9.7%

A week after I was first diagnosed I did my 'baseline' HbA1c test, organised by my endo. Basically the HbA1c that you 'start' diabetes with. Designed for you to compare yourself to and then try to beat it and get better control. My endo let me know my result the day after. It was 9.7%.

2 days after I did this blood test, I get 3 missed calls from my GP surgery. They left a voice mail message, asking me to make an urgent appointment. Having just been diagnosed with T1 a little over a week ago, I was freaking out, thinking "What have they discovered this time?". So I rang back and made an appointment for the next day. All they would tell me over the phone was "The Dr. has flagged your blood results as requiring attention". Thanks guys, way to ease my worried heart.

So the next day I go into my GPs office, having a mini-heart attack over the possibilities of what could be wrong now. I vaguely remember some blood tests being done for other autoimmune disorders such as MS at the same time as they took my baseline HbA1C. So its safe to assume I was sufficiently freaked out.

I made myself comfortable (or as close to comfortable as I can get; in a seated position that would still allow me to spring up from seat at any moment should something truly horrible be said and I had urges to run away). Hands shaking. My Dr. had a serious face. He never has a serious face, I am more than convinced that he uses some sort of illegal prescription for happy-giving effects. Even when he told me I had diabetes he was walking joyfully around the room, and at one point stopped to weigh himself (he made a comment about how pleased with his own weight he was). Anyway, at this point he looks at my blood results, sighs, turns to face me and says: "These blood results are very concerning. You have very terribly controlled diabetes, your HbA1c is 9.7%!".

And that was all he had to say. I kind of gave him this 'Are you kidding me' look and replied "You diagnosed me last week. That was my baseline HbA1c."

He looked confused and opened up his previous consult notes to check on this. I walked out laughing and more than incredibly relieved.

Bizarrely, he now knows who I am and my medical history off by heart. Everytime he sees the Dr. I work for at GP talks that she gives he asks how I am. He was super excited when I went in last week to have a check up and he realised I had Lewis (my insulin pump). He was extremely fascinated and wouldn't give Lewis back for a full 10 minutes, until I reminded him I needed Lewis to live.

He also hasn't asked me what my newest HbA1c is.