Friday, January 26, 2007

My A1c test

Whooooo hooooo! I just got word that my most recent A1c test result is 6.9!

For those of you unfamiliar with this, allow me to explain:

I have Type 1 diabetes. That means that my body does not produce any insulin and I need to inject insulin into my body so my cells can get glucose from the food I eat... so that I can live. I have to manage my blood sugar myself - eating when my blood sugar level is low and taking insulin to keep my blood sugar level from getting too high.

I do periodic checks of my current blood sugar level to help me determine how I am doing (i.e., do I need to eat something or should I take some insulin). Normal blood sugar levels range from 70 to 120. My blood sugar levels have been everywhere from 600 to 22 (neither of which felt very good).

An A1c test gives somewhat of an average of my blood sugar levels for the past two to three months. The goal is to have an A1c result of 7 or less. That means that I am doing a good job of balancing my eating, my exercise level and my food intake so that my blood sugar levels don't get too high (or too low).

After having Type 1 diabetes for over 10 years, I can say that it's not exactly easy to always keep in balance. That's why I am so happy that my result is 6.9! Yippee!

3 comments:

Kim said...

You should check out this blog: http://skittles0366.blogspot.com/

Not only does Skittles talk about managing her own scores, but she's also got some unique blog toys.

Collette said...

Cool site.

BTW, Skittles has Type II diabetes, in which the body has its own insulin, but either does not use it correctly or does not make enough. I have Type I, which means my body makes absolutely no insulin (it may seem like a minor distinction, but I would trade Type II for Type I anyday!!).

Kim said...

Wooops... my bad! I guess I didn't look into who had what...but you will notice that she posts her readings daily.