There's no crying in spin class, except when there is.

Today marks Hannah's third time spinning with me.  Because of our summer schedule, I am not getting as much outdoor ride time as I probably should so I am subbing in some spin classes.  The first time, my plan was for the kids to sit and read  while I rode.  There was another girl spinning so Hannah decided she wanted to try it.  In flip flops.

She was amazing!  I thought she might give up after 15 min or so, but she tackled the whole class- theme mountains of the world for the record!  So the following week, she was ready on Tuesday morning with her tennis shoes and water bottle.

This morning, we once again headed off to spin class.  She was low last night and woke up lowish.  Had more carbs for breakfast than usual, but no protein. (Hindsight and all that)  On the way to class, her blood sugar was already dropping from her breakfast peak.  180 double down arrows on her CGM.  A meter check confirmed 138.  She suspended her basal for an hour and ate two pb crackers with no insulin.  About 20 min into class, she was still trending down and ate two more crackers.  About 15 minutes later, she said she felt low and wanted smarties.  Would she get off her bike?  LOL no!  So I grabbed her smarties and gave them to her, feeling like her pit crew.

And that's when I had to "wipe the sweat from my face"  for longer than normal.  Spin class is hard, hard for me, someone who has a functioning pancreas.  Throw in balancing your blood sugar? Unreal. I am just so, so proud of this girl who does all this with a smile on her face. 

This is why I can't stop pedaling. She has shown me time and time again that she IS.NOT.STOPPING. So what if my spin towel is a little more damp than usual. 

Cheating winter, just a little

It warmed up to a balmy 50 degrees yesterday so Hannah and I headed out for a ride. We headed to Cedarville where the trail is less shaded so the snow was virtually nonexistent. 

Not a long ride, but it was nice to get out. 

Groundhog Day:D Style

A few weeks ago, I got my lunchtime call from school and hear, "Ditto."  Hannah's school nurse and I shared a good laugh over the fact that not only did I pack the exact same amount of lunch carbs for her, her pre-lunch blood sugar was exactly the same as the day before.  In diabetes, nothing stays the same for very long.  Blink and what worked yesterday doesn't work today. So this rare repeat day was fun. 

Today after spinning, one of the semi-regulars came up to talk to me.  He complimented me on the fact that I was there every time he is and that I was making progress.  It caught me a little off guard; this was the same guy that was there my very first class when I thought I was going to pass out.  It made me realize I've made a decent amount of progress in the last two months.  Even with missing several classes due to the holidays and all our crazy weather lately; I'm not the same spinner I was two months ago.  You do the same thing week after week and don't notice the changes until someone brings it to your attention. 

Riding on Faith

I closed my eyes and hit register. It's official- I'm riding in La Crosse this year!!!!

It's scary; I haven't figured out how I'm going to get in all my training hours with a traveling husband and two kids in tow. I haven't figured out if I can actually raise my required minimum. But, I've got a little bit'a faith in myself and a whole lot of faith that God has a plan for this. I'll be relying on his grace and mercy as I tackle the next seven months. Eek!!!! 

Giggle therapy

We've had a run of frustration in our d-world lately. Hannah had her quarterly Endo appointment two weeks before Christmas. Her doctor made some tweaks to her insulin doses as she had started running higher. Since then, and compounded by all the holiday carb guesstimating, we've had some ugly numbers. We were working through it but the straw that broke this camel's back was our sensor change December 30th.  The first attempt for some reason did not stick and the whole sensor remained stuck in the inserter. It looked ok so I pushed it back into to loaded position and tried again. This time it stuck to her but would not link to the transmitter. Tears and frustration as we prepared for a third poke with a needle that was getting larger by the second!!!!  Thankfully the third try was a success and we were up and running. Most days we can brush this stuff off; d-care is our normal, but that day it was just too much for me. Hannah was in tears and I was too. 

Isaac had a birthday party that night so we girls headed out for some retail therapy. Hannah had a gift card to Claire's and we spent an hour? Three? In that store while she browsed the christmas clearance rack and everything else in the store. We finished the evening with supper at Wendy's. It was a great evening with my girl and we shared lots of giggles. I was reminded again of how resilient she is; I am. We may get knocked down, but we don't stay down. And laughter really is the best medicine sometimes.

Faith

This verse has been rolling through my mind this week.  When I look back before Hannah's diagnosis, my faith was there, but it was small and untested.  Since then, we have had to rely so much more on God's graces and mercies, God truly is taking our small faith and doing big things with it!

Aside from the overall way God is working on our faith, He is also applying this verse to my decision to ride or not ride with Jason next summer in the Ride to Cure.    With my little bit of knowledge of cycling and my little bit of faith that I CAN do this, God is teaching me that I've got to start somewhere.  You can't move the mountain the first day or even the first year.  He can take my small seed of faith and turn it into something great. 

Going to tuck this verse in my heart and keep it close.  

Spinning

Winter is here.  Our gorgeous fall came to an abrupt end on Sunday with crashing temperatures and four inches of snow.  I'm pretty sure bike rides are going to be few and far between until spring. 

 

So I drug my feet to the Y today for my first ever spin class today.  The good news is that I didn't die! :)  Actually, I think I did pretty well.  At least until the standing climb near the end of class that had me stopping and sitting on a chair in the corner to catch my breath and recover from my lightheadedness.  But I got back on (just in time for the cool down!) and I'll be back.  After class, the instructor told me I did great and then my next door spin neighboor told me that it helps to eat something before class; to help keep your blood sugar stable.  I laughed to myself- hello Melissa? Do you know nothing about blood sugar and exercise????  

Anyway, it was hard, but I felt invigorated afterwards.  That is one thing diabetes has taught me, that by doing one hard, challenging thing, other hard things start to look doable.  Giving your child a shot when she is crying, "no mommy, I don't want a shot"  makes volunteering or speaking up for accommodations at school less intimidating.  I'm learning I'm stronger than I think I am.