several about Diabetics...

One of the latest emails from the ADA talked about the threat of pneumonia. The threat to "old folks" is that pneumonia weakens their bodies for the illness that kills them...

"That what doesn't kill us makes us stronger."

Friedrich Nietzsche

"That which doesn't kill us makes us vulnerable to that which can kill us!".

Me...

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There was a rather horrifying statistic about the incidence of diabetics in children. This is both type 1 and type 2. I've got to wonder how this will impact on military recruitment when these kids come of age.

I can see the Armed Forces not "ingesting" the type 1s but the type 2s will be a different matter.

Then, I thought of the "boots's" feet. ('Boots' is the old expression for enlisted recruits...)

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Then, I thought of the "boots's" feet.

I remember the boots ("boondockers") and "low cut" dress shoes I was issued in Navy Boot Camp in September 1970. The leather was very rough and everyone got blisters. Some of these blisters bleed and that made them possible infection sites.

The second Thursday of December (the 14^th), I got a blister on my "left index toe". This appeared to be infected so my family MD had me on anti-bodies for ten days.

Around Christmas, I was outside barefoot and scrapped by right heel on the shoe. Fortunately, I still had two antibotic pills to go when this happened.

So, no infection and skin is growing over the "wound" site.

I was diagnoses as a type 2 on 7 May 2004. I've been "lucky". I have to wonder how many diabetics would be "booted out" of Boot Camp with serious foot wounds or possibly misxsing foot parts.

I doubt it the V A is ready to deal with this...

Oddly low...

My morning fasting score (taken after I walked the dog) was 89.

89?

This is the 2^nd lowest I've ever had!

I did have trouble with the reading this morning. Sometimes, the test stripe doesn't go in v;ery well and I have to pull it out and put it back in again (not in sexual manner...). This morning, I "wetted" one side and nothing happened. I squeezed more blood out of my finger and "wetted" the other side of the stripe. It took two tries but it worked.

I probably should have tried again. Also, I normally test off my forearm but today it had to be the finger. I had put on a long sleeved t=shirt when I got dressed and didn't want to pull the sleeve up...

I ain't no saint myself...

For years I bitched about my youngest brother's inability to control his blood sugar. I have days wshere I eat a "big" meal at nivht andmy score is comparatively low the next morning (104 -120) and other nights where I have a salad and my score is 135 to 145 two hours later; nights where a steak, small potatoes and veggies give me a smaller score.

I called my youngest brother and he said he was averaging 251; basically at least 100 points then my "normal" highest...

I was wearing a black socks and black dress shoes that don't fit worth a damn. The skin on my 2nd and 3rd toes of my left foot were reddened from friction but hadn't blistered up. I wrapped a band aid on one of the toes and wear and tear dropped off. I'm going to have to go to the diabetic shoe store in Garden City to get myself a decent pair of dress shoes.

I'll need them this comning year....

Brother's status - good news...

My youngest brother finally got around to calling teh Social Security people to look into getting onto disability. He had been told early this year that:

1. he would be rejected the first two or three times and
   
2. he would probably not make it anyway and
   
3. he would have to deal with his medical and other bills for 8 or 9 months
   

He called and was told "you should have called years ago!

It looks good for him...

Four days later, still no news and no emails...

Charlie's status...

My youngest brother was in hospital in late November. He had gone in with the vomiting and had a heart attack while in the emergency room. They put him in Heart CCU (Cardiac Care Unit). Two days later, they decided to try a quarduptle bypass. I couldn't help but wonder where they would get the blood vessels from. After all, his reight leg ends at mid theigh and his left leg about 5 inches above his ancle. This means the vein used in his surgery in March 2006 was wasted. He had a serious infection of his left foot back then and they had taken a vein from high in his left thigh and had used this to replace the trashed out veins then in his lower left leg. After a while, they simply had to whack off his left foot. It was very painful for all and especially him to lose that foot but it still bothers me that saving the foot had wasted a vein that might have eventually gone to save his heart.

Anyway, they called in the cardiac surgeon and tried angeopathy vice open heart. The surgeon said is was a "no go" [or words to that effedt]. Then, the bette rspecialist was called in and he decreed that Charlie probably would not survive open heart surgery; if he did survive then his kidneys would have been totally trashed. So, this better surgeon decided to try angipathy again. Being the better "cutter", he succeed.

So, my youngest brother was declared suitable to be released.

Our other two brothers and I are quite concerned. We worry about what he eats (pizza and coke cola, beer and wine), his apparent unwillingness to walk on his prothesis and his over willingness to use the wheel chair and his apparent unwillingness to work on his own behalf.

We were happy that Charlie had a group insurance plan to cover his hospital stay. He had been fired in early November (he was out sick too many days) but still had the company medical plan until the end of November 2006.

That is a damned shame! If he had lost the insurance, Charlie would have gone back on COBRA and would have had total coverage. Instead, his "company group insurance" was only good for $5,000 and his bills were about $100,000!. This means he owes $95,000! He will lose all his money (including his inheritance) and anything of real value to pay off his hospital bill.

Folks like Charlie need free public health care, if only because they'll never be able to pay back the very, very large hospital bills they run up. I'm not rich and we can't afford to carry Chrlie's debts and pay his bills. This is already causing problems between my wife and me and between another brother of ours and his wife!