It's been a busy couple of weeks. So busy I didn't realize how long it'd been since I last posted. So, I thought I'd provide a brief update for the moment and I'll add more soon.

I thought I was going to have my REAL Time sensor training starting Wed, but that was changed to this Monday. As soon as I have some feed back to give, I'll be posting on that. One thing I have done recently in preparation for our trip to Italy is wear my Minimed 507C to see if it is in good working order. I didn't use it when my pump malfunctioned partly because it was tucked away and I wasn't thinking of it at 12am. But, now I know that it works just fine in the event that I need to use it in Italy. It did amaze me at how much improved the menus and buttons are with the more recent pumps. It took me a minute to remember how to program my basals in fast enough since the 507C goes back to the main screen after an 8 second pause. I have my basals at 3 hr intervals so it took some time to program it.

Recently I've exprienced a couple downright tiring lows. The kind where I go into my autopilot "eat the fridge" (That 'I need food now and will eat until upper brain function starts reminding me to slow down' feeling I get with a moderate low). The kind where I know I'm coming back up when my thoughts start making sense again, and, while I feel a little better, have the tendancy to send me into a rebound that keeps me feeling more lethargic than the low. I lowered a couple basals by a bit, which seemed to help. I will definitely be adjusting my basals to where I think I'll want them in Italy while I have the sensor- so I can see what basals might keep me in a nice, safe blood sugar range. And, of course, it's a good excuse to go to the Chinese buffet to tweak my almost perfected dual bolus technique for Chinese food. Currently, I do my best guestimating my carb intake, use my bolus wizard to correct if needed and give myself 70% of the bolus now and 30% over an hour. That usually has me down to 180 or so 2 hrs later, which is a big improvement from the days of injections.
I've also been trying to learn a little Italian, though I've heard that most Italians know enough English for me to get by with "Grazie" (thanks). One factor that is helpful is that some words like "insulin" (l'insulina) and "syringe" (la siringa) are very similar to the English. Then there are the word like "gatta" for cat that are very different. Only 20 days to take off and I can't wait!