A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

diabetes life

Living with Diabetes: Awareness

Today is International Diabetes Day.

It’s a day for awareness. And it’s a day those living with the disease really can reflect (though, to be fair, that is something one should do daily). For me, it’s a day to look back over the past few months to see where I’ve come since my last bout of “rock bottom.”

The last A1C reading I had went up quite a bit to the point where my primary physician said I need to start figuring this out or I might have to think about the “I” word. And that is not somewhere I want to go – now or ever. On another note, there are things now that can work in lieu of it, but I don’t even want to do that. I need to work on improving this without adding more medication.

In a perfect world, I’d like to subtract.

One thing he noted at my last checkup was that as we get older, sometimes it’s not what you do – it’s just your body. Still, I know there’s a lot I can do before that is the decision that has to be made. For one, taking care of myself better and I think I am doing just that. 

Since that last checkup in August, I’ve done a lot more:

Watching numbers: I’ve been diligent about checking my blood sugars, and have made a Google Sheets setup to be able to keep everything together. I have color-coded number so I know when I’ve been in range, closely out of it, and way out of it. This is something I’ll be able to print out and bring to my next appointment. 

I know I have to do better with keeping a food journal as I think that will help me look back and reflect on why my numbers may have gone up or down.

Exercise: I’ve kept up with walking. Though my goal is to do a couple of dedicated walks each day, that doesn’t always happen. I always get one and always make sure to get at least 30 minutes of exercise. The Apple Watch has been a huge addition to me. To some it may sound silly, but closing those three rings each day is big to me and I am doing what I can to keep it up. That has helped immensely.

With this, I also keep several Google Sheet files so I can track my walking and steps each month and see where I’ve gone up and down.

Eating habits: This is still an area to keep improving, but I’m getting better. I watch my portions. I watch what goes into my body. From the end of July until the end of October I didn’t have a piece of candy, and even since then, I’ve only had a couple. When I do it, I make sure it’s small, and that I haven’t already been eating a ton of carbs. I usually also try and do it when I am going for a walk right after.

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The thing is – these items I have worked on have shown improvements. My numbers have come down over time. I still have some numbers that go up , but now I can usually figure out what made my blood sugar jump. Don’t get me wrong, I’m by no means perfect. But I do think I’m truly moving in the right direction and hopefully it will continue.

Speaking of that, what kind of things can I do to keep moving in the right direction?

Things to keep working on:

Exercise. I can’t lax off, even when it gets cold. If I stop, that’s when things go wonky. It takes time to get yourself going right and I can’t lose my months-long work over laziness. And hey, I know I’m not getting any younger. I have aches and pains like anybody else. But, eventually. I want to jog/run a bit more. I know I can get down to a 13-15 minute mile (I’m at 18-19 when I’m just walking) if I push myself and that’s my goal. I’d like to actually run in a few 5Ks and know I didn’t walk it all. The couch-to-5K program is something I am looking into. 

Food journal: Now that I feel I have gotten things better in regard to eating habits, it’s probably time to keep a food journal. But here’s the thing – I’m not sure how I will be with watching calories and things like that. Some things are hard to find the nutritional info, so I just need to be smart. But, a general food journal (this is what I had for dinner etc.) will be helpful with different things.

Apple Health: Being an iPhone and Apple Watch user, I’ve really gotten into the Apple Health things. But the main app is pretty in-depth and intense and I want to do more with it. There are other apps I looked into, but some just didn’t have what I wanted to see. There are a few I want to revisit as I continue along this journey to become healthier and I think they will help. As I check them out, I might blog about them as well.

Apple, at their stores, hold free classes to help with some of these items. I might look to see if I can get into one or two of them over the holiday season when I have some time off. I always have said I want to try and find a way to keep things on one app.

Start utilizing other apps: This seems like so 2019 – but I have several apps that I think can work well with my battle. The key is getting my glucose reader to actually sync up with my phone (which, for some reason, it’s not doing even though my Bluetooth says it’s connected). One of the apps I want to use is mySugr, which helps you keep track of your sugars, which might allow me to get rid of the spread sheets eventually. Again, it would be nice if these apps all connect to one spot (a lot can connect with Apple Health) so I can see things in one spot.

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I like the direction I am heading. My next blood test will be done the weekend before Thanksgiving, and I’ll have my next appointment a couple of days before Thanksgiving. Though I don’t know if my A1C will be a drastic improvement, I am confident it will be going down and an improvement. I’m excited to see it though and hope I can stay on the right path.

Thing is, when I was using that reader that stuck in my arm for 10 or so days, I did well because I had constant feedback. I’ve found with the Google Sheets I can check and see the color coordination to know where I’ve been and where I still need to go. 

It’s a battle I continue to work at and hopefully I will keep going in the right direction!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!

Living with Diabetes: Getting back on track

It’s been a while since I wrote one of these posts. 

It should also come as no surprise, then, that I’ve gone a bit off track. If I don’t hold myself accountable, then I tend to start veering down the wrong road. 

So let me kind of go backward and then move forward again. 

So at one point (October 2018), I hit a point where my numbers were all out of whack. For my first two A1C tests in 2018, things were improving and going down. Then in October, it ballooned. 

Like a lot. 

So it was time to figure things out a bit more. I worked on getting a Freestyle Libre. I actually used this before then, I believe, For those who don’t know what a Libre is, it’s an item you put in your arm (it’s a mini needle attached to a sensor that is about the size of a quarter, though thicker) and you use a reader against the sensor to get your numbers. 

Living with diabetes logo

For me, it was nice because I could check myself a whole heap more, and not have to worry about pricking my fingers. It also went to my phone, so I could see the history a lot easier. 

Alas, there were issues with the Libre. It wouldn’t always stay in my arm. It would get off readings. When it was working, it seemed legit. Any time I matched those readings with the old fashioned way, it worked well. 

But for the price (my insurance didn’t cover it fully), it was tough. 

Then Freestyle switched the Libre from 1o days (on your arm) to 14 days and it really got bad. The sensors wouldn’t stay on, and the readings seemed a lot more wonky. 

During this whole time, mind you, I wasn’t as diligent about checking the old fashioned way. And because the arm was sensitive after a sensor came off, I would wait a day or three to put a new one on. That wasn’t smart. Why? Because I *thought* I knew what everything did to me. 

I didn’t. 

The story of my life with this diabetic journey seems to fall in the same way and I have to figure out how to change the narrative. 

So in January, things seemed to be pointed in the right direction. In May, my A1C went up, but not fully alarming – but enough to say “hey, get back on track.” And with the whole Libre thing really got me off track as well as … I don’t know. Not to make excuses but I thought I had it under control to, at least, keep it status quo. 

It wasn’t and my A1C again went up. 

Obviously, it’s frustrating. But at the same time, I only have myself to blame. So, back to the drawing board I went. 

How to replicate things was my biggest quandary. The old-fashioned checker I use is supposed to hook up to my phone, but for whatever reason it hooks up via bluetooth and then doesn’t get any readings. So, instead, I made a Google sheet to keep track of things. I’ve color-coded things so I can see when I’ve gone high, am in the right zone and all that. 

It’s my hope this will really start keeping me on track. 

That comes down to what I am doing with things, though. I’ve made sure I’ve kept walking, but I think incorporating a second walk daily is probably a good idea. That helps things quite a bit it seems, so it’s just making sure I can do it most days. The other day I even got in a three-mile bike ride, which was also nice, As the fall is upon us, I’ll be more apt to do these as well as the weather is nice for it. 

I’m also going to get back into writing about this whole thing on the blog once a month. I find when I get my thoughts out there, it helps. 

Some things I need to work on: 

– Portion control for meals

– Check my blood better

– Figure out the whole morning thing (numbers OK, then go up and all…I have some things I’ve tried)

– Think about the long-term

When I was at my last doctor’s appointment, he said  – sometimes you can do everything right and it still doesn’t improve. As we age, the body is different. If things don’t show enough improvement, he wants me to think about other options. I am not into the “I” word as I think it can be avoided. But something like a Trulicity might be something I have to think about. 

Hopefully, I can really start losing a bit more weight, stay active, and do what I need to do so it won’t matter. But only time will tell. 

My next appointment is the week of Thanksgiving, so I have about six weeks before my next blood test. Hopefully when those come back, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” A ‘lil HooHaa on Facebook! You can also follow me on Twitter @softball29!