Step By Step

My blood sugar continues to drop. From diagnosis at 360, to the 200 range, my latest readings have held steady around 150 to 160 (with 142 my best one yet). According to one scale I found, a fasting norm should be around 80 to 100.

Good news! I went for a Diabetic eye exam with an opthalmologist. It was not scary at all. Of course, my vision had changed quite a bit since my last eyeglass prescription about 5 years ago (I told them everything was still slightly blurred). The doctor said I may have had Diabetes longer than I thought. At least he found no signs of permanent damage: No signs of retinopathy, no macular degeneration, no glaucoma. He said I could wait about two months, then get a new pair of glasses. He even said the 3.25 mag reading glasses I picked up at Rite Aid was a good game plan for now!

I understand that my brother got to the point where he was so well controlled, he could stop taking medication. I don't know how often this happens with Type 2, but I'd like to see it happen for me too.

No daily walks so far, but I managed to repaint a portion of our basement this week (after regular work hours). Even repainted a small bathroom and mowed the lawn in one day. My energy level has been good. And I'm sure that explains my improving numbers.

Picked up a box of Kix cereal the other day, but haven't tried them yet. As a kid, I remember dumping sugar on anything that wasn't pre-sweetened. But now I'm eating Wheaties and Rice Chex with only 2% milk. Years ago, I read somewhere that the same thing happens with taste buds and salt. When people stop adding salt to their food, they begin to experience more natural flavors. It seems to be true with sugar.

We even had root beer floats one night. (Diet A&W with Edy's Slow-churned vanilla -- no sugar added). Fantastic!

I'm feeling more like a regular person. Except for the few minutes it takes to read my blood sugar each morning, I try not to think about my condition. We're getting past the shock of my diagnosis. Though I was definitely feeling sick for a while (at least a month) while trying to figure out what was wrong, most of the symptoms have now disappeared.

Even my eyesight continues to improve. Before all this happened, I wore bifocals. Far vision was basically pretty good. Lately, I've noticed it getting a little better each day. I can watch TV without glasses.

The bruises on my arms have completely healed. By the way, has anyone tried more than one meter? I began with FreeStyle Lite, which has worked completely fine. But then, my Dad found two unopened containers of test strips for the Bayer Contour meter (Mom passed away a year ago. Somehow, I didn't know she was Diabetic. She never talked about it.) The expiration date was still a year away. So I picked up a Bayer meter for twenty bucks. At the cost of strips, he saved me over $100!

I'd like to hear more about your journey. What do you like to eat most? Any favorite recipes? How about fast food? (We haven't found many obstacles, but then, we don't eat out much, either.)

How often do you test? What time of day? How do feel about your daily number? Does it affect your outlook on life?

My grandmother took daily insulin (this was in the 1970's) and my grandfather used to take care of her. For the longest time, I thought it would never affect me. But then, I didn't realize you could go through half of your life with no problems, then develop a condition like Diabetes.

Now it's a part of my daily routine. I have to at least think about it every time I eat or drink. But at least I don't feel sick anymore. Maybe I'm lucky. I'm sure everyone's journey along this path is different. And I still have a long way to go.

I'm taking it step by step.