Now I Know My A1c, Next Time Won’t You Sing With Me

You know the traditional ABC song, right?  I don’t mean one where Elmo raps the ABCs, just the plain, old A, B, C, D, E, F, G… that everyone learns in nursery school.  Today, because I went to the lab for a blood test to check my A1c, as well as a few other things that need checking, I caught myself singing… A1C, D, E, F, G…

While it’s annoying to have the ABC song stuck in your head, sometimes it helps me stay calm to just repeat the same thing over and over again.  Unless, of course, the thing I’m repeating to myself is that my A1c will be 15% and the nurse will stick me with a dirty needle.

So here’s the real deal: I’m afraid of the lab.  The whole entire place. I have contamination issues. I have germaphobic tendencies.  All the pricking, poking, peeing, and swabbing going on… the 24-hour urine jugs, cups of fecal matter… the nose blowing, coughing, eye rubbing… what I need is a hazmat suit to wear to the lab.  Today’s special treat was a woman who removed her shoe and placed her dirty bare foot on the edge of the check-in counter – like she was practicing yoga. 

Lab yoga, there’s a way to calm yourself before a blood test.  But I don’t do any sort of yoga, so I’m left with singing to myself to stay calm.  I did okay this time. A1c, D, E, F, G…  My previous lab visit was four months ago and I was a wreck.  My fasting blood glucose on that day was 117, higher than it normally is, especially given that I walked to the lab, which should have lowered my blood glucose.  But since stress  raises blood glucose, I guess the two sort of cancelled each other out.     My A1c result on that day, however, was fantastic.  It was the best A1c result I’ve had since my diabetes diagnosis.  5.3%.  (Remember that I have LADA, so I still have more insulin production than most type 1 diabetics, which means it’s easier for me to see a number like 5.3% than it is for most.)

I had not expected such a good A1c result.  It came a few months after I stopped nursing Adam, and nursing had been helping me keep my blood glucose numbers down.  I could always nurse instead of blousing.  I just assumed that without nursing, my numbers would be higher, no matter what.  But there was something else I forgot to factor into the equation.  Without nursing, I would need fewer calories.  Without nursing, I would be much less hungry.  I also saw a reduction in my carb cravings.  In fact, I rarely crave them at all anymore.  

A low-carb diet used to be an effort.  Now, it doesn’t feel like a special diet.  It’s part of life.  It’s fine.  I still have a bite of something with carbs here and there, but overall I’m not tempted, I don’t feel like I’m giving anything up, and low-carbing is not really an issue.  I love that.  I love it as much as I hate the lab.  

Since eating low-carb has been so easy for me recently, I’m expecting to see the effects of my diet in my A1c result.  But… I have LADA.  LADA gets progressively worse until it’s not any different than type 1 diabetes.  So that, too, may be reflected in my A1c result. 

The result should be in tomorrow.  I’m guessing 5.6%. Meanwhile, I have the rest of the day to stress about my A1c, my liver enzymes, my potentially misbehaving hormones.  I’m anxious, impatient, I don’t like suspense, and I really, really, really, really, really want to be healthy. 

Jessica Apple

Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and has continued to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets).

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Jessica Apple

Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica’s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)