With Scientific Sessions behind me, I can now start to work off the days of sleep I’ve missed out on. Because the convention center was over 3 miles away from my hotel, I did not have the luxury of the cathartic walk to and from the day’s adventures. This meant I had to add the stress of rush hour traffic after the day was over to the stress of cab drivers with a wide range of behavior patterns. I did what I could but between exhaustion and stress, I had my work cut out for me each day.

I did my best to venture out into the city and its neighboring areas for sights and bites, most notably Butcher and the Burger, but it became more difficult to embrace my already lacking sense of adventure given the previously mentioned exhaustion and stress.

One other contributing factor to my immediate desire for rest and relaxation was my lack of blood glucose management. I tried to apply lessons learned from my previous convention center marathons at Sessions in San Diego and Philadelphia, but I think I was a little too proactive in my efforts.

The continuous movement (if you want to be so bold as to call it exercise, so be it) would mean that my insulin requirements would not match rates and ratios at home. However instead of waiting for the signs and symptoms of needing an adjustment, I tried preemptively adjusting my Lantus doses as soon as the week started. First I tried only taking my morning 15u injection. Then I tried only my evening 15u. What resulted were days with almost no Lantus in my system, or days with the same Lantus as home. Instead of waiting for clear signs that change was needed, I introduced too many changes, too early in the week, to properly react. The results were…messy.

Look at those scratches on my receiver. Pockets can do that?

Sure, there were moments when I knew what I was doing, but I made far too many assumptions based on previous experiences that resulted in far too many corrections. In theory I should know better. No two days of diabetes are alike. Even if I have an idea of what to expect, acting before there is something to react to was not the wisest course of action.

I think the lesson here is to prepare, if possible based on past experiences, but wait until there’s a definitive reason to make a change. Obviously I’m not a doctor, but I spent enough time around medical professionals for the week to call this solid fake medical advice. Be prepared for highs and lows. Be prepared to make changes to insulin requirements. But for the love of Odin, wait for those changes to be needed first. Otherwise you’ll end up drinking regular Coca-Cola as a means of correcting a fast-approaching low. And no one wants that.

Seriously, that stuff is gross.