Visit with the "doc" | 06/11/2009 |
 So, here it is, the follow up to my doctor's appointment:
I'm still diabetic.
A shock, no? Well maybe not, but here's the rundown.
About 10 days before this check up, I had an optometrist appointment. As some may remember, it was my first visit to the optometrist where I learned that the bleeding in my retinas could be the early stages of either high-blood-pressure or diabetes. We now know that it turned out to be diabetes - all from an eye exam (BTW, while I personally hate doctors, I'm going to have to recommend seeing an optometrist regularly - Early diabetic warning system).
When I saw the optometrist this time, he gave me the full examination and said, "if you hadn't told me that you had diabetes, I wouldn't be able to tell from your eyes." Yep, I've been taking decent care of myself, and my eyes have healed up 100%. Yea, Me! Still need a new prescription, though.
10 days after the optometrist, I met with my General Practitioner for my 6 month check up. I'm holding steady. I'm not getting worse, but at the same time not really getting better. A1C was 5.9 this time (it was 5.8 last time - the difference is marginal). The doc says that "average joe off the street can have 5.9". I'll take his word on that, for I am 5.9 under medication.
Now, it would seem that this is all good news. Not to toot my own horn, but it IS good news. It's good news for...someone else. For me it says "you've lost your way, WTF?"
Oh, I'm not being hard on myself, but I also haven't been being strict like I was right at the start. I've cheated a little more on the diet than I should, and haven't exercised as much as I could. Each occurrence seems so minor, and they are, but a lot of little things add up to a big problem over time. The big problem in this case: Still on medication, Still diabetic.
So, over the next 6 months I've got to get back into being a little more strict. No unscheduled snacks (yes, I schedule my snacks. It's actually healthy). Avoid simple carbohydrates completely (ie sugar, "enriched" processed wheat flour, white rice...), avoid overly processed food in general, and step up the exercise. All of that should get me to the minor goal of being off meds. I hope.
In the meantime, even with my cheating and being lax on the exercise, I'm still surprising my doctor and getting comments like "If more diabetics were like you, they'd be in a lot less hurt."
Fancy that...I'm a role model. What the hell happened?
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