9.7%

I had my hospital appointment yesterday.
Just 6 weeks after my last appointment, in which my Hba1c was 12.5%, my Hba1c was tested again yesterday and it is now 9.7%!

 I can't even explain how great I felt when my consultant pointed to the little number on the sheet...I guess you know you've done great when you get a high five from your consultant. He was probably more eager to find out than me! This is the lowest my Hba1c has been in well over two years; I can't remember the last time I saw a Hba1c under 11% let alone under 10%. I am feeling extremely proud of myself. It's been a long time coming, but we all knew I'd get there soon enough.

"You've found your mojo again!"
-"What's a mojo?"
"You know! Your mojo" *does a little dance*
-"Oh! Like, motivation?!"
"Yeah. But you were always motivated weren't you? You just had to get past that mental block"

I am so grateful that I have the support system that I do. My parents are amazing, my family and friends are great and so is my consultant. He didn't give up on me, I didn't give up on type one and he never gave up trying to help me. Everyone believed in me this whole time and I suppose that's what makes it better. This massive drop in my Hba1c just proves to me even more that I can do this. For a long time I struggled to keep in control of my blood sugars; there was a time where I just felt so helpless with myself that I wanted to give up, I had no interest in dealing with my diabetes. I didn't want to. I didn't want to face the high blood sugars that I knew I would be greeted with every time I did a blood test, I didn't want to count the carbohydrate in my food...I just had no motivation; for reasons I am unsure of. I always said that if I knew the reason as to why I found myself in a 'diabetes burnout' for the last two years then I would have done something more about it, but I just couldn't get past my mental block.

I did it though, I absolutely did it.

And I cannot stress this enough to anyone who is struggling with type one: Do not give up.
Really really try not to give up because trust me, I know that it is never going to be easy but it is all so worth fighting for. It is all worth it in the end, it takes courage and strength but the outcome of all the hard work is worth it.

I know 9.7%  isn't that great.  It still means my average blood sugar is around 12 but you know what? It's a huge difference from 6 weeks ago when my average blood sugar was 17 and my Hba1c was 12.5% and for me it is pretty damn good. Also, this reading was still affected by the two months prior to my last Hba1c test because it has only been about a month and a half since I last had it measured...so I feel like if my Hba1c wasn't so affected by the last Hba1c result then I have every reason to believe that it would probably be lower than 9.7% which I feel even better about.

I'm really hoping that at my next appointment in June I will have got this Hba1c down more. I hope I will. I know I will. I have to stay on track, like I said...I know I can do this!

-Ellie