Good Checkups

Somehow the planets all aligned in just the right way so that William ended up having three checkups this month. Thankfully, all were good. And now he's done being poked, prodded, and examined for another quarter. As you can see, he's happy about that.



The most important appointment was his quarterly endocrinology checkup on September 4th. Dr. Schultz declared everything looked good. William had put on 5 lb, though no additional height, so he's probably storing up for another growth spurt. There was no change in his A1c, and doc was very impressed that we've managed to keep it at 7.0. That's a very good number for a Type 1 diabetic, particularly one going through puberty.

Next was his eye exam. Aside from checking his vision for prescription changes (there was no change needed), the doc photographs the inside of the eyeball (the back) to look for any abnormalities or signs of degeneration (a common complication when diabetes control is poor). Again, he was impressively healthy.

Last but not least was his dental exam and cleaning. Once again, all was good. No cavities or gum problems.

William is very good about doing the things he needs to do to take care of himself, a daily regimen that most adults would balk at. Although he does go through spells of burn-out and resistance to compliance, he always gets back on the horse (with a little boost from me and David) and continues on his way. Overall, he's a healthy diabetic, and we are proud of him.

If you're not familiar with the daily care of Type 1 diabetes, here's a post I wrote in 2010 describing a typical day (though while camping). William's regimen has changed somewhat since then, and we've got newer tools that make it a bit easier, and he's taking waaaaaaay more insulin than he was then, but the routine is still pretty much the same.

Report Card

This morning I girded my loins, took a deep breath, and reported T-Bear's numbers to the Endo.

I'm always a little anxious about reporting his numbers because we're not exactly the "ideal" D-Family. We don't eat at regularly scheduled times, usually skip breakfast (we don't even get out of bed til 10:00), and I don't force the kids to eat when they're not hungry. While we're very comfortable with our family's food life in general, it looks a bit different when your eating habits are being expressed in bald numbers, right there in black and white. To their credit, the CDE's at our Endo's office have NEVER given me a hard time about any "deficiences" in T-Bear's reports.

But, this was the first report made since our dietary changes, and I've been doing a lot of tweaking of numbers myself since our last report over a month ago (that in itself causes me to wince). I was half-expecting to be grilled about these "changes" and what the heck I was feeding T-Bear that so radically changed his BG. But, of course, the CDE was just as pleasant and supportive as they always are.

"I think you did the right thing lowering his Lantus and changins his ratios," is what she said. That's all I needed to hear. She wants me to lower is Lantus (AGAIN) down to 10 u, and drop his supper ratio from 1:10 to 1:8 (slightly more insulin per carb).

Overall, T-Bear's BG has been about equal parts on target, low, and high. But, he has not had any way-highs...nothing over 230. That's a big change from regular highs in the high 200's and low 300's. He's still going low during the night (thus the additional drop in Lantus tonight), but his lows haven't been as upsetting for him and they correct easily. From where I'm sitting, aside from having to get up every night to check his BG, it's pretty much all good.

And, Papa Bear has lost 20 lb without even trying. I'd bet his cholesterol has dropped into the normal range, too.

We're not what I would call "vegan" or even "vegitarian". I'm using little bits of meat, chicken, and dairy here and there, but most of our meals qualify as vegan. We're doing a red meat meal maybe once a week and fish a couple of times a week. We celebrated the SuperBowl with tri tip and grilled salmon, but opted for 6-layer bean dip with our chips rather than sour cream-based dips. MIL's fabulous broccoli salad did have some meat in it, but was easily picked out if needed. T-Bear's had may one or two small glasses of milk since our switch, and is fine with it. There's been a little grumbling from family members here and there (mostly from Brother Bear who's eating like a horse right now), but no revolt so far.

I think we're on the right track.

Oh, and I do have to say "thank you" to our friends who visit frequently and have been supportive of our dietary shift. Your willingness to accommodate "interesting" meal choices helps enormously. Love you all dearly!

The Next Batch of Marbles

Drink more water (plop). Drink less wine (plop). Do Yoga and posture exercises every morning (plop). Ice my neck at bedtime (plop). Take a sleeping pill every night (plop). One more batch of marbles on my way toward a better life (slide).

I met with my MD today. After MONTHS of not sleeping well at all, I finally got desperate enough to make an appointment, actually show up, and say, “Dr. Suze, I need medication to make me sleep at night.” A radical measure for me to say the least, as I am VERY reluctant to take ANY kind of medication if it can be avoided. But, I’ve tried EVERYTHING ever suggested by ANYONE, and I’m still not sleeping at night. I’m exercising, I’m taking my vitamins, I’m doing relaxation exercises, I’m taking hot baths, I’m taking Melatonin and/or a natural sleep aid, and it’s just not doin’ the trick. On a GOOD night, I’m getting 4-5 hours of restful sleep, and am wakeful the rest of the night. On a BAD night, I’m getting 1-2 hours at a time, with long stretches of wakefulness in between. As any layman can tell you, sleep deprivation is really Bad Juju for anyone, and if left unchecked can lead to an individual who is really grumpy at best, somewhat unstable on average, or flat-out psychotic at worst. If memory serves, it’s been about eleven years since I’ve had a normal sleep cycle on a regular basis. So, it’s kinda time I started sleeping.

So, Doc Suze recommended an OTC sleep aid to try for a few nights. The one I already tried only worked on the first night then fizzled, so I’m not terribly enthusiastic about OTC’s. But, what the heck, I’ll give it a shot. If that doesn’t work, she gave me an Rx for some “real” stuff to try. “It may take a couple of weeks of taking it every night before we know whether or not it’s going to work for you”. Peachy. I’ve procrastinated on this to the point I don’t have much patience left with the issue, but I’ll have to just deal with it. One more step toward a normal sleep life. Right?

The other stuff, well, it’s pretty much self-explanatory. Except maybe the ice part. That’s something my chiropractor is reminding me I need to do every night, since I’ve got stress-and-alignment issues in my neck. So, I’ve stuck a sticky-note on my mirror that says “ICE”, so I remember to go fetch the icepack after I brush my teeth and take my vitamins at bedtime.

I seem to have turned into a project. Can't wait to see how it turns out...