A New Year..

Our game nite group celebrated Christmas on New Year's Eve - and again, the gang surprised me with a video from Disney - where they asked all different people and characters at the parks to say hello to me. There was one costumed lady on the street before a parade, and she really yucked it up with the camera - not to mention Kyle and the gang. He focused his camera on her best features, and she really stayed in character and learned the gang's saying..."you put goodness out there...and goodness comes back", complete with the little hand/arm swoosh on camera, even when she was walking with her group out of the parade. What a hoot! Nate made a yummy casserole and I brought "sushi" - which was actually a spinach tortilla with whipped cream cheese and veggie sticks rolled up and sliced to resemble sushi; then of course, Nate's chocolate fountain (chocolate prepared by KeKe) and the stuff to dip in it. We toasted the New Year and exchanged Christmas gifts. Good Friends, Good Times. We played a game of Pictionary Man which I had given the boys - it was fun! You gotta try it.



Monday, January 5th it was back to work. Wednesday I had an eye doctor's appointment because my vision was continuously blurry. He dilated my eyes and said I would be back to "normal" in a couple of hours - well, not quite. It was 4:15 before both eyes were back to what looked normal and I could actually see! Oh well, another day off after a week and a half??? No problem. My eyes were so sensitive to the light...and I actually drove home - taking the back way, but admittedly, I should not have driven myself. I couldn't see the traffic lights because of the bright sunlight. My eyes have never been that sensitive before. He wrote me a prescription for new glasses - and I think the clue was when he threw the 'big E' up on the wall and I said it was blurry. I told him I also had a doctor's appointment scheduled for the following Monday where I wanted them to check for diabetes - and he said NOT to fill the script til the doctor got my blood sugar readings.



Over the holidays, I really had no appetite - and lost about 6 pounds - and was so very thirsty all the time! Waking up to drink water during the night was NOT my normal routine. I was chugging 20-oz bottles like it was going out of style - and I drank two gallons of skim milk in two days!! I could not get my thirst quenched. This, along with no energy, brought diabetes to mind. The doctor agreed, though he hoped it was just my thyroid. The lab took blood that Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning I got the results - type 2 Diabetes.



I went in Thursday to see the office diabetes specialist and she reviewed my chart, and almost fell off her chair when she saw my glucose level from Monday: 552!!! Yes, 552 with the exclamation points added to my chart by the lab. She could not believe that I had not passed out or gone into a coma. The doctor had already had me start two meds on Wednesday, but by Thursday, one of them was doubled, then tripled. The second was one pill to start, then two starting on Sunday. I left the office with a meter and reading material, including a 'fast food' guide to eating nutritiously - counting carbs. She also explained how the disease and treatments work, and how to read labels and counting total carbs. I can have 12 carbs daily and my blood sugar reading should be between 70 and 140.



I went to Mom and Dad's and he showed me how to use the meter and the NEEDLE! I was a little gun shy, but after a few trys, I had it down. I started a log of my before breakfast and before supper readings and my carb counts. Levels have been up and down...from 294, to 219, to 134 and back up to 213. The diabetes specialist said I only had to test it twice a day for 3 days during the week, but I used the week-end to get my feet wet. I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast - or toast with a little low fat cheese - so its a change all right and actually, I am already feeling better! I had energy to do things that needed to be done and learned that I need to 'snack' between meals to feel my best. I also need to increase my activity level (isn't that a nicer word than the "ex" word??) to 30-minutes a day, four days a week. That will most likely be accomplised by doing 'hall laps' at work, walking the dog, and eventually, a class or a trip to the SLC. Mom and Dad are super supportive as are my friends and other family members, and of course, L, J & R.



I had lunch with MJH as she was in town to visit with her daughter. We went to Olive Garden! I visited their site before I left and learned definitely NO breadsticks...and soup was even high in carbs! I also opted for the salad with oil and vinegar - no cheese, no croutons....and still, I have used 8 of my 12 carbs for the day. Oh well, veggies for dinner!! I enjoyed the visit over lunch, and MJH looked perplexed when I didn't join them in an Italian Margarita - so I had to tell her about my diagnosis. She is concerned and very supportive.



My first trip to shop for carb-appropriate food didn't net me much to fill my cabinets, but I'll get used to reading labels and making smarter choices - including - fish (yuck!) Not my favorite food for sure, but I can stand a tuna melt (tuna on a bagel with mustard and a little cheese under the broiler) once in a while! The side effects of the medicine haven't been too bad...except for the initial one...but I am surviving. I have also lost another three pounds - whoo-hoo! My pants are loose, too!