This is fantastic and honestly, reading it was like a meditation for me. I literally relaxed as I also acknowledged my feet, legs, up my body, as you wrote. So cool that you meditate as you swim. It sounds like a very successful day. Hoping you have a great night of sleep! xo
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Thatās probably something that I should try. Maybe you can teach me some of it. When I am hurting while running, I mostly tap into the rage part of my brain.
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I totally relate to that as well. The rage is easy to accessā¦well, at least it is for me. Anger can b very productive in certain situations.
But once learning how to meditate, it starts to become where my mind goes, just to slow down my thinking and my breathing and I can just melt. Someone once told me that praying is talking to God, but meditation is LISTENING. I always liked that, so thats what i try and think about while iām trying not to think 
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The meditative state is easy for me when I am on a bike ride. A part of my brain is aware of my surroundings, but the constant motion of my legs seems to free my mind to relax. Often unresolved problems just fall behind on the road. They are either resolved or just disappeared.
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I can figure out a lot of things and solve a lot of problems on easy runs. I have great clarity during that time.
But when itās a difficult and very challenging run, that part of my brain does not work. I canāt think at all.
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Eric, I am not thinking about those unresolved problems when riding. Iām not thinking much of anything, being in the zone.
I think the uncoupling from the problems puts them in a better light when facing them again.
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ANOTHER EXTENDED SWIM; EXPERIMENT #1:
There must have been something wrong with my pump this morning, or perhaps i can blame this on the ginormous meal i shoveled into my mouth last night. Before i was getting prepped to swim, i noticed my sugars risingā¦and rising and rising. By the time i was about ready to leave for the pool, (and i still had .1 unit IOB ) my sugars were 155.( I changed out my pump )
At the gym I changed into my swimsuit and made a B-line to the pool downstairs and jumped right in. I took no Gtabs at all. I swam for 45 minutes, breaking it up into 15 minute intervals in my head, so the swim didnt seem very long at all. I didnt stop and i never got out of the pool to test my sugars. I just kept going and trusted the Zero Basal to keep me afloat. By the end of my swim, my BGs had come down to 106. I bolused .5 u/h ( .3 for the preventative cortisol spike and .2 for the time on zero basal during which i was swimming)
when i got home, my sugars had climbed slightly to 121 so i added another .1 u/h. Dont know if that was necessary, but weāll surely find out as the day passes.
This swim was very comfortable and went by so quickly . I dont feel sore, just truly relaxed and on the āswimmers high.ā My goal for my next swim will be to go for 1 hour. I will have to come up with a plan with Eric for that. I havent swam for a full hour since the Pandemic when the pool closed. And before my spinal surgery i was swimming for two hours 4 days a week. I would have considered the current length of todays swim as just a warm-up. Now its the best i can push myself to do. I am still in a lot of pain, though, but i push through it as best as i can. When i got out of the pool today, I took a muscle relaxer to relieve the muscle spasms in my back. (Im supposed to b taking them 4/day, but i only take them as needed. They generally put me into a comatic sleep, so iād rather steer clear of them.)
I will certainly keep you all posted. I cant believe the road i have travelled since CoVidās Pandemic and my surgeries. Iām just working as hard as i can to get my life bk to its healthiest self. 
Signing out,
DM
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WATCH OUT FOR THAT ZERO BASAL; EXPERIMENT #1:
So today i was prepping for my swim, and my sugars were only 104 once i had zero IOB. So thoughtfully, i turned off my basal for 15 minutes before leaving the house for the pool. I figured i would be doing a longer swim today, so being on that Zero Basal (ZB) would allow me to start swimming at a lower BG and finish nicely.
Well, when i left the house and walked to the pool, my sugars zipped up to 124!! I was shocked. I truly didnt expect to have risen so much in such a short period of time. But what the heck; it was a new experiment, so i was merely gathering information. I took 1.5 Gtabs and jumped in for my swim.
I swam for 45 minutes (only my second time doing this āextendedā swim). I swam slowly at first and built up (after 10 - 15 minutes) to a more powerful kick. It was wonderful.
At the end of my swim, my BG was 98. I was very pleased. Especially pleased bc i tested my āformulaā of needing to b in the 155 range in order to come down between 65 and 105ish after my swim.
Next Friday, I will try for 1 hour. All on a learning curve. I wasnt able to swim this past Tuesday or next Tuesday bc of some surgery, but i cant wait for next Friday to play Chemist with my D body in the pool.
i hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and btw, did anyone notice the earthquake this morning? It was a whopper .
siging out,
DM
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Great D body chemistry experiment, DM! I always learn from your thoughful posts!! You did indeed have a great swim, too!
Yes, I was felt it! My house rattled and rumbled, and hounds ran to me barking whatās up!? I had no idea! I thought that a tree must have fallen, as several trees have due to the high winds.the previous day. Nope, it was the earthquake!
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The East Coast isnāt really used to or built for earthquakes from what I understand so I am really glad you are all ok!
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(I suppose I should give a little context: I have a lengthy history of earthquake experience, and areas that donāt get very many are oftentimes vulnerable to disaster when surprises hit so I was genuinely relieved to hear people were largely ok from this temblor! Iāve lived on the Ring of Fire my whole life and am something of an earthquake pro just by circumstance, including participating in disaster response efforts in the aftermath. I kicked off with Loma Prieta in California in the 80s - I was 3 and I still remember it. My mom and I and our neighbor mom and her kids were walking our dogs, the street asphalt rippled like water and a lady came rushing screaming into the street only half-wrapped in a towel. She had been in the shower when it hit and I still have a visual of this poor woman from my 3yo perspective, a good 34 years later! Our power went out and our street all pooled resources- a chicken that had been in a CrockPot, peopleās soda stashes or chips, a battery-operated TV, some radios for newsā¦ we turned it into an earthquake block party!
Iāve been through a number of other āmajorā quakes - a handful in the 6-8 range over the years, including several 7s in Southeast Asia that didnāt get name recognition - but my biggest one was the 2011 Tohoku quake. I was living there teaching English in that region of Japan when that one hit, followed by the tsunami and nuke meltdown. The Richter scale is logarithmic not linear, so worth remembering that when you see magnitudes reported! Loma Prieta was a 6.9 and Tohoku was a 9.1. Tohoku was the fourth-largest earthquake ever recorded. Both struck in regions that were well-prepared and they still did major damage, so I was prepared for bad news off the East Coast! Thank goodness everyone seems mostly ok just shook up some. Mother Nature is scary when sheās mad! 
)
To tie this back to swimming, in Loma Prieta everyone who was in the pool at our local YMCA literally got washed up on deck during the quake! Our across the street neighbor and her whole water aerobics class ended up next to the bleachers. Only minor injuries though thankfully!
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FIRST 1 FULL HOUR SWIM; EXPERIMENT #1:
I have been having terrible trouble with my BGs this entire week. I try tweaking, i try TBs, but i just cant get anything āright.ā All of yeaterday i was on 90% TB and popping Gtabs just to stay above 70. Then in the evening, I only needed 85%. But then during the night, my sugars were hoovering around 110 which i did corrections for. When i woke up my BG was 135 and rising. I kept pumping that insulin into me like there was no tomorrow. I was, now, on 100% basal. Nothing seemed to work. My sugars wouldnt come down and i was just hungry for bfast. Finally after waiting an hour after bolusing, my sugars had come down to 165. I had to eat, so i made it a light bfast of a small Skyr āyogurtā with a cup of 2% Milk. However, when i was getting ready to leave for the pool, my BG was 200 and i still had .1 u/h IOB. I figured "so what, maybe that will bring my sugars down a little bit " So i left the house and speed walked to the pool.
When i got to the locker room, my sugars were 180. (holy moly ). I changed into my swimsuit and jumped right in. I really pushed myself today. I was surprised bc i had had a terrible nights sleep, waking up every hour or two testing my sugars (i was on day 1 of my Dexcom so i wasnt about to trust the numbers quite yet as it usually takes me about 24 hours before it syncs). I was feeling so utterly defeated. I wanted to crawl back into bed and jut skip the swim altogether. But i put the high BG to good use.
I swam for the first 45 minutes, quickly got out of the pool and tested my sugars . they were 125, so i jumped back into the pool and finished the hour. OMG. when i finished my sugars were 88!! I feel so accomplished and proud of myself. I am sore as all hell, but i am high as a kite. My husband thinks iām ridiculous but heās really proud of me too. This is my first full hour swim since before they closed the pool during the pandemic. Honestly, i wasnt certain i could do the full hour, but i was very surprised and thrilled.
Iāll be back in the pool on Tuesday, and i am looking forward to doing it all over again. (hopefully not with such high BGs)
Like I said last week, when God gives you lemons, make lemonade
signing out,
DM
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Sometimes with diabetes we wake up in a new day to keep us on our toes.
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GRATITUDE AND THANK YOU ALL; EXPERIEMENT #1:
I know that iāve thanked you all who have made this part of my journey possible, but i need to thank you again!!! I swam for another full hour today and its all bc of your barely believable generosity helping me get bk into the pool and begin my newly restored passion for swimming.
I am sore as all hell, but i pushed myself as hard as i could. I am disappointed with my BGs but it was a new experiment so iām not going to start blaming myself, but instead live in the joy of my swim and feel proud that i accomplished my latest goal.
I have been having terrible difficulty with my basal rates.all week long. One day i need more basal, but the next day i need less. It doesnt seem to b related to anything i am doing, and there is no consistant pattern. It just is what it is. All day yesterday (and from overnight and early morning) I never went above a BG of 92. I hoovered between 80 and 90 all day long. i was eating the same things, exercising the same amount, resting the same amountā¦and i was on 90% TB the entire time. My overnight (last night and this morning were excellent as well; but, after Bfast, my sugars started climbing and climbing.) Couldnt make heads or tails of it.By the time i got to the pool my BG had risen to 151 !!! OMG, right??? 
I took 1 Gtab to cover my hourās swim, and tried not to judge myself. After my swim my BG was 110. It was a wonderful swim. I was filled with joy. And all i kept thinking was how lucky i am to b part of FUD and to b connected with some of the most generous people in the world. knowing you guys got my back and want to see me succeed pushes me to get out there and do what i do.
I saw my Endo today, and he suggested that with the morning spikes (which happen consistantly-although not every morning- after my Bfast) i should try and do a longer pre-bolus. Does anyone else find this to work for them? Do any of you have this issue in the mornings? Iāve already changed my ICR for my Bfast. and this morning i had only 18gms carbs ( 1 0% fat Skry āyogurtā and a cup of 2% Lactaid milk.)( high in protein, too.)
There are just so many variables with this disease. Try one thing and it works out flawlessly; try it a second time and its a whole other story. Oy Vay.
well, iāll b bk in the pool on Friday, and iāll get to try it all over again. Weāll c what happens. I think that surprises r coming my way.
signing out,
DM
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Yeah!
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That will definitely help some.
But if you are not taking enough insulin, it wonāt make the problem go away completely.
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Back in the hospital;experiment #1:
Unfortunately after my swim on Tuesday, in the evening I began getting larengitus. I brushed it off as nothing, but by the night my husband took my temperature and it was 104ish. We did a CoVid test which came bk negative. I tried to fall bk to sleep without much luck. I took some Tylenol which helped and my temperature went down to 102. I drank a cup of T and it helped my coughing fit and sore throat. Finally on Wednesday we did one more CoVid test and called an ambulance. They brought me to NYU Langone (which is one of the best in nyc)
I was X-rayed and had endless blood draws. I was dx with sepsis, pneumonia and the flu. We waited in the ER until a bed opened up. They brought me to an infectious disease floor. I lucked out and got a private room! So much for my Friday swim 
Anyway, thatās where I am . Very disappointed. Canāt wait to get back in to the pool again ASAP!
signing out,
DM
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So sorry, Daisymae, for you to be goi g through this. I hope you are feeling better. We all have you in our thoughts and prayers. 
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Sorry to hear your going through this. Hang in there. Youāll be back on the pool soon.
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