Surviving

Many of you know that I suffer from diabetic proliferative retinopathy. I have an exam every 3 months to check on any new capillary growth and how well my eyes are healing. Yesterday, I had a 3 month follow-up appointment to examine bleeding that occurred in my left eye back in January.

The good news is that the healing is going extremely well. A vitrectomy was not needed, nor was a laser surgery. I can't thank you all enough for your thoughts and prayers. The prognosis was also hopeful with the slight chance of future bleeding. But my doctor was very confident that if bleeding did occur, it would only help in the healing. I know this sounds weird, but I have faith in my retinal opthamologist.

Now the bad news. For the last two days, my blood sugars have been like a roller coaster. This is due to all the stress I've been under since early Monday. Stress such as the eye appointment, project deadlines [work], and employee-personnel changes [work] have killed my blood sugar levels. Even as I write this, the anxiousness hasn't worn off; I can feel it affecting me.

Thankfully, I am monitoring my sugars every 2 hours and making adjustments as I go. The OmniPod insulin pump can't come here soon enough...

UGH!

This morning was "unofficially" my first full month of riding my exercise bike every morning. YEA!

But, like every twist and turn in our lives, something went amuck. My stationary bike's speedometer crashed. I had to stop riding at the 5 mile mark, since the squeeling noise was so bad and the speed kept bouncing from 10 mph to 40. Not good. Needless to say, I was severely bummed. Especially since I was sooooo excited to work out this morning. :D

Alas, I will continue my trek after I make a few adjustments/repairs...

OmniPod Status

UPDATE:
Just learned that everyone is now communicating and I've been pre-approved for the OmniPod. Yea! More to come...
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In the past, diabetics had to constantly fight for their care, e.g. battle insurance companies for coverage, battle doctors for more supplies, battle both to play nicely with each other. In many cases, this similar activity goes on today.

My parents had to fight for insurance coverage for me. And God help me if my diabetes prescriptions ever changed. Personally, I have fought insurance companies and some doctors for increased blood glucose strips, long before the DCCT [Diabtes Control and Complications Trial] was ever published.

In 1999, I successfully fought for an insulin pump. And yet throughout the years, I've learned to communicate very well between different parties. Right now, I'm communicating between three parties: my doctor, my insurance company, and the Insulet Corporation--makers of the OmniPod.

The great news is, the insurance company and Insulet are getting along very well. Strange news is, my doctor's office and Insulet are miscommunicating. I find this strange due to how strongly my doctor wants me on a pump, but the office just can't get things right with the pump maker. Go figure, right?

Guess who now has to steer the ship? Yeah, another day in our lives as diabetics. However, the fight goes on...

I'm Not Perfect!

So, here I am having a streak of awesome blood sugars, when WHAM! I get hit with a 290 after breakfast.

Why?

'Cause I wanted pancakes for breakfast. The all-mighty carb breakfast. All I wanted was that delicious taste of butter and sugar-free maple syrup on a wonderfully hot pancake. Is that too darn much to ask? I even thought I gave myself enough insulin to cover...

I guess I didn't.

Too many bad carbs...bad, bad carbs. Bad me for wanting too many bad carbs. At least I caught it in time.

I should've had the slice of rye toast, with turkey on it, like my wife suggested. I know...I know, I'll get over this. :(

Staying Motivated

When I began planning my exercise routine, my wife and I agreed that the time of day to exercise was critical. Why?

1. I drive 25 miles each way to work everyday; out at 6:30 am, in by 5:30-6ish pm.

2. After I get home, I help my wife with either the kids' homework or cooking dinner (yes, I cook and everyone is still living)

3. Intense exercise before bedtime is NEVER a good idea (waking up at 2:30 am with a 25 blood sugar is not cool)

4. In the past, my body always did better with morning exercise

Before my stationary biking venture, I awoke every morning at 5:30 am and was out the door at 6:30. Now, I am up at 5 am (or sometimes 4:45 am), test, use the potty, drink a little water, then bike.

So, how do I stay motivated even though my body sometimes screams for more sleep? In addition to prayer, music, and writing, I search for articles and blogs on the web that motivate me. Such sites as dLife.com, Team Type 1, Jay Hewitt, and Triabetes.org are just a few. These sites offer so much valuable information on diabetes, exercise, and diet.

Being motivated to take care of my disease is a step closer to preventing further complications. Staying motivated means that I don't live in fear of what is around the corner; be it further retinopathy, neuropathy, heart disease, or cancer.

Keep well and...

get motivated!

Mark