I saw the doctor yesterday about my diabetes. My wife showed up unexpectedly to be courtside and help pound the seriousness into me. :)
In the end, it looks like the diabetes is still in the very early stages, and it doesn't appear to have progressed since March. The doctor told us that I should worry about it a little more and my wife a little less. All in all, I feel like, if I have to have diabetes, then at least it's this way and things can be greatly improved with continued effort on my part.
2 comments:
I'm glad you had a good visit. Did the doctor set you up with a diabetes education program? I know they have them at some hospitals, where they give you training on how to eat in a way that manages the diabetes, while also helping with weight loss. The insurance might cover the cost, and the education might help you with your progress (congratulations so far!) and might help Phyllisa with her concerns since you'll be doing all that can possibly be done to manage the diabetes. I saw an education center like that at St. Marks hospital when I had to go visit a dietician when I was first diagnosed with hypoglycemia, and it looked like they had some great resources.
The doctor gave us some information about diabetes, and we asked about any specific diet recommendations. He said that he doesn't deal with specific diets in his line of work, but that in general, a diet something like the South Beach diet ("good" carbs, meaning slow digesting ones coupled with higher protein) is better than an Atkins diet (no carbs). The lowered carbs are of course better for the sugar levels, and yet you still need some to really be able to stay on the regimen long term.
He didn't suggest an education program, I think in part because he feels like we are early enough in it that we can successfully treat it with medicine that slowly lowers blood sugar (not like fast acting insulin), treating my cholesterol, and continuing to treat my blood pressure. The hope is that I would be able to slowly come off those medicines as I make significant weight loss progress.
The truth is that I probably wouldn't attend an education program regularly anyway, especially if I had to do it as far away as St. Marks. I'm stretching to fit in a workout of some kind each day, and that's only 15 or so minutes in my own home!
We asked if I needed to be monitoring my blood sugar every day, and he said no because I wasn't taking medicine that might lower my blood sugar too far. In fact, my three month level was 6.2, and the goal is 6.5 or less, so I'm already there. I just had a really high reading for a fasting level in March, but now things are looking more normal. I might not need anything if I didn't also have borderline high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Because I have the three things together, though, I have to get my cholesterol WAY down from the borderline.
In the end, I walked out with two extra prescriptions and strict instructions to continue working on losing the weight.
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