{"id":32032,"date":"2013-02-23T07:58:25","date_gmt":"2013-02-23T12:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32032"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:45:10","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:45:10","slug":"a-marathon-with-diabetes-trying-to-control-the-unknown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=32032","title":{"rendered":"A Marathon with Diabetes: Trying to Control the Unknown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The past few months have been hectic, and Adam has had a number of infections, which means he\u2019s spent a lot time out of nursery school.\u00a0 So while I do enjoy spending my days snuggling with Adam and watching Penguins of Madagascar, I\u2019d much prefer that he be healthy and that I get my work done.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But there\u2019s another thing going on that doesn\u2019t, per se, take up any time, but yet brings in chaos and angst.\u00a0 It also leads to lack of sleep and is disruptive 24 hour a day.\u00a0 Yes, I\u2019m talking about blood glucose levels \u2013 specifically, Mike\u2019s blood glucose levels.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Like anyone with type 1 diabetes, Mike struggles to keep his BG in a safe and healthy range.\u00a0 One of his most important tools is exercise.\u00a0 When he runs a lot, his BG is generally manageable.\u00a0 So now, as he\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/michael\/blogs\/exercise-blogs\/never-take-insulin-before-you-run\/31852\/\" target=\"_blank\">training intensely for a marathon<\/a>, you\u2019d think his BG would be great, however, it\u2019s anything but.\u00a0 In fact, I can\u2019t remember a time in the last ten years that I\u2019ve heard him complain this much about the numbers.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I can attribute some of the complaints to his desperate need to be in the best shape possible on marathon day. \u00a0He&#8217;s obsessing. \u00a0He has been training for many months, diligently, and without complaining about the 4:30 a.m. wakeups.\u00a0 He\u2019s been doing everything right.\u00a0 But the thing about preparing for a marathon with diabetes is that blood glucose \u2013 the most important part of the equation \u2013 is the one thing that no amount of training can determine.\u00a0 There are only imperfect formulas to success.\u00a0 The factors that can throw off a run are not extreme weather conditions or a sudden injury.\u00a0 It can be something as subtle and immeasurable as a sudden surge of cortisol in the body in response to pre-marathon stress and nerves.\u00a0 And that may lead to a little surge in BG, which may lead to high BG at the starting line.\u00a0 It\u2019s like losing before you\u2019ve begun and you can only guess why. \u00a0The precise reason lies within your mute cells.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The part of this that has been the most confusing is how and why on the days that Mike runs 20 miles or so does he have consistently high blood sugar?\u00a0 Logic says he would have to eat constantly on such days in order to keep his blood sugar up.\u00a0 But instead, despite the boluses and minimal carb intake, <a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/michael\/blogs\/exercise-blogs\/exercise-resistant-diabetes\/32027\/\" target=\"_blank\">he hangs out around 200<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I understand how frustrated Mike is.\u00a0 I try to be supportive.\u00a0 I listen. I offer suggestions if I have them.\u00a0 If it\u2019s a low blood sugar incident, I offer to get food.\u00a0 It\u2019s all okay during the day.\u00a0 The nights, however, are wearing me down.\u00a0 Every night before he falls asleep, Mike sets an alarm to wake him in one hour for a BG check.\u00a0 \u201cIf you hear my alarm and I don\u2019t, please wake me,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mike doesn\u2019t mean to place a burden on me.\u00a0 But as soon as he says that, I assume the responsibility of making sure he wakes up when his alarm sounds.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have a choice.\u00a0 If he doesn\u2019t wake up to his alarm, it could be worst case scenario.\u00a0 So I listen.\u00a0 I stay up reading for as long as I can.\u00a0 One night after 45 minutes, I woke Mike.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t stay awake,\u201d I told him.\u00a0 \u201cPlease check now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mike did and his BG was 65.\u00a0 Had I waited another 15 minutes, who knows how low it would have gone.\u00a0 It felt a bit miraculous.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Other nights Mike sets alarms over and over again throughout the night.\u00a0 Usually I hear them and ask if he\u2019s okay before I hear the pull-back click of the lancing device, the snap when it hits his finger, and the beep of the result.\u00a0 I go back to sleep, something motherhood has taught me to do well.\u00a0 I worry, though, that I don\u2019t stay awake long enough to hear the BG reading.\u00a0 I stress about being in such a deep sleep that nothing registers. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mike\u2019s last alarm of the night goes off between 4:00-5:00 a.m.\u00a0 He always responds to that alarm and tests his BG before he gets out of bed.\u00a0 At that point, he goes to make coffee, and I\u2019m wise enough not to ask if he\u2019s okay.\u00a0 With determination as his guide, I know that no matter which number diabetes has thrown him, he\u2019s going to run with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[82],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - 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