I’ve blogged plenty of times about my “bad” diabetes days – you know, those posts that I talk about stubborn blood sugar that won’t come down/up, or how technology refuses to cooperate, or how I’m feeling intense diabetes burnout.
This made me wonder about the “good” days. Besides my blood sugars looking so perfect that I question whether my pancreas has magically started to produce insulin again, what sets those days apart from the “bad” (and plain, old, ordinary days)?
The answer likely varies among people with diabetes, but let me describe my version of a darn good diabetes day:
- Going to an endocrinologist appointment first thing in the morning and discovering that your A1c has dropped nearly half a point, down to 6.7. YAAAAAAS!
- Being told by said endocrinologist that you’re doing an amazing job, and passed all other blood work tests with flying colors – I was most thrilled with my HDL cholesterol (the good kind) levels, which have gone up due to my current exercise regimen. And she said I lost a couple pounds, to boot!
- Coming home from work to a package from Dexcom containing the brand new G6 receiver, transmitter, and sensors. I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about a delivery!
- Topping it all off, my blood sugars throughout the day weren’t too shabby.
It’s days like that that make me feel validated – like all my hard work is worth it. It isn’t easy to manage diabetes every moment of every day, so when the diabetes stars align like this, it feels…wonderful.
Hugging the Cactus 
I try to keep it simple. I wake up in the evening (work 3rd shift) and if I’m still breathing it is a good day. Before my mom passed away years ago, she would get up in the morning and go through her routine (also a diabetic). Bathroom, change clothes, and then gather her testing supplies and pills (took a wheel barrow to get them all to the table) She would test her blood sugar and while waiting for the results she would check her pulse. Among all the other issue she had an irregular heart beat. I would joke all the time that she should have checked her pulse right away after waking up. “If you can’t find it then, you might as well crawl back into bed and forget about the rest of it.” She’d just give me one of those ha ha ha smiles and go back to checking her pulse. I miss all those moments you take for granted until they are no longer there, so each day I wake up and am still breathing is a good day. One day I won’t be. We will all die some day.
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