Living with Diabetes

Living with Diabetes: I’m a dreamer, what type are you?

November 19, 2014

It took me a long time to accept being a diabetic.

I can’t honestly remember when it was diagnosed. Years ago. Type 2. Have to watch this and that. It went from no medicine, to medicine to the threat of insulin …

All because I couldn’t accept it.

Realize this – that more than 80 percent of those with Type 2 could have prevented it. I’m pretty sure I could have fended this off for quite a while if I had been smart when first diagnosed. But that Snickers bar looked so good…

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Life throws curves. So how do you deal with it? I finally accepted it. And life is a lot better because of it.

I was contacted by Oscar Health, a new company providing health insurance in New York and New Jersey, to spread some awareness about diabetes. Despite how this disease has grown, I’ve really worked the past several months for it not to define me. I want it to be something I can talk about and not feel like it’s something bad. I can’t let it define me. With that in mind…

I’m a dreamer. What type are you?

This world can be rough, crazy and cruel. There are things that can happen to you, but no matter what you have to keep plugging along.

So I dream.

I dream of traveling.
I dream of a world without cancer.
I dream of a perfect pint of Guinness, poured for me at an amazing Irish Pub.
I dream of lottery wins and how I would try and help more people than just myself.
I dream of happiness for friends, family and people I’ve met for brief moments.
I dream of no war and politicians who actually care about the people (yes, I said it).
I dream of pizza.
I dream of a cup of hot chocolate as I look over a pristine winter scene.
I dream of geocaches that show creativity, imagination and quality.
I dream of equality in all mankind.
I dream of loved ones lost, who I hope will one day be seen again.
I dream of softball championships.
I dream photography.
I dream of brewing an amazing beer.
I dream of being in better shape.
I dream of completing goals I set when I started seeing a diabetes educator.
I dream of a month of perfect readings on my glucometer.
I dream of a life without diabetes.

The last one, of course, is something that might never happen. But the truth is, it can’t – and won’t – define who I am. I will live my life as full as possible. I can still do what I want, including going out for a great dinner. I just have to know limitations and know what things do to my body.

Acceptance has made it easier for me to start getting things in better control, too. So has technology – my glucometer is hooked up with my iPhone, so I can see trends and such in my blood sugar. I am determined that I won’t let this define or beat me.

No matter frustrations of what things do to me. Or of a spike here and there that doesn’t make sense. Or whatever curve is thrown at me. It won’t define or beat me.

And I’ll continue to dream because it’s who I am.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Today is World Diabetes Day

November 14, 2014

Today is World Diabetes Day.

This day, of course, is part of diabetes awareness month. I’ll be having a few extra posts this month in regard to diabetes, especially considering the fact that over the past year, I’ve actually taken it seriously – finally.

And over that past year, I’ve gotten better at a lot of things, including:

Healthier eating
Understanding what food does to me
Getting more active
Losing some weight
Looking long-term and not just short-term
Checking my blood much more, an understanding it

It’s often said in times like this, one needs to hit rock bottom to get back up and push forward. I had that happen. It was that day when I checked my blood sugar and I panicked like I have never done before.

April 24, 2014.

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My fasting sugar that day was 328. Then, at lunch, is when I really freaked. The first reading was 398, followed by 391 about 10 minutes later, followed by 364 about 40 minutes later.

In total, I had seven readings that day – six of which were over 300.

But, before I continue, allow me to remind you that during this time my stress level was high, I was on a home IV for some serious antibiotics, and had been through foot surgery. So it was all adding up.

I, of course, e-mailed my primary and had a back-and-forth with him. Considering all I had been through, he told me to keep a close eye on it (I was scheduled for an appointment soon) and that we may have to adjust medicine or, possibly, think about insulin.

Yikes.

I started watching what was going in my system and over the next week, the numbers started to drop, though they were still awful high for the next couple of weeks. I then met with the diabetes educator and – shockingly – I listened. I asked questions. I was with her for a good hour and a half, learning about everything. I walked out with the goal of turning my life around.

That’s when things changed and I started settling in. I started understanding carbs and protein and what everything does to me. That was May 5.

My reading before dinner on May 8 was 175.

My post-dinner reading on May 12 (two hours after) was 204. That’s the last time I had a reading at higher than 200.

When I met the diabetes educator, she asked me to set two goals – one short term, one long term. The short term was simple – keep me off insulin. The long-term goal is something I’ve not really shared as I am working toward it. When it happens, I will share more.

I look back at April 24 and realize that was my rock bottom. It was the day I decided to take my life back and not be a statistic. I wanted to work at this and learn to live with it, not to suffer with it.

Now, nearly seven months later, I am doing 100 times better. My numbers are where the diabetes educator wants them and, in most cases, lower. Recently, I’ve been battling a bit more with fasting sugars, but I am learning what is going on, which is a good thing.

Taking diabetes seriously is important as it keeps getting worse in our country (and beyond). How about some of these numbers, from the American Diabetes Association website?

In 2012, 29.1 million Americans (9.3 percent of the population) had diabetes, up from 25.8 million (8.3 percent) in 2010.

The percentage in seniors is higher, at 25.9 percent (11.8 million).

In 2012, 86 million Americans (aged 20 and older) had pre-diabetes.

And, unfortunately, deaths have remained the seventh leading cause in the United States in 2010, with 69,071 people listed as diabetes being the main cause in death. Another 234,051 death certificates listed it as a contributing cause.

The World Health Organization says total deaths from diabetes are projected to go up by more than 50 percent in the next 10 years, and more than 80 percent in upper-middle income countries.

So where do we go from here?

For me, personally, I am setting up some other goals. One thing I truly want to do is get my testing down to a science. I need to learn more about what foods do to me. That means I need to start tracking food and what I eat more. I am going to invest in a good pocket calendar so I can write these things down. Though I realize I have apps that do this on my phone, I have a hard time doing things like that on there. Who knows, though? Maybe I can learn one of those and start doing it that way.

The thing about this day is that I take it a bit more seriously now than I ever did before. I realize this day is about moving forward and being proactive in keeping myself in the best shape possible. I still have a long road to go, without a doubt. But I plan on being on that road for a long time and to do that, I need to keep improving with the diabetes.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Living with Diabetes: Showing awareness during November

November 10, 2014

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.

I’ve known this for several years, dating back to when I started geocaching. Though the campaign was actually a couple of years old, Groundspeak (the owners of geocaching.com) partnered with Unite for Diabetes to manufacture and distribute 20,000 trackable tags. When I see these, I still pick them up and move them.

In 2007, a geocoin to commemorate the first United Nations World Diabetes Day (Nov. 14) was released and there were many of these coins delivered. You can now actually purchase these coins (of which I own one).

Back then, though, I never took my own diabetes seriously.

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It’s been a while since I’ve updated here about my battle. I’m doing this on the blog and in a more public setting, as I’ve noted in past posts, to keep myself honest and to have accountability about taking this a tad more serious than I’ve done in the past.

So far, it works out well.

In fact, at my last doctor’s appointment, my A1C, which is the long-term look at my numbers was a 5.9, which is extremely solid compared to what I had been in the early part of the year. That allowed my primary physician to lop off one of my medications, which was super awesome to me.

However…

It’s changed a little recently and I’m wondering where to go with it. As I read more and more about daily numbers and things like that, it seems like the goals doctors give patients differs. I have a hard time finding definitive numbers to aim for, so I can only go by what the diabetes educator I see says, as well as my primary. Those numbers are basically an 80-140 before a meal, and anything below 180 a couple hours after eating. That should, theoretically, get be to 7 or below on my A1C.

Now, that being said, there was a sign at the place where I go for my appointments that showed the following:

Fasting: 80-120

2-hour post meal:

Age 50 and younger: <140
Age 50-60: <150
Age 60 and older: <160

What this didn’t say, however, was if this was for a person without diabetes (who might be on the border) or if this is what diabetics should aim for. Because if these numbers are where I need to be, then I may have to go start taking that other medicine again.

See, my goal always has been to avoid any thought of insulin. So, if I need to try that other medicine again to keep me level, so be it.

As of the last day or so, according to my glucometer, I’m about 80 percent in range, and 20 percent high. That is alarming to me, as I had been in the 100 percent in-range category. My average reading is 126, which is higher than it was a month or so ago, when I was down in the 110-115 range. Now, these are also the numbers averaging the past 14 days, so it can and will go up and down, depending on the day and week.

The mornings have been the real culprit. I’ve been as high as 155 (Nov. 3), and I’m not eating a ton of stuff the night before. I’m keeping within my dietary limitations and following what I am supposed to be doing. However, the past week or so I’ve been pretty sick. So add some cold medicine and everything else into my body, and it’s possible that is playing games with things. But that’s for the past week.

If you go back to Oct. 1, I’ve been high (so above 140) at my morning check 18 times. That’s way too much for my liking.

It’s not that I haven’t been high in the mornings before. Look at Aug. 10-Sept. 10 and there were six instances of having a high count in the morning. However, they were not bunched with others and seemed to be kind of abnormal hits.

Now, when I get them, they are a bit more grouped, say 3-4 days in a row of high counts.

I’ve discussed this with my health care folks and they’ve explained different aspects of why this can – and does – happen. It has to do with some things I don’t fully grasp, but basically it’s something your body does to get glucose when you go an extended time (so sleeping) without eating etc. I am on a eating six times a day thing now, so I have breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, dinner, and an evening snack. I count the carb servings and all that.

A few things to note – as softball has ended, my activity level is OK, but not as much. So I need to start getting more and more active, even if that means just going out for more walks. Also, if you look at the rest of my readings (I usually check 3-4 times per day), and starting at Oct. 1 again, I had one number that was out of the normal range. So it seems like I am staying on the right path, but need to figure out the morning readings a little better.

I plan on having a few more posts about diabetes this month as I have been figuring other things out. It’s all a learning process for me and as I continue to push forward, I know there will be things I continue to work on. I won’t be perfect, that’s for sure, but I have goals and things I know I need to work on. The best I can do is keep plugging along and working toward a better result.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Living with Diabetes: The road is long, but well worth it

September 26, 2014

For those of you following along, you know all about the trials and tribulations I’ve had since finally coming to grip with having diabetes, and knowing I had to take care of it.

Earlier this month, I had a post talking about how my A1C had dropped to 5.9 – which is amazing, considering where I was when this really hit rock bottom back in March and April.

Needless to say, I’ve been pretty happy.

Not bad overall, but at times I’ve had some odd spikes.

But all of this doesn’t come without some ups and downs – and a bit of good news.

I’ve had three lows with my blood sugar, and allow me to say it’s pretty scary. When I was consistently high with my counts, I realized how I felt. I dragged and was tired, but could still seemingly function.

The first time I had a low, I was stunned, but thankfully I had symptoms.

What happened was I got really hot and started sweating. I couldn’t cool down no matter what, and felt a little light-headed. Sure enough, I checked and I was in the 60s.

After speaking to the diabetes educator I see, she noted it is good I have symptoms as some people don’t. Now that’s downright scary. She also noted it might be because of one of the meds I was taking.

Now, realize that to avoid insulin all those months ago, I needed to have a second medicine added to my arsenal. She told me it’s possible this second one was making me have the dips. I’ll have more on that in a moment.

I had a couple of lows this month, including this scary one. But I got out of it fast enough.

Since the initial dip, I’ve had two more. One was in the 60s and the other was a scary 55. That one came when I was driving home from a game, so I knew something was up. Thankfully, it was near the exit ramp I was using, so I went to a nearby store and got some orange juice to help me out.

Allow me to tell you how out-of-control I felt with low blood sugar. I didn’t think I had control of my body and it’s an extremely awkward feeling. In all three situations, though, I was close to a place where I could get what was needed to get me back to normal.

It’s also made me come up with two things I needed to do from now on:

Get a second Glucometer that can travel with me so I don’t always have to remember to bring mine.

Carry glucose tablets/shots, in case of anymore low times.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve also had a couple of bumps, mainly during fasting times. It confused me, too, as I couldn’t figure out why I would be having dips – especially when I had been in bed and not eating,

Was I sleep-walking and eating?

Turns out that theory probably wouldn’t hold any water.

It seems that if you go that period without eating, another part of your body (the kidney or liver, can’t remember which) releases some insulin or something … basically, your body is trying to help you, but it gives too much, Or something like that.

One trend… hopefully it disappears.

The downside of all this is me not being 100 percent in range over the past 14 days. I’m not, however, as worried about it as I keep learning more and more about my body and what certain foods and drinks do to it.

But out of this, comes good news.

Remember a few months ago when my A1C (long-term blood sugar numbers) was in the 9s? Talk about crazy. That deal to stay off insulin was to lower that and all. But at the same time, I was put on a second medicine to help.

Do you remember all that?

Well, either way … that second medication? It’s gone. My primary provider said he thinks I’ve made strides well enough and that medicine wasn’t a high dose, so he pulled me off of it. I still have them, just in case over the next week to 10 days I see a bad reaction. If not, I still have them if the doctor wanted me to get back on them.

Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.

I’m also losing weight at the right pace. I don’t believe in getting off through fads and such. I need to do it the best I can. It seems like I am averaging about a pound a week. But more than that is around the waist. It might not be full pounds, but I am losing that. My pants don’t fit anymore and my belt is slightly too big. That’s a good thing. I foresee some shopping in my future, but holding off as long as I can!

One thing is for sure, I’m heading in the right direction. It takes a lot of work and I know I need to do more (now that softball is over, for example, I need to do more with physical stuff), but I am going in the right direction. It’s totally worth it as I feel 100 times better than I have in the past year and I know I’m way more healthy than I was before.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Living with Diabetes: Hard work nets good results

June 18, 2014

As I look back over the past few months, and as my health gets better after several battles, I look at April 24 as a turning point.

If you read my blog, you may have seen my proclamation of being diabetic not too long ago. It took me several years and the threat of insulin to really wake me up and take responsibility for it. I’ve always been one who says people need to take responsibility for their own decisions and I am no different.

See, I was once told I was borderline, then diabetic … but I never took it too seriously. I checked and all, but never did the right thing to get educated.

If you match this up with my original post, this is an insane improvement.

The April 24 came.

The morning started with a reading of 328. Then before lunch, I was at 398. Over the next 60 minutes, two more readings went 391 and 364. In the middle of the afternoon, I was 361 and then down to 274 before dinner. But at night, I was 325.

That scared me quite a bit.

I panicked; I didn’t want to eat to stay away from everything.

Let’s turn back time a little though. In January, as all of these foot issues were taking off, my A1C (long-range blood sugar) was 7.8. Not great, but workable. On February 3, it was the same. Then all hell broke loose. On March 19, I was up to 9.4.

Then – after this April 24 scare – I had my blood taken on May 1. My A1C was up to 9.8. My fasting glucose that day was 318.

If you read my initial post, you know the practitioner I go to wanted me to go on insulin. I fought it and bought myself some time. I am glad I did because I proved a person could really push forward and do it right.

This is my first – of likely many – updates. It helps me by keeping me accountable and I’m sure there are plenty of others out there in this situation – or have been.

Since this all happened, I’ve really improved. I watch what I eat. I check my blood. I make sure I see what things do to me.

So, I was somewhat excited to see what a new blood test would do. I got blood taken on June 10 and the results were amazing.

Believe me, I still have work to do, but to think where I was a little over a month ago and where I am now is truly amazing to me.

My lowest number over the past couple of weeks came before lunch on June 12.

My A1C is down to 8.2, which is a solid drop. I want it, obviously, to keep dropping. But with it being a long-range test, it still is taking some of the crap that was in my system over the past few months. My fasting glucose, though? 130. I’d even like that lower, but I realize it takes time.

My diet hasn’t changed a ton in what I eat, rather how and when I eat. I definitely don’t eat as much bread as I once did, and I haven’t had a candy bar in more than a month. I found some low-carb wraps that I use and am trying to make sure I eat better and smaller servings.

I’ve also extended to eating six times a day and I understand why and also what it does to me. On days I miss the “in-between” meals/snacks, I have seen the numbers actually bump a little. When I am eating on the right schedule, it works out well.

Here’s the thing, too — I’ve lost about five pounds over those six weeks. I know it’s not a ton, but it’s losing. That, to me, is key. That shows something I am doing is right. I understand what things are doing to me and what I can do. I also have made sure my serving sizes are much lower than they had been. And I feel better because of it.

This improvement is awesome. I’m definitely stoked and excited. But there’s plenty of work still to be done and I don’t anticipate me going off this path anytime soon, outside of adding more exercise.

What I’m seeing, though, is amazing. I feel better. I have more energy. I have more stamina. I’m sleeping better, too, which is really nice. And, it seems others notice as I’ve had people note a seem to have more pep and my face seems to be looking better and not drawn out.

That’s good.

I also, since doing this, haven’t eaten any candy and I’ve avoided a lot of other things. After the initial shock to the body of not having these items, I’ve been quite fine with it.

I was at the doctor’s last week and got two thumbs up, also knowing I had to keep working. I’m not out of the water. But, the improvement has shown I am serious and I am trying to make things better. Now I don’t have to be back there for two months — though a blood test is needed in one.

As I’ve noted before, however, this is a long-term thing. It’s not going away. So I need to continue to work and keep trying to get healthier. I’ll keep posting updates here every three or four weeks, which is a way for me to make sure I am keeping myself accountable for everything I am doing.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!