eljay revival
Hey, so I heard via some new social network that Livejournal has cleaned up some of its interface and made things work better, so I thought I'd come test it out. If I actually start writing here again I'll have to clear out some of my own cobwebs--hello icon from 2006!
The diary tradition is to write about how so very long it's been since last I wrote, and then stall out because there's nothing particularly interesting top of mind. Let's see how far I get. If you follow me on Twitter or FB you know most of my quick hits--knitting is still awesome, infertility is still terrible, San Francisco is still delightful and expensive, and I still miss San Diego. We have a little dog called Rusty, maybe I should try putting a picture of him here:
I could be more specific about infertility related things, I suppose. From January until a few weeks ago, the next round of IVF had been on hold because we couldn't get my thyroid stimulating hormone measurements within euthyroid range. I switched dosages back and forth and back and forth--a new dosage takes a month to show properly, so they'd switch me from say 225mcg to 200mcg, I'd have to wait four weeks, then get my TSH tested again. Then I'd have to go back down to 175, wait another four weeks, find that wasn't right either, and go to 200. Finally we ended up settling on the goddamn dosage they'd prescribed in January, because my TSH measurements were *magically* in range in early August. And then they put me on birth control to regulate my cycle in preparation for the embryo transfer[0] which made my TSH go nuts again. So I'm now on a standing order for thyroid checks and getting weird instructions like "take three double doses this week then switch back to the regular dose the rest of the week". But I'm also on a calendar for IVF again, huzzah.
Also during this time of thyroid bullshit I discovered that FOR MONTHS I'd been using skin for my insulin pump infusion sites[1] that had become scar tissue from overuse. My blood sugars had been surprisingly erratic and I couldn't figure out why--I was switching sides and occasionally moving to my abdomen, but I couldn't get them where I wanted them. Finally I decided I would just switch to my abdomen only for a few weeks to see what happened, and boom. My basal insulin needs went down TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT within a week. (Lots of lows there. I still hate Smarties.) I would also like to note that despite what I could see were shitty blood sugars, my A1C was still 7, which is in the acceptable range for type 1s, though certainly higher than I would have liked. Now that my blood sugars are much more consistent, I feel physically and existentially better. The existential contentment is particularly nice. I really did feel like I was losing my mind for a while there.
Ok, stopping abruptly, it's time to go cook some vegetables. See you on Ello or whatever!
[0] We had four embryos frozen from last year's IVF, so I don't have to do the hardest part--generating lots of extra eggs via tons of drug stimulation--again for a while.
[1] Where I stick the needle with the little plastic cannula every three days so my pump can give me continuous insulin.
The diary tradition is to write about how so very long it's been since last I wrote, and then stall out because there's nothing particularly interesting top of mind. Let's see how far I get. If you follow me on Twitter or FB you know most of my quick hits--knitting is still awesome, infertility is still terrible, San Francisco is still delightful and expensive, and I still miss San Diego. We have a little dog called Rusty, maybe I should try putting a picture of him here:
I could be more specific about infertility related things, I suppose. From January until a few weeks ago, the next round of IVF had been on hold because we couldn't get my thyroid stimulating hormone measurements within euthyroid range. I switched dosages back and forth and back and forth--a new dosage takes a month to show properly, so they'd switch me from say 225mcg to 200mcg, I'd have to wait four weeks, then get my TSH tested again. Then I'd have to go back down to 175, wait another four weeks, find that wasn't right either, and go to 200. Finally we ended up settling on the goddamn dosage they'd prescribed in January, because my TSH measurements were *magically* in range in early August. And then they put me on birth control to regulate my cycle in preparation for the embryo transfer[0] which made my TSH go nuts again. So I'm now on a standing order for thyroid checks and getting weird instructions like "take three double doses this week then switch back to the regular dose the rest of the week". But I'm also on a calendar for IVF again, huzzah.
Also during this time of thyroid bullshit I discovered that FOR MONTHS I'd been using skin for my insulin pump infusion sites[1] that had become scar tissue from overuse. My blood sugars had been surprisingly erratic and I couldn't figure out why--I was switching sides and occasionally moving to my abdomen, but I couldn't get them where I wanted them. Finally I decided I would just switch to my abdomen only for a few weeks to see what happened, and boom. My basal insulin needs went down TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT within a week. (Lots of lows there. I still hate Smarties.) I would also like to note that despite what I could see were shitty blood sugars, my A1C was still 7, which is in the acceptable range for type 1s, though certainly higher than I would have liked. Now that my blood sugars are much more consistent, I feel physically and existentially better. The existential contentment is particularly nice. I really did feel like I was losing my mind for a while there.
Ok, stopping abruptly, it's time to go cook some vegetables. See you on Ello or whatever!
[0] We had four embryos frozen from last year's IVF, so I don't have to do the hardest part--generating lots of extra eggs via tons of drug stimulation--again for a while.
[1] Where I stick the needle with the little plastic cannula every three days so my pump can give me continuous insulin.