Stress, Me & My A1C.

Stress does a number to our minds, not to mention our bodies - Not to mention our blood sugars and a1cs!
These past 6 weeks have been incredibly stressful and to be quite honest with you, I really thought I had a handle on my blood sugars.
With all that went down in my life since mid August, my numbers weren't bad, as a matter of fact, they were pretty darn good.
I tested like crazy during those weeks and I REALLY thought I was handling all of life's curveballs. Yes, I did have to utilize some increased temporary basal rates due to the two sinus infections I battled. One when my mother first went into the hospital, and a nasty one I woke up with two days after she died.
And I also utilized my decreased temporary basal rate function during my mother's illness because as long as I'm being all honest, my appetite was none existent. It's not that I didn't eat, because I did, I just didn't eat as much as I normally do. Food had lost it's joyful appeal to me and I ate when required/needed, not because I wanted to enjoy in Epicurean delights.
I lost 13 lbs due to stress. And as much as I had wanted to lose 7 or 8 pounds, I'd rather have stayed at my previous weight and still have my mother alive and kicking.
The only day my blood sugars went completely haywire was the day of my mother's funeral. Between a new infusion site on my thigh (which would later proved to be completely and utterly useless because it absorbed absolutely no insulin whatsoever,) and an amazing amount of adrenaline that I was producing, my numbers went up to the high 300s - But as soon as I changed my infusion set (at noon) my bloodsugar was 120 by 4p.m. And after I'd eaten lunch.
My mother died the evening of September 23rd, and I'd gone fpr fasting blood work that morning. I had a scheduled Endo appointment the following week that I ended up canceling because it ended up being the same day as my mothers funeral. Anyway,for some reason I thought that just maybe my a1c would have stayed at the 7.1 it had been previously.... maybe even lower.
But I was wrong. Last week I received my results and my A1c was 7.4
I wasn't thrilled - And I was actually sort of shocked.... but not really. But I was pretty damn annoyed and posted about it on The Facebook.
And I received incredible words of encoragement from the DOC. YOU ROCK!
It could have been worse, and in the grand scheme of life, and life with diabetes, it's not a big deal. Shit happens and I did my best during a an incredibly difficult period of my life. And I'm proud of that 7.4 now, because it could always be worse - And I know that for a fact.
I see my Endo on October 26th (I can't believe I only had to wait 33 days - Thank God for cancellations) and I have a feeling that he's going to understand all the hows and the whys. He always does. Dr J understands that life throws us curveballs, stress does strange things to our numbers and that those of us living with diabetes are more than just our numbers.
We are people who deal with life, while we deal with our diabetes 24X7,365 days a year, with no time off for good behavior.... Or the sudden illness and death of a loved one.