support group

I went to the Dodge City diabetic support group yesterday (9 August 2010)and got there late. First, I was stuck in traffic while a train went back and forth on the tracks a ½ mile away. The traffic ahead of me got off this road (South 2^nd) and I headed for the quick way across the tracks: the little road, next to a Vet Clinic, that leads under the railroad tracks. This is never busy.

Silly me! I had forgotten that 3 pm was shift change time at one of the meat packing plants and there were hundreds of cars or pickups ahead of me. I ended up getting to the 3 pm support group about 3:10 pm and not the 2:50 pm I had planned on... :-[

I apologize for bad mouthing (in other posts) diabetic support groups in Dodge City. It was simply frustration talking.

I had been told the meeting was at a building north of the hospital. I went to the first building I saw and entered. The name did not look right but I looked around till I found a woman I could ask directions from. She sent me to a classroom and I found

The facilitator is a very nice, very concerned and dedicated young woman from Garden City. We discussed my diabetics history and concerns, nutrition and portion control, she did an A1C test and we discussed the results. Apparently, stress can raise one's A1C and that would explain my A1C going from 8.3 to 8.5 (this test). Of course, I've read that A1C testing is not precise and different labs can come up with different results from the same blood sample. One should stick with the same lab and look at the trend rather than just the absolute numbers.

She sent me home with "homework": figure out how much I should be eating portion-wise. That will be so much fun... ;-)

I'm going to get my wife involved with this and from past experience, I know she won't like it. It will probably remind her too much of being in "Overeaters Anonymous" back in late 1979 and early 1980.

NOTE: I am trying to make sure this message does not go to the ADA!

things a diabetic needs to consider preparatory to their deaths

I nearly drown in late 1987 (and haven't scuba dived since);I thought I was having a heart attack when I was 35 years old. My youngest brother died of congestive heart failure at age 44 years, 1 month, 8 days. You don't have to be "old" to worry about death and it's aftermath.

I am not a lawyer so contact one with your legal questions; I'm just someone whose youngest brother died intestate or "without a will"". Here are some suggestions based on what my brothers (especially Jim) and I experienced:

Before you die, before you even get sick, make a will telling what you want:

• done with your body:
  
  
  
  • creamation or
    
  • embalming and burial,
    
  • who does the work,
    
  • your plans for payment,
    
  • burial site
    
  • or ash disposal instructions (i.e.: placement at a Veteran's Cemetary, a nice spot in your curio cabinet, burial with relatives, scattering at sea or the back yard),
    
  
  
• You might plan your funeral service (I had a friend - Karla Jean Miller - who planned her funeral in complete detail. My youngest brother made no such plans; my brothers and I ended up going to our ministers to get advice...)
  
• how to notify your boss(es),
  
• who gets your stuff,
  
• who you owe money to,
  
• what liens are out on your property (i.e. on your car title!),
  
• bank accounts,
  
• 401Ks,
  
• life insurance policies (and did you "borrow" money from it/them?)
  
• what storage lockers you are renting,
  
• what bank lock boxes or safe deposit boxes do you rent,
  
• your email data,
  
• social network accounts,
  
• blogs,
  
• newspapers and magazines you subscribe to,
  
• what you want done with your dogs, cats, birds, fish (feed to cats?),"pet snakes" (now there is an oxymoron!),
  
• a list of where you keep your medications and "sharps",
  
• do you automatically get meds from a pharmacy (I do...) with billing afterwards,
  
• and a list of folks to be notified with their phone numbers, email and mail addresses,
  
• a list of files/directories on your computer(s) you want to give away. (i.e. I had my father's home movies from when I was in 1^st grade translated to DVD but never got around to sending them to my brothers...) and,
• a list of files/directoried you want purged before anyone gets your "old" computer(s) or it is sent to the breakers
  

All of this could be done on a couple of sheets of paper. You could sort bills and put them in a cheap, plastic, filing cabinet.

Contact the various companies your will's executor will have to deal with. If you die without a will, a judge may appoint a successor. If a successor is appointed, better hope it is a friend or relative who will work with your relatives or friends to determine who gets what. A court appointed successor might not be a friend to your kith and kin.  

I explained this to a friend, the head of the local hospice. She said "get a living will and keep it up to date!"

You might consider writing your obituary; think of it as a permanent, uneditable, "wikipedia" entry on newspaper.

It just occurred to me that you could set aside money to buy booze and munchies for your wake. ("Won't be any 'lite' beer or Mad Dog or 'Ultra' at my wake!") Just a thought, albeit a bit morbid...

If you find an overdue VCR or DVD, expect to pay the overdue fine (unless you drop it in the slot and trundle off); I don't think they'll buy the "but it's overdue cause the renter died...

Finally, you might as well write down the library you borrow from and keep library books, etc. in a conveient place for their return. It never occurred to me to look for any library books or CDs my youngest brother might have checked out; his room mate would have dealt with this...

apparently there is a support group...

I got a phone call from the local hospital earlier this morning and was told there is a support group meeting this coming Monday at 3 pm. The meeting place is at an annex just of the Dodge City Hospital. Contrary to what I had formerly been lead to believe, it does look like there is a support group for me.

I may have been wrong in my diatribe but I doubt it...

blood sugar and weight July 2010

      July 2010

Day Date  AM    PM    Weight
==================================
Thu    1  165   230   I have been used to coding 25
Fri    2  137   187   in my blood meter and didn't
Sat    3  140   234   realize I had 13s...
Sun    4  147   179
Mon    5  173   205   Oh, well...
Tue    6  ---   ---
Wed    7  ---   ---
Thu    8  ---   ---
Fri    9  147   168   282 (taken when I got out of bed)
Sat   10  ---   ---
Sun   11  ---   ---
Mon   12  ---   ---
Tue   13  180   204   286 (this weight after exercising on Moanday)
Wed   14  ---   ---
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