ANOTHER EXPERIMENT: BELIEVEING IN “THE FORCE”
today started out kind of crummy. months and months ago, i would have caved to my old ways and just called my plan quits. but today i chose not to do that. today i chose to work with the problem and not let it govern my plans and my goals.
at 11am ( this coordinates almost perfectly with empty pool time ) i began my swimming prep work: i turned off my pump and i gave myself a .5 unit of bolus (to prevent from spiking b/c i will have no IOB from bfast and b/c i will be on zero basal ) then it becomes a waiting game until that 0% basal sinks in. usually this is a waiting game that takes about 2.25 hours before i leave for the pool. i like my BGs up in the 130 range before i leave the house.( i generally swim for 2 hours, so this brings me to 4.5 hours completely insulin free.)
often this plan and course of action works for me. i can pretty much rely upon it. but, b/c i am a PWD, we all know how formulas and reliability can be 
so the idea i want to get across today is about being flexible. no matter how frustrating it feels, i’ve got to go with the flow. today was one of those “go-with-the-flow” days. i couldn’t get my BG up past 89 even after 2 hours of waiting. i will not go into the pool at that level. no matter what others say, no matter what eric says, i really need to be at around 130 to feel comfortable, safe, and worry-free before i dive into the pool and push my entire body through all that water for 2 hours without stopping except to test.
so, what did i do? i took 2 Gtabs after my second hour of waiting for my BG to come up. at first this seemed reasonable b/c i wasn’t achieving the higher BG level i wanted and i was finding everything very very frustrating. mistake # 1 . in hindsight, i should have taken only 1 tab and let the 0% basal kick in. but i was impatient and i took the 2 tabs instead. kind of like a child that wants everything immediately. 
all in all, i had to wait an additional 1/2 hour before leaving for the pool. i wish it had been easier, but it wasn’t, so accept it and move on, right? right. when i got to the pool, i tested again, and my BG had shot up to 164. ugh, but not so bad. i jumped in and swam my heart out.
now i will say that it was far from my best swim, but as high as my BGs were, it was relatively a perfect flatline. i swam for 90 minutes, replenished my missed basal rate (oh, i never know how much to give myself. i just take a random guess and let the pump do its work). on my walk home, i gave myself a 50% bolus for 32 gms of carbs which i would drink as soon as i walked into my front door.
here are today’s stats:
2pm bg 156
2:30 bg 164
3pm bg 168
3:30 bg 141
would have preferred a lower BG, but i am proud that i persevered. and i will remember next time not to take 2 Gtabs 
and once again: thank you to everybody who has supported me from day one, rooting me on and reading my posts. i hope that i can help another PWD (or their child) with anything i report. this is just my experience, all most all of it gleaned and learned from this wonderful community.
DM