Earning Early Season Ski Turns

Nov 14

So far, Ullr has been more than kind with early season snow. After two winters of warm temps and hit or miss storms, I’m hopeful this is the season to end the literal and figurative drought in SW Montana.

I met up with a friend at our local ski hill for my first skin- or uphill skiing- since surgery. It’s nice to have someone that is willing to go slowly with me, whether it’s mountain biking, running or now skiing. I don’t want to hold people up knowing my blood sugar or ostomy bag may act up and render the day finished earlier or just slower than normal. So having a partner that is patient and willing to laugh with you when your pump starts beeping is nice. This also goes for avalanche safety. My risk tolerance is very low, and being on the same page with your activity partner is critical.

This day was intended to serve as a warm up for the season and a test for my tandem pump. I’m still trying to find the right temp basal rates for different activity and have yet to really dial it in.

I’ve been experiencing mid-morning high blood sugar after battling early morning lows between 2-4 am. I’m using control IQ but also have adjusted my basal rates to try to accommodate my insulin requirements. The morning started out fine, then my blood sugar climbed to 260, then started dropping right before we clipped in to skin out of the parking lot. I knew my blood sugar would crash after a few steps on the uphill, so I ate several skratch chews and suspended my insulin. I ended up dropping into the low 60s about an hour into our two hour trip uphill, so I took my time and took frequent breaks. I completed one trip up and enjoy fantastic snow on the way down. I had hoped to make another lap, but knew it wasn’t safe with my blood sugar or my aching stomach muscles.

From an ostomy bag perspective, I had a normal breakfast at 7am and we started climbing at about 11 am. I had very little output during the activity, until I returned home around 2:30 my bag started to fill, again, and again. The consistency was fine but I find it interesting how my small intestine seems to wait until I’m finished with more strenuous activities to fire things up again. I’ll take it!

It was a lot of climbing for me, and my stomach was pretty sore, but it was wonderful to get out. I’m back to working on core strength and assume that will help my stomach and my ability to handle active days.

I’ll continue to adjust basal rates and hopefully iron out the mid-morning lows and will post updates as it gets worked out.