Thanks to Morgan Patton

Howdy from my new House in Atl...

Yee-ha, finally a homeowner. Could this be a stressful situation, to which someone would want to pull their hair out??? I think anytime you move the answer is probably a resounding yes. However, not for me... Why? Because I had the professional help of my new assistant, Morgan Patton. She helped to pack everything, unpack and organize everything, pick out furniture, and call the cable company... I am very, very excited to have her on board to help keep me in line.

So this may be the first you have heard of Morgan, but it will not be the last. She was diagnosed at age of 6, lead a great young life, rocked the horse jumping seen for a few years (youngest competitor at most events,) and then in May of 06, by some freak twist of fate, our parents met at a pub in Tallahassee. My mom was talking away about what I was about to do in RAAM, and Morgan's mom, Debbie said that it may help her daughter to crew. My mom made me do it, and I am so grateful that we got her on. Video of Morgan
At that time Morgan's A1C was 16.7, and she didn't care about diabetes. But then she saw the team, and everyone checking their blood sugar, doing shots, exercising, and being pro-active about good control...
And began to do the same things. 8 months later she began to race, and win. a full year later just by checking, correcting, eating better, and RIDING her bike, her A1C had dropped to 9.3.
She crewed again, doing a remarkable job, and at that point switched over to Apidra (what the team was using) as well as FreeStyle Lite, and Omni-Pod. And began riding more and more, wanting to be a bad arse on the bike, and knowing that she was going to need good control to do it.
Another year goes buy, she gets better, gets stronger, suffers being hit by a car, and 2 broken collar bones... Then in May she gets her A1C, approximately 2 years after our mom's met in the pub, and it is 6.3!!! Then what: Then Morgan goes on (with the solid help of teammate Monique) to get 2nd place, and 5th place in 2 of the biggest women's professional crits in the country.
"The Power of Good Control"

Next year, she is going to embark on her first year as a professional for Team Type 1, while also being a full time student (via the internet) at FSU, and working for me. Pretty impressive, and then take into account that she is 19 years old. I would say in her case, as it was for me, diabetes made us better. It is the control that gives that power.

So please be on the look out for this rock star, and ask about her story. It is one of the most impressive that I know.
Thanks for reading.
Have a great day.

Phil
www.teamtype1.org

Diabetes game: winning more

Howdy from Hotlanta,

So riding has been getting good... It is amazing how much better my legs feel when not traveling all the time. Early last week, I was getting some decent rides in, but not much intensity, and having a cool basal rate of 15 units of Lantus. On Tuesday I got 4 hrs in and went hard... 14 units, with a morning blood sugar post in the 70's. Then easy ride, and on Thursday a am ride, and a pm hard ride. Down to 13 units. Friday went easy, in prep of Saturday's torcher fest...
For one, I had too much basal on board, as I woke up Sat am, at 70 carbs with no Apidra, and only went up to 135 before starting a 125 mile ride. For the first 2 hours of the ride, I was eating DEX4 like it was going out of style, and any kind of food I had my hands on. Still the FreeStyle Navigator leveled off at 65, and after the first stop, and a liter of Mt Dew, I was able to get BS up to 85. Felt really good on the ride, other than feeling really bad which is the expected result of a 6.5 hour ride.

How about some #'s??? So last I wrote, my goal was to get rid of some of the below target #'s.
Last A1C: 5.1
How about some statistics:
28 Day Average: 106
Above target: 6% of time
Within Target: 90%
Below target: 4% (new record for me)

So, I am getting better at keeping #'s right where they need to be, without going low.
How??? Small adjustments. Thanks to metabolism boost from riding, and eating a healthy diet, have been doing less than 20 units of insulin/day.

In my experience:
Exercise DOES make insulin work better (diabetes or no diabetes.)

I ride so I can eat, and I ride to help with control.
I ride to I can get faster, and hopefully help the team at USPro Champs in Greenville this Sunday. First real race since April, but time to get the legs moving looking to 2009.

Have a great day, and please wish our guys luck in Ireland. Fabio (type 1 for 7 years now) will be the first type 1 to compete in a race of this caliber in Europe. Big deal, and he was looking good in UTah for prep.
Thanks for reading.

Phil
www.teamtype1.org