Diabetes Checkup

Met with a new diabetes doctor this morning – my old one is closing her private practice (sniff sniff). I liked the new doc, although her main push was to get me exercising 4-5 times a week at least. What an evil bitch.

Just kidding. Surprisingly, I am excited to get back on the wagon. I go to my Curves-esque workout place 2xs a week and that has really helped with toning… but I also need to get my heart rate up more often. (I say Curves-esque because it is like Curves, but it isn’t actually Curves. It is a local place – the owners are way fun and talk me through my workouts, so that is a bonus).

Also, we have an eliptical in the basement which has been a breeding ground for cobwebs since August (as in, when we remodeled the basement). Tonight! Tonight, I promise to get back on that thing.

My blood pressure was good (112/74) and I am hopeful that my Hemoglobin A1c comes back with glowing numbers too. I have always had decent A1C numbers, but since taking Lunesta and sleeping, my numbers have been dropping. We even discussed reducing my meds. (But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here folks. Gotta get the test results back first!)

I was telling the new doc today… that in some ways, I feel lucky to have been diagnosed with diabetes in my early 30s. First of all, I have to take it seriously. I hope to have a long road ahead of me, so I can’t screw around with it. Also, lots of people feel life is downhill from 30… but things have been getting better and better for me – at least body & health-wise.

They found my diabetes while I was pregnant with Declan. Since pregnancy exacerbates diabetes, I was immediately and urgently put on insulin and had to give myself 4 shots a day… I had to check blood sugars 6-8 times a day. (That was fun.) And the hilarious thing is, that when Declan was born 8 weeks early, the diabetes actually helped us because he was a hefty 4 pounds. He was a bruiser compared to the rest of the kids in the NICU!

After Dex was born, the diabetes came way down and I settled into a mild Type II diabetic (for those who are glucose-challenged… that means I make insulin, but my body has no idea what to do with it). So, I have learned to adjust my eating and control my blood sugars with a minimal amount of medicine. No more shots for me! At least for now.

I have felt so much better since then. The docs think I was diabetic for at least a few years before getting pregnant and it went unnoticed. One of the nurses said to me once that I would be surprised to realize how shitty (my word, not hers) I felt before the diagnosis. And schloobie if she wasn’t right.

Then, in February 2004, my then diabetes doc (the one who has abandoned me) talked my insurance into paying for a breast reduction. Essentially, she reminded them how much easier it is to exercise when they cut 6 pounds off your chest. And holy cow, if she wasn’t right on target!

I started at Curves-esque in last Spring and immediately noticed a change in the way I move and carry myself… and I can even run up a flight of stairs without being out of breath for 10 minutes! No small task, living in Denver!

And then, this August, I started on my beloved Lunesta and dropped 12 pounds immediately (that loss has been stalled by Halloween, eeks).

I feel great.

My goal is to lose 2 more dress sizes by May, when we go to Mexico to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.

Olé!

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