Hanging out at the D.R.I

Yesterday I had what was probably one of my all-time most frustrating D-days, but with the greatest people to hang out with. I got up at 4:30 (after 2 below-40 lows overnight) and was already rebounding high as I took the train down to NYC and the Diabetes Research Institute’s “Diabetes 2.0” conference. I did a small correction on the train (no breakfast yet, and I didn’t want to worry about being low while trying to find the conference).

I got to the conference just as the first speaker was about to begin, grabbed some breakfast, elbowed my way to a seat between Allison and Kelly… and proceeded to spend the next 22 hours fighting against The High that Would Not Die. You’ve heard the expression “glass ceiling”? Well, this was a glass floor. I passed quickly through the “maybe-I-underestimated” and “just-bolus-again-might-have-been-an-air-bubble” stages, while my BG hit the 300s and would not go down. I could see the nice little dotted-line high threshold on my Dexcom, and soon rage bolus followed rage bolus as I kept trying to tap, stomp, and finally jackhammer my way back through the glass floor into somewhat normal BG readings. I mean, if you can’t risk a low by stacking insulin sitting at a table with a bunch of Type 1s, when can you do it?

But the amazing thing about the day was, I was not alone. Really, really, not alone. While I was fuming and running through the whole troubleshooting checklist (can’t be the site, I was low all night; basal is at 180%, 5 units on board, why the hell am I still 280) Kelly next to me was doing the same thing. While the mom in one session was talking about being worried that her son would be over-bolusing for highs while away at college, I was attempting, unsuccessfully I need not add, to over-bolus myself back down. When Bernard complained he had been above his Dexcom’s high threshold all day, I knew exactly how he felt – we even had the same threshold set! And when Dr. Rappaport asked how we react when we see a 300 on the meter, I had just seen a 304 on mine. And Kelly’s quick response of “W.T.F?” was exactly how I felt. Kelly, you are my new hero!

Other people have written about how great it is to get together with other Type 1s, other people who really “get it”. I can’t agree more. If I had been home, I would have been in the throwing things and swearing stage. Instead, we were laughing, hugging… and still swearing. Let’s face it, diabetes is pretty damn frustrating sometimes. And that’s why it was so great to spend a day with the people who “get it” – with the bloggers I am always surreptitiously reading from work: Amy, Bernard, Scott, Allison, Gina, LeeAnn, Kelly, Karen – and anybody else I forgot. Thanks guys, for turning a crappy BG day into such a great time!

Oh, and that high?

After a day with no fewer than nine correction boluses, doubled basal rates, and a 3am site change by the light of my dex did nothing it finally faded away - of its own accord - around 9 the following morning. W. T. F.?!?