The lowest A1c ever

Yesterday was Arden's quarterly endo appointment and it could not have gone any better! At her last appointment her A1c was in range but a bit higher then usual, though still at the high end of acceptable for her age. Arden's A1c is always very stable and in range but never as good as it could be. Our endo likes that it's steady, I am usually unhappy with the number and trying to make it lower.

I don't know about your endo's office but Arden's does her A1c test on site. Today, I was just too on edge to wait for the nurse to bring the news, so I snuck back into the lab just as the test was finishing...

10, 9 ,8, it counted down, 7, 6, 5, I actually said, "c'mon be lower", 3, 2, 1... Test complete. It wasn't just lower then last time, it was .7 lower! Almost a full point! I held in my excitement and made my way back to the exam room (where Arden was blowing up a sterile glove for our now traditional game of VolleyGlove). I told her how far her A1c had fallen, she smiled coyly and offered a high five or three. Then we volleyed that glove like it was our first time.

The NP came in a few minutes later and she began asking the standard questions but I just couldn't wait. I said, "did you see her A1c yet?", she replied, "no". I responded, "Well I have and it's amazing!".

She asked me what it was (I don't share Arden's exact A1c here) when I told her she began clicking furiously on Arden's file and found a list of past test results.

"I thought so" she said... "lowest EVER!", she congratulated Arden and then me. I found myself thinking that my smile must look ridiculous because my face felt like it was about to break. As soon as we got into the car I called Kelly to share the great news and we celebrated all over again.

It's ten hours later and I'm still as excited as I was in that exam room. Even when things are going well with diabetes it can still feel as if they aren't. Yesterday was a much needed and well deserved chance to celebrate and feel accomplished. I hope everyone gets a day like this very soon, it was reinvigorating.

I want a better A1C

In two months Arden will have diabetes for five years. Today, for the first time I’m finding myself very vested in seeing an A1C decrease at our visit. I think that I may take it very personally if we don’t. Ninety minutes from now we’ll enter the exam room for the (I’m guessing) twentieth time and I don’t think (with the exception of one time) I’ve ever felt this anxious before an appointment. I don’t like feeling like this.

I just really want this to go well...

EDIT

We’re back from the endo and since I don’t want to bury the lead... A1C was terrific!

Here’s a little background. For the past two years Arden’s A1C is always in range and it fluctuates only a tiny bit. At her last appointment it jumped almost a full point but three months later it was back to the lowest that it’s ever been!!!

I think I know why too but you’ll have to wait until I get a chance to write about it to find out. Thank you so much for all the well wishes here, on Twitter and FaceBook, you guys rock!

**

The following are archived comments from this post. You can post new comments below.

Anna

Good luck!

Monday, June 27, 2011 - 11:54 AM

MoD4acure

Good luck and I totally understand the taking it personally comment.  When you feel like you  have worked so hard to get a better A1c you want your hard work to show through!  Keep us posted on how it went.

Monday, June 27, 2011 - 12:52 PM

Stacey D.

Yay!  Isn't it such a sense of accomplishment to see a good number?  I'm glad it went well.  And I hope that you continue to see such good results :)

Monday, June 27, 2011 - 05:39 PM

StacyMitchL

Fabulous!  Kudos to you & Arden!

Monday, June 27, 2011 - 09:42 PM

Five Months Later - A1 Cya later

Just a quick update to let you all know that Arden’s A1c level has fallen from 8.5 to 8 since see started using an insulin pump!  An 8 indicates that Arden’s average BG is about 205 which is a bit high but still in range for her age group.  Hopefully as we begin to understand some of the pump’s more intricate functions we can bring her number down even more.  The OmniPod should definitely be credited with this successes.

More info about A1c - Hemoglobin A, a protein found inside red blood cells, carries oxygen throughout the body. When there is glucose in the bloodstream, it can actually stick (glycate) to the hemoglobin A protein. More glucose in the blood means that more glucose sticks to hemoglobin, and a higher percent of hemoglobin proteins become glycated.

Once glucose sticks to a hemoglobin protein, it typically remains for the lifespan of the hemoglobin A protein — as long as 120 days. Therefore, at any moment, the glucose attached to the hemoglobin A protein reflects the level of the blood sugar over the last two to three months.

The A1c test measures how much glucose is actually stuck to hemoglobin A, or more specifically, what percent of hemoglobin proteins are glycated. Thus, having a 7% A1c means that 7% of the hemoglobin proteins are glycated.