support group???

Dodge City Kansas needs a Diabetic Support Group!

I need a Diabetic Support Group! I have gone through various stages in my disease (type 2). I was horrified when I was diagnosed and educated myself to the point of having the happy illusion that I understood the disease. Then, I gradually started to lose this certainty. Finally, most of this year (2010), I had a "GAF" attitude and was doing a lot of bad stupid stuff. (It was summer and hot so I figured I could eat little bowls of ice creamme no problem and then eat orange sherbet with my wife that night. I paid for this fantasy by going from A1C of 7.0 last November to 8.3 on July 6 and have gained the fear of Levemir. I hope this isn't a form of insulin made from British cows as that would put me on the Red Cross deferral list. ) I stopped working out. (This is a Friday so I am walking on the treadmill and lifting weights after work.)

When I was diagnosed on 7 May 2004, I was horrified and could have used a Support Group. I heard there was one at the Western Plains Hospital and attended one meeting. It did me no good. The four or five people there were years into the diabetics (mostly type 2) and were talking about dealing with the disease(s) at that level. There was nothing there for an "entry level diabetic" such as me.

A Blue Cross had a nurse educator called me once a month for several months and this was quite helpful.

Several months later (fall 2004), I tried to attend a meeting but learned the group had folded. I had called the Western Plains hospital several times and no one in administration could tell me anything about the group. So, my wife and I drove up there on a Thursday, before the scheduled meeting time, and found out the group had folded. A nurse who went by told us the group hadn't meet in a couple of months.

A couple of years later, I learned of another support group after it had folded.

I went to a meeting of a support group in September 2008 at the Mexican-American Ministry and came back the next month. No one showed up for the meeting but I ended up spending a hour with the facilitator (a RN, etc.) who helped me with diet information. She got a better job and that was the end of that support group.

In May 2010, I could have attended a forming meeting of a Diabetic Support Group at Western Plains Hospital but was talked into going to a "webinar" at work. This "webinar" was roughly "five minutes of material heroically crammed into an hour"  to paraphrase a saying that was popular when I was in the US Navy in the 1980s. I completely forgot about the support meeting. My boss laughed when I asked if I could get comp time for the hour I had wasted with this "webinar" and I swore off ever attending the damn things again! (Obviously, I did not get that comp time... ;-) )

The June 2010 meeting of the "new" support group was canceled due to severe weather. Imagine that, severe weather in southwest Kansas in early June!

The facilitator had to travel from Garden City to Dodge City, an arduous 55 minute trip... :-D

The July meeting was canceled due to being canceled.

I called the Western Plains Hospital and asked if they were going to have the August meeting and eventually got some one in administration who would talk with me. I was told there were no records of an August meeting being scheduled.

So, I have seen three support groups come and go at "our" local hospital and one at an underfunded Ministry.

Why is it the Grant County Public Health Department able to have a monthly support group for years and Grant county is smaller than Ford County?

The only "support group" I've got is talking with a co-worker who has been telling me the truth of taking insulin and other injected drugs. I'm not quite ready for the needle but it looks inevitable.

"it's my own damn fault..."

I am been thinking of how I sent from an A1C of 7.1 last November to 8.3 on 6 July. At first, I was puzzled; I was really in denial! Then, I got to thinking of what I'd eaten wrong and how little I had exercised.

I realized that I had gotten into the habit of saying "it sure is hot" and going to Dillions and buying these little (about ½ cup of ice creamme and if I was really hungry, I went for the ¾ cup size) little tubs of ice creamme. Sometimes, I would sneak this and then have orange sherbet (with chocolate shell) with my wife later that day. I also went through dark chocolate but I didn't drink Diet Pepsi at home - I was being good! - and didn't drink much booze.

I realized that I had gotten out of the habit of walking on the treadmill at the Sheridan Center and I gave up on weights years ago. Well, after seeing the frigging A1C of 8.3 I have

• resumed walking on the treadmill for 30 to 35 minutes a day, 5 days a week
• started doing circuit training (weights) 3 days a week
• haven't gone out for ice creamme and it has been hotter than when I was binging

I don't know how well I'll do with the ice creamme since I can feel it calling to me! I sort of know how folks feel about booze but I don't have any real lust for it; I do have a craving, at times, for the ice creamme...

So, the reason for this posting's title?

Whose fault is it that my A1C went down the toilet so many years ago, let alone in 2010? To quote Jimmy Buffet, "it's my own damn fault!"

diabetes - What a bitch!

diabetes

My MD says my cholesterol is fine but my A1C is very bad. So, I've renewed my exercising

• 30-35 minutes/day, 5 days/week with the last 5 minutes a cool down
• circuit training 3/week (Moanday, Wednesday and Friday)
• considering starting push ups again and snicker at the thought of shitup situps

The problem is I'm American and I want that "instant gratification" in spite of my knowing that "instant gratification"is a myth. So, I'm bummed and worried that this is all futile. I might as well, say fuck it (as I have for decades), surrender and wait the insulin prescription in November. Well, I'm tired of myself giving up and I'm going to continue trying. I'm supposed to be checking my blood sugar twice a day, twice a week. (i.e. waking up and 2 hours after eating my evening meal on Tuesday and Friday). To this I've added:

• weighing myself (depressing!)
• making sure I actually go to the Sheridan Center and work out

We'll see if I can't put the A1C down again...

type 2 sympthoms

http://diabetes.webmd.com/tc/type-2-diabetes-living-with-the-disease-symptoms?ecd=wnl_dia_071410

I have many of the symptoms discussed.

eating bad food leads to type 2 diabetics

It is 10:50 am and I am watching "Everyday History" on the Discovery Channel; they are doing a story about UFOs. I was reading through my diabetes blog material and was thinking about a black family I saw in the late 1960s. This family (Dad, Mom and Daughter) worked at the Keesler Air Force Base theater popcorn stand in Biloxi Mississippi. They were a curiosity because they were quite fat. (That was in the late 1960s; I don't know that they are diabetics but I'd be surprised it they were not!)

My Mother said they were so fat because they could not afford good (healthy) food.

I have  since learned that being fat is generally a prime prerequisite for type two diabetes. By the logic of

if A ⇒ B and B ⇒ C then A ⇒ C

Apply this logic and you get:

if eating bad food ⇒ obesity and obesity ⇒ type 2 diabetes

then

eating bad food ⇒ type 2 diabetes

Assuming my premises are correct and the form of the logic chain is correct (it is!) then I have just logically proven that eating the wrong food leads to type 2 diabetes.

NOTE: The character ⇒ is "implies".

my fear of insulin and how I sort of got over it

I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic on 7 May 2004. I was told that I'd be on 750 mg Metformin twice a day. Abut a year later, it went up to 1000 mg, twice a day. I began to dread the notion of having to "go on the needle": that is, start using injected insulin or other drugs. I was very opposed to this.

There have been three times diabetics nurses have tried to get me to start using something injected. Each time, Dr. Hostetler agreed (cooperated with) to my desire to remain on pills. I don't think I was afraid of having to inject myself. After all, I had gotten used to checking my blood sugar so it couldn't have been that fear. However, I don't know how the pain level would be changed by the addition of adding the injection phase to the stabbing phase. (I see a hypodermic injection event as first, putting the needle in and second, injecting the liquid.)

I was afraid of the various side effects like

1. having to check my blood sugar more frequently,
2. the pain of the injections,
3. my schedule changes so often, how would I arrange injection times when we had severe weather when I was working evenings,
4. I would have to fear hypoglycemia,
5. simple fear of the unknown.

My Father and youngest brother "went on the needle" and both died young.. My Father at age 68 (I was 42 when he died and 68 seemed old; I am 58 now and 68 doesn't seem old!) and my brother Charles Andrew Bell died at 44 years, 1 month, 8 days (that was too damn young!) So, what is the relevance of this?

That both went "on the needle" and died young. I have been terrified that I would "go on the needle" and die young as well. I've been told this is nonsense and have not believed it. I have also been told I am not being rational (I agree with that!) and Kathie thought I was being a "drama queen" (what ever that is supposed to be).

My fear ignores that my Father smoked 2 to 3 packs of cigarettes a day for maybe 35 years and drank a bit (not the alcoholic my sister-in-law Denise thinks he was); he lost a lot of weight and tried harder to live right that I have. Shit! Charlie smoked too, claims to have snorted coke (not the beverage!) in the 1980s and did not "eat right". (I suspect he could not afford to eat right.)

I told Dr. Hostetler that "i guess I'll jump off the cliff". I wanted to say "jump into the abyss" but I restrained. Dr. Hostetler replied "that's silly". I said "I guess you're right". "It's like jumping off a step stool".

OK, I guess I can't argue with him there and I suddenly had a revelation: I'm not horrified by the idea of inject able drugs; I'm almost ready to try injecting.

The needle is just another way of getting diabetic drugs into my body; just an alternative to pills. Being diabetic is not about taking pills or shooting up something, it is about having shity "control" of my blood sugar and dealing with the consequence


I have had to give up the idea that if you are not on insulin, you are not a real diabetic. I was wrong; if you're diabetic, you're a diabetic. Get over it!

NOTE:  The image comes from page 47 of the graphic novel version of "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson and illustrated by Elman Brown and I have used it in what I believe to be "fair usage".

Wink Hartman and 'Obamacare'

Wink Hartman is a Kansas politician who is running for the House of Representatives. He is a self professed Conservative.

According to his issues page, he also wants to get rid of "Obamacare". " Obamacare" will mean a number of uninsured people will actually get health care insurance. Wink asserts that "The bottom line is that 'Obamacare' will decrease the quality of our health-care plan..." but doesn't offer any proof.

Does he want to go back to the days of uninsured sick people going to the Emergency Room for issues that should have been resolved in an MD's office? Oh, wait, I forgot; you have to pay an MD, who can refuse you service but an Emergency Room has to take whoever shows up!

My youngest brother was a juvenile onset type 1 diabetic and either had no health insurance or absolute horrible health insurance. He died at the age of 44 years, 1 month and 8 days. I think my brother might have lived a lot longer if he'd had health insurance and thus regular access to a family MD.

How many others like him are out there without health insurance? I have a friend with two juvenile onset diabetic grandchildren; he's worried about what these kids will do when they no longer are covered by their parent's health insurance.

The very 'Obamacare' Wink disparages might have saved my brother's life. We'll never know. What we do know is that "Obamacare" is the best hope many such people have!