Friday:
I had my annual glucose tolerance test on Wednesday and got the results today. Not good. Two years ago my reading was 10.8mmol/L (11.0 means a diagnosis of diabetes, so much too close for comfort), last year I got it down to 8.9 which is much better but still not normal (7.8 is limit of normal).
This year back up to 10.7mmol/L. Not good at all.
I am very inconsistent in my habits. I'll be "good" for a while then fall back into old habits and eat all the wrong things, even things I know send my blood sugar shooting up. Rarely exercise.
The doctor just said (as some other doctors have before her) "You don't have diabetes, just lose some weight, you'll be fine. Walk regularly." Hmm, as if I haven't been trying for 20 years to lose weight! And 10.7 is not fine!
Sunday:
I didn't realise I didn't finish this post. To continue.
Later at home going through my tests I noticed one she hadn't mentioned. I think it was one she ordered because of my hip pain, possibly arthritis, to see if I had inflammation. There are 8 pages of results so maybe she missed this one.
It's for C Reactive Protein. The sheet says it should be 0--5 mg/L. Mine is 12. Some internet research seems to suggest that anything over 3 is high risk for various things, and over 10 shows significant inflammation that needs further testing and could be something serious. 12 is very high! But the doctor didn't mention it as far as I can remember, we talked about the pre-diabetes (you'll be fine) but she scanned everything else and said it was all fine, nothing to worry about.
I went to this new place because I was sick of the old clinic changing doctors every six months (they are doctors who have just finished training, on one of their first placements I think) and because the most recent one wanted me to come in for a long appointment for a discussion about my weight - which I felt wasn't necessary because I already know everything after 20 years of experience trying. I know what to do, I just don't actually do it.
But now I have the choice between someone who actually wants me to take action and will do their best to help, or someone who ignores flagged results and just says "you'll be fine." I'm going back to the old clinic! If the doctors are young and experienced, at least they are enthusiastic and up with the latest information.
Showing posts with label gtt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gtt. Show all posts
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Another week.
Sunday:
Let's see, what has been happening this week? One thing that was important to me was getting the permanent crown put on my tooth! I'd been so uncomfortable for three weeks with the temporary one. The real crown just feels like a normal tooth instead of something pinching against my gum and leaving a nasty metallic taste in my mouth. So yay!
The tiler called last weekend to say he was better and would be back during the week to finish the work. But apart from dropping some extra tiles off (when I wasn't home) there's been no evidence he still exists. I don't like to hassle him, I don't know whether he's sick again or just running around trying to catch up other jobs. It's annoying though.
Also the heat pump was delivered but it has to be moved to the right spot - it weighs 125kg so we can't do it ourselves - and that was supposed to happen Friday but nobody showed. So we can't move the dirt pile away from the fence yet. So we can't get the fence approved. So we can't get the pool surfaced and finished. It's a long chain of can't move on until the first thing is done!
Only three weeks of semester left at TAFE so I'm very busy with assignments and preparing for exams. Still lots to do, but I feel like it's under control. My body is suffering a bit though, too much computer use makes my shoulders, arms and hands ache. Looking forward to a few weeks off before it all starts again. But I have to get through three more weeks first!
I'm having my annual glucose tolerance test on Wednesday so today I started carb-loading. I do enjoy eating more carbs than usual, but it makes me feel kind of sluggish and sleepy. Two years ago my blood glucose was 10.8 mol/L - very close to a diabetes diagnosis - but last year was down to 8.9, much better. I really have no idea what it will be this year! I am so inconsistent with my lifestyle, but I probably weigh exactly the same as last year. I've had diabetic-level readings at home after bad foods, but not under the controlled conditions of the test. Fingers crossed.
Thanks to everyone who looked at my website, I could see on Google Analytics that I've had visitors from overseas! I've made the final tweaks and it will be up collecting customer data for another couple of weeks.
We saw Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 yesterday, really fun movie. baby Groot is so cute! The only thing I didn't like was the soundtrack, the music in the first movie was so good but I didn't know most of the songs on this one. Maybe well known in the US? I only knew a couple, like the Cat Stevens one at the end. Otherwise the movie was great.
I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.
Let's see, what has been happening this week? One thing that was important to me was getting the permanent crown put on my tooth! I'd been so uncomfortable for three weeks with the temporary one. The real crown just feels like a normal tooth instead of something pinching against my gum and leaving a nasty metallic taste in my mouth. So yay!
The tiler called last weekend to say he was better and would be back during the week to finish the work. But apart from dropping some extra tiles off (when I wasn't home) there's been no evidence he still exists. I don't like to hassle him, I don't know whether he's sick again or just running around trying to catch up other jobs. It's annoying though.
Also the heat pump was delivered but it has to be moved to the right spot - it weighs 125kg so we can't do it ourselves - and that was supposed to happen Friday but nobody showed. So we can't move the dirt pile away from the fence yet. So we can't get the fence approved. So we can't get the pool surfaced and finished. It's a long chain of can't move on until the first thing is done!
Only three weeks of semester left at TAFE so I'm very busy with assignments and preparing for exams. Still lots to do, but I feel like it's under control. My body is suffering a bit though, too much computer use makes my shoulders, arms and hands ache. Looking forward to a few weeks off before it all starts again. But I have to get through three more weeks first!
I'm having my annual glucose tolerance test on Wednesday so today I started carb-loading. I do enjoy eating more carbs than usual, but it makes me feel kind of sluggish and sleepy. Two years ago my blood glucose was 10.8 mol/L - very close to a diabetes diagnosis - but last year was down to 8.9, much better. I really have no idea what it will be this year! I am so inconsistent with my lifestyle, but I probably weigh exactly the same as last year. I've had diabetic-level readings at home after bad foods, but not under the controlled conditions of the test. Fingers crossed.
Thanks to everyone who looked at my website, I could see on Google Analytics that I've had visitors from overseas! I've made the final tweaks and it will be up collecting customer data for another couple of weeks.
We saw Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 yesterday, really fun movie. baby Groot is so cute! The only thing I didn't like was the soundtrack, the music in the first movie was so good but I didn't know most of the songs on this one. Maybe well known in the US? I only knew a couple, like the Cat Stevens one at the end. Otherwise the movie was great.
I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Glucose Tolerance Test
Wednesday:
I had my glucose tolerance test this morning. It involved eating high carb for three days (not everywhere requires this) then fasting for 12 hours and having blood taken, drinking a nasty glucose liquid with 75g of pure carbohydrate, then testing again two hours later. I will get the results (ie whether I am diabetic) in a couple of days. I did tests with my own kit while I was there, I peaked high (12.5 mmol/L, which is diabetic) at one hour but was back down to 10.3 mmol/L (pre-diabetic) at two hours. The official test is at the two hour point so I'm assuming I will still be considered pre-diabetic. But my testing hasn't always matched the official result when I've done this before, so we'll see. Home kits aren't as accurate as the lab.
I have been so inconsistent with "getting healthy" that I really have no idea whether to expect to be better or worse than last time.
I had lunch when I got home but around two hours after that - nearly four hours after the glucose liquid - I had a blood sugar crash. I felt very shaky and odd. I went and tested my blood and it was down to 3.9 mmol/L (70.2 mg/d) which is right on the borderline of normal to low. Certainly nothing dangerous, I wasn't about to go into a coma, but I was trembling so hard I could hardly hold the blood test pen and I felt quite unwell. I went and ate some more, including carbs, and got my blood sugar back up to normal. I'm assuming it was a reaction to the high of the test leading to a crash (reactive hypoglycaemia). I hope that isn't a bad sign. I spent the rest of the day trying to balance my food intake.
It would have been my mother's 75th birthday today. Sad thinking about her.
I had my glucose tolerance test this morning. It involved eating high carb for three days (not everywhere requires this) then fasting for 12 hours and having blood taken, drinking a nasty glucose liquid with 75g of pure carbohydrate, then testing again two hours later. I will get the results (ie whether I am diabetic) in a couple of days. I did tests with my own kit while I was there, I peaked high (12.5 mmol/L, which is diabetic) at one hour but was back down to 10.3 mmol/L (pre-diabetic) at two hours. The official test is at the two hour point so I'm assuming I will still be considered pre-diabetic. But my testing hasn't always matched the official result when I've done this before, so we'll see. Home kits aren't as accurate as the lab.
I have been so inconsistent with "getting healthy" that I really have no idea whether to expect to be better or worse than last time.
I had lunch when I got home but around two hours after that - nearly four hours after the glucose liquid - I had a blood sugar crash. I felt very shaky and odd. I went and tested my blood and it was down to 3.9 mmol/L (70.2 mg/d) which is right on the borderline of normal to low. Certainly nothing dangerous, I wasn't about to go into a coma, but I was trembling so hard I could hardly hold the blood test pen and I felt quite unwell. I went and ate some more, including carbs, and got my blood sugar back up to normal. I'm assuming it was a reaction to the high of the test leading to a crash (reactive hypoglycaemia). I hope that isn't a bad sign. I spent the rest of the day trying to balance my food intake.
It would have been my mother's 75th birthday today. Sad thinking about her.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Forty five: doctor
Thursday:
I had my delayed doctor appointment this morning, turned out we had so much to talk about I had to make two more appointments for next week! Have also scheduled in another ultrasound and some blood tests.
When I walked in to her office I got a bit confused, surely this wasn't the same lady I'd seen a couple of times since moving here? Young and female, but otherwise quite different. Turns out they rotate through new female registrars (which I believe means a fully qualified but junior doctor still in a sort of intern period) every six months in this clinic. I chose this medical clinic because it is so close to our house and also near the shops so it's very convenient. It turns out it bulk bills (ie completely free, in Australia unless you're a pensioner you usually pay part and the government pays part) which is nice but maybe that is because they are junior doctors? And Dr Miller asked me if I had a regular GP (general practitioner, ie family doctor) elsewhere which I found a bit confusing (she said it's fine I don't). I queried her about whether I'd mistaken the nature of the medical clinic, but no, she said some people had a GP near work, for example, as well as this one.
I've been happy with both the female doctors I've seen but I'm a bit worried about continuity of care if they change every six months. And always inexperienced. But I guess they have to get experience somewhere, and at least they're up to date! The older male doctor doesn't seem to change, but my husband didn't really like him much. So we might end up finding another clinic at some point. See how it goes.
Even though I had a pelvic ultrasound only nine months ago, Dr Miller wants me to have another one and some more blood tests since the pain has returned. I've got that booked in for Monday. I complained about how horrible having an ultra-full bladder is and how I cried last time from the pain, she told me that only a man with an enlarged prostate can hold a litre of water, to ignore the stupid instructions and just have some liquid, not as much as they say. Which was a huge relief. Then I'm seeing her again on Tuesday for a physical check up that we didn't have time for today. Then on Wednesday I've got my blood tests and glucose tolerance test, where you drink nasty glucose liquid and they see if you go into a diabetic coma. (Or at least if your blood sugar spikes.) The last time I had one in Canberra I was surprised to find I didn't need to carb load for three days, they said they don't do that anymore as it's pointless. But when I booked in this place they said I do need to. I guess they are behind the times here. I can't pretend I'm not looking forward to stuffing myself with carbohydrates for three days, after trying to stick to low carb most of this year! The last test result was very close to a diabetes diagnosis, so I'm hoping my diet and weight loss this year has improved my glucose tolerance. Finally on Thursday back to Dr Miller again to talk about my perimenopausal symptoms including depression. Or Tues and Thurs might be the other way around.
Hmm, just realised both tests I'm going for have outdated and unpleasant or unhealthy preparations (drinking a huge amount of water, eating a huge amount of carbs) which other specialists say aren't necessary. Makes you wonder.
It is my 14th Wedding Anniversary today. That's about 28 times longer than a Hollywood marriage. We went out to a tapas restaurant in the evening. We originally tried to get a babysitter but ended up taking the kids with us. They are lovely anyway, and definitely part of this marriage! The food was really nice, all little share plates. My favourite was crispy pork belly on cauliflower purée. Yum. I shared a (full size) dessert with Jasmine.
Feeling very full and sleepy now.
I had my delayed doctor appointment this morning, turned out we had so much to talk about I had to make two more appointments for next week! Have also scheduled in another ultrasound and some blood tests.
When I walked in to her office I got a bit confused, surely this wasn't the same lady I'd seen a couple of times since moving here? Young and female, but otherwise quite different. Turns out they rotate through new female registrars (which I believe means a fully qualified but junior doctor still in a sort of intern period) every six months in this clinic. I chose this medical clinic because it is so close to our house and also near the shops so it's very convenient. It turns out it bulk bills (ie completely free, in Australia unless you're a pensioner you usually pay part and the government pays part) which is nice but maybe that is because they are junior doctors? And Dr Miller asked me if I had a regular GP (general practitioner, ie family doctor) elsewhere which I found a bit confusing (she said it's fine I don't). I queried her about whether I'd mistaken the nature of the medical clinic, but no, she said some people had a GP near work, for example, as well as this one.
I've been happy with both the female doctors I've seen but I'm a bit worried about continuity of care if they change every six months. And always inexperienced. But I guess they have to get experience somewhere, and at least they're up to date! The older male doctor doesn't seem to change, but my husband didn't really like him much. So we might end up finding another clinic at some point. See how it goes.
Even though I had a pelvic ultrasound only nine months ago, Dr Miller wants me to have another one and some more blood tests since the pain has returned. I've got that booked in for Monday. I complained about how horrible having an ultra-full bladder is and how I cried last time from the pain, she told me that only a man with an enlarged prostate can hold a litre of water, to ignore the stupid instructions and just have some liquid, not as much as they say. Which was a huge relief. Then I'm seeing her again on Tuesday for a physical check up that we didn't have time for today. Then on Wednesday I've got my blood tests and glucose tolerance test, where you drink nasty glucose liquid and they see if you go into a diabetic coma. (Or at least if your blood sugar spikes.) The last time I had one in Canberra I was surprised to find I didn't need to carb load for three days, they said they don't do that anymore as it's pointless. But when I booked in this place they said I do need to. I guess they are behind the times here. I can't pretend I'm not looking forward to stuffing myself with carbohydrates for three days, after trying to stick to low carb most of this year! The last test result was very close to a diabetes diagnosis, so I'm hoping my diet and weight loss this year has improved my glucose tolerance. Finally on Thursday back to Dr Miller again to talk about my perimenopausal symptoms including depression. Or Tues and Thurs might be the other way around.
Hmm, just realised both tests I'm going for have outdated and unpleasant or unhealthy preparations (drinking a huge amount of water, eating a huge amount of carbs) which other specialists say aren't necessary. Makes you wonder.
It is my 14th Wedding Anniversary today. That's about 28 times longer than a Hollywood marriage. We went out to a tapas restaurant in the evening. We originally tried to get a babysitter but ended up taking the kids with us. They are lovely anyway, and definitely part of this marriage! The food was really nice, all little share plates. My favourite was crispy pork belly on cauliflower purée. Yum. I shared a (full size) dessert with Jasmine.
Feeling very full and sleepy now.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Glucose tolerance
Tuesday:
This morning was my biennial glucose tolerance test for diabetes. It involves drinking a revoltingly sugary drink (75g of sugar, twice as much as in a Coke) then sitting still and feeling queasy for two hours while they take tests of your blood and urine. Easy! Compared to going to the dentist yesterday, it was like a morning in a luxury resort. Results in a few days.
Home for lunch and some work trying to organise the roof being fixed (another tradie coming Friday), the TV fixed (trying to decide whether to pay the exorbitant price I've been quoted or just buy a new one), the curtains installed (in two weeks) then off to the hairdresser. I hadn't had my hair cut for a while because I am trying to grow it longer again, but it was looking really ragged and needed to be neatened up. As many women (and maybe some men) would know, that in-between stage is very tricky! It looks ok I think, I'll know better after I've washed it and done my own styling because I could never blow-dry like this again even if I wanted to.
Report card:
Diet: Ok.
Exercise: Poor.
Water: Good.
Sleep: Ok. A bit better.
Mental health: Ok.
This morning was my biennial glucose tolerance test for diabetes. It involves drinking a revoltingly sugary drink (75g of sugar, twice as much as in a Coke) then sitting still and feeling queasy for two hours while they take tests of your blood and urine. Easy! Compared to going to the dentist yesterday, it was like a morning in a luxury resort. Results in a few days.
Home for lunch and some work trying to organise the roof being fixed (another tradie coming Friday), the TV fixed (trying to decide whether to pay the exorbitant price I've been quoted or just buy a new one), the curtains installed (in two weeks) then off to the hairdresser. I hadn't had my hair cut for a while because I am trying to grow it longer again, but it was looking really ragged and needed to be neatened up. As many women (and maybe some men) would know, that in-between stage is very tricky! It looks ok I think, I'll know better after I've washed it and done my own styling because I could never blow-dry like this again even if I wanted to.
Report card:
Diet: Ok.
Exercise: Poor.
Water: Good.
Sleep: Ok. A bit better.
Mental health: Ok.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Glucose test cancelled
Thursday:
My little boy called out in the night that he was feeling sick, and is still in bed sleeping next to a bucket. So I couldn't go to my glucose tolerance test.
I've decided not to reschedule. My doctor didn't think I needed one yet, I've been testing myself at home and I'm about the same, and I just can't take another high-carb day. I know a lot of people love carbs, my husband thinks a meal without them is woefully incomplete, but I am happier with a more moderate amount. I feel awful on a very low carb diet, but also yuck on high carbs. I've put on about 1.5 kg over the three days of carb loading. I need to lose weight, not gain it! So I'll wait another year to do the test.
We are not a healthy family at the moment, with Aiden vomiting and my husband Tim with bad sinus pain (and snoring all night) but he went to work anyway, and me with my persistent cough and now conjunctivitis. The ointment on my eye makes the world a blur. I managed to keep the CPAP on for three hours last night which is an improvement, but with my coughing and Tim's snoring and Aiden being sick I don't think I got any extra sleep.
I've been reading my library books. The one with tips by people who've been on Biggest Loser gave me one word to take away - "maturity". That has kind of stuck with me. To stop being a whiny baby about having to work to lose weight.
Another book I really enjoyed was The Clothesline Diet and it's sequel. It's more of a personal memoir than a diet book. This lady really captured the public imagination about 10 years ago - an overweight Australian housewife who was too embarrassed to exercise in public started by walking around and around her clothesline in her backyard. In the beginning she had to hold onto it for support. She also cleaned up her diet and eventually moved on to exercising where people could see her. One interesting thing about her diet is that it is all about low fat. Nowadays sugar and carbs are more usually seen as the enemy, although of course fat is limited too. Fads and fashions change.
Now I am reading the Beck Diet Solution, which is not a prescriptive diet but a cognitive therapy plan to help you stick to whichever diet you choose. Things like eating mindfully, reminding yourself regularly why you want to lose weight, getting rid of temptations. All practical stuff. There is a new thing to focus on each day for six weeks. I need to work on concentrating on what I am eating rather than reading while I snack, so that my brain as well as my body knows I've eaten. It also suggests choosing a diet plan but also a backup diet, so that if the first one isn't working you can go straight to the backup instead of (as I usually do) faffing around for weeks and months wondering what to do next.
I'm up to choosing an exercise plan, something I'll need to think about a bit. With only a week until our puppy comes home, I won't be joining the gym just now or anything that takes me away from the house for long periods. It might a short walk plus using Kinect games. Last time I got a puppy I was working full time and I felt so guilty being away all day leaving her alone. I used to spend my lunchtimes driving all the way home for a short visit. This isn't forever, but when Thor is so little I want to limit the time he is alone. For the first four weeks, until he is fully immunised, he won't be going to the park or anywhere there are other dogs, so it will be our house and backyard. Then he can start to take walks with me. So excited about getting our puppy!
My little boy called out in the night that he was feeling sick, and is still in bed sleeping next to a bucket. So I couldn't go to my glucose tolerance test.
I've decided not to reschedule. My doctor didn't think I needed one yet, I've been testing myself at home and I'm about the same, and I just can't take another high-carb day. I know a lot of people love carbs, my husband thinks a meal without them is woefully incomplete, but I am happier with a more moderate amount. I feel awful on a very low carb diet, but also yuck on high carbs. I've put on about 1.5 kg over the three days of carb loading. I need to lose weight, not gain it! So I'll wait another year to do the test.
We are not a healthy family at the moment, with Aiden vomiting and my husband Tim with bad sinus pain (and snoring all night) but he went to work anyway, and me with my persistent cough and now conjunctivitis. The ointment on my eye makes the world a blur. I managed to keep the CPAP on for three hours last night which is an improvement, but with my coughing and Tim's snoring and Aiden being sick I don't think I got any extra sleep.
I've been reading my library books. The one with tips by people who've been on Biggest Loser gave me one word to take away - "maturity". That has kind of stuck with me. To stop being a whiny baby about having to work to lose weight.
Another book I really enjoyed was The Clothesline Diet and it's sequel. It's more of a personal memoir than a diet book. This lady really captured the public imagination about 10 years ago - an overweight Australian housewife who was too embarrassed to exercise in public started by walking around and around her clothesline in her backyard. In the beginning she had to hold onto it for support. She also cleaned up her diet and eventually moved on to exercising where people could see her. One interesting thing about her diet is that it is all about low fat. Nowadays sugar and carbs are more usually seen as the enemy, although of course fat is limited too. Fads and fashions change.
Now I am reading the Beck Diet Solution, which is not a prescriptive diet but a cognitive therapy plan to help you stick to whichever diet you choose. Things like eating mindfully, reminding yourself regularly why you want to lose weight, getting rid of temptations. All practical stuff. There is a new thing to focus on each day for six weeks. I need to work on concentrating on what I am eating rather than reading while I snack, so that my brain as well as my body knows I've eaten. It also suggests choosing a diet plan but also a backup diet, so that if the first one isn't working you can go straight to the backup instead of (as I usually do) faffing around for weeks and months wondering what to do next.
I'm up to choosing an exercise plan, something I'll need to think about a bit. With only a week until our puppy comes home, I won't be joining the gym just now or anything that takes me away from the house for long periods. It might a short walk plus using Kinect games. Last time I got a puppy I was working full time and I felt so guilty being away all day leaving her alone. I used to spend my lunchtimes driving all the way home for a short visit. This isn't forever, but when Thor is so little I want to limit the time he is alone. For the first four weeks, until he is fully immunised, he won't be going to the park or anywhere there are other dogs, so it will be our house and backyard. Then he can start to take walks with me. So excited about getting our puppy!
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Doctors
Wednesday:
My mum saw her oncologist yesterday. She found out at the end of last year that she had breast cancer that had spread to her bones, and since then has had chemo and radiotherapy and bone strengthening injections. The result is good, the tumors in her breast and pelvis have shrunk, and none of the others have grown. So I guess that is good. She finally has some kind of prognosis, now that they can see she's responded well to treatment, they told her "a few years". Better than a few months. But with her own father still going strong at 96, dying in her mid-70s will be way too young. Her mother died of a different kind of cancer in her 80s.
She had one mammogram about 20 years ago but found it unpleasant so never had another one.
I would hate for my kids to know that I had all the warning signs for various health problems and did nothing about it and died in my 50s of a heart attack.
I had my own doctor visit this morning. Tim had the car and it's only a kilometre away so I walked. Quite tiring. Still have this cough (still can't use my CPAP). But nice to be out in the crisp late-autumn sunshine. I told her I'd got the reminder letter about doing the glucose tolerance test and she was surprised and said she thought every second year was often enough. But I'd already made the appointment and been carb loading for the past two days so she gave me the referral anyway. And said two years next time. I do really like my doctor but my only problem with her is she doesn't always take things as seriously as I do (which might be good for me!) and she doesn't seem to think pre-diabetes is worth keeping a close eye on. She added a string of other tests for them to do at the same time so I had to ring the pathology place to tell them. Lucky they were fine with it. I was a bit nervous because when I booked the test I kind of had to lie and pretend I had the referral in front of me which of course I didn't as I didn't have it yet. And I thought I was being so clever. Oh well, organised now.
We also talked about my sleep apnoea (I hadn't seen her since my diagnosis) and I told her my blood pressure had gone up but the sleep doctor guy had said it would go down again when I got some sleep. She tested it and it was fine! So that is awesome news. Back down to my usual low levels. Even though I haven't been able to use my CPAP for two weeks.
Of course she told me losing weight helps fix sleep apnoea. My weight has been going up about half a kilogram each day with the carb loading. Luckily that ends at 9pm tonight then I fast for the test, and then I can get back to normal eating. That is, not my usual normal! A healthier version.
And finally she looked at my eye, which started hurting yesterday afternoon and by bedtime was a bloodshot red ball of pain. A bit better today but still sore. She couldn't find a scratch so gave me some ointment for conjunctivitis.
I've been testing my blood frequently over these past few days and I'm pretty sure my status of pre-diabetic will be the same. The numbers haven't been too bad, even with all the carbs. So I'm feeling like I can tackle everything.
My mum saw her oncologist yesterday. She found out at the end of last year that she had breast cancer that had spread to her bones, and since then has had chemo and radiotherapy and bone strengthening injections. The result is good, the tumors in her breast and pelvis have shrunk, and none of the others have grown. So I guess that is good. She finally has some kind of prognosis, now that they can see she's responded well to treatment, they told her "a few years". Better than a few months. But with her own father still going strong at 96, dying in her mid-70s will be way too young. Her mother died of a different kind of cancer in her 80s.
She had one mammogram about 20 years ago but found it unpleasant so never had another one.
I would hate for my kids to know that I had all the warning signs for various health problems and did nothing about it and died in my 50s of a heart attack.
I had my own doctor visit this morning. Tim had the car and it's only a kilometre away so I walked. Quite tiring. Still have this cough (still can't use my CPAP). But nice to be out in the crisp late-autumn sunshine. I told her I'd got the reminder letter about doing the glucose tolerance test and she was surprised and said she thought every second year was often enough. But I'd already made the appointment and been carb loading for the past two days so she gave me the referral anyway. And said two years next time. I do really like my doctor but my only problem with her is she doesn't always take things as seriously as I do (which might be good for me!) and she doesn't seem to think pre-diabetes is worth keeping a close eye on. She added a string of other tests for them to do at the same time so I had to ring the pathology place to tell them. Lucky they were fine with it. I was a bit nervous because when I booked the test I kind of had to lie and pretend I had the referral in front of me which of course I didn't as I didn't have it yet. And I thought I was being so clever. Oh well, organised now.
We also talked about my sleep apnoea (I hadn't seen her since my diagnosis) and I told her my blood pressure had gone up but the sleep doctor guy had said it would go down again when I got some sleep. She tested it and it was fine! So that is awesome news. Back down to my usual low levels. Even though I haven't been able to use my CPAP for two weeks.
Of course she told me losing weight helps fix sleep apnoea. My weight has been going up about half a kilogram each day with the carb loading. Luckily that ends at 9pm tonight then I fast for the test, and then I can get back to normal eating. That is, not my usual normal! A healthier version.
And finally she looked at my eye, which started hurting yesterday afternoon and by bedtime was a bloodshot red ball of pain. A bit better today but still sore. She couldn't find a scratch so gave me some ointment for conjunctivitis.
I've been testing my blood frequently over these past few days and I'm pretty sure my status of pre-diabetic will be the same. The numbers haven't been too bad, even with all the carbs. So I'm feeling like I can tackle everything.
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