Today

Riley had an endo. appointment today. The closer we got to her office, the more apprehensive I got. You see, I had a goal set for today. That goal was to bring Riley's A1C down from 7.8 to 7.5.

I took a deep breath as we entered Dr. M's office. I kept telling myself not to get my hopes up. I was fairly certain that his A1C hadn't gone up, but had it gone down to what I wanted to see?

Just before entering her office, Michael and I made a little bet as to what his A1C would be. He guessed 7.4. I said 7.5.

We went into the room where he would be weighed and measured. That started out well. He had grown 2 cms since September and had gained 2 pounds. I was very pleased with that. At one point he was going backwards with his weight.

Then I pulled out his "clicker" to stick his finger. Riley asked to do it. So he pricked his finger and the technician let him fill the little tube with blood.

We were ushered back into the waiting room (which is right beside the room with the A1C machine in it.) The tech went somewhere else and the Dr. was in the room with a patient.

I heard the machine beep. I looked at Michael and said, "I'm going to go look." He just looked at me like "you can't do that".

"I can't wait any longer. I want to know now."

I got up and tiptoed over, so the tech wouldn't hear me enter the room. Just before I walked through the door I took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth.

I looked at the machine and saw..... TEST ERROR; consult operator's manual. No, no, no. It hadn't worked. I sat back down and waited some more.

A few minutes later the Dr. walked in and looked and saw the error herself. We had to repeat the test.

By this time, I was about to burst. I know A1Cs are just gauges to go by. But, this is what I had focused on the last 3 months. I had adjusted basals, carb ratios, and even sensitivity factors. I had learned to finally trust the pump. But, had it paid off?

While we were waiting, Dr. M went over Riley's sugars (which she was very pleased with, by the way). We discussed what to do next week when we take a 10 hour car ride. We are going to decrease his target glucose by 10% and increase his basals by 10%.

While all of this was going on, my mind was still on that little machine in the room next us, wondering what number was flashing on the screen.

Finally, she got up and went into the next room. Again, I took a deep breath.

"How does 7.2 sound to you?" , she said with a big grin on her face.

I started jumping up and down and clapping my hands. I just couldn't believe it, 7.2. Dr. Morris said that if some other kids Riley's age came back with an A1C like that she might be concerned. But, she thought it was a wonderful number for him. She said she knew we were testing often enough and "on top of things".

I told her I didn't need anything for Christmas now. Short of a cure, this was the best Christmas present I could get. And, I meant it too.

I couldn't stop grinning as we were leaving the offie. Christmas had come early and I'd gotten even better than what I expected.

We had a 3 hour drive home. And sometimes when it had been quiet for a while, I'd look at Michael and say, "Hey, Michael, 7.2!!!" And, sometimes he'd do the same to me.

The elation had worn off some after we got back home. But, now writing this, I've gotten excited all over again.........













Hey, reader, 7.2!!!!!!