I did it. I graduated with a first class honours degree in Dance Practices. I am so pleased about it that I thought I would write a blog post about the whole day… It was an early start so I had a small breakfast (which I under bolused for because I knew I would be walking a fair bit to get my tickets and gown etc). After picking up tickets and saying hello to people, I went for a coffee where I checked my levels and took some insulin. However, I forgot to lower the dose “just in case” and during the ceremony I felt a bit low so I had to eat a Dextrose tablet which I was carrying in my hand bag. Dextrose tablets are small and do the job of sorting out a hypo. I have had the same pack for a year.
After the ceremony had finished I went to meet my family for some photos and to throw my cap in the air with my friends from uni. It was really exciting because I had totally forgotten that this was part of the graduation process. The atmosphere was amazing, so much ambition, achievement and relief. Fantastic!
Next stop, I was being driven home for a quick freshen up before I was going to find out the big surprise. I actually had no clue what it was .I opened my front door, walked in my kitchen and there was my friends and family with balloons, food, banners, champagne, wine, cake, presents and big smiles. I almost cried but I felt a bit shy so I didn’t. There were “number 1” signs everywhere. I felt very special and I am so grateful for it.
So here is the diabetes part. You know what I mean… the food, the champagne and the unpredictability of how much movement I will be doing. i. e. dancing, standing up or sitting down.
The Food
Lucky for me, I have a very understanding group of people who know that I have to count my carbs to take my insulin. With this in mind they saved the packets of some of the food that was in the buffet. This includes things like samosas, crisp, cake and dips. My friend made me some cupcakes and he created a recipe in My Fitness Pal and took a screenshot of carbs per cake. There was 35 carbs in those particular cupcakes in case you’re interested? Also, my mum bought me a custom made graduation cake and she got the full recipe from the cake maker so I could work it out. All of the cool vegetarian people brought amazing salads and hummus too so it was a feast. I didn’t stop to check my levels before I ate, I just tucked in. Who wouldn’t?
The champagne, Wine and Cocktails
Alcohol is a tricky one for me. When I was diagnosed I was told that I should only bolus for half of the amount of carbs per glass of alcohol. So, for example… if there are 6 carbs per glass of champagne I would only bolus for 3 carbs. However, through past experience I have found that this approach does not work for me. I have to bolus the full amount on every drink. Well, depending on the drink. There are many factors and I don’t drink alcohol often enough to be able to give you a proper run down. Just know that experimenting is good and you will learn a lot by having more parties.
I had dinner at Matou in the evening and there was cocktails and wine involved. I chose Bellini and Rossini which are fairly low carb because they are champagne based drinks with little added fruits. Most of the others would’ve been filled with all sorts of other ingredients in which I would have no idea how to bolus for them and I didn’t fancy being high because of a drink.
Do I reduce the bolus or not?
Aside from the time before the party, I didn’t reduce the bolus all day because I wasn’t concerned too much about going low. There was food everywhere so I could always just eat something. Even during the evening meal, which was stir fried asparagus and tofu, I kept the carb / insulin ratio the same.
It was a fantastic day and I would be lying if I said I was able to keep my blood sugar in single figures the whole day; although I did try. I remember looking at my total daily dose and seeing that it was double the amount that I would usually take on a high carb day. I ate a lot. It was nice to eat for the day without being as strict or as restrictive with the carb amount. Plus, I had a fully fuelled and energetic workout the next day because of all of the extra carbs. Sometimes your body loves a good feed. Sometimes.
How do you get on with parties and managing your BG levels? You can talk to me in the comments below or on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Rowena x