Waiting Now

I just went up to Utah again for another mixed meal tolerance test. This test marks the one year anniversary of my first infusion. It measures C-peptide levels, and will tell me if I'm still making insulin.

So now we wait. Dun-dun- dun. It should only be a few days, and then I will have a new a1c to record, and some new valuable information.

Previously, after each one of these, my sugars have been completely normal after the test, which told me my pancreas handled the Boost drink pretty well. This time, 160's. So, not dangerously high, but not exactly normal either. It makes me think I'm still making some insulin, but not as much as I used to. We will see what we will see.

My fasting sugars haven't been fabulous lately, either. The doc told me to wait a few more days, and if they were still high, to up my Lantus back up to 10. (Sigh....) But I'm not complaining. 10 is still a very low dose, and the control is still very easy.

Upon coming in, the nurse said "Did you SEE Popular Science March 2010?" Um, no? I don't make it a habit to read Popular Science....she said there was an article written by one of the very first patients to ever get the drug - and after NINE YEARS, her body is still making insulin, although now it is starting to go down. NINE YEARS of honeymooning is pretty amazing. So -nine years from now (I guess 8, maybe, since I've had the first year) - they might have a really great artificial pancreas, or a stem cell based cure, or nothing, I don't know. Who can predict, really? But I choose to be hopeful.

Here is the article - really interesting stuff.