2nd ever endocrinologist visit!!!

I am so excited because today was the 2nd time we had a check-up with our endocrinologist, and we had really great news. Here is a recap:

• Ashlyn's A1C level was 7.7 today!!!!! That's down from 10.2 at her visit in March, which was down from 12.8 at diagnosis. The A1C level is a very important blood test which measures the amount of sugar in her blood system over the last 3 months. Normal ranges are around 6%, and our target range for good sugar control is anywhere from 7-8%. You can read more about the A1C here, and learn why it's such an important number to the diabetic.

• We've been wanting to transition over to using ratios in determining how much insulin Ashlyn receives at her meals, but we still had so many questions about this process. We still have a set amount of carbs per meal and a set amount of insulin to give to cover those carbs. With ratios Ashlyn can have a tiny bit more freedom in that she can decide how much she wants to eat (with moderation of course), and because we know how to figure out the amount of insulin she would need to cover that ourselves, we can adjust the amount we give her without counseling from our Diabetic Educator. That way if we eat out, or go to a party, we don't have to limit how much she can have because we know how it's figured ourselves and can adjust higher or lower doses if necessary. It's confusing....I KNOW!! So we're going to start experimenting with that in the next day or so.
  

• We also received some education on using the insulin pen today, and after our prescriptions go through for all that, we're good to go!! I'm excited about the pen because it seems a little less cumbersome than having to tote along syringes AND vials of insulin, when it all comes together in one easy package!! We feel like we're advancing somewhat.
  

• I was surprised to learn that Ashlyn has LOST 8 pounds since her visit in March. We're going to watch that, but chalk it up to her being so sick and unable to eat 2 weeks ago, and then being at church camp all last week where she was running around and swimming a lot.

Overall, the visit was really encouraging and we came away excited and feeling like we're doing a pretty good job keeping her on track and learning to manage everything okay.