DIABETES UPDATE

In August of 2010 I wrote about my personal journey with diabetes. After being pre-diabetic for several years, I was officially diagnosed as having diabetes. I was put on medicine and continued to watch what I ate and excercised six days a week. But no matter what I did I could not get my blood sugar and A1C numbers down to where they needed to be. So last fall my doctor put me on an additional diabetes medicine to see if that would work. After several months of taking 2 medicines, exercising even more and continuing to watch what I ate and taking various nutritional supplements, the numbers were still not where they needed to be.

So on last Thursday, at 2:22pm in the doctor's office I took my first shot of insulin! It looks like I will be on insulin the rest of my life. Apparently what has happened is that my pancreas has basically just about shut down. It might be producing a little insulin but nothing like I need. So I have to take the shots. And at this point it doesn't really matter what I do as far as diet and exercise. The pancreas isn't working and the blood sugar numbers are not going down without the shots.

The main reason for my diabetes is genetics. As I wrote last time I inherited it from my father and the doctor said it was a good thing I have been doing what I have been doing all these years-exercising, watching what I eat, etc or else I would be in bad shape. If I didn't take my blood sugar every morning I would not know I have diabetes. I have none of the other symptoms-feeling tired, thirsty, bad circulation, poor eyes, gaining or losing weight, etc. My blood pressure is normal, all my cholesterol numbers are better than average, blood results of the kidneys are normal, my eyes are perfect based on my most recent eye exam, etc.

So I am managing the disease and can live with it. I just have to do all this the rest of my life. Taking the shot is no big deal. It is painless and it is just something to do at night when you brush your teeth. The whole process of taking the pen out, putting the needle in, swabbing the spot with an alcohol rub, adjusting the dosage, and taking the shot, is less than a minute. After a couple of days it is routine. So I hope this works. The worst case is if I can't get the numbers down, I will have to take another shot in the morning. But I am hoping it never gets to that. My blood sugar has dropped 85 points in a week.

I have put together a presentation on my journey with diabetes. Its what I have gone through, what my father went through, some background facts on the disease and what we, as individuals and as a country, can do to try and get this disease under control. I would be glad to talk to any community groups, hospitals or individuals. It is a moving, inspirational and informative talk and reflects my personal approach to this disease-- I am going to keep fighting this until hell freezes over, and then I am going to get out the ice skates, and keep fighting!

I would be glad to coordinate a Diabetes Support Group where we can meet, exchange thoughts, ideas, our frustations, and bring in speakers to update us. I will be also be glad to meet with any individuals and help you get through this. We can meet for coffee-my treat, just no doughnuts though! Contact me at franlarkin@comcast.net You can also watch my talk which was filmed by the good folks at Port Media. Go to http://www.franlarkin.com/

Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time! Regards, FRAN

GREAT NEWS! This morning, March 13, my blood sugar was 85! It has been around 100 or below each day, for the past week. So the insulin is working!!!