First, let me say THANKS to everyone that checked out this blog because they were checking out my other blog which was linked to the Grow Your Blog Party over on 2 Bags Full’s blog. Vicki is awesome for setting that up, and all her volunteers that helped out are awesome too! Welcome to any new followers!
Ok everyone. Get out your pointing fingers and get ready to wag them at me in a vicious manner.
Ready?
About three weeks ago, I checked my blood sugar. I don’t do it very often because the supplies are expensive and I am lazy and not good about doing positive things for myself (vicious finger wag #1). Normally my BS (that’s blood sugar, not bull poop) runs around 150ish. Imagine my surprise when my monitor counted down and showed the results: 550.
Wha…???
Well, that couldn’t be right.
I immediately retested: 399.
OK. This dumb monitor must need new batteries.
I mentioned it to my sister the next day, and she told me to get my butt over to Les’s basket o’pills-n-stuff and use his monitor; his has fresh batteries and is very accurate. Results?
Over 500. Again.
Hmmmm… Is that a slight panicky feeling I have in my stomach?
The next day I went to the walk-in clinic that is open on Saturdays and explained to the receptionist what was happening. She relayed this to the nurse nearby, and the nurse said, “Oh no. Tell her to go to the ER, don’t tell her to come here.” I got the nurse’s attention and explained that I was already here, and that those readings were from two days earlier. After waiting for a few hours to be seen, I got to see the most lovely little old Scottish doctor ever put on this earth. He was a hoot and a half! Anyhoo he agreed that this was NOT GOOD and kindly reminded me that I had many of the warning signs of a diabetic coma (increased thirst, increased urination, drowsiness, headache, and ketones) and that comas typically occur when blood sugar reaches 600 or more (if sustained, rarely if just a one-off). I have no idea how long my blood sugar had been that high, but I had been dying of thirst and peeing my brains out for at least four weeks. (Great, big, super-vicious finger wag here.) He put me on Metformin ASAP and it started bringing it down. It has now been running in the 170ish range, which is still way too high.
I finally have health insurance now (it kicked in on Monday), so I will be making an appointment with an endocrinologist for the first one I can get. I only have about six more days of pills left, and I can’t get a refill because they were prescribed by the walk-in clinic.
Am I in denial anymore? Nope. I have got to take care of myself. I don’t want to be hospitalized in a coma, or lose my eyesight, or appendages, and I don’t want to wind up on dialysis or need a kidney transplant. My mother will kill me.
Speaking of eyesight, you know what’s really weird? My eyesight did change for about three weeks – FOR THE BETTER. I am nearly legally blind in my right eye without glasses or contacts. I have worn glasses for about 35 years because I can only see about a yard or so before everything becomes too fuzzy. I cannot read billboards or road signs without them, and I have no depth perception. I can see vehicles but can’t tell you if they are cars or trucks, and sometimes I can’t even tell what color they are. Now, get this: for the last three weeks I have been able to drive without my glasses. I see perfectly fine, can read signs, etc. I can read the subtitles we use on the TV (because I swear to God everyone in our house is FREAKING DEAF) from the dining room – a good 15 feet away – without my glasses. On a few occasions, if something seemed a little blurry, I would close one eye then the other to see which one was causing the problem – and my right eye would be clearer and sharper than my left. WHAT THE FRACK???
I have a brain tumor, don’t I?
I’d like to say THANK YOU to everyone that leaves me comments; you just don’t know how much I appreciate them. I got a really great one from Laurie at 111 LaLa Lane on my last post; she put her cleats on and kicked my big, fat hiney with them. I’m going to check out the book she recommended and I’ll let you know what I think.
In the meantime, please don’t be like me. Take care of yourself; treat your body right ‘cause it’s the only one you’ve got. Your family would miss you. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to take care of myself, but I’d better figure it out pretty damn quick and get busy doing it!
I’ll keep you updated.
TTFN.
Yes, your family would miss you and your new friends would miss you. Thanks for the shout out and I am so proud of you for taking the bull by the horns and doing something positive for your life! I can't wait to hear your book review. I'm telling you, it changed my life.
ReplyDeleteWhy should we "wag our fingers in a vicious manner" at you? I feel nothing but empathy and sorrow for you. I hope you will be able to make some changes to save your life, because it really looks like the high blood sugar will cause disability and death sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will start with small changes so that you don't overwhelm yourself. Don't do anything silly, like a fast or a cleanse. Try cooking for yourself at home and give up the greasy, salty fast food. Write down some healthy things that you enjoy, and then make some yummy meals for yourself. They don't have to be vegetarian or "diet" foods. Make meals that you like, and start slowly so that you don't get discouraged.
Good luck. Your life really does depend on this now, it's gotten to that point.
It's hard and scary when you know you're doing things to endanger your life and you still can't stop. Don't feel like shit about it...just do what you can to try to change it in a way that you can deal with. I hope you're doing better now.
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