A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

health

Living with Diabetes: Plugging away

As I start to plan out being a bit better about the blog, I realized I hadn’t run one of these since November – and before my last blood test. 

Shame on me!

If you recall from last time, my A1C (long-term blood sugars) had gone up a bit dramatically. I got spooked with the talk of insulin and realized I had been a bit aloof about the whole situation. 

In fact, the last time I posted about this, I gave myself a bit of a plan of action. Thus far, it seems to be working. 

Let’s recap where I went in 2019. My A1C in January of last year was pretty good. I was trending in the right direction and seemed to be doing things the right way. 

Living with Diabetes logo

I got into the Freestyle Libre, which when I wore it and it stayed on my arm, was awesome. I could check my readings a lot. But, when it popped out or one ended, I tended to lax. 

And when that happens, that means I’m not checking and “think” I know what I am doing. 

I don’t. 

So the next two blood tests didn’t go as well as the first – my numbers went up 1.6 points at the May appointment, and another point in August. 

Needless to say, my primary wasn’t pleased. I went to work on it and started keeping track of things a lot better. When November came around and it was time for my blood test, I was cautiously optimistic. 

It’s dropped 1.1 points. 

Am I where I need to be? Not yet. But I’m getting there. 

The next thing my primary though was… what are my thoughts on injectables. Not insulin, but the long-range medicines. He wasn’t telling me I had to do it, but to think about it. 

I talked to the diabetes educator I see and she thought it would be worth thinking about. By doing this, one of my other medicines would become a lower dose with the possibilities of it being taken away. 

Over the next month, I did a lot of research on the main players. In the end, it seemed Ozempic would be a good match for me. In the end, I decided to give it a go. 

For four weeks, I’ve used this. It seems like it is helping my daily sugars, mixed in with the exercise and everything else I am doing. I still have a ways to go, but I seem to be trending in the right direction once again. I’ll expand on this medicine and my thoughts in February’s post. 

Some things have been harder than others, but everything is working well. I’m doing walks on a regular basis and trying to get myself feeling better overall. I push myself and I watch things. I sometimes still get higher readings and it’s frustrating because I can’t always pinpoint why it’s happening. My other issue is the morning and trying to figure out how to get it all to work well, especially mixing in a morning walk. 

In time, I am sure. 

I’ve changed some habits and am being much more cognizant about everything I am doing. I just have to stick with it. 

My other goal here is to stay more on top of this feature on the blog. I found in the past when I was doing this monthly, it allowed me to reflect and look to what was working and what wasn’t. In the coming months, I’ll have a range of topics to cover, as well as the personal updates. 

I realize some of my other past goals, namely a food journal, haven’t been going as planned. That is still on my radar, but I’m trying to figure the best way for me to pull it off.

It’s an endless fight and it’s one I will keep at because it’s the only thing I can do.

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!

Focusing on life and getting out more

“It comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living. Or get busy dying.”

Those words echo toward the end of the Shawshank Redemption. Words spoken by Tim Robbins’ character as he sits in prison for a murder he did not commit as he talked with Morgan Freeman’s character.

Not too much longer, Freeman’s character, free on parole echoes the words.

“Get busy living. Or get busy dying. That’s goddamn right.”

Over the past year and change, I’ve worked to get myself into better health. I’m not where I need or fully want to be yet – lots more weight to lose and still needing to control the diabetes much better, but I’m on the right path.

Now it’s time to work on other things to go with that.

The area in which I live – central New York – has so much to offer. There are amazing things to see and do and places to get outdoors and explore.

If you expand a bit – into Northeast Pennsylvania, for example, the activities and opportunities become even more.

I love the outdoors. I love the indoors as well, don’t get me wrong. I mean a night of television or messing on the computer is a good time, but being outdoors is a lot of fun and it doesn’t require going through the middle of woods, bushwhacking, and things like that.

Get out and explore!

Instead, there are wonderful trails to wander and see; nature to enjoy and photograph; and plenty of wildlife to see and admire. There are man made and natural made areas that are amazing to the eyes. And though my interest in the bulk of geocaching has waned recently, there are plenty of them to find out in the woods. I’d like to explore some bike trails, too, and just wander along and enjoy the atmosphere. I’m looking to eventually invest in a bike rack/kayak rack for my car, as well as a kayak. That would be something I’d like to do more in the warmer months.

And I never will forget about baseball in the summer!

There are urban developments with some fantastic museums and activities not far away. There are ways to broaden your horizons and see different things within a semi-quick car ride. Breweries and great places to eat are everywhere now. There’s definitely things to do.

So maybe it’s time to start doing things like this.

One thing I really want to get back into is more photography. Because I do it so much during my professional day, I tend not to take my main camera when out and about. I mean, the iPhone is a wonderful tool – it really is. But I miss using the camera and different lenses… or pushing things to see what I can create. Especially when it comes to things like waterfalls and covered bridges, and other items that really interest me.

In the grand scheme of things, life is short. Even if you are one of the lucky ones who lives to 100 or a bit more, that’s just a speck of time when considering how long some form of life has been on Earth. So while you are here, see things. Do things. Live things.

I can’t say I’m always going to follow this mantra. I’m just as guilty of plopping down on the couch for some television or hours online. But if I’m going to do that – I need to make sure I’m balanced and I get out and see some wonderful things as well.

My DayZero list is a start.

On January 1, 2019, I started my third round with the DayZero Project. I have on it more than the 101 goals because I need to trim. I’ve looked to see what is something that can be done – be it hard or not – as compared to dreams. This is a starting point as some of it gets me outdoors.

I have life goals and life plans and hopes – all of which intermingle with one another. But as the two characters in the Shawshank Redemption noted – get busy living, or get busy dying.

In the past couple of months or so, I think I’ve gotten busy living – at least in some aspects. And my mental being seems to be doing much better. But there’s still a lot to grow from and I look forward to trying to do more (to be fair, it’s much easier to do in warmer weather).

The world is a wonderful place if you find the right angle. Now get out and find it. 

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!

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!

When your back goes …

I have many friends who have had back issues and I’m sure each one will say how tough it is to deal with.

In the past, I’ve pulled my back before. But either a trip to the chiropractor or some meds have helped fix things up and I’ve moved on.

My mistake, I believe, is not worrying about “maintenance” checks with my chiropractor. You see, it turns out it’s not bad to visit them when you are feeling good so … well, so that you keep feeling good.

This past February, about two or three weeks before I left for spring training (post on that coming soon), I was out doing what a lot of people in the Northeast do during the winter months — shoveling snow.

This was a snow that I should have been using the snow blower for, but I had been getting really active and sometimes shoveling felt like a better workout.

Well, except when you are near the driveway and the plows have been through, and there’s some water mixed in …

… if you live in a snow area, you probably know where this was going.

I scooped up a shovel full and turned to throw it and … ohhh that isn’t good. That tweak hurt a bit. And then I continued. After, I went inside, took a shower, grabbed three Advil and went to work.

The pain started to get a bit worse, so I called the doctor. He gave me some thoughts and said to call him again if it got worse.

It did.

So I went in to see him. He looked things over and eventually got me an XRay. Nothing showed there really.

This is when it all kind of started to mix together, so let me just give the cliff notes version.

I got in to see an orthopedic guy, who thought maybe I had some sciatica in there and said I needed to let nature take its course. He prescribed some meds that were supposed to help.

They might have some, but not a lot.

I also went to an acupuncturist in hopes of a quick fix … nothing doing.

Do you notice the one thing I haven’t mentioned here? Yeah … I am sure you have.

Then came the spring training trip. Flying wasn’t too bad as it wasn’t a super-long flight. But getting around spring training was awful. My back was killing me. I couldn’t walk too far without having to go into a catcher’s crouch to try and relieve the pain. I am sure I got many looks with that.

After the trip, back to the Northeast I went. This time, I got an MRI (and for those of you who’ve had to go into that tube for things like this… ugh. Talk about not fun. I don’t do well when in those situations), which didn’t really show anything.

That’s a good thing because the doctor never mentioned surgery.

Meanwhile, there’s a massage therapist who volunteers at one of the places I work. She works with some students with things for PT and such. A staff member knew this person and brought her to see me. I explained the whole situation and she had me do a few stretches and movements to see how I reacted.

In the end, she said she could work with me if I wanted, but what I really needed was a chiropractor.

Go figure.

It seems chiropractors aren’t usually something some orthopedic doctors will send you to, so I did it on my own. Though it cost me a few hundred bucks in appointments, it was the best move I made. Within a couple of weeks, I started feeling better. It kept improving.

Heck, when I went to the orthopedic guy and he checked me out and I told him what I was doing, he basically said “Good for you and keep it up so you feel better.” The nurse who tended to me that day told me it had probably been a wise choice and even she went to chiropractors sometimes.

Now, I’m much better. I go once a month for maintenance and I plan on keeping that up. I’m still not where I was before this all happened — and I know I need to because being active helps because I can lose some weight, which helps with the back as well — but I know I will get there.

I’ve learned backs aren’t something to mess with. This was several months of pain — sometimes severe so much where I slept on a recliner for several weeks — that I could have reduced by just getting to the chiropractor earlier.

Lesson learned.

Backs are an important part of a body. Take care of them the best you can!

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!