With A Bullet In My Foot…

undoDo you ever wish you could “undo” insulin? After you’ve sent it inside you, and it is working away to lower blood sugar and store calories, and you realize that you didn’t need as much insulin as you took — wouldn’t an “undo” button be awesome?

Today I met with Rachel and her husband, who were stopping through Minneapolis on a road trip. We had a great brunch, then it was time for them to hit the road again.

We met out near the Mall of America, so after they left I headed over there to do a bunch of reading and writing. I wanted to mix in some walking and people watching too. Instead I spent the day second guessing myself and cramming food into my mouth.

It is all Auntly H’s fault, and I thank her for it!

I first met Auntly H last year, when Allison was in town. Auntly H was talking about her team (The Pancremaniacs) and their 2009 ride. For some reason, I said “Hey – that sounds pretty neat! I’ll ride with you next year!”

Well, “next year” is suddenly two weeks away, and I’m in the worst shape of my life (again). Thankfully, Auntly H has pulled us together for a few “team training rides” over the last few weeks. It has been a really great thing to get out on my bike again, and because of those rides I’m not feeling so intimidated anymore.

Yesterday we went out for a long ride. I think we did maybe 18 miles? We pushed pretty hard too. No, scratch that. SHE is a badass bicyclist who rides FAST, so I was pushing pretty hard to keep up. I think we were pedaling for just over an hour or so. It was exhausting, but a really great ride.

All of that exercise did me great, but I totally underestimated how long it would crank up my insulin sensitivity. Turns out that I needed maybe 1/4 of the dose I took for brunch.

I started walking around the Mall and within 5 minutes I was just not feeling right. I glanced down at my CGM, and sure enough I was heading low. I spent the afternoon being low, eating, waiting for the rise, rising, thinking I was safe to walk a bit, walking a bit, going low again.

I had cookies, regular sodapop, a cinnabon, frozen yogurt, more regular sodapop, ice cream, pretzels. It was crazy how much stuff I ate. Yet I was stubbornly trying to get my walk in. Ridiculous! After a couple hours of that I was frustrated and just went home. I didn’t get any writing done, very little reading done, and only tiny spurts of walking done.

I intended on walking to take the edge off of a high carb brunch. Instead of going high, I was low all day! No walking needed! Maybe if I went for a hard bike ride a few days of the week I could skip half of my insulin!

P.S. – We would love more riders! If you are interested in joining us, we’d love to have you!

P.P.S. – I’m liking the Dexcom so far!

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Scott K. Johnson

Patient voice, speaker, writer, and advocate. Living life with diabetes and telling my story. All opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the position of my employer.

Diagnosed in April of 1980, I recognize the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes. Read more…