picture of something very important to me...

"My feet! Something that eventually goes away from the diabetics in my family..."

PAM (Pissing And Moaning)

I'm still PAMing (Pissing and Moaning) about my blood sugar "score" from last night. I'll quote from myself:

"We did go out to dinner last night, to celebrate me having taken the A1C test. We went to Arby's and had steak and garlic mashed potatoes and a really decadent desert!

It was wonderful.

Two hours after I finished eatting, my blood sugar was 225!

Two hundred and twenty five!

That is the highest I've seen it on a test I did myself. So, I guess that wonderful desert really is sweet poison. I won't be doing that again any time soon!"

It may be "bad form" to quote myself but my "publisher" (me) says "go for it!. And, since I always obey my "publisher", I did "go for it!".

I still remember getting my butt chewed by some clown on a Science Fiction talk list by violating some rule I'd never heard of. A couple of other people wrote me and said this "clown" thought he was the ultimate expert on whatever the subject was and jumped all over anyone who had a differeing opionion.

Another time, I posted on a BBS (in Moline Illinois) a "survey" from an email humour magazine. I was blasted by a number of angry people and the BBS admin kicked me off that BBS "for my own good".

Damn people! It was just a joke! (It was in 1995 from a humour magazine run from MIT.)

Charlie is back home...and I quoted BGEN Jack O'Neille!

My brother Charlie refused to let the surgeons cut off his left leg at the knee and talked them into alternative surgery. The MDs said his arteries from mid left calf on down were basically trashed. They wanted to whack off his left leg. (So what if poor Charlie would be stuck in a wheel chair and legless? The boys in the body shop -er- prosthesis creation centre need the work! The girls in the their rehab department need the work! I guess that hospital just isn't getting the surge of walkering wounded or perhaps I should say unwalking wounded from the various wars...)

Instead, the surgeons took a healthy vein from Charlie's left thigh and used it to replace a trashed artery in his left calf. This replacement went from a healthy sourse to the ulser. The ulser is being given a plentiful blood supply and is healing.

"Well and good!"

What the fuck is he going to do when the next ulser opens up on his left foot? The supply of "good veins" in his left thigh is very, very, very limited! Soon enough, his thigh will be in grave danger...

But, he saved his leg and that is a wonderful thing.

He also refused to go to a rehab centre because he simply wanted to get home. This was short term smart (sort of) and long term foolish. He would have benefited from (another) course of rehab...

"Or not"
        BGEN Jack O'Neille from Stargate

A1C day...

Bottom line: My A1C was 6.8. My MD wants that lower...

Six months ago, my A1C was tested at the local clinic and was 6.8. Three months ago, it was tested at the VA Clinic (actually, they sent it off to some undisclosed location) and was 7.2. So, I went on the wagon, started eatting at least one salad a day and really really cut down on the carbs.

I also got more enthused about the walking (still can't force myself to do shitups and pushups...)

So, my MD, not referring to the outside test had Midge (his nurse) call me at work with the results and told me "the Doctor wants that to come down. Cut out the carbs" Well, I'm in complete agreement with Midge and Dr. Hotstetter on that...

We did go out to dinner last night, to celebrate me having taken the A1C test. We went to Arby's and
had steak and garlic mashed potatoes and a really decadent desert!

It was wonderful.

Two hours after I finished eatting, my blood sugar was 225!

Two hundred and twenty five!

That is the highest I've seen it on a test I did myself. So, I guess that wonderful desert really is sweet poison. I won't be doing that again any time soon!

ah...the joys of "phone home"...

I called my Mother last night and after talking for under five minutes, she said she was sick and hung up. I called my youngest brother to see how he was doing and after a briefer phone call, he said he had to go to the bathroom and hung up. So, either I've irritated both or I've called so many times lately that getting a phone call from me is no big deal. Well, I think it should be...

I think I'll put off "phoning home" for a week or two. My wife suggested that I call one of other two brothers, to see if they're sick as well. However, I decided to pass on that one. I've called them both less than a handful of times in the past decade. None of us would really know how to react. Their wives and kids certainly wouldn't...

A1C coming up...

Every three months, I'm supposed to have a blood test to determine my A1C level. So, for the past three weeks or so, I've been trying to "finese the test". That is,'m trying to "eat good". It has been damned hard; I've been on the wagon for this three weeks and have been getting far more cranky (I guess I'm a bit more in love with gin and tonics or beer that I'd like to be.)

I expect to get a score of 6.8 or so. If it is 7.0, then at least it'll be lower than my last score (7.2). If it exceeds 7.2, then I'm going to have the dispairing feeling of "what's the point"? If going hard core doesn't work, what will work for the rest of my life?

no news...

I tried calling my brother's hospital room but got no answer. I also tried calling my Mother and had to leave a note on her voice mail. This was two days ago and I'm just hoping all is well. I'll have to call again tonight.

Chalie is getting better...

My brother told me that he'll be sprung from hospital as soon as the "swelling in his scrotum" goes down. That'll be good, very good! He's been in hospital for about 2 months and is desparate to:

* get back to his apartment,
* have privacy from well intended stranger,
* have privacy from bumbling folks entering "his" room by accident,
* cook his own food,
* decide when to sleep, etc.,
* look for a job,
* be able to move about society as he sees fit!

The appeals judge decided Charlie was wrongfully fired and that he is entitled to unemployment and most especially back unemployment!

The morals of the story are:
* A long term diabetic can have horrible health and
* Some companies will shitcan employees who have the gall to get sick!

It makes me quite grateful that I've got a good union to back me if I eventually fall ill like my brother Charlie! I'll know then that the union dues I've paid all these many years is finally paying off...

rain on the parade or the possible downside of inhailed insulin...

This extract from an article on Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2135087/) by Emily Biuso on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006, is a bit less upbeat...

"The new insulin product, which will be sold under the brand name Exubera by Pfizer, may be available as soon as this summer. But the picture isn't entirely rosy: Some doctors are worried that Exubera's risks to lungs have not been properly tested and that inhaled insulin causes minor declines in the amount of air the lungs can hold. The FDA recommended that asthmatics, smokers, and others avoid the product, and the long-term effects are still unknown.

The WSJ points out that it's been a good week for Pfizer: On Thursday, the FDA approved another of the company's drugs, Sutent, as a treatment for two kinds of cancer."

This was quoted without permission but should be adequately sourced to avoid violating copyright...

My MD thinks I'm still at least a decade from needing needles (injected insulin) and so I'll wait to see the long term results. I'm in no hurry to add the expense of yet another medication...

bad boys, bad boyz...

We've probably all seen dibetics injecting insulin in the evening prior to eatting some cake or doing some drinking.

* My late Father used to inject before having a few beers too many with a steak dinner and eatting some cake. (This according to family stories; I didn't personally witness it.)

* Christmas of 2003, we were at my brother Charlie's house. He gestered me into the kitchen and he injected whilst telling me that "I'm going to have some of Roxie's cake".

* My boss and I both knew a man in Chicago who was caught injecting in the office "kitchen"; Carl explained he "was going to a party tonight and I'm going to have some choclate cake". This was about 1993; Carl retired around 1998; Carl died of heart failure in either 2001 or 2002.

I suppose you could say "Carl retired from life 'in either 2001 or 2002'?" Or maybe this is too morbid...

The dosage had to have been a WAG (Wild Ass Guess) or if they'd bothered checking their blood sugar level a SWAG (Scientic Wild Ass Guess)!

Maybe being able to inhail insulin could lead to a different senario:

The good news is such dibetics might do the "exhail, take a deep breath and hold it as long as you can" routine (I use an asmatha inhalor occassionally) and could be getting that added insulin needful for drinking too much beer or eatting too much cake!

The following conversation could occurr:

"Mike is snorting something."
"You don't suppose he's snorting coke?"
"Nah! He's too damn cheap! He's a piss beer drinker!"

"Piss" beer referrs to Budwiser and not the outstanding Michlob...real Michlob, no "lite" beers and certainly not that horrid/horrible Michlob "Ultra"!

DISCLAIMER "Michael" most emphatically discourages the useage of illegal drugs. "Michael" firmly believe that one can get fucked up quite adequately on legal drugs...

good news about inhalable insulin...

This article is basically "good news coming":
27-JAN-2006 FDA Expected to OK Inhaled Form of Insulin

This article, ironically issued the same day as the previous article basically says the "good news is here!:
27-JAN-2006 FDA Approves Inhalable Version of Insulin.
Here is a confirming article from CNN:
same good news!

A nice news source for diabetics.

Charlie as of 28 January 2006

He's not answering his phone and our Mother is distraut!

Something is very wrong with my brother and the MDs apparently can't figure it out. He's now got swelling including what my Mother told my wife, "swelling in his scrotum". (A big of graveyard humour here: My brother always joked about having "big balls" but that was a joke and this isn't a fucking joke!)

Last night, at work, a friend of mine asked me "how is your brother doing"? So I told him. His wife is a surgical nurse and Tim has absorbed enough of that mindset to realize how serious my brother's conditions really are.

I'm scared and would go out to Oregon if I thought it would do any good...

talking with Charlie, post surgery...

I just called my brother and this was the first time I've gotten thru to him since his surgery.

"Charlie, I've been trying to get a hold of you."
"Hi, Mike, can I call you later? I'm getting sick to my stomach."
"Utrrr, uh, bye."

I don't like to think I make my brother "sick to my stomach" so I'll blaim the "pain meds" and the lingering infections. I think I'll go walk now and enjoy having feet (even if my right toes are sore). So, I won't be home if he calls later...

news on the medical front...

The local cardiologist spoke at Lions Club.

Here are some quotes:

"Seventy percent of diabetics die of heart problems." (My Father died of congestive heart failure.)

"If you have a diabetic, you have vacular problems." (Can't argue with that...)

"The single best exercise you can do is walking." (Thank God for that! Walking is about the only heart helping exercise that I like and certainly the only one I can do with screwing up my feet due to stress fractures. If there are indoor swimming pools in town, I neither have heard of them and have to assume they'd be too expensive should they exist...)

"[It is] very important to watch your diet." That can be hard to do and losing weight can be damned hard - if not nearly impossible at my age - to do!

We faced the embarrasment of letting Dr. Kahn order a salad that turned out to be loaded with bacon. It wasn't deliberate. Lion Kathie and I were mortified to learn that a Muslim had been allowed to innocently order a pork product (i.e. bacon).

He spoke of future plans to bring in a heart surgeon and that southwest Kansas could exceed the minimum number of cases per year (200/year) that a "cardio" surgeon needs to keep in practice. This is both good in the sence of us getting a "chest cutter" and bad in that so many of us would need this surgeon. Such is the life that comes from living in a society of abundance...

eating bad and poverty (an antedotal link)

I went to high school in Biloxi Mississippi and lived in base housing on Keesler Air Force Base (my Father was Air Force). At the  basel theatre, the folks who sold popcorn, coke (nothing diet mind you) and candy were a black family of Mom, Dad and (presumedly) Oldest Daughter. At the time, I was worried about being 5 to 10 pounds overweight. All three of these folks had to have been 30 to 50 pounds overweight. They were obviously working at the theater to supplement the Dad and Mom's incomes.

I was ignorant enough to wonder how they could afford to eat enough to be so fat. I later learned that it wasn't from eating too much, it was from eating the wrong food!

I was laid off November 1989 and it wasn't until 1995 that my new job began paying me well enough for us to have decent food. I ate so much white rice with soy sauce and a little bit of tuna that my boss told me to eat something else. So, having gotten a bit of a pay raise (this was 1991), I started taking baked or mashed potatoes and overly cooked hamburger to work (not always but enough to be noticed). My boss gave up on tryng to get me to eat right. That was too bad...

The result of eatting what I later learned was the wrong food was:

* I gained 70 pounds,
* My blood pressure went up and I may have had a stroke (I'm being treated for hypertension)
* I became a type 2 dibetic (I'm being treated for this with metformin.)
* I eat much better and exercise now but I can't seem to lose that damned weight...

So, I have the answer to my question of why those three poor black folks were so fat. They ate what they could buy and what they bought was very bad for them!

CAVATE TIME: These black salespeople may have been well off and may have been working at the theater simply to meet folks coming to the theater. Sounds good but isn't consistent with the culture of Southern Mississippi in the late 1960s and they never struck me as being willing to talk with the audience (mostly white folks that we were). I could be wrong but I strongly feel I'm not. Alas...

latest and not very greatest on my brother...

At 4 pm, 18 January 2006, my Mother called and left this message on the answerig machine:

"Charlie is in a lot of pain and throwing up."

The surgery lead to beaucoup pain and the pain meds coupled with the shock led to a lot of vomiting. The vomiting means he can't keep anything down and that also will make getting his blood sugar under control a real bitch for the medics. I wish them all well!

What I wrote in irony is apparently true in fact: vomito ergo sum (I vomit, therefore I am)

Under the circumstances, it has suddenly lost it's humour.

NOTE: "Beaucoup" (bo' - coo) is French for "lots of".

some venting, some frustration, some fear...

I just called my brother's room, gave the person (a woman) who answered my name and asked for my brother. I then was put on hold and hung up after 3 minutes.

I called again, said who I was and that I was calling long distance. The same voice told me "I told you, you've got the wrong number". I snarled back "No, you didn't. I want to talk to a nurse". The bitch hung up right after I said "didn't". I was so tempted to call back and spit out "BITCH" to her when she answered the phone but I won't. I'll just bitch about it...

I'll call our Mother and maybe email my brother...

...two minutes later...

I just got my Mother's answering machine and left a message asking about my brother. He is probably in recovery or ICU and I don't have that umber. On the positive side, if they'd whacked his leg off or if he'd died on the table, someone in the family would have called by now. My family has a bad history of not giving out bad news...

I have to go to work in 20 minutes and this aborted telephone tag and venting this is keeping me from "At All Costs" by David Weber.

Now, about 15 minutes later, I'm feeling guilty about being rude to this bitch, who is a patient at the hospital. Oh, well, she didn't handle it very well either. Normally, I'm a very nice person but when I'm scared, I tend not to be quite so sweet.

partial news...

About 5:20 pm PST yesterday, my brother Jim called the house and reported that Charlie was still in surgery. That was the last word received when I got home at 11:15 pm CST (9:15 PST). So, I guess "no news is good news.

I'll have to call him this afternoon and just hope he remembered my work email address.

pre-surgury for Charlie...

I talked with my brother Charlie about 8:10 am Pacific time. As of then, they were planning on doing the vein transplant and will operate sometime this afternoon (Oregon time). He sounded up beat and alert but mentioned that he'd not had much sleep. It seems the nurses had been coming in every thirty minutes during the night to poke a hole in one of his fingers in order to check his blood sugar. This seemed excessive to me but then medical folks have their own strange ways.

My Mother, family friend Steve or our brother Jim will call me at work tonight with the results or call my wife. If this doesn't work, Jim has my work email address. Since Jim knows it is bad form to send bad news via email, I'll just have to hope he didn't see the need to email me (assuming that he doesn't email).

As I was writing that last sentence, I could just picture the disdain on my 8th grade English teacher's face; worst, I could picture the much more massive disdain on my 9th grade English teacher's face! (Maybe that's why I'm not fond of public school English teachers to this day???)

status on my brother Charlie...

As of last Thursday night, my brother Charlie was sort of scheduled for the vein replacement surgery on Tuesday 17 January 2006. Fortunately, however, his MD was very reluctant to see this happen. The good MD, while expressing his support for Charlie and stating that he would not derail the operation, thought it futile. It sounded like Charlie was beginning to come around to this viewpoint.

I do worry about him...

My brother Charlie remains in hospital...

I called my Mother last night to ask how she is doing and how my brother Charlie is doing. She said the surgeons were going to do a artery replacement. The veins in is left leg are closing up and not allowing sufficient blood flow. That is the reason the ulser on his left heel isn't healing. So, the surgeons want to take a "healthy" vein and run if from the "healthy" arteries nearest the ulser to the ulser. The premise is this will lead to a much higher blood flow and healing.

I told my Mother, "if the veins are so bad, then he's lucky to still have the leg."

She sniffed and I finally realized that I should have kept my big mouth shut. "You don't want to talk about this?"

"I can't", she said and I changed the subject.

Charlie was born after my parents thought their "family making days" were over. Since I was 14 when he was born, I became the built-in-baby sitter and (happily) the doting oldest brother who did his best to spoil "his boy". His life has not been a wonderful as we had hoped it would be; the juvenile onset diabetes, along with some other problems, lead to that. (It is admissions like this that keep me from blurting out who I am; I just don't want the family to know I'm pulling "a Howard Stern" and am letting the one or two readers of this electron rag "see the private parts". Oh well...

Back to practicing medicine without a license.

But, if the other veins are shot and are letting very little blood through, this seems like a pointless and ultimately futile operation. If what they told my brother Jim is correct, Charlie will end up losing the leg anyway. In my opinion, he will have suffered a useless operation. On the other hand, he would have kept that left leg a few days or weeks longer and will be able to scratch his calf or stretch it or even walk about on it for that extra time.

That alone may make this replacement worth doing...

I called him last night (after talking with our Mother) and he couldn't talk. He'd suffered a severe reaction to the (anti) "pain meds" the night before and had spent the night vomiting. (Something I'm used to from a couple of bouts of food poisoning in the local area.) His being a type 1 diabetic meant that he was losing any food he may have eatten and was unable to keep down anything.

So, the infection probably jacked up his blood sugar and the vomiting may well have lowered it (or raised it, I'll have to ask the "American Diabetics Association").

But, back to his leg. Even if this operation simply lets him keep his let for days or weeks longer, he will have had the leg that much longer. That is a good thing, even if his "co-payments" will continue to escaliate. What the hell, he's probably so in debt that only bankruptcy under the old rules could have saved him. Under the new rules, he fucked! Ah, another thing we can thank "our" Congress-critters for!!! (If irony were cash I'd be rich after that statement!)

It also galls me since I'm a life long Republican (but think the individual is more important than the company so maybe I'm really a Democrat?).

Maybe it really is the carbs??

Day before yesterday (10 January 2006), I should have gotten off work at noon and had lunch about 12:20 pm. Instead, I worked overtime to 1:30 pm due to a computer system I was changing passwords going tits up. Well, only one of the computers went tits up and we were able to force it to accept a new "root" password...

I left word at 1:35 pm (or so) dropped off a suit coat at the dry cleaner and thought of going to "a nice place" (nice for diabetics anyway). But I was hungry and didn't...

Being very hungry, I went to King's Buffet and had entirely too much "oriental" food. I had one plate of chicken and beef, about a tablespoon of noodles and maybe a third cup of sliced potatoes. Then, another plate of chicken, pork and more chicken and about the same amount of potatoes. Desert was a small bown of ice cream (which I didn't finish) and part of a creme puff (which looks a whole lot better than it tasted!)

I figured it was going to be a good thing I'll have about 5 hours
and 20 minutes between getting done then and testing my blood sugar at 7:15 pm. At 5:10 pm, I ate a salad that was mostly lettuce, several slices of peperoni, some cheese and a half cup or so of cottage cheese.

Desert, of course, was Pepto-Bismol...

I thought my blood sugar would be too damn high. It was 104!

Yup, 104!

This is better than many of my morning fasting readings.

Either the machine is off (unlikely) or the lunch I'd had was basically meat with very little in the way of carbs. My dinner was salad with very little in the way of carbs.

This business of trying to "manage" my diabetics often perpluxes me...

my diabetics coaches advice!

Go Diabetic Go!

Go Diabetic Go!

Go Diabetic Go!

Rah! Rah! Rah!

Actually, she didn't but she was encouraging and gave me some good advise.

"micturre ergo sum"...a diebetic's motto...

"micturre ergo sum"

This is my new motto and is Latin for "I urinate, therefore I am" (roughly translatted). Actually, in Latin,

"micturre" means "to want to urinate ",
"ergo" means "therefore" and
"sum" (roughly) "I am".

Hence, "micturre ergo sum", "I piss (urinate), therefore I am".

Noreme's Coffeecake

NOREME'S COFFEE CAKE;

Noreme is an old friend of my mother, someone she went to college with in the late 1940s. So, this recipe has been tested by my family for about 55-57 years now ...

1 stick oleo (or butter)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sour cream

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Mix sugar and oleo until puffy. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream, then beat. Add dry ingredients and mix. Pour half of batter into greased baking pan (a loaf shaped pan).

Mix 1/2 cup sugar with tsp cinnamon. Pour half of this over the batter.
Put remainder of batter into pan and pour remaining topping over this batter. Bake in 350 F oven for 45 to 55 min.

prayers needed for my youngest brother...

My brother, Charles Andrew Bell, is one very sick man. He
is now 40 years and was a juvenile onset (around age 13)
type 1. He apparently is not shaking off the infection
that his ravaging his system. He has been in hospital for
several days now. Our Mother said he is now able to keep
some liquids down; they have debrided (i.e. removed) dying
or dead tissue from his left foot. This is most ungood and
pre-stages bad things.

Prayers for Charlie are needed!

One of our other brothers send me an email that included
this:
<blockquote>
"I think ultimately Charlie is not good. The vascular
specialist checked him and said the blood pressure in his
left leg was not good. So, you can read between the
lines."
</blockquote>

I can "read between the lines" just fine!

We're worried about him losing that left leg. He is
already having problems getting around and in holding a
job; losing a second leg will make a bad situation much
worst. He is the kind of person for whom welfare was
intended. We can only hope the State of Oregon will
agree...

Supporting him is stressing out the family quite a bit.

Now, if he can overcome the leg infection, the stomach
infection (which comes from a general systemic infection),
learn to live with no legs and get a job with an employer
willing to accept a hard worker (with an angry attitude)
who is going to be running up the company's medical bills,
then maybe I can hope to send him an AARP application in
ten years. (Family joke: when a family member hits 50, I
send them an AARP application and poems about getting old.
That is payback time! That will teach them for having
farted off my 50th birthday!!!)

I fear that he won't live that long and the waiting is
most distressing...

Presidental "Happy Holidays" message (AKA "Merry Christmass Message") for 2005

To all DOC employees (DOC is Department of Commerce)

President Bush sends the following Holiday Message to the Employees of the Federal Government:

"I send greetings to all Federal employees and your families as you celebrate this holiday season.

Federal service is a high calling and an expression of responsible
citizenship. By working to improve lives, advance prosperity, and protect
our homeland, you strengthen our country and help many realize the promise of America. Your spirit of professionalism and dedication
reflects the best of our society and contributes to the success of our
great Nation.

Laura and I send our best wishes to you and your loved ones during this
season of hope and joy. May God bless you, and may God continue to bless
America."

Signed George W. Bush

A facsimile of the letter can be viewed at http://www.osec.doc.gov/hm.tif

__________________________________
This message is authorized by ExecSec

meditations on my brother Charlie...

My youngest brother, Charlie, is back in the hospital with a very serious stomach infection and has been unable to eat or drink anything
since Monday, 12 December 2005. That was the day he was admitted to hospital. His right leg was cut off in mid thigh last year and now
his left foot is both infected and the infection is resisting the antibodies. He is unemployed and out Mother is paying his bills...
We are quite concerned for his foot and the curing of this infection (again?). My wife thinks I may be a bit over concerned with Charlie's
survival but I'm not sure. I do think he'll survive this episode (I hope and pray) but I think one of these near future years, he won't survive...

There is a rather horrible irony here.

For years, before I was diagnosed, my wife and I talked about "he isn't taking good care of himself". (Even he has admitted to this.) I used to
bitch: "He's not getting his blood sugar under control; how hard can that be?"
Well, having been "officially" a type 2 diabetic since 7 May 2004, I can answer my own question. "It can be damned hard!!!"

My Diabetics Coach changed me from a schedule of checking my blood sugar before dinner to checking it two hours after "taking that last bite". (I still do a fasting blood sugar before breakfast.) The results have been alarming. My AM or fasting blood sugar counts are generally good and in the 105 to 120 range, with a few spikes to around 133. My evening "sugars" suck!
They've been from 156 to 170!
The best I've had was two hours after eating a couple of pork chops, a small potato and about 1.5 cups of over-boiled broccoli flowers. I've also
found that "Lean Cuisine" meals aren't the diabetics best friend but in terms of portion control, they bet the crap out of what I prepare in
terms of portion control if not in terms of value. (i.e. in terms of carbs to blood sugar)

Back to my brother's sad story...

My brother was laid off but this layoff was perverted into a firing; the true reason for the firing was not that he'd screwed up his time sheets (his
immediate supervisor had read and blessed them!). The real reason was he was costing them a lot of money! Imagine a diabetic getting sick and actually using his medical insurance! This can't be allowed to happen! The
employees are supposed to be healthy and management is supposed to get a bonus for medical insurance not used! (This is just a wild ass guess but is probably accurate...)
Well, we can't have this sickly man being sickly so SHIT CAN HIM!
It was done...

Well, my feet are still good but I sure didn't tell our Mother that I'd stubbed the middle toe of my right foot and it has developed a bright red
blister. My wife talked me out of going to the Family MD and that was just as well: the swelling has subsided to what looks like a scratch. For a couple of years before I was officially diagnosed, I noticed that I was healing slower and slower. When I first started blood testing on 11 May 2004, I must have "stabbed" myself in the forearm 8 times. Those "wounds" healed very quickly. Lately, the needle holes have been taking two or three days to heal.
I have noticed a lot more "for diabetics" products.
The "diabetics comfort socks" are US$ 11.50 each and are 2.5 sizes too small. Their highest size is shoe size 12.5 and I wear from size 14 to
size 15.

Diabetics did lead to "erectile dysfunction" but Viagara cured that! I feel like I'm 40 again! (To quote my father-in-law; I'm 54...)

Discover Magazine article on diabetes...

A very interesting and somewhat alarming article:

http://www.discover.com/issues/dec-05/features/diabetes-insulin-resistance/?page=1

An interesting speech on diabetes by Congressman John Murtha

Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania made this speech.
It is quite interesting in what it says about diabetes,
what it says he's done and (mainly) the web links he
gives.

This is well worth checking out!

http://www.house.gov/murtha/diabetes.shtml

I wonder if "my" Congress members have done anything about
diabetes???

a nice research article...

Here is nice article about the relationship between depression and
coronary heart disease (CHD) among Type 1 diabetes.

http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/1999/E/199904075.html

"Inhalable insulin gets FDA panel OK" - article on CNN...

I just read an interesting article on the CNN Health page
about inhalable insulin. This sounds interesting but also
sounds a bit like something that may have been pushed thru
too quickly

You'll have to connect the next two lines or simply go to the highlighted "article" above:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/09/08/ inhaled.insulin.ap/index.html

Dear Michael,

Thank you for contacting your American Diabetes Association. I received your e-mail regarding meters.

The cost of a blood glucose meter and diabetes care supplies is often covered by health insurance. But some insurance companies will not reimburse you. Find out what your insurance company covers and get approval before you buy. Some insurance companies and/or health care systems have special arrangements for certain meters or systems. If you have an established health care team, you should discuss choices and cost before you buy. You can usually find a deal on meter trade-ins with rebates and special purchase offers. Check with your doctor and diabetes educator. Keep an eye on ads and compare prices before you buy.

In the past, before the advent of blood glucose meters, urine testing was the only method for gauging blood glucose levels in one's system. But it is, and always has been, a very imprecise method and does not provide a complete picture of diabetes management.

In most cases, for example, glucose is not detectable in the urine unless the blood glucose levels have been above 180 mg/dl, which means that urine tests are virtually useless at detecting hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels).

For this reason, and others, health care providers recommend that those interested in attaining good blood glucose control use blood glucose meters, not urine test strips or tablets.

Urine, however, contains many other substances and is still very important in diabetes care. For example, if the body burns fat for fuel in the absence of insulin, poisonous ketones are produced, and these substances find their way into the urine. Also, when the kidneys' filtering processes begin to become impaired, microscopic amounts of protein (microalbuminuria) begin to spill into the urine, which is an early sign of kidney disease.

Urine testing kits are available for testing three different substances in the urine: glucose, ketones (some kits can test for both glucose and ketones), and microscopic amounts of protein (microalbuminuria). Urine tests, though no longer recommended for blood glucose control, still play an important role in diabetes care. They can detect the presence of harmful ketones; new tests can even measure indicators of kidney health.

Home urine glucose tests are available in strip form. They may or may not be less expensive than blood glucose test strips. Insurance companies may not pay for urine test strips, however, because blood glucose meters are now held as the standard.

Strips are either foil-wrapped or in vials, and are marked with shelf-life dates. Strips should be stored according to manufacturer's recommendations, because the chemicals on the strip will react to light, temperature, and changes in humidity. Foil-wrapped strips may be a better choice if strips are infrequently used, to preserve the integrity of the strips.

Urine specimens must either be collected in a clean, dry container (one would then dip the test pad into the collected specimen), or by passing the test pad through the urine stream to saturate it. Timing for the result varies.

Results are obtained by noting the presence of a visible color change on the test pad of the strip. A color scale will indicate the result, either in an estimated quantitative value (example: 250 mg/dl, 300 mg/dl), as a percentage (1/10 percent, ¼ percent, etc.), or a descriptive term (for example, trace, small, or large). People who have problems with color perception or poor visual discrimination are not candidates for using color charts and should use other methods.

Improper handling or storage could skew the readings. There are also certain medications and vitamins that potentially could alter the urine color, causing false results. Check with your health care professional about interfering agents if you plan to use home urine testing products.

Ketone bodies (acetone, acetoacetic acid, and beta-hydroxybutyric acid) are by-products of burning fat, rather than glucose, to fuel the body.

Ketones are a waste product. If they build up, they can lead to very serious energy problems in the body, resulting in diabetic ketoacidosis. The body tries to dispose of ketones as quickly as possible when they are present in the system. Urine test strips can detect ketones as the body tries to rid itself of these poisons.

Ketone testing should be performed by people with type 1 diabetes when their blood glucose is high (usually greater than 240 mg/dl), or as directed by their physician. All people with diabetes who are sick, under stress, or who have blood glucose over 300 mg/dl should also test for ketones, as should pregnant women with any type of diabetes (type 1, type 2, or gestational). And, of course, anyone who suspects onset of ketoacidosis should test for ketones immediately. Check with your diabetes health care professional about the ketone-testing guidelines and record-keeping methods he or she recommends.

Please note: Urine ketone strips will detect only some of the ketone bodies produced by the body, not all of them.

Ketone strips are available in foil-wrapped packets or vials. Follow all manufacturer's guidelines and procedures.

Test results are revealed through color changes, which indicate the presence of ketones, either quantitatively (for example, 5 mg/dl, 15 mg/dl, etc.) or by descriptive terms (for example, negative, trace, small, or large). False positives may occur if you are also using certain medications or vitamins, or if the strips have been handled or stored improperly.

New blood ketone testing meters more accurately detect some ketone bodies and may be preferred by some providers, as previously noted, or they may be used in combination with urine strips.

Talk to your doctor regarding what chemical reactions take place in order for the meter to read the results. Blood glucose meters are small computerized machines that "read" your blood glucose. In all types of meters, your blood glucose level shows up as a number on a screen (like that on your pocket calculator). Be sure your doctor or nurse educator shows you the correct way to use your meter. With all the advances in blood glucose meters, use of a meter is better than visual checking.

Step-by-Step Blood Glucose Checking

Wash and dry your hands.

Prepare the glucose meter. Each meter works a little differently. Read the instructions carefully. At first, you should practice with the meter under the supervision of the doctor or diabetes educator.

Choose your spot. Don't test on the same finger all the time. Choose a different finger each time you check. Prick the side of the fingertip, not right on top. The side hurts less and is less likely to bruise.

Prepare the lancet and finger-pricking device. Like meters, each finger-pricking device is different. Read the instructions and follow them carefully.

Place the finger-pricking device against your finger and push the button.

Squeeze out a drop of blood. Some people have more trouble getting the blood out than others. If it's hard to get a drop of blood out, try hanging your hand down and gently shaking or squeezing the finger. If it is often troublesome to get a drop of blood, ask the doctor to recommend a different lancet or finger-pricking device.

Place the blood on the test strip and put the test strip in the meteraccording to manufacturer directions. Wait for the results.

Record the results in the logbook

Here are a few common problems that can cause inaccurate readings:

Hands are not clean & dry (you forgot to wash them, there's powdered sugar on them from that doughnut you just ate, or you used an alcohol wipe and the alcohol is interfering with the meter) I no longer eat powered doughnuts...alas...

Blood drop is too small

Codes on strips and meter do not match

Dirty meter

To receive our free packet of information on diabetes management and wellness, please reply to this e-mail with your mailing address. You may also contact our National Call Center at 1-800-342-2383 or visit us on the web at www.diabetes.org.

Sincerely,

Jane ......

Email Specialist

American Diabetes Association

1-800-342-2383

www.diabetes.org
===========================================================================================

Information from ADA, request for...

My email to the American Diabetes Association "ask line":

Subject: diabetes testing...

Good morning,

I remember reading that after diabetes was "discovered' in the early
1920s, patients had to boil their urine and basically pull a chemistry
lab experiment one or more times a day. I have a rather horrified
fascination with this and would like to read more on the subject. (My
blood meter works just fine!)

My father and my brother both used the "Pee Test Stripes" in the 1980s.
I'd like to read more about their accuracy. When I told my Mother (the
retired RN) that I had been diagnosed and asked about the "Pee Test
Stripes", she said they were very inaccurate and disgusting to use. She
seconded my MD's recommendation that I buy a meter. For that matter, why
are insurance companies calling the metes "medical devices" and not
paying for them yet are paying for the test stripes?

I use a test strip based blood meter. I called their "help line" and
asked how the machine works. I was asked for my name and phone number
and told a "specialist" would call me. A couple of days later, the
"specialist" called and told me that "the blood has to seep into the
test strip" and then told me how to use the machine. I've known since I
started using one 11 May 2004. I asked her what chemicals were in the
strip, what chemical reactions took place and how the meter read the
results.

She didn't know...

Can you help me with this?

Tks,

Michael

A grandmother at risk...

Yesterday on CNN, we saw an extroverted young boy (maybe
10 years old) take a reporter to meet his grandmother. His
grandmother said she was a diabetic and it was obvious
that the lady hadn't had much to eat based on what was
around her. She was sitting on what might have been a
raised street. I don't know if she was able to test her
blood sugar and I sincerely hope she is a type 2 and not a
type 1; she obviously did *not* have refrigeration.

On the bright side, type 2 is supposedly very predominate
among the "minorities" and I hope this black grandmother
was another of us type 2s. (For what it is worth, I am one
of the white type 2s.)

My wife and I are wondering what is being done to
save/support the insulin dependent diabetes in this
disaster. If there was *ever* a time for James Lee Witt to
have been running FEMA, now is it!

A nice letter to the editor...

A nice letter to the editor:

http://dodgeglobe.com/stories/083105/opi_20050831009.shtml

Your driver's license and *your* state laws:

If you want to read your state laws vis-a-vis your
driver's license, read this material from ADA:

http://www.diabetes.org/advocacy-and-legalresources/discrimination/drivers/pvt-licensemap.jsp

Good news wrt the A1C...

My A1C in May 2004 was 7.9 (high!), in May 2005 7.5 (also
a bit high) and in August 2005 6.8. This is below the
magic figure of 7.0 so my family MD (Dr. Hostetier) and my
optomologist (Dr. Tarwater) are both happy. So was my
Mother when I told her; I wrote two of my brothers but
haven't heard back from them. One will probably say
"that's great!" and the other will probably brag of his
being lower. Oh, well, J and I were always competing...

Perspective...

A couple of nights ago, my wife and I saw an ad on TV that I immediately
mocked. It was a group of people complaining about the stress of having
to fill out the paperwork to get their diabetics supplies and the pure
agony of having to wait in line for their supplies. Then, of course, the
ad mentioned the name of the company that would be their salvation by
doing the paperwork for these folks. They would not have to wait in
line.

I said that obtaining diabetics supplies and waiting in line wasn't much
of a problem for me. My wife said those folks were probably type 1
diabetics and having to test their blood sugar four times a day. That
made me pause and admit that I was probably wrong. (Come to think of
it, this company's offer does sound like a good idea.)

I guess I've gotten spoiled since our family doctor fills out "scripts"
when I phone him and the clinic pharmacy folks fill the forms in for me
and fill the order quickly. The clinic pharmacy also has the cheapest
prices in town; I've checked the "new" drug store, which advertises
having the lowest prices in town and the clinic pharmacy beats them all
by a goodly margin.

I really don't have it too bad.

Sure, I have to test the blood morning and night, Tuesday and Friday.
That is a lot better than four times a day, every day.

I have to take a couple of pills a day. That is a lot better than a
bloody needle, one or more times a day!

My feet are in fine shape. I'm not struggling to get from wheel chair to
wherever like my youngest brother Charlie has to.

While my wife doesn't especially like talking about diabetics, I don't
have the problems that my youngest brother has. He was in hospital with
nearly intractable bacteria infections a number of times and the
surgeons kept whittling off portions of both his legs. (His right leg
ends at mid thigh now and his left foot is basically a stump.) All this
was too much for his wife and they divorced. Oddly enough, after the
divorce, they regained their friendship and are good friends again. (We
might even see RoxAnne again some day but we live in Kansas and they
live in Oregon; visits are rare.)

I am still "young" to this disease and can take metformin without
problems. Our family doctor says it could be 10 or 15 years before I
have to go to stronger medications and he isn't looking for me to go
onto the needle for at least that long! (My 85 year old father-in-law is
on the same dosage of metformin that I am as is another gentleman I
know, who in his middle 70s. A number of my fellow Lions are diabetics
but there is such a conspiracy of silence that I'm barely aware of who
is a diabetic, let along the level of treatment they are receiving!)

I know folks who have survived cancer and some that may not. I think
they'd trade places with me, medicine wise, health wise, if they could.
They might think it would do me good to be in real medical trouble and
to see just how bad bad can be. No thanks! I'll take what God has given
me and be grateful it isn't worst! I can appreciate how bad a bad
situation can be!

I will continue to work out (walk upwards of an hour a day anyway), try
to avoid bad food, try to keep a hopeful mind set and keep seeing the
family doctor when I need to. I read an article by some over
overeducated clown with a PhD who said that folks who actually used
their medical insurance were taking advantage of the system and were
ignoring the costs they were passing along to other folks! Balderdash!
Not going to an MD or dentist when needed ultimately ends up costing
much more. If I'd gone to my MD in June 2004 when I fainted and then had
trouble breathing, I'd have paid a lot less than what the emergency room
charged.

A couple of weeks ago, I was having a bit of trouble breathing because
of a respiratory track infection. I thought about going to the MD and
when my boss said "you shouldn't have come in to work", I immediately
called the clinic and got an appointment. Then, I took the rest of the
day off to rest.

I probably would have had a great deal of trouble sleeping that night
had I not gone to medical and that would have led to many more problems
the next morning. Problems like maybe having a traffic accident. Then, I
would have gone to the MD.

Finally, I have to repeat myself and realize that while I have things
much worst than I did 20 years ago, I know of people who are worst off.
I guess that I can't really "bitch mightily". (No, I don't know the
source of that quote but seem to remember it was said by Saint Abe
Lincoln.

Glorious Landing!!!

We watched the landing of Discovery on the TV at work. The
whole office sat around from about 6:45 am CDT to about
7:15 CDT to watch this.

It was quite a relief to see that everything apparently
went well. As one fellow said "I bet there are no atheists
on there!" He was probably right. Any atheists on-board at
the start of the mission most likely were not at landing
time!

It was glorious and well worth watching!

It's nice to know that NASA can still do stuff correctly.
Now, they just have to come up with a far better orbiter
and I fear that they won't be able to do so...

wrong attitude...

I've simply got the wrong attitude toward "testing my
blood"! That is, I check the blood sugar level twice a
day, twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays actually). I've
realized that I'm going about this the wrong way but have
not let myself get concerned.

I am treating the testing as if it were a school test or
one of the annual weigh-ins we had to endure in the Navy.
The correct attitude would be to adjust my exercise and
food and see if this is producing the desired results. If
it was, great! If not, then I'd have to adjust the
exercise and food.

I've not been able to get on an "even keel" and I'm not
sure that I could even get my wife to really go along with
a rigid schedule. Actually, that is not quite true: she
has been trying to help me "eat right". (I can't blame
myself, now can I???) It's just that neither of us are
very big on eating a lot of fruit and certainly not big on
eating two or more veggies a meal. We just weren't raised
that way!

She likes to joke about me being a "meat and potato man"
and that is true! I also like a good gravy to go with the
good "meat and potatoes". We haven't had regular deserts
in decades and only very seldom have salads with meals. I
guess my diabetics coach is going to have a lot of talking
to do with me if I want to stay healthy...

Just blathering along as it is near 11 pm and nearly time
for me to get off shift...

ripped up elbows...

This past Saturday, my wife and I were working security at
the local museum. We were checking driver's licenses and
handing out "beer bands", actually. (Folks weren't
supposed to be able to buy beer without one but I was
later told that the serving crew was selling beers to
people who looked old enough any way.) I was placing my
elbows on the surface of the table when I realized that
there was a flap of skin on the table. It seemed the
surface of the table (made of a slightly rough plastic and
marked "LIFETIME") had been rough enough to abrade the
skin off both my elbows.

Neither elbow was bleeding but I asked for and got band
aids to put on both. I put liquid band aid on both elbows
when we got home. That was a good idea as both elbows
seemed to be on the verge of bleeding.

For the next couple of days, it hurt to put pressure on
either elbow and I had to be careful getting out of bed.
(This is even more ridicious that it sounds!)

That was Saturday and it is now Wednesday evening late and
neither elbow is very much healed. Years ago, they would
have scabbed over by Monday. I guess this business of
diabetics screwing up my healing is living down to it's
potential!

Who would have thought it?

bad sweets, good sweets...

According to the MD who talks on Fox News "Sunday House Call", aspartame is very bad for you and saccrine is the best artificual sweetner for you. Basically, this MD said
that any of the artificual sweetners are better for you than sugar and gave this discussion of the best and worst. So, I'll have to see iff'n we've got saccrine at home for
my oatmeal...

betrayed by my diet sodas!!!

The following rather horrifying quote came from:
bad news:

"FACT:
DIET SODAS ARE NO SALVATION FOR THE OVERWEIGHT: As the U.S. population has grown increasingly overweight, the marketing of diet products to help control weight has
burgeoned. But do diet sodas help reduce obesity? The San Antonio Heart Study took a closer look (#1058). The opposite was true. The group that drank diet soda had the highest incidence of overweight, compared to those who
drank only regular soft drinks (lowest incidence) and those who drank half of one, half of the other (in between). This "raises questions about the advisability of reliance on these products for weight control," say the
authors."

ADA 65th Annual Scientific Sessions: Abstract 1058,
Presented June 12, 2005.

This begs the question: what am I going to drink now that I realize that my Diet Pepsi has been back stabbing my diet attempts and I find regular sodas too damned sweet. Also, water is fine but boring! I suppose that I could "move to" fruit juices or veggie juices (i.e. tomato
juice).

I wonder if my "diabetics coach" can offer suggestions when she call on 2 August? Maybe she can explain what happened to the information packets she was going to mail me

the possibility of hypoglycemia in spite of taking metformin...

An interesting article about metformin> (part of which I have quoted below) gave a list of sympthoms. I've have had them if I exercised a lot or simply not eatten much. I hadn't expected hypoglycemia with type 2 diabetes and metformin:

Metformin does not usually cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Nevertheless, hypoglycemia may occur in the treatment of
diabetes, as a result of skipped meals, excessive exercise, or alcohol consumption. Know the signs and symptoms of low blood sugar, which include hunger, headache, drowsiness, weakness, dizziness, a fast heartbeat, sweating, tremor, and nausea. Carry a non-dietetic candy or glucose tablets to treat episodes of low blood sugar.

However, I think the odds of me dropping into hypoglycemia are quite small so I don't think I'll start carrying "non-dietetic candy or
glucose tablets" quite yet.

I trust that I have properly "sourced" the quoted material above...

My progress (or lack thereof) and attitude changes...

On 13 June 2005, my health insurance company (I feel silly calling them a "provider") sent out a letter advertising a free Diabetics Help Service. This would amount to a nurse calling me once a month to see how I'm doing. Well, my first reaction was "I'm doing fine and that I don't need any hand holding from a nurse". Then, I got to thinking that maybe I did. I didn't spend any time trying to figure out why; I figured the answers would come to me if I just waited. I called their number and set up an appointment. I wasn't convinced that I needed it but I was willing to check it out. I did not want to have someone ragging me about my weight or my inability to reduce it. (Kind of a flashback to all those years in the Navy fighting my weight problems.) This morning, at work, I heard my boss talking about someone he knew who had diabetics and ate what he wanted. This friend had a job that keep him on the road a lot so the man ate a lot of fast food. Apparently, he is on the verge of losing a foot and doesn't want to (no shit?). I mentioned how my youngest brother and my father had both lost legs because they had not taken their diabetics seriously. Then, I said "that is the scarey thing" and meant it. That got me thinking that maybe I should be taking my diabetics more seriously. True, I walk religiously (half hour to an hour a day) and try to control what I drink and have basically gone on the wagon. Still, I weighed myself yesterday and if I read the clinic scale correctly, I've gained four (4) pounds! The first several months, I was eating God Awful mixtures of vegetables and small amounts of meat (chicken or beef or pork) and wasn't losing weight. I find that I've settled back into a "more normal diet". Alas! We had our every-other-Thursday-lunch-for-those-working-the-day-shift luncheon. For the second time, I made homemade vanilla ice cream. My chilli, soups, etc. have never gotten a decent reception at work but my ice cream went over verybig. Very big indeed! 6 cups of whipped cream 2 cups 2% milk 1.5 cups sugar 2 tablespoon Vanilla extract Mix the whole lot very throughly and freeze in a mixer. This was very discouraging given that I was thinking that I felt like I'd lost weight last week. Isuppose I really need that nurse after all... When she calls, I'm doing to tell her about the walking and the inability to lose weight. Maybe she can send me a low cal, lose weight, diabetic friendly diet. I know that I'll "bitch mightily" (an Abraham Lincoln quote, I think...) but it might help save my life. At least, I'll be able to hear Dr. Hosteller tell me that I've lost weight when I go in for a blood test in late August (2005).

Bad foods that have now been rehabilitated...

Eat fiber" for breakfast, etc.

Here are some once bad foods that are now supposedly good for you". This list includes eggs and dark choclate. Maybe the joke in that old Woody Alan movie about choclate sundaes being great for you had more truth in it that we thought at the time...

Ways to prevent or at least to reduce the chances of developing cancer...

Here are nine (9) "helpful hints" on ways to prevent cancer. Well, if not prevent cancer, then at
least to reduce the odds of developing these diseases.

A "Politically Correct" Christmass Greeting

A politically correct Christ Mass
Greeting!

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, nonaddictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within
the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice
religious or secular traditions at all . . .

. . and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2005, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other
cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without
regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform of the wishee.

(By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to
actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where pribited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of
good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of
the wisher.

This came from a co-worker and may even be origional!

well, I finally told my Mother...

My Mom called tonight and asked how we were doing (family and I). I hedged with "well, fairly well..."

Then, I paused and made a tentative opening: "Mom, would you rather know about a problem and worry about it or not know and not be worried?"

"I'd rathern know."

"Humm, I've talked to Jim recently..."

"When were you diagnosed?"

"On 7 May this year. Dr H----- said I'm a type 2."

"You didn't tell me???"

"Well, we didn't want to burden you." (Which was true!)

"Well, Michael, you really should have told me!"

My mother had been fairly sick at that time, her sister was in hospital and her best friend very ill. She later told me that she appreciated that we had not told her.

So, we talked about this for at least a half hour and I missed the end of a TV show that I had wanted to see (an episode of Stargate:SG1...oh, well). The phone call was much more important to me and I felt a great sense of relief at not having to hide. My wife talked with my mother and said she felt relieved as well...

This just left calling my brother, Charlie. He was quite upset and we had a long talk.

I sent my brother Jeff a copy of the email I sent Jim. I printed it out, made a mailing label for him with the label maker at work and sent it off. I believe that a serious note or letter should be sent via postal service rather than email or fax. There is much more privacy and snailmail (and even fax) lack the sometimes distressing informality of email.

I didn't expect him to respond to my letter and he didn't disappoint me. (OK, I figured how many days it would take to reach his heart in the little "Damn Yankee State" he lives in. For those who are offended by calling a "New England State" a "Damn Yankee State", all I can say is that living in the Deep South [Mississippi] when in school leaves it's impact...)

another brother gets it...

I got an email tonight from my brother Jim. It seems that he took a blood sugar test and his "glycohmoblobin was 6.4" (he said normal was 4-6). So, he is testing his blood and warned me to have my MD test me for this condition (diabetes). Well, he is about 21 months younger than me so I guess it just took him a bit longer.

I wrote him back saying that I already was type 2 and that I didn't want to tell Mom for fear of upsetting her.

He replied that "she probably wouldn't be surprised".

I said that I'd think about it and gave me reasons for not telling Mom.

Bad, bad, bad day!

Tuesday, 7 September 2004, started out fairly hopeful and then crashed.

I had a 9 am appointment with the family MD. I had fasted from 7 pm the night before so I figured with 14 hours of fasting, I should be good for a low blood sugar reading. I "tested" my blood about 8 am and it was fine. (Or so I thought...)

I arrived at my MD's office and remembered that I'd been overpaid on my co-payments; the medical center owed me a "free" visit. I went to the business office and a friendly older lady gave me a form to take the MD's nurse (Midge); I did so. After Midge checked my blood pressure and weight (I had not lost as much weight as I had hoped to!), I waited for the Doc. Hedecided that my blood pressure was too high and had me increase the amount of lisinpril that I take (from 10mg to 20mg) every morning.

He examined my eyes and asked me "when was the last time I had seen an optomopist?" (TheMD version) I didn't know and asked him who he could recommend. He recommended an MD who works on the 2nd floor of the Medical Clinic and set me up with a 10:30 am appointment.

Then, I went to the basement where the lab is and waited for my blood tests. Although there werepeople ahead of me, I was the first one called. This RN lead me through a maze of corridorsbefore handing me a large bottle and pointing to the unisex toilet; I was not expecting to have to fill the bottle. I did so and found my way back to the waiting room and in due course, was bleed. Then, I went upstairs to the main floor and decided to have the Pharmacist print out myblood sample readings since 14 May 2004. I wasn't worried since I knew they were fine!

Boy, was I wrong!

The readings were in the high ridicious region and made me wonder if the medications I wastaking had been a waste of time!

It turned out that the meter was set to the wrong scale and when I had read off a reading with a period in it (i.e. 8.6), I was told that I was reading it wrong and that it really was 86! Struck with a feeling of despair, I went to find my MD and tell him. He had dropped me to one metformin tablet per day a couple of months ago; he put me back on two tablets a day. He said hec ould raise me to a higher level of medication and that was a conforting thought!

After that, I went up to the 2nd floor to check into the eye clinic a bit early. There, I was told they couldn't process my debit card and I had to go back to the billing office. There, I had to wait before a young woman with a very soft voice and hesitant manner asked if she could help me.

I said that I needed to charge $15 on my debit card and she went to do this. When she handed methe form to fill, I reached for her pen instead of going for one of the pens in a can. She freaked and told me "not to take her pen". You're afraid of it being stolen, I said. "No, I'm afraid of disease!"

Strange place for her to be working with that fear. She was a somewhat attractive young womanwith rather small breasts that she was showcasing in a very low cut blouse. I enjoyed the view...

I took a "you've paid" form from the young lady and went back to the eye clinic. There, I had to fill in some paperwork and begin waiting. My appointment was for 10:30 am and I got in around 11 am. There, a person who did not introduce herself took answers to various questions. She left and a slender man in his 60s, wearing a Hawaiian flowered shirt, walked in and introduced himsel fas the Dr. (The shirt was a dead give away!)

We chatted and he tested my eyes. Then, he dilated my eyes with the first drops and said he would be back for the next two sets of drops in a few minutes. Now, I had taken sick leave for the morning and seeing as how there was less than a half hour of morning left, I decided there was no way I could make it to work by noon. So, I called my supervisor, told him I was at the eye doctorand they had just dilated my eyes. I said since it would take 3 hours or so for the effects to wearoff, that I had better "pack it in" and take sick leave for the afternoon. He replied "you won't be feeling like it any way". [coming to work, that is and it turned out he was right!]

The eye exam was mainly this MD shining a light into my eyes and checking for leaking bloodvessels. He found none and said my "blood vessels are fine". That was really good newsto hear after the morning ball cruncher!

After that, I put on my wrap around sunglasses and made my way to my vehicle. In spite of the glare, I could see well enough to drive home. I did have to put my hand over the side of my face to shade it.

I think this marked the end of any denial I might have had...

Diabetes Screening Day, Cancelled...

Well, I made my pitch to the Lions Club Board of Directors and was shot down. These member did not want to be involved. I was told the Senior Centre did monthly Diabetes Screenings. I looked into this and it turns out that you've got to be a member. Well, I was interested in unsuspecting people about 20 years younger than those who can go to the Senior Centre. Those folks told me to "have people go to their family doctors." The problem being, at that age, I didn't have a "family doctor" myself and many such people can't afford a "family doctor".

"Diabetic Screening Day", a update on...

I mailed my letter to the American Diabetics Association a week ago yesterday (i.e. 31 July 2004). I figured it would take until Tuesday (August 3^rd) or Wednesday (August 4^th) to be
delivered. Then, if they immediately acted upon my proposal and sent back a response, tomorrow (Monday the 9^th) will be the earliest that I could expect a response. It will probably be considerably later as they will probably have to spend time conferring on when and if they can afford to send people.

On a different subject, I may have lined up a church to hold this screening event in. (Of course, the others on the Diabetics Education committee will have their opinions of where to hold this!)
I'll be discussing this with the Club Board of Directors this coming Thursday (the 12^th) I've seen the manager of the local Dillions grocery store several times socially lately and I think that I
can hit her up to donate consumables. (i.e. latex gloves, alcohol wipes, needle puncture device, needles, test stripes and glucose testing machines) If she can't donate, I think I can talk her into selling them to us wholesale. (Since I'm not the most charismatic and certainly not a natural sales-person, I think I'll ask some more gifted people to make the sales pitch!)

wine, not just "for thy stomach's sake" anymore (a repeat)

Friday, August 06, 2004 (a cleaned up repeat)

SUBJ: Not just for "thy stomack's sake" but good for losing weight

Reducing fat cell could delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. Who would have thought this
could lead to a reduction in fat cells!

I'll drink to this!

Krispy Kreem donuts, the easy way! (a repeat)

SUBJ: donuts, the easy way! (This is a repeat of a posted blog which
didn't turn out well...

Liquid Krispy Kremes doughnuts! All that good sugar^* without spending calories in having to chew it! Just what we dibetics really need!

^*Yes, this is irony.

Not just for "that stomack's sake" but good for losing weight

Reducing fat cell could delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. Who would have thought this could
lead to a reduction in fat cells! I'll drink to this!

A Diabetes Screening Saturday, first step in arranging for this...

Michael

address deleted

30 July 2004

American Diabetes Association

837 South Hillside

Wichita, Kansas 67211

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am a member of a Lions Club and am on our Diabetics Awareness
Committee. I
have been wondering how many undiagnosed diabetics are in or near our
city, and I think it
would be a good idea to have a diabetics screening some Saturday. In the
past, the Lions
Screening bus has gone around Kansas to perform this duty; however,
lately, their schedule has
been somewhat curtailed.

It seems to me that organizing a screening would require:

1. Finding a meeting place. Possibilities include
the Knights of Columbus Hall or the Nazarine
Church (both have hosted Red Cross blood drives). I have not talked to
either organization.

2. Personnel to draw the blood and use the glucose
meter: We need experienced and certified
personnel (your people or local medical personnel) for this. While I am
experienced in drawing
and testing my blood, I lack liability insurance and any professional
certifications.

3. Expendables: I imagine that you have a fairly
large supply of glucose meters, test stripes,
needle devices, alcohol wipes, disposable gloves, etc. If not, perhaps
we could ask Dillions or
Walmart to donate the necessary equipment or sell it wholesale.

4. Expenses: While I think it would nice to have
this a free event, we could conceivable cover the
costs by charging a nominal fee or asking for a free will donation. This
might have the advantage
of attracting only serious attendees.

5. Advertising: I work less than a block from the
local CBS TV station's local affiliate and I
would be pleased to ask them to cover this event. My wife knows the
personnel at the local
newspaper and could arrange for the newspaper to cover this.
The coverage would
include when the screening would occur, what would be involved and
emphasize that everyone
being screened should fast overnight.

I have discussed this with the President of the local Kiwanis Club
and I believe that we could have
members of the Kiwanis and Lions available to provide proper
refreshments and to serve as "go-fers".

I am willing to work on setting this up if we could get your help or
at least your sanctioning.

Very Respectfully,

odnuts, the easy way!

Liquid href="http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/21/news/midcaps/krispy_kreme/index.htm">Krispy
Kremes doughnuts! All that good sugar*
without spending calories in having to chew it! Just what we dibetics
really need!

*Yes, this is irony.

Tired of it all...

Yesterday, we went out to lunch. The Lions normally meet at the Knights of
Columbus hall but the new club President is also a board member at a local
museum. So, we went to the formal dining room of this museum and had a
really nice salad. Well, for $6 each and a choice of water or ice tea it
damned sure better have been nice! (Actually, it was quite a bit nicer than
the current meals at the Knights or maybe that is simply the shock of
something new. When I went to junior college, we got a new catering service
one year and we all thought the new food was wonderful. However, after about
the fifth time we'd had some recipes, we were completely tired of it!)

We were supposed to have ice cream for desert but they never brought it out.
I had been wondering if Carla was going to rag on me about eating ice cream
but she never got a chance.

After the Lions meeting, I went to the first aid course (1:30 - 4:08). It
was supposed to be a two hour course but I kind of helped make it run late.
Then, I decided that I was completely sick and tired of "being good" and
went to Dairy Queen and had myself a medium hot fudge sundae. Well, having
done this, I'm fully ready to "be good" for a while longer...

less pain...

I recently saw an ad for a blood sugar sampling method that promises "less pain"! Well, if you want "less pain", then avoid the fingers and sample off your forearms or tops of your thighs. Just realize that the pain induced is quite trivial and easily ignored (this from someone who flinches when his finger is "pricked"!)

This ad just seems like explotation to me.

As an aside, you can't tell where my brother-in-law Jack Q. is testing his blood just by looking at his forearms...

I guess my "secret" is fairly safe. (Secret? With the exception of my side of the family, my diabetes is known to everyone who matters to me...)

Instruction...

About 8 years ago, I was remembering that my father and his older brother
had gotten into a pissing contest and had not talked to each other from
early spring 1971 to sometime in the late 1980s. I decided that my brother
Jeff and I were in danger of this happening so I wrote my dear brother,
explained this and said it was time to patch up those childhood problems.
Well, me dear brother wrote back saying that if it weren't for us being
brothers, we would never have met. He talked about his life
revolving around his wife, kids, in-laws, co-workers, church friends, etc.,
etc. and effectively disowned me.

I was pissed.

My feelings were hurt.

Well, my youngest brother was also disowned and we felt closer for this.
About two years ago, my brother's Jim and Charlie were with my wife and I at
my Mother's house. Jim explained that Jeff had "driven a wedge between him
and his brothers". Jim didn't know why. I would have figured that Charlie
and I are lowly 5 figure a year worker bees and Jim is in the low 6 figures
and Jeff makes a lot more. We figured that having kids in common and not
being a lowly wage slave would have bonded Jim and Jeff. Apparently not; Jim
was apparently "beyond the pale" as well.

We're going to drive over and see my mother later this summer. She has
scheduled a family dinner and told me that Jeff and his younger daughter
will be coming to town. I was completely shocked! I haven't seen Jeff's
second girl since she was in diapers and now she is in 5th grade! It will be
like meeting the girl for the first time!

Well, I'm going to make the most of this visit as I'm not likely to meet the
girl again until my mother's funeral and then I will likely never see her
again.

So, how do I feel about lying to my family or at least not being candid
about the type 2?

No big deal! I haven't told my parents (mother now) or brothers anything
that really matters to me since I was 13 or 14. This would be about 38 to 40
years of secretiveness and I don't really see anything to be gained by the
speaking. My family has become my wife's father (a widower), my wife's
sisters, their husbands and to a minor extend the nieces and nephews.

I'll change that a little. My youngest brother is in the "family category".
My other brothers are in the brother but not at all close" category. 'Tis
a damn shame, actually. When my brother Jim and I were small boys, people
thought we were fraternal twins (one bigger than the other) since we were
inseparable.

I grieve for the loss of my family and wonder if doing an 8 step and 9 step
"admission of guilt" for my "sins of omission" might help?

too high and then too low...

On Monday, 21 June 2004, I saw my MD as a follow up to the pneumonia. He
asked what my blood sugar readings were. When I told him, he said the
readings were too low! I started this business of two
tabs (500 mg each) per day of metformin and two blood sugar tests a day, two
days a week since he was concerned.

This was a bit of a let down. It would seem that my body is reacting in the
abnormal category. (Like this is a surprise to me? Hugh amounts of caffeine
put me to sleep and commercial sleeping pills have me wandering around the
house, wide awake and stoned. I avoid both...)

Take this test!

For you folks who believe in the slogan from George Orwell's "1984" ("Ignorance is Bliss"), here is a gentle little wake up call. Take this test produced by the American Diabetes Association.

I took it somewhat after the fact and the test was quite accurate.

I "took" it for a co-worker of mine and guessed that he didn't have Diabetes in his family and probably underestimated his weight. My friend came up in the "high risk category!

I think that I'll xerox off the printed version and distribute them to all my co-workers. Perhaps, I can cloak in the guise of a "work place related issue " and get our union steward to "stir her stumps" and distribute the forms (no, this woman isn't probably at risk for diabetes as she is rather slender; very nicely "top sided" but we married men aren't supposed to notice such "d"-lightful things! (Married but definitely not blind!)

Back to an earlier subject: if you think Orwell was unduely pessimistic, reread "1984" or "Animal Farm" and then consider the number of cities putting cameras on the streets...

...a time to keep silent and a time to speak up...

From the Project Gutenberg version of the King James Bible:

"Ecclesiastes 003:007 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;"

Last Thursday (10 June 2004), I took a CPR course at work. This was combined with a first aid course which emphasized the doctrine that falling to the floor unconscious is a serious event and should lead to a hospital visit. They also emphasized that a symptom of shock is "cold clammy skin". (i.e. cold sweat)

I went home and one standing in front of my couch when I suddenly realized that I wasn't breathing. Everything went a dark gray and I remember thinking  "I'd better start panting or I'm going to collapse." The next thing I knew, I realized I was sitting on the floor and felt a sharp pain over the base of my skull. I looked around the room and from the appearance of things, it looked like I had fainted and struck the folding TV tray; the stuff on it was stead over the living room. Something had hit a table lamp next to the couch and it was on the floor.

I was having trouble breathing and couldn't stop deep breathing. I tried my asthmatic inhaler to no avail. I tried the old "breath in for 5 second, hold for 5 seconds and breath our for 5 seconds". (I still thought that I was simply hysterical and not suffering from a lung problem.) When Kathie got home, I talked about everything else first and mentioned in passing
that I had fainted. She was very upset. (I'll explain why in a few sentences.)

I called my MD's office and both he and his nurse were out of the office. None of the other Md. or Nurse Practitioners had openings. I was advised to go to the Emergency Room and go to the Family Practice room. We did. A nurse asking my symptoms asked "are you a diabetic"? I was rather startled and replied "yes". A couple of minutes later, I asked "why
did you ask if I am a diabetic"? Her reply: "what happened to you was a classic diabetic action".

I had been thinking of telling my Mother that I had fainted, had trouble breathing and went to the hospital. That business of "classic action" reminded me that my Mother is a highly skilled RN (albeit retired). She would undoubtedly realize that I'm a diabetic and I have been trying to avoid her finding out. So, the letter I eventually wrote was nicely sanitized
of any diabetic related information.

What had upset my wife and would have really upset my Mother is something that I had blocked out: the day before my Father died of congestive heart failure, he had gone to the bathroom and after leaving it said "I just fainted". Ok, so, he was a type 1 diabetic, had been a 2-3 pack a day unfiltered cigarette smoker for about 35 years and had had a triple bypass years before. He was far less healthy that I am! But, that
is no excuse when you consider the comparison!

They checked my blood oxygen level and found it to be 68% normal. No wonder I was out of breath.

They then took  me back to an examining room, put me on O₂, wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my right arm and then left me there for a while. About a half hour later, the second nurse to see me "handed me off" to a third nurse, wrapped a name tag around my right wrist and kept scaring me by talking about "checking me in". To me, that sounded like a "room with[out] a view" for the night. They
finally reassured me that I wasn't going to be a "house guest for the night". They took a blood sample and left.

The MD finally arrived and we had a long talk about my symptoms. Dr. Johnson said it wasn't heart related but needed to see X-rays. They offered to wheel me to the X-Ray room in a wheelchair and I politely declined this offer. The X-Ray tech was a fine young man with a Caribbean accent. I could understand maybe 60% of what he said. (My wife said one of the nurses complained bitterly about the difficulty of understanding this young man.)

Dr. Johnson explained the images on the two X-Ray images and said I had pneumonia.

After that, it was just a matter of getting a very large shot in the butt and going to a local drug store to buy the medicine  (ZITHROMAX
TAB 250 MG). I then went out to work, filled out and turned in a leave [of absence] request form and showed the acting boss the "Medical excuse form". The "medical excuse form" was an order for me to stay at home, rest and not exert myself. It was a good thing that I had this as my acting boss didn't seem to happy at having to authorize my time off. He is one of those fellows who never gets sick and doesn't believe in missing work for merely being sick...

As an aside, I wonder why my acting boss, who is scheduled to work 8 am to 4:30 pm, was still there at past 8 pm?

Then, it was home to take the first two pills, pain killers for headache and body pain and drinking lots of water.

When I have an upper respiratory disorder and cough a lot, I strain my vocal cords and end up with laryngitis. So, my mother called the evening of Sunday, the 13th and asked about my voice. I told her it was pneumonia and she got quite upset. I reassured her that the prognosis was good and I believe the Do.

This was just confirmation that I should keep my mouth shut about this. I know folks who say with sincerity "We all have our crosses to bear". Well, the knowledge of "my" diabetics is my "cross to bear" and is now something my wife and her father bear; it is not a cross for my Mother to bear. She has had to carry too damn many crosses of
her own...

This is probably going to be about the longest of my diatribes.

Verbosely yours,

Michael

P.S.: I suppose it would not hurt to leave my last name as the folks who know my writing style will correlate name and style easily. But, being secretive by nature, I will leave it one of life's little mysteries...

PS2: I wrote this in Word proofread it in Word; I didn't check what Word changed the final time I used the Word proofreader and it replaced "X-Ray" with "Ray". What a system!?!?!?!

Not a good morning...

I don't eat before my morning blood sugar test. So, I sat down this morning and was more than a bit shakey. I put the test strip into the meter and used the needle device to poke a hole in my left arm. Not enough blood. So, I recocked the device and put another hole in my arm. I put the strip against the blood drop and the meter did not respond. I pushed the meter against the spot again and got a FAILURE MESSAGE on the meter.

This mean the test strip was useless.

I cursed, put a fresh strip in the meter, poked a new hole in my arm and made sure there was plenty of blood in the drop. This time, the meter ""liked the amount of blood available and gave me a reading of 73. (Normal reading for me should be 70 to 150 units so I'm fine!)

This was not a good morning.

This was the morning that blood testing suddenly got old and the rush of excitement at the "new thing" has worn off...

Now, off to get meself weighed. (Ah, more disillusinment?)

Weight loss and changes to eating habits...

My family MD said the metformin (or metformin hydrochloride or glucophage) would help me lose weight. I thought this simply meant a reduced appetite but I now think it had more to do with changes in my eating habits. In the past, when I work the 5 am to 1 pm shift, I would get up at 4:15 am, walk our dog and eat something about 4:30 am. Then, I would be quite hungry by 8 am and have a second breakfast. Lunch followed at 1:15 pm and I'd eat dinner between 6 pm and 7 pm. I was eating too much but then I was trying to blend my schedule and my
wife's. Well, with the need to fast before the blood test at or about 7 am, I couldn't eat that 4:30 am breakfast. I decided that if I ate then on non-blood testing days then my body would be expecting breakfast at 4:30 am. I quit eating at 4:30 am and have gotten used to feeling hungry till I eat between 7:30 am and 8:30 am.

I am now used to being hungry in the late morning and early afternoon before going home to eat lunch. I do confess to occasionally having a snack or two during the morning. I also have given up on eating snacks before going to bed when I'm on the 3 pm to 11 pm shift. That may have been the real reason for me losing weight.

Anyway, I went shopping for summer shorts and it appears that I've lost about 4 inches of girth. (Of course, my trousers don't feel any looser so I have to question my optimistic assumption.) I'll go weigh myself tomorrow and see what the past month has led to...

Preception vs Reality and Cautionary Tales...

It finally occurred to me that folks concentrate on any serious illness that someone might have and don't think much of any other traits of that person. For example, I think of my brother as being a diabetic and don't think of him as the fellow who is about to be divorced, as the fellow who likes "Calvin and Hobbs" cartoons, as the youngest brother I used to tell stories to when he was a pre-nursery school type. (I haven't really known him since I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1970 and left home forever.) I've been trying to do better.

I used to work with a man named "Carl" who was your basic out-of-control type 1 diabetic. Carl was subject to severe mood swings and would often get pedantic when he should have been practical. (i.e. When you've got a crisis because your computer network is down and I'd ask him for help in relaying data, I didn't need a lecture on how to relay the data,
I need Carl to push the buttons and make the relay happen!

One of the stories about Carl is that he was seen giving himself an insulin shot in evening. Carl was going to a party and planned on having chocolate cake; he was guessing the proper insulin dosage. (Carl died of complications early in 2004.)

I remember seeing my late father do the same thing and also inject himself before planning on drinking a lot of beer at a steak barby. Christ Mass of 2003, I saw my baby brother wander off into the kitchen and give himself a guesstimated shot because he was planning on eating Christ Mass cake and pie! Well, he's not dead yet but he'd better get his shit together...
I tend to worry about him and tend to worry about losing my feet, etc.

So, I don't plan on telling many folks who know me for fear of being seen only as "the diabetic" and not as me!

Are there rumours floating about me?

On May 26th, I sat down across from a co-worker (and friend for that
matter) and said:

"What rumors have you heard about me?"

"Nothing! I'd don't hear any rumors; I'm too busy trying to dig myself
out from the hole I'm in." (This man is still trying to survive a couple
of DWIs...)

"Well, on May 7th, I was diagnosed as being a diabetic and I'm wondering
if anyone has talked about that?"

"Humm. I thought Jesse was the new diabetic. I saw the links to diabetic
website and figured it was him."

"No, it was me." (I wonder how to tell Jesse as he is quite overweight;
he is maybe 8 years younger than me and might not be there yet...)

So we discussed me being "on the pill", testing for blood
sugar levels and that was that.  It also affirmed my suspicion that
people were editing my "favorite" list on browser and could explain who
removed my link to the Scotsman online

I learn to use the Blood Sugar Meter (ane what a joke that was)...

Feeling rather strange, I went to the clinic on Monday, 9 May 2004. Kathie and her father stayed home as I was simply going to pick up the medications and the blood sugar testing stuff. I was wrong...

The Pharmacist was out to lunch and was due "back in 15 minutes" so I sat down to wait. I wait closer to a half hour (it must be nice to be the boss and thus able to set your own hours.) While waiting, a friend (a retired minister) in his 70s came in. I told him why I was there and he said he was a diabetic himself and had been taking "the pill" for years. It was a comforting feeling to know that I wasn't the only person with this problem.

The Pharmacist had the medicines all right but no instructions on which blood sugar meter to sell me. He had a little pen shaped needle device meant for poking holes in one's finger. I asked for one that would punscure the forearm. He also had a couple of varieties of testing devices, some cheap and the best a bit more expensive. I told him that I wanted the "take-it-from-the-arm" device and he said he'd check with the family MD. Unfortunately, the family MD and his nurse had taken the afternoon off. I said that I'd be back the next morning between 9 am and 9:30 am.

We (Kathie, her visiting father and I) rolled in at almost 10 am on Tuesday, 11 May 2004. The Pharmacist had asked the family MD which blood sugar tester to sell me. Dr. H. said to leave it up to me...

I figured that if I was going to be using this blood sugar tester for years to come, I might as well buy the expensive one, the US$80 one. I asked the Pharmacist how to use it. He pulled out the device and showed it to me; then, he gave me the pen shaped puncture device and said to practice with a supply of old test strips. At this time, my MD's nurse (Midge) showed up and took charge of the situation. We went to a vacant treatment room and got ready.

First, we had to calibrate the meter by setting the time in it. (We used my wrist watch as I had set it to the nearest second a few days before.) Then, we tried opening the pen to put a needle in. We could not get the damned thing to open. We thought we were in danger of breaking it when Dr. H (family MD) stuck his head in the door. He showed us how to open it and insert the needle.

Next, it was time to learn how to use the device.

I figured that since I was going to be using it, then I should be the one to be stabbing myself. We wiped off a section of my left forearm, set the needle depth at a medium range and I stabbed my arm. You could tell that a hole had been made but no blood came out. I then reset the needle depth for the maximum and after a total of seven (7!) trials, realized this needle was never going to lead to a geyser, just dry holes. I poked the finger and it bleed nicely. Then, a last failure on the forearm. Midge went and got a different variety of needle device, one with a stronger spring and made for forearms. This produced a nicely productive hole.

We were in business and we then tried using the testing device. We couldn't get it to work. Dr. H dropped by to see how we were doing and told us the test strip had to be positioned just right for capillary action to suck in the blood. After that, it worked just fine.

By this time, it was past 10:30 am and Kathie and her father had been sitting out front in the waiting room. I bought the required gear and we left. Kathie said that she'd seen quite a number of people that she knew and they had not gotten bored.

When I went to work that night, I told my boss that I'd become a diabetic and would be taking blood sugar readings twice a day, two days a week. (Tuesday and Friday about 7 am and 7 pm.) John, my first level supervisor simply listened and said "OK". My second level supervisor was obviously creeped out at the notion of poking holes in one's self and asked if there was anything that I needed. I said "no" and that I would be doing this in private.

That evening, I wondered over to an office cube that was hidden from the rest of the audience and did my first at work test. It was far more stressful planning for and anticipating the blood test than it was to do it. Odd how that can happen...