The Kuckuck family (and friends) have a new adventure this Summer, and that is to keep Lucas Murphy, our visiting friend, entertained!
With that said, we took the opportunity this Tuesday to go hiking up in Jackson at Dauset Trails and High Falls. We headed out to High Falls first, packing all 6 of us into my truck (it was a tight fit). We blared Ke$ha and Mike Sparrow on the way, driving through back country roads that must have been hardly even a thought on the map. When we reached Dauset Trails, we were greeted by well-manicured lawns and beautiful forested acreage winding through tiny creeks, spacious ponds and colorful flower gardens. It was a beautiful sight! We found parking in the shade and walked over a covered bridge to the Guest Center, signed in, then went off to see the animals. I'd packed a few snacks just in case of a low for the trail - one of those cute little peach flavored Buddy Fruits that Kelle had gotten for me in Auburn (she'd raved about them and said I had to try one) and cereal. Except the cereal wasn't exactly a snack for a low, more of just a snack for enjoyment... I knew cereal was bad for my blood sugar, but they were Recees Puffs, and I'd always had a weakness for those! I munched on Recees Puffs as we walked past the animal cages, gazing at owls with big wide eyes, cougars, bears, racoons, bison and more. I gave some Recees Puffs to a couple of baby geese as a peace offering and got to pet them in exchange for the treat (much to the protests of the mother geese watching over them). I took this time to check my blood sugar under a shady picnic table, and frowned in dismay when I learned that my blood sugar was 403 - apparently, I'd been eating way more cereal then I'd thought. In rage I dialed in 6 units of Novolog (1 unit for ever 50 mg/dL I want to bring down). This turned out to be a mistake....
We walked around some more and then packed ourselves back into the car and drove onwards down little High Falls Road to High Falls. Once there, we all grabbed a water bottle and walked across the road to the trail head. I loved it here. Joshua and I had visited for Valentine's Day one year, and it had been one of my favorite dates. I've always had a fond spot for nature, and I loved the opportunity that living in Georgia gave me to hike through such beautiful landscapes. Rocky outcroppings, huge boulders and hiking trails shaded by thick canopies of green, all bordered by the rushing noise of the river right next to where we walked enveloped me in a serene state of mind. I felt as if I could go on walking forever.
We did walk for a long time. We climbed up rocks, took photos next to the waterfall (hence the name High Falls), and walked over wooden bridges. It felt like Summer camp 4 years ago, up in North Carolina where Joshua and I had met for the first time. This was bliss.
We stopped at a group of huge boulders, which everyone climbed up to take more photos. I planned on going up but stopped, noting my hummingbird heartbeat and clammy, shaking hands. I sighed and dropped to my knees, pulling my meter out of my bag, not panicking as I knew I still had my snack in my bag. I tested. 50.
Crap, I thought. I'd given myself too much insulin. "You should have asked me," Josh said. He was right - I should have. Josh doesn't have Diabetes but I sometimes asked him for advice on how much insulin I should give myself - his more logical side makes him a very good advice giver when it comes to what is and isn't a practical bolus. Sometimes I get so caught up in the numbers that I forgot to think, "Hey, I shouldn't give myself this much insulin because I'm about to go run a marathon." Hence where Joshua comes in. My ratio being 1u/50mgdL, I gave myself 6 units which would have been perfect under normal conditions. If I'd have asked Joshua, he could have stopped me and pointed out that we were
hiking up hills and what might has well been similar to mountains. I should have given myself 5, probably 4. I would have walked off the rest of the high. But I had been mad at the 400 and just wanted it to go down. Stupid. I sat on a rock, feeling poorly now, and ate my Buddy Fruit (thanks Kelle - you saved my life!) I rested for a bit before pressing on at full speed ahead, determined to show Diabetes that it didn't stop me or hold me back in anyway.
I could have (and wanted to) go further, but everyone else voted to turn around and Josh pointed out that if I got low it wouldn't be the most fun experience for him to have to carry me back. So we turned back and walked to the beginning of the trail head. I felt fine for most of the trip, but at the very end going up the wooden stairs I could hardly make it up. I flashbacked to all those years of gymnastics, where my muscles used to get so fatigued after constant conditioning that it felt as if I could hardly move them anymore. I felt like that now. It was hard to command my legs to move. We made it back to the car. The world was buzzing. I tested. 49. I was spinning. My breaths came out in shallow little gasps. My tongue felt heavy and thick and speaking was difficult. My heart raced, and I could hardly move my arms and legs. They felt like 200 lbs each. I sat in the car and we drove and stopped at a gas station. Joshua went in and got me snacks and an Italian Ice. I ate, but it took me a long time to feel better and work off the low. I was drenched in sweat, my back cold. We stopped for pizza in Barnesville on the way home, and finally made it back. My blood sugar was 310 now. I sighed. Could I ever win, or would my blood sugar always be a battle between one extreme or the other? It frustrated me. So much rested on my success or failure in managing my Diabetes - my future health wasn't something I wanted to play around with, but at times it seemed like Diabetes just liked to play around with me.
I hate the roller coaster that my blood sugar can be sometimes. It just plain sucks. I guess Diabetes had gotten the best of me this time. Next time, though, I'm determined to have the upper hand...
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