And the Beat Goes On

This is turning out to be a tough week, and it has barely gotten started. I brought it on myself though I suppose so I oughtn’t complain.

Saturday was a busy day, though I can’t recall what we did. I do remember that I was up and about more than usual, so I burned more calories than usual; you’d think that would be a good thing but as events combined it really wasn’t.

Sunday started out as usual – bustling along trying to get ready for church, my wife, grandson and myself, and not be late; this seems to be a normal Sunday for us every other week. On the drive to church I began to feel odd: out of balance, kind of like things were moving very fast, and disoriented. I told my wife I needed to pull over and let her drive, which I did – in a stranger’s driveway.

As she took over, pointing the truck back toward home, I quickly ate three glucose tabs, figuring that my sugar must have dropped. She suggested we go to McDonald’s and get something to eat and I agreed; I needed some protein.

When we got home I check my BG and it was 128, not very high for three glucose tabs I thought. After eating my eggs, sausage and a hash brown I check it again: down to 90 already. I had crashed and was on the way to another had I not gotten the protein in me.

After thinking about it, I’d not eaten much Saturday and in my Sunday morning rush has only had a small bowl of oatmeal, sugar free of course, for breakfast before we left. All these things, including the extra exercise, had piled up on me and caused a nasty drop in my BG level. But this time it had come without the shakes and cold sweats that I normally get as it happens so I was caught unaware of what was going on.

I tried to get my BG levels evened out all day, without much success. And then I made a very poor choice: since my BG was whacked out low I thought having pizza for dinner would work out okay. That was a bad thought!

Now I’ve spent the last two days trying to get it back down again. Both days I’ve been over 100 fasting in the mornings and have been “foggy” which I absolutely hate. Another example of how events can easily pile up to make a mess and then be further worsened by our own poor choices, which reminds me of a Scripture:

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭25‬ KJV)

Yup, of my own stupidity, not keeping a close eye on things and making good decisions, I have made myself all but miserable the last few days. Will it be the last time I do that? Probably not. But just maybe I’ll learn something from this and do it less
frequently.

Almost a Month In Now

I am days away from my one month anniversary of my diagnosis as a T-2 (that sounds weird still). I have done a lot of reading, testing, and journaling/note taking and feel very positive about the future. Thanks to many of you who have guided and instructed me, I have gotten a source of cheaper test strips and have been putting them to use! I now know that, like many diabetics, I spike at closer to an hour, not at two hours, when the doc wants me to test. I have come to a very good understanding of what and why I am doing what I’m doing with my PCP’s nurse, and she agrees with me and will order me supplies whenever I need them. I will see Amy, the nurse, later today for a flu shot and give her a run down on my numbers while I’m there, if she has time.

I have lost around five pounds so far and have made major changes to my diet, all good one that I can live with. And I am exercising more, as I’m able, as instructed by my long-time neurosurgeon. (If you happen to be interested, I have a longer “About Me” type-post on my recently started blog that you can read HERE, which explains more about my other condition.)

I’m also happy thrilled to report that my BG has come way down; I’ve only had 4 readings above 130 since September 1, and I learned something from each one I think. I have had some low readings that were confusing and plain irritating at first but I think I figured those out. My average over the last 30 days with over 100 tests is down to 97!

I’ve also tried lots of new foods, most of which I find I like. I have even gotten to where I can stand a banana once or twice a week; I have always detested them so this is a big surprise for me! And possibly best of all I have a good outlook on the entire situation. I was thinking the other night that the Bible tells us we can choose to be a slave to sin or master it, through faith in Christ. It then occurred to me that the same is true of this disease: I can choose to be a slave to diabetes or I can take control of all the things I can do and be the “master”; I choose to me the master in this “relationship”.

There Will be Blood …

The past few weeks since my diagnosis I’ve been reading a lot, when my eyes cooperate, on diabetes. And I have learned quite a bit already, too. The single biggest thing I’ve learned is that testing my blood glucose (BG) level is paramount in getting a handle on this “thing” and that the “twice daily” that I was prescribed by my doctor, as is the case with most diabetics, isn’t enough.

The fasting, first thing in the morning test tells me how I’m starting out the day and what my last snack did for me. But it is a number that’s more important to the doctor than to me. And the one test, two hours after any meal, is important to the doc, too, but doesn’t really tell me much; I need to know what it was before I ate anything and what time it actually is at it’s highest (the “spike), which isn’t necessarily two hours after I’ve finished eating. For many diabetics the spike occurs at around an hour after meals, not two, so finding when that happens requires extra tests; this week I’m doing a test before every meal and again every 30 minutes after meals for 90 minute to two hours, depending in the results.

I hope that I can narrow down my time in just a few days; all the testing takes a lot if strips and blood, making for some sore fingers. Of course sore fingers for a short while are much preferred over the potential complications of uncontrolled or not well managed diabetes.

Oh boy, my 39 minutes are up; off to poke – again!