« April 2003 | Main | June 2003 »
Maybe I should get rid of titles on these....
Worked out 5 days. 2 with personal trainer, 3 cardio days.
Did 50 minutes today, trying to work up to 1 hours.
Figured something out. Working out hasn't been futile, it keeps me from gaining 5-10 pounds a week.
Went and had a initial "survery" meeting with the hypnotist. Looking forward to that. Will see her for a session on Tuesday.
Don't get compliacent!
Just because for 7 days you had the same readings, don't think you will have the same on the 8th day. That's how we end up in trouble.
I haven't pulled it yet, but have started to. Which is dumb, because I have
a) upped my insulin levels
b) resumed my execise schedule
c) dropped my carb level
twice yesterday, I thought -- oh, I can skip this testing, I was at x reading and I'll be there today. WRONG! I went ahead and check and I was 50 points different than readings last week. YEP 50 points LOW! I figured I was around 180 yesterday before exercise and was at 120. Figured the same before going to bed and was at 130 -- I know from experience if I go to bed with a carbohydrate level lower than 150, I will spend the next day fighing blood sugar levels too high from dawn syndrome.
Moral: Test, test, TEST!
American Diabetes Association - In The News
Argh! The ADA STILL wants to stuff us with carbs, which means we STILL have to fight with the diabetes nuitrionists.
Hopefully they will see the light!
Okay, I don't hate them but I avoid them.
Here's a typical day eating carbs:
I wake up and blood sugar is in 120's. I ate breakfast with suggested number of carbs, say 2 servings. I feel loggy and check blood sugar two hours after eating. It's in the 190's. So I take some insulin to bring it down.
Then I eat lunch. Two more servings, feel loggy, blood sugar two hours after eating, still in 190's. Bring it down.
Go exercise, blood sugar is still high afterwards.
Day keeps going that way. I'm no fun to anyone, and I keep giving injections.
Yes, and I've increased my insulin enough to cover the carbs, but I still feel like I'm chasing the high and lows and on a rollar coaster. See Dr. Bernstein's book. Any chemist, engineer type will tell you, changing things a small amount is easier to keep stable than changing large things.
Typical day that works for me:
Get up, eat a low carb breakfast. Blood sugar stays under 150, and I can think. Eat low carb lunch (probably < 2 servings today), blood sugar goes up a touch, to the 150-170's. Go to gym, walk the sugar off, go home, take insulin, eat dinner, and blood sugar stays low all day.
Increase it up to around 150 in the evening and wake up with 100-110 in the morning -- that's to prevent dawn syndrome.
Works for me.
And it's the day to day effects that affect me more, than the long term.
First, got picked to do district tests. I love that gig, and it's an extra $400.
I know where I am spending it. I'm giving the hypnosis one more good shot ... I did some work with this lady when she was interning, and she and I are on a closer wave length. Lost touch with her, and finally found her again. (So I wasn't looking THAT hard).
Hypnosis did me very well, but I have trust issues.
More good things. Managed 15 minutes, then 10 minutes of ET. Hand is much better! Did a total of 40 minutes cardio today. Not my personal best but not bad for coming off surgery.
7 more days of school. Last day is going to be very interesting.
I've been a good little diabetic, taking care of things well...
Until today. Got out to the car after school and guess what is laying on my passenger seat?
My two pens of insulin. Both fairly new. I had done one dose of the mix, and had the other out of the frig since the 19th.
and thank goodness I had switched the other insulin from vial to pen! This way, I only wasted 1/5th of my 30 day supply instead of the whole vial.
Darn!
Diabetes In Control Dot Com. The weekly newsletter for medical professionals in Diabetes care.
These people sell Bernstein's book.
The Atkins diet is the easiest diet in the world to follow. Carbs are MUCH easier to count than calories.
The mindset is easier too -- I can have these foods, I cannot have these.
My sister lost a lot of weight on Atkins. She eats that way all the time, STILL, and has kept most of it off.
I've tried it, find it easier to deal with, but like everything else, just don't lose weight.
Atkins is also easier on diabetics, as it cuts down the carbs, meaning we use less insulin.
I just switched my Diet Gourmet meals to low-carb -- based on Zone not Atkins. I had a chicken caesar salad for lunch, with ranch dressing.
For dinner I had a piece of salmon, a small serving of beans, brocolli, and assorted vegetables.
That's MUCH better for me than their regular, high carb meals.
My insulin use is back up to 34 units twice a day with some extra injections. Of course, my exercise level has been down.
Of course the biggest problem, is that if you mention you are doing anything close to Atkins to a dietician, they start screaming that you'll ruin your kidney or get high chlorestral.
More good information.
Good rant on dieting.
I ended up taking yesterday off. My gym was closed, but the country club was available. I'm sorry but I don't look forward to working out at the country club.
I did do 30 minutes of cardio, mostly treadmill because the e.t. HURTS.
Did do 30 minutes with the personal trainer. She kept asking if things hurt, and I kept telling her I'd let her know when it did -- I promise.
It went will and nothing hurt. She did modify the workout dramatically.
In a lot of respects, last week was harder than the first week after surgery (2nd week after surgery).
I thought taking the day off after the doctor took the bandage off was a bit silly, but it ended up saving my rear....
Even today was a bit interesting on what I could and couldn't do. Reaching and picking things up was not a good thing to do. Didn't hurt WHILE I was doing that, but after sure did.
Went shopping (got a GREAT bargain -- a 9 can cooler that works on 12 volts DC -- perfect for keeping insulin in). Pushing the cart around did me in -- again, not right away, but added up in a hurry.
I missed quite a few days at the gym and when I was there, couldn't do much for the pain.
Man that sure makes a difference on how much insulin I use. I jumped up to 32 units, as was running high, and still added another 15 units of last acting. WEIRD!
Partial Recall for Top Cholesterol Drug
This is the second time I've seen a drug conterfeited and recalled lately. Keep an eye on your meds! (It's lipidor, if you can't get to the website)
I make no secret that I am a bigger fan of Atkins then I am of any other type of diet. I've done Atkins, but didn't lose much weight on it. But I don't lose much weight on anything else.
Atkins is easier for me to stay on. It's easier on my blood sugar levels too.
I do feel Dr. Bernstein's ideas are better for diabetics, limiting both protein and fat.
In fact, I'm going to make a call to Diet Gourmet and switch every thing over to lower carbohydrate....
Today ended up being one of the absolute worse days of recovering from surgery.
I am definately NOT back, but much better.
This morning woke up with the left hand classic carpel tunnel symphtoms, right hand fine.
Did WAY too much at school today, and paid for it the last two periods. It was so bad, the office manager fussed at me for not having my splints on ... she was right, I needed them.
Tried to go to the gym but that didn't work either.
Came home, tried to eat, dog managed to get my food -- a problem we're going to have to solve, and finally took a pain pill and went to bed.
Feel better now, but boy did I learn the hard way.
I was afraid of this.
First, it started with my doctor not seeing patients in the afternoon, if he didn't have a previous patient booked. For example, he wouldn't see you at 3:30, if no one was booked at 3:15.
Then he wasn't seeing afternoon patients at all.
At least I got a chance to talk to him before he left, a few weeks ago. I just called to make an appointment for when school is out, and he isn't there any more. I'll be seeing a nurse practioner until a new doctor comes on board.
I'm not sure what to do. Is it time to go shoping? I'd like to find someone who is aggressive and willing to schedule specialists.
Darn it, haven't found anything about this on the web, if anyone does, please let me know.
I saw the tail end of a news story on one of the alternative stations (with 1 hour news), about a young child who saved her dad from a hypoglymic episode in Southlake Texas. She was 5 years old.
She did everything right, called 911, administred medication (I assume glucose), and by the time the officers got there, he was recovering.
The city gave her and her family an award, praising both her and her family for properly educating the family on how to help a diabetic.
What is even neater, is that it was Southlake, TX whose PSD (public safety department) that is near and dear to my heart. I helped train dogs with their K9 Academy for several years. They were always super supportive.
I got to take off my bandages this morning at the doctor's office. I think there were 4 layers.
As you can tell by my post, my right hand is back. He used a surgical glue, and hand is healing well. He told me to use common sense on using the hand, though I don't always show that so maybe he should be more specific.
I did very well with blood sugar throughout the whole episode. Finally did break down and let it get a bit high yesterday afternoon, but got it right back down.
It will be easier at the gym now, since I am two handed again!
Diabetes In Control Dot Com Feature Articles
Now this is cool!
Diabetes In Control Dot Com. The weekly newsletter for medical professionals in Diabetes care.
They are definately showing good results with the continuous glucose monitoring system. I could definately see that it would help me.
The Washington Times: Commentary
This sort of thing needs to be stopped, and stopped NOW!
There is much more to overweight than McDonald's. There is even much more to being overweight than how much or what anyone eats, how much someone exercises.
And food isn't tobacco.
In fact, being fat isn't a choice that people make. I know that I didn't make the choice of being fat. There were a lot of factors that got me here.
The first is genetics. There isn't anything we can do about that at all at the present time.
The second is parental lifestyle. My parents never participated in a regular exercise activity nor did they encourage us to do that. And I certainly hope gym class and P.E. classes have changed, as nothing that was done in those classes when I was growing up encouraged me to do anything active.
The college I went to, also did nothing to encourage the regular student to do any type of exercise. Neither did the AFROTC department -- which was the substitute for PE PLUS my at the time future path, since I had a full scholarship.
My first job DID however encourage exercise and did make it easy. I worked for Texas Instruments, and they did have good gyms, and good people working there. They also had a very flexible schedule, which made it easy to go work out.
My current job does nothing to encourage anyone to be physically active -- though the insurance program does.
The one thing that has affected my weight more than any single item is my sleep disorders. I am still not convinced we've got that solved lately.
I'm really having a tough time with my left hand.
Right now I'm not even sure I make it into school tomorrow. The hand that was operated on is doing fine. I see the doctor Tuesday.
The little dog's gash is doing well. She sees the vet tomorrow
No pain, numbness, etc from that hand.
I cant stand the sling anymore... so only wearing sling in the halls at school.
Dog is doing better too.
I missed the gym last night...had trouble driving home from school, kept falling asleep at lights... so ate and hit the bed right away. First day I have missed in months!
The un-operated on hand is bothering me. Did make it to the gym, 25 minutes on elliptical trainer 20 minutes on the treadmill.
Little dog decided she needed surgery and has a 2 in. gash on her leg we have no idea how that happened. She is doing well. Free to a good home isn't free.
If it does I'd hate to see what my mood is like. However, I'm hopeful it will get better arfter my hands are fixed.
Today went well.
It was my short day I teach three out of four class periods which helped.
I gave myself three times the amount of time I normally needed the mornings which really helped to. Definitely no eating in the car, went to a little restaurant around the corner for breakfast. And I not even going to try cooking fixing a peanut butter sandwich was hard enough.
I guess I didn't get to talk to these kids, since I took Thursday to preop. Most were very surprised to see me in a sling.
Dictation software is a really helping. I was able to get both programming classes started on a program. I was also able to get all my grading done and senior grade into stu sys. It was slow but doable.
I'm going to keep usingthe dictation software so that I don't have to use my hands as much. In fact I'm doing this injury with the software. Plug here I'm using Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
Years ago I set up an early version for a K9 officer and he had to two days of training. It's taken < 30 minutes to get this set up. Every once in awhile I need to train a word but other than that this is going great.
More brags made it to the gym, did 45 minutes of cardio fairly slow on the treadmill since the sling throws my balance off. I'm not up to the elliptical trainer yet.
I figure on taking a shower and washing my hair this evening and planning for double time tomorrow. Cross your fingers it's a long day. I teach four out of four classes on "B" days. I can't wait until I get the extra pay for the extra class. I deserve a good toy.
I slept fairly well last night, though I woke up every four hours just about the time another pain pill was due.
I did skip the 4 a.m. pain pill. I will admit to a fear of becoming addicted since this is a chronic pain situation. Besides I have a few errands to run today and would like to be able to drive today. It's a dull ache that isn't that bad and feels better than yesterday.
I'll also have to be off the pain pills to go to work tomorrow.
Getting dressed wasn't bad, but jeans are impossible.
A few people around me have expressed their dismay that I'm dealing with carpal tunnel and diabetes at the same time. Here's the deal, I've been ignoring carpal tunnel for years. I've been dealing with numbness and low-grade pain for a long time and had no idea it was as serious as it is. I ignored it until I realize that the symptoms were the same as diabetic neuropathy and that I needed to make sure of what the problem was. I had no idea it would be permanent or could get worse until I saw my surgeon.
I'm really looking forward to getting better.
not sure why but they didn't use the planned aesthestic, so i'm up and about already.
dont expect any caps in my email for a while. i can't decide which is faster, dictating or typing and the spread keyboard doesnt help
i got a smaller modified bandage than he usually does so i can test. being diabetic can help once in a while.
i havent hit the pain meds yet but did fill the script -- i figure ill want them tonight
dressing is interesting but the hand isnt completely immobilized.
I probably made two doctors mad if they knew I had gone to the gym today. But I got 45 minutes of slow cardio done. And mentally I felt better.
I probably should have taken pain pills before I did because it is throbbing now.
So I accomplished three days of 45 minute cardio and three days of resistance training with 30 minute cardio.
I have no idea what I'm going to do next week.
The aesthislogist called tonight. At right at 8:00 pm -- bet I was his first call, since I'm his first patient.
It was good, because I had just gotten in from the gym. He made me feel better, because I told him that, and he asked if the hands had bothered me. ... and yeah they do, and that's probably part of why working out sucks so much.
But back on topic. Here's a really nice sounding guy on the phone, working on Friday night at 8:00 pm and has to work on me at 7:30 am. Sounds like really sucky hours.
I left the real world for teaching partly because of sucky hours. Okay, i left the real world first, then went into teaching, but it was over really sucky hours.
My mom made the comment that he was probably rich. I bet not, I bet most of his money goes straight to the insurance companies, as I bet that those guys get hit the worse on claims.
Of course, the hand guy is probably right behind him, I suspect any nerve operation, is right up there on the claim wagon too.
Yeah, I'm a bit scared and nervous and want this thing over!
And yes, I'm a bit freaked.
Surgery at 7:30 tomorrow, have to be there at 6:15.
Dragon Natural Speaking works well, we'll have to see how much it helps.
One handed injections aren't bad.
Bras can be done if you fasten first, will probably need someone to pull out the lumps on the right side.
Shoes are an issue, I usually wear lace ups, but I have some velcro fastening shoes.
I am glad I didn't find out that I didn't have the use of my right hand after school today, which was when I was originally thinking of doing the surgery.
Check out the link to his website too.
Naturally Speaking really works! I've always liked it, but it is a really good these days.
That should help me get along!
I just got another naming questionaire. This is driving me nuts. I WANT IT NOW!
When I was pre-oping, the nurse said she'd seen a patient with one.
I want it, I want it NOW!
I just went through the Pre-Op Stuff on my surgery, and guess what I just found out.
Yeah, I'll go back to work on Monday but with a huge bandage on my arm.
For two weeks.
At least.
Fun..... and I'll let everyone know how one handed shots go. At least I just converted to, and just got a pen for my sliding scale.
The nurse and I sat down and came up with a plan for my insulin, on the day / evening before of the surgery.
I'll do my usual the evening on, and then no insulin until after the sugery. They do have you eat something before you leave and make sure you keep it down.
I have been tired and exhausted the last two days.
I'm not sure why, but I have been
I've made it to the gym, I'm keeping my sugar under control, though have had to supplement the daily dose both today and yesterday.
I'm playing hookie tomorrow so I can get the tests done before carpel tunnel surgery on Saturday and can get laundry and other weekend chores done, since I probably won't be able to.
Medrants talks about tax breaks for fitness to encourage insurance companies to provide fitness benefits.
Actually my school district is already involved -- we get discounts from several different clubs -- and payroll deduction. We also get a discount to other clubs through Cigna Insurance, our health care insurance provider.
However, I've chosen a gym that is smaller, closer to the house (I have to at least think about the place on the way to work), and is the corporate gym for Club Corp -- the largest golf club management company in the country.
Years ago, when I worked at Texas Instruments, they had several corporate gyms convenient to the work place.
So it certainly isn't a new idea.
And FYI, the easier the gym is to get to, the easier to work out!
That five pounds, plus a couple more were missing this morning. It's always been Monday morning that has been the most frustrating.
Hopefully I'm off the plateau and will STAY off.
As most know who have been following this, I've been losing the same 5 pounds for about 2 months.
What does that mean? On Monday, I weighed x and on the next Thursday I weighed approximately x-5.
Well, today, on a Sunday, I weigh about x-7. And my insulin dosage was 28 units this morning, and my blood sugar is 104, 2 hours after breakfast.
Notice that I am not defining what x is
FYI: I have made serious changes. When I would have munched on crackers or gummi bears, now I substitute nuts.
I'm meeting my students at Cici's pizza at 2:00 pm today, and I'm going to have one slice of regular pizza. I'm going to eat salad, and ask Cici's for non-crust pizza. The one in our neighborhood said they would be happy to do that.
In the past, I would have eaten very little salad, about 5 pieces with crust, and pasta. I am not planning to eating any pasta either.
One of my students asked about the AP Computer Science grading ... which brought back memories of being feed carbs every few hours, then a bounty of carbs in the evening, and just a thought of a week like that made me nauseous. Weird.
Made it in the pool this afternoon and sort of did 10 laps.
Sort of means that I moved up and down the length of the pool 10 times but I didn't swim every part of it. Did a lot of water walking.
Blood sugar was at 104 at dinner, so I'm decreasing my daily dosage down again to 28 units twice a day (56 total). Since my high was 36 units (72 total), I'm doing pretty well.
I am still losing the same 5 pounds.
BUT on the good side I met my exercise goals for the week.
More pluses. I am using 58 units of 25/75 insulin a day right now. My worst was 72 units. I must be doing something right because blood sugar is better. I was also adding up to 40 units of regular insulin the days I was doing 72 units. Right now the most I've added is 10 units, and most of the time I don't need it, or I can do something to drop the blood sugar besides insulin.
I am eating a lot less carbs. I'm making better decisions on food.
People think I've lost weight.
But I still keep losing the same five pounds. And my hands hurt.
Went to get steriod shots today. Guess what?
Doc wouldn't do them. They screw up your blood sugar.
Surgery a week from Saturday. He wanted to do it this Saturday but with husband gone I thought best to wait a week.
Not having time to think about it might have been good too.
This evening my blood sugar was 176. Instead of adding more insulin, I did 10 "laps" in the pool.
The pool was at 80, temperature was around 90 so it wasn't too bad. Certainly better than yesterday.
But the cool part? After I got done, blood sugar was at 146.
And I've tolerated 58 units very well today, without adding any. That's down from a high of 72 units of daily insulin (I haven't taken good track of how much I've added from time to time).
If you are not a diabetic, you have no idea what kind of stress diabetics can be under.
I assume it is better for people on oral meds, but I have a feeling there are other stressors involved.
Sometimes I am just stressed out over giving myself an injection. Sometimes they hurt, sometimes they don't. I can't figure out a pattern yet.
Sometimes I freak out over the amount -- just after the shot, I wonder if I gave myself the right amount. My favorite day
Then there is the supply issue. I do all my scripts mail order, and the mail order pharmacy plays this little game. When you request a refill or even a new script, they go back to the doctor and ask him if he is really sure he wanted to order the prescription that way. Argh! Why did he go to medical school! And who are they to second guess him.
But surely he meant the cheaper alternative? Surely he meant a lessor amount. So there is a several week delay. If I could order my refill, see it processed immediately, and know it was on the way, that would be one less worry.
Then there is the shipping issue. The good news is that the online pharmacy does Fed Ex and Fed Ex leaves it on the doorstop. But you still wonder until you get it in your hot little hands...
More later,,,
I hate to post about this, because I feel so stupid, but honestly I was just following instructions.
My diabetes educators told me to get a sharps container and showed me how to make one. They said all I had to do was seal the sharps container and put it in the trash.
WRONG!
Now you have to understand a few things. We're pretty casual about the upstairs trash. We don't eat food upstairs, so any trash here is paper, coke cans, etc. Nothing that spoils or smells.
Sometimes it can be a month from the time I put something in the trash before it gets downstairs and on the street for pickup. So when I finished my first sharps container, I did as told.
At some point, after that, we got a 5-6 page copied set of instructions on trash and a business card. No note to call, no indication why it was put on the door, I don't even remember if it was trash day. I thought -- oh, the city is putting it on all the doors and thought nothing of it.
Well, husband is out of town, so I took the trash downstairs. We got another one of the mysterious set of instructions. This time, the section on sharps was highlighted (don't know about last time). So I called and got a very unpleasant woman who jumped all over me for putting sharps in the trash.
Now the set of instructions set that I needed to either take the sharps to the doctor's office or RHD Medical Center (Hey, I liked it when it was Dedman, and he owned my gym until he died a few months ago, but that's another blog entry).
Anyway, the number they gave me was the main hospital number who didn't have a clue.
I called the city back, got the same woman who was even more unpleasant.
And at this point, I haven't a clue what to do with the sharps. So far, RHD says they don't do that anymore.
I'm going to ask my doctor in a few hours. Will be back with that answer.
I have a feeling I'll be using a mail back system or driving them to SouthWest Medical center. Both very unconvenient and probably stressful.
I have to say I am disappointed with this service.
For almost all of last week, they had a bug that processed mailing lists incorrectly. That makes me nuts.
Then early this week, my Inbox stopped working, and it took them over 24 hours to fix.
I don't function well without working email.
So I've got my secondary addresses setup with them now.
And I'm using a competitor who they are suing over patents -- spamarrest -- working as my primary email spam filter.
I've been accused of statistical voyeurism in the past, and in anyone cares, here are two interesting reports -- to me.
The first shows how much insulin I am taking:
Medication Totals from Diabetes Pilot
The second shows average glucose by hour and shows the details:
Average Glucose by Hour
Notice that even though I am reducing insulin, I am seeing pretty good control.
Well, MedRants and the rest of the web blogs are right.
It doesn't pay to be a doctor any more -- at least not in Dallas, and as a result, my doctor and his wife are going back to Oklahoma.
My husband has trouble with the concept, but that's another long story and a bunch of really bad jokes...
He promised me he'd make sure I'd have a good doctor when he leaves. We're going to do the next set of labs before then.
I'm VERY sad.