the things that worry me when he is away for any length of time. It hasn’t happened very often. I can probably count on one hand how many times it has. When he went to Reno 16 years ago, I don’t remember worrying. He was diabetic then, but it hadn’t infiltrated my life as much as it does now. We are constantly checking in with each other on his blood sugars, his insulin doses and how he is feeling. He CAN count carbs, but typically he relies on me to tell him what they are, because I prepare most of his meals. (he’s generally on his own for breakfast and takes leftovers for lunch)

So he won’t get a break…. ever, but I will. He will be gone and I won’t be able to count his carbs or prepare his meals. I won’t have to meal plan with him in mind, while he is gone. The kids and I can graze if we want, we can have ice cream, sandwiches, cereal. I won’t have to make sure that the meal I am providing is well rounded.

It sounds almost delightful, but I am sure that when the time comes, I won’t think so. I will probably worry too much to really enjoy it. He HAS promised to keep in touch morning and night with his blood sugar readings. It sounds awful, like he has to check in with a mom, but he knows that it gives me peace of mind.

And as a side note, have you seen this? http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/video/14722595/

Do you think a cure for diabetes is possible? I’ve seen many hopeful “cures” that haven’t panned out, so i am a bit hesitant to get excited about anything that seems possible.

I’ll check back in at a later date and let you know how the time apart went. eeeek.

Have You Tried Essential Oils?

Ahem. I might step on a few toes today. That is not my intent, but sometimes the suggestions given to my husband are crazy, even if they are well intentioned. Nobody likes to see a friend or a loved one suffer from a disease that *might* be cured or managed. My husband has heard some zingers. These are a few of the suggestions he has heard from others regarding his diabetes and the reason(s) why he is not/ has not/ will not try(ing) them.

1. Have you tried essential oils? No. His doctor doesn’t really recommend essential oils has a viable method of controlling his diabetes.

2. I heard that okra in water will cure diabetes. No. I think if this worked, we would all know about it and there would be an okra shortage. (Source: http://www.diabetesdaily.com/blog/2014/03/why-okra-will-not-cure-your-diabetes/)

3. If you just had more faith, your diabetes would be cured. Do I believe that God COULD cure diabetes? Yes, but so far He hasn’t. My husband said that he was approached at a family wedding by an aunt who thought she could cure him with her faith. This many years later, he’s still diabetic. This has become an inside joke for us though. When his blood sugars are whacked, I tell him to get “in the word”. I’ve heard it’s a cure for all that ails ya. (Don’t hate us, we’re believers. We also think we are funny)

4. Medifast.  I can’t tell you how many times Medifast has been recommended for my husband for weight loss and diabetes control. I have seen Medifast work wonders for some people. I am not discounting that it’s a great product for some people; however when we looked into it we were told that my husband needed to check with his health care provider before starting this program. In fact, straight from here is this: If you have type 1 diabetes, it is essential to discuss Medifast with your health care provider or diabetes specialist before you start any of our plans for weight loss. He has been seeing the same doctor for 15 years. He has a good relationship with him. He asked him about Medifast. His doctor said that he did not think this was a good option for my husband. Rather than leave the people hanging that had recommended this to us, I politely informed them that his doctor did not recommend this route. These were the responses:

• “What? Really? I have never had a doctor say no before” (There’s a first time for everything?)
• “He obviously doesn’t understand what it is. Let me give you information to take with you next time. In fact, do you want me to come with you?” (no)
• “That’s weird. Our doctor said it was okay for my diabetes.” (ok)
• “Why would he say no? That doesn’t even make sense!” (none of your business)
• “If his doctor said no, he has a good reason. Honestly, I sell it and wouldn’t recommend it for your husband.” (smile)

5. What about an insulin pump? Yes. Yes. Yes! We have looked into this before, but at the time, the cost was prohibitive. Now my husband has double coverage. I just checked his benefits and BOTH insurances cover the insulin pump! He has had some major medical expenses in the past two years and our out of pocket costs have been minimal. It looks like this will be the case for the pump. He has an appointment with his doctor soon and we will be asking about this again!

Did I step on your toes? I hope not, but when you are a diabetic (I am not) you have heard it all…. for the most part. To keep our patience, we try to remember that people are just trying to help because they care. It’s actually the people who are offended that we are not taking their suggestion that test our patience. We have learned to say “Thank you” rather than give the reason why what they said will not work for him. If you are diabetic, what are some helpful/ unhelpful things you have heard to cure or manage your diabetes? 

ETA: Out of all these things, the only one he has tried is prayer, although he isn’t praying that he’s cured. He’s praying that he manages well. So he can’t say without a doubt that none of these will work to manage his diabetes. 🙂

P.S. in an earlier post I talked about how my husband’s insurance only wanted to cover 100 test strips a month. We talked to a different pharmacist the last time we filled his test strips and she knew the work around/ coding needed for insurance. They just needed to know that he had a condition that required the test strips, because people like to fake diabetes, you know. 

Where Are We Going?

When I look back, it’s hard to believe that 17 years ago, I knew absolutely nothing about diabetes. Well, I guess I can’t say NOTHING. I knew my husband had it. I knew he had to test his blood sugar and take shots. I didn’t know about carbs, high blood sugars, low blood sugars. I was about to get a crash course though.

Less than a year into our marriage, my husband, stepdaughter, and I went camping with my parents. My parents have never camped in the local parks. Oh, no, as children we hiked miles to our camping locations. As adults, it was a little gentler, we just drove hours to our destination. (By the way, I miss those days!)

On this particular trip, I don’t remember how long we had been there or how long we were staying. I do remember waking up at some point in the night and knowing that something wasn’t right. I checked my husband. He was breathing, but he wasn’t particularly responsive. Fortunately I knew enough to know that not responding was not okay. I grabbed his blood glucose monitor. I had seen him use it hundreds of times. I looked at that thing, I pushed buttons, I looked at it again.

I had no clue what I was doing.

I ran to my parents’ camp site and knocked on their trailer door. “Something is wrong with Chad!” They woke up right away and came to our site. They tried to figure out this blood sugar tester thingamabob and we. were. CLUELESS. It was a bad time to realize that we had no idea how to operate this thing. I am not sure that I should even get points for knowing we NEEDED to use it.

My dad said the hospital was some 40+ miles away. Somehow we were able to get my husband into the truck. My mom stayed behind with my step daughter. My dad was hurtling down this windy, curvy road as fast as he could maneuver the corners. It was dark and it was a little concerning and I don’t think my anxiety could handle a trip like that today. I remember wondering what it was going to be like at the hospital. What would they do? Would he be okay? I didn’t have any experience in this department and I hadn’t prepared myself very well. It was his disease. I was just married to him. I never gave any thought to his diabetes.

Somewhere between the camp site and the hospital, my husband came out of his low blood glucose stupor. (I can’t remember if we had tried to give him anything. My mom probably remembers) What a surprise it must have been for him! He looked around and said “Where are we going?”

I told him we were headed to the hospital, because he hadn’t been responsive. Then he asked where his daughter was. I figured if he was aware enough to worry about the care of his daughter, he was probably okay, so I gave my dad the all clear to head back to camp.

You better believe that we learned to use that monitor immediately!

Also, the next morning, we were talking to the camp host and told him what had happened. He said he was diabetic and he could have helped us. Why didn’t we think of that?

I know the answer to that. Back then we didn’t think about a lot of things. We would eventually learn though.

How Low Can He Go?

The right amount of carbs + the right amount of insulin = Diabetes Bliss

The right amount of carbs + too much insulin = Diabetes Hell aka a low blood sugar

My least favorite thing about diabetes is the low blood sugar.

This is my husband

This is my husband with a low blood sugar

The difference may be so subtle that many people wouldn’t even notice. I don’t like this picture. It is a reminder of the time that I was so focused on something else that I didn’t notice he was not “right”. Usually I can look at him and tell by his stance, the look on his face, the way he holds his hands, and the way he talks to me. On this day, I completely missed it, and he had to bring it to my attention. A few days later I was looking through the pictures I had taken and it was as clear as day.

According to WebMD, symptoms of a low blood sugar include:

• Confusion
• Dizziness
• Feeling shaky
• Hunger
• Headaches
• Irritability
• Pounding heart; racing pulse
• Pale skin
• Sweating
• Trembling
• Weakness
• Anxiety

I normally have a sixth sense when it comes to my husband and his blood sugars. I called him from work a few years ago and knew he had a low blood sugar. I was too far away to help in a reasonable amount of time, so I called the paramedics.

Low blood sugars can be caused by too much insulin, too little carbs, and exercise. It happens when the body does not have enough glucose in its blood stream.

I asked my husband what it is like to have a low blood sugar. He said that for him, low blood sugar leads to confusion, exhaustion, and feeling like it is extremely difficult to move. I looked at him and smiled. “That explains the time you kept telling us your feet were glued to the floor”. He said that is exactly what it feels like, as if he is slogging through mud and it takes all of his strength and effort to lift his feet one more time. I asked if he knows that he is having a low blood sugar. He said “Sometimes, but it’s like I am in an alternate world. I know that’s what it is, but I can’t figure out what to do to take care of it.” He also said that diabetes likes to trick the brain. His body feels off, but his brain keeps telling him he is okay.

My daughter says that the scariest time for her was a day we were at Goodwill. My husband was shopping with the kids elsewhere in the store. I hadn’t seen him for a while. My daughter came up and said “Something is wrong with daddy”. It was very crowded and I had a hard time finding him. When I did, he was staggering like a drunk. I found a chair and sat him down. We had been at Target prior to Goodwill and I just happened to buy an orange juice. I had taken a sip of it, then put it back in my purse. His blood sugar was so low that the bottle didn’t help much. I grabbed a bottle out of their cooler and gave that to him. We’ve had to do this a few times over the years, and I do it knowing that I could risk making an employee angry. I don’t care. 🙂 Sometimes, like that day, a low blood sugar comes on so quick that he doesn’t have time to react to it.

Night time is the worst, because it is generally 8 hours of untreated diabetes. If you are resting, you are not testing your blood sugar. Lucky for my husband, I don’t sleep. Okay, I’m kidding. I do wake up several times a night to check on him though. I don’t always check his blood sugar, but I make sure he is breathing and not sweating. When he is sleeping, I can predict a blood sugar by the way he breathes and if he is sweating. A low blood sugar sweat does not present itself in the same way as “this room is way too hot” sweat.

I wish that people who know he has diabetes understood better the signs and symptoms of a low blood sugar. Last week, I made a spur of the moment decision to visit him at work. I didn’t tell him I was coming, I showed up. When I walked in, he was glad to see me, then he said “I’m not doing well”. He sat down and tested his blood sugar. It was 32. (anything less than 70 is considered low, although he is much more functional at 67 than he is 32) Even while he was treating his low blood sugar, his co-workers were talking to him, asking him questions, and trying to push him out the door for lunch.

If my husband has calculated his carbs and his insulin amount, he can’t decide halfway through that he just isn’t hungry anymore and skip eating the rest of his meal. Since he has already dosed for the entire meal, he’s kind of stuck eating the entire meal. It’s pretty inconvenient.

A low blood sugar can be relatively easy to counteract, you just have to catch it. One of the challenges we face is his insurance company only wants to cover 3 test strips per day. One for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. Without insurance coverage, test strips are very expensive. He needs to test, at a minimum 4 times per day. (He needs to test before bedtime) If he feels off, he needs to test. If his blood sugar is low, he needs to treat it and retest in 15 minutes. It is very hard to get by on just 3 strips per day.

Have you ever seen someone with a low blood sugar? Do you know how to treat it? The general consensus is 15 grams of fast acting carbs and retest in 15 minutes. I’m official. I have glucose tablets in my purse at all times. 

What is a Carb and Why Does it Matter?

I Googled “What is a carb?”

Google said “Short for carburetor”.

Close. It wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

Carbohydrates, what they are, and how they affect the body are as important to a diabetic as insulin.

Let’s start with what a carbohydrate is. A carbohydrate is defined as: any of a large group of organic compounds occurring in foods and living tissues and including sugars, starch, and cellulose. They contain hydrogen and oxygen in the same ratio as water (2:1) and typically can be broken down to release energy in the animal body.

Um. What?

Foods with carbs are typically pastas, rice, bread, potatoes, sweets, sugars, etc. Carbs! Glorious carbs. I love carbs. 

That sounds simple enough, but it gets tricky when you learn that there are simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbs are sweets, white breads, potatoes, sugar, sodas, donuts, etc. Fruits and vegetables also consist of simple sugars, but the body processes them like a complex carb.

Complex carbs are carbs that take the body longer to break down and process. This gives a more steady release of sugars throughout the day and is better than the spike and dip of simple carbs. Complex carbs are whole wheat (rice, pasta, bread). Complex carbs are better for everyone.

Just to complicate things, one carb doesn’t always equal another. 15g of carbs from a bowl of cream of wheat affects my husband differently than 15g of carbs from a potato. If only one equaled another. He has to keep track of how many units of insulin he needs based on carbs and also has to remember that sometimes he needs to take more or less for one food than another.

The body uses carbohydrates for energy. The moment you put it in your mouth and swallow, your body starts processing it. Carbs cause your blood sugar to rise, then your pancreas produces insulin to absorb blood sugar for energy or storage.

Unless you’re diabetic, because your pancreas is broken and not producing insulin. A non-diabetic person’s body automatically calculates how much insulin you need and distributes it.  A diabetic has to do this calculation themselves, taking into account current blood sugar and carbs to be consumed. Then they administer the insulin (synthetic) their body doesn’t produce. Without insulin, your body doesn’t know to level off. A normal blood sugar is under 140. Kycie was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with T1D. She had a blood sugar of 1,148. This is what diabetes does!

I imagine that for a typical person, the amount of carbs in a food is not particularly important. It seems most people know there are good carbs and bad carbs, even if they like to indulge in the bad. A diabetic needs to be aware of the carbs in any and all foods and drinks that they consume. It’s not as simple as it sounds. Some food doesn’t come in labeled packaging and if it’s a vegetable, you might not think there are carbs in it. Carrots have carbs. My husband loves carrots, so he needs to be careful to either dose for the carbs, or not to over indulge.

I don’t know why anyone would willfully over indulge on a carrot, but hey, that’s me. He sings his own songs. 

Fortunately, these days, information is practically at our finger tips. It is very easy to search “How many carbs are in a carrot?”. 6g for one carrot, in case you were wondering. With this information, a diabetic can calculate their insulin dose, inject and eat. My husband would not dose for one carrot, but if he was eating 3 of them, he would need to do so.  (There’s a calculation and it’s not a one size fits all formula and if you figure out YOUR formula, it can change. Because it wants to. Diabetes is its own boss, it doesn’t need a reason.)

My husband has to be aware, all the time, of all the carbs. If he thinks he doesn’t need to count a carb, he is usually wrong. On Saturdays, we like to grab a coffee. He always gets a sugar free Double Torture. He used to never dose, but then we found out there are 16 carbs in the milk they use. He started injecting two units of insulin prior to drinking it, and hasn’t had wild blood sugars like in the past. “But I only had that sugar free drink!”. Sugar free does not equal carb free and it matters!

Sometime we’ll talk about that time that the waitress served him a regular drink, instead of diet. Fortunately he noticed. We can’t imagine what 38 extra carbs not accounted for, would have done to his blood sugar! By “noticed”, I mean after he drank practically the whole glass, he pushed it across the table and said “I don’t think that’s diet”. I tasted it, confirmed it was not. So he recalculated his dosage, with the extra carbs included.

Carbs. They matter.

Please don’t take anything I say as gospel or fact. Do your own research, talk to your own doctor. If you see a mistake I’ve made, please bring it to my attention. I wrote this based on personal experience, reading, dietitian appointments, and internet searching. I am not a professional, just experienced. I’m going to get to some fun stories some time. I’m starting with the basics. Ha. None of this sounds basic though. Even writing it down makes my head spin and I am not sure how we do it.  

Sources:

http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2011/mar/how-the-body-uses-carbohydrates-proteins-and-fats.html

http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/101/nutrition-basics/good-carbs-bad-carbs.aspx

Carbohydrates and Blood Sugar

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/how-sugar-affects-diabetes