After a few days of rest, I feel better, and my brain seems to be functioning. My training is scheduled for this afternoon, and I have been going over the to-do list. I finally weighed myself, and it was as bad as I thought. Good thing only my pancreas needs to know.
I got all my homework done. Now all I have to do is get more nervous than I already am. I may have mentioned before that I hated change. Especially life-as-I-know-it changes, such as going bionic. That is the company’s catchphrase: Go Bionic! Like it’s going to be fun.
It is overwhelmingly not fun. The bionic pancreas (hereafter referred to as the ‘device’) is in its learning mode. For the first 2-3 weeks, it analyzes my daily patterns of carb intake and meal timing. I need to follow rules to help the device learn. If my blood sugar gets too low, I am alerted by the device to treat this condition. Not a biggie – my glucose monitor alarms when I’m going low, so I am used to alarms going off. The difference is that the new device has a bunch of rules about how I am to treat the low, so I don’t over-treat and make the sugars go way high.
I don’t know how this device is going to learn something in 2-3 weeks that I have been trying to learn for years. Sometimes the sugars go WAY UP even when I conservatively treat them by the book. When the sugar is too high, I need insulin. 9 times out of 10, the high would respond, then end up dumping me into another low. Up, Down, Up, Down, repeat. All day and night long. I am exhausted most of the time. And I look it.
In a semi-perfect world, my bionic pancreas will keep my sugars more balanced and longer in the range they are supposed to be in. This will not cure my T1 Diabetes, but it should help a lot.
To be continued…
Prep Day 2
Last night’s sleep was nonexistent. Although I was curled up on my comfy couch, next to a warm fire, cough syrup did not ease my coughing spells. And my asthma meds act like adrenaline, so when my cough calms down, I am wide awake.
Between 5:00 am and 5:30 am I must have dozed off. Only to be rudely awakened by sudden thunderstorms. Thor was undeniably angry about something. And the fire had gone out.
Hubby and I ran into each other in the hallway. “Where are you going?” he asked.
“To bed to snuggle with you and get warm.”
“Okay then,” he said, taking my hand. I slept in peace for over an hour.
While drinking 2 cups of coffee, I reviewed my prep list and set up my pancreas charger. Then I looked around in the manual, which frightened me because it listed warning after warning and barely mentioned how to operate the thing. I wasn’t allowed to operate it until my training session, so I stopped trying to learn anything.
I took a mental break and checked my email messages. Only one message was really for me. The other 25 were phishing and spam. Ho Hum. Meanwhile, my smartphone was charged to 100%, so I went to the App Store and installed the Pancreas app.
Hey! That went smoothly. Now I have an account that actually works. The next thing is to go try the iLet simulator website. And no, I have no idea what this does.
We’ll check it out after my nap…
Note: After the nap, I contacted Maureen and postponed my training. I felt awful, and why expose her to whatever-the-heck germs I had?
To be continued…
Preparation: Day 1
Items to have ready by November 2nd:
Charge the bionic transmitter/receiver
Have the glucose monitor in place and ready to monitor
Open the boxes of supplies and have 1 of each item available
Install the bionic app on your smart phone. Create an account and try the Simulator website
Have a vial of fast-acting insulin
Have alcohol wipes and sterile gauze
Additional supplies:
Ketone test strips
Glucometer and test strips
Oh, and have your current weight available.
Yikes! I have been avoiding the scale because I know I have gained weight. And I can’t lie about this matter. Unlike the DMV or your relatives, the pancreas must have my exact weight in order to dose my insulin correctly. Sigh.
Because I’ve been fighting off a cold and today it’s winning, I decide to have soup for lunch and then veg in front of the TV. Tomorrow morning I will start fresh and download software. Maybe even weigh myself.
I just don’t know how much more excitement I can stand.
