Turns out that was a cold I had. I went home early last Monday and was knocked off my feet promptly. Luckily I landed on the sofa! (ok, bad joke). I had just enough energy to drag my butt to work on Thursday and Friday but I am still feeling the effects today.

Mom and I went to the ADA’s Diabetes Expo in Denver on Saturday. It was not as much fun as the last time I went, nor did I bring home much free schwag. Asides from paperwork, the best giveaway we found was Bing, a new energy drink I am now totally addicted to (sooooo yummy!). A bit dispointed as last time I was able to score a new blood glucose meter for free.

Also, I finally put faces to names with the Minimed folks. What a great bunch of people. I met one of the ladies who will be teaching me how to use my insulin pump, once I get it. She had some very promising info for me, and others with CFRD. She has personally worked with at least 5 other CFRD patients and has had superior success with the use of the Minimed pump and regulating blood glucose levels in patients with CFRD.

Having Type 1 herself, she was able to explain why CFRD is harder to control than Type 1. With Type 1, the pancreas does not put out ANY insulin. With CFRD, the pancreas does still work, with a lesser function, and sometimes function is also delayed. This causes hyperglycemia when there is not enough insulin. Or this can cause deeper lows of hypoglycemia when natural insulin production is delayed, due to the pancreas overreacting to the already elevated blood glucose level. It is not possible to predict how the pancreas is going to react at any point in time. Like shooting at a moving target.

The amounts of additional insulin given subcutaneously is harder to predict from moment to moment with CFRD since it is impossible to tell how and when the pancreas is going to react. They are finding that if the blood glucose levels in CFRD patients is better regulated through subcutaneous injections (specifically the insulin pump) the pancreas does not overreact as often and as much, making it easier to keep the blood sugar levels in control.

I hope I was able to explain that in an easy to absorb manner. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or email me!