What's up in my life or why my LJ appears dead...

[johno]

I've always been a short poster. So Twitter and Facebook fit my style very well. Most of my content is on one or the other of those services.

My Twitter posts do feed back into LJ via the "Really Short Random Musings
( The Daily Tweets of JohnO )" posts. Yes there are conversation fragments there, but most likely just short little stand alone posts.

I still read LJ first and am a active commenter.


One major thing that has changed is that after nearly 18 months of not testing my blood (daily or lab tests) I got my blood tested and a1c was 8.5. Which is the flag point for a diabetic to start on insulin shots.

Yep, every night I'm giving myself 20-24 units of NPH insulin and check my blood 2-4 times a day (Morning & Night (for sure) and Lunch & Dinner (if able/remember)). This is to make sure my blood glucose is in the proper range of 80-130.

I'm also checking my blood pressure and doing weekly weight checks.

So I do a daily "tweet" of my Morning Numbers:

bg: blood glucose.

bp: blood pressure.

p: pulse (mainly because my auto cuff provides it)

w: weight.

ie:

Morning Numbers: bg: 134 bp: 108/65 p: 65 w: 300

I sometimes include commentary on my activity/food intake, esp if the numbers are high or low.


My near term targets are:

bg: regularly under 130, mid-term < 120
bp: holding steady at a good level
p: is already low, but could be lower.
w: short term 280, mid-term 250


Otherwise, there is theatre (The Producers open the weekend after Westercon), cons (Westercon), Taiko classes on Tue & Sat and work transition issues (that is whole seperate entry that needs to be written up, that are all sucking the tiny trickly of creative juices I have.

Comments

[dakron.livejournal.com]

Yikes, my friend. I am one for definitely telling you to stay on your meds.

Other than that, it is a lot easier to administer and keep track of your sugar levels than it was say, ten years ago. So you are kinda lucky there.

I forget to check up on Johny Dakron on Facebook, and almost never check those twittering things.

[the-nita.livejournal.com]

*hug*

You seem to be working on keeping it under control (have someone in my life fighting doing that).

*sigh* Cannot find you on twitter - help?

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

I have been using Byetta, which is an injectible that helps my body utilize its own insulin better, and that made a big difference. It also slides into "lows" much slower than insulin does.

Remember, your body is used to the feeling of being super-sugary all the time, and it will give you alarm signals of shakiness, crankiness and hollowness when you drop below those sugary highs, even if your blood sugar is technically in a normal range. (Like when your bg reads 115, or even highter if you've been exercising.) It can be really hard to ride those out, and that's why your monitor is one of your best friends.

[svashtar.livejournal.com]

I don't see twitters anymore. Put that bit of code in my journal to prevent them, simply because most twitters aren't that interesting. I'm not sure if my fear of needles would let me do daily insulin injections.

[violet-tigress1.livejournal.com]

I'm not diabetic, but I got used to needlrs after the number of blood tests & IV's I've had.

[howeird]

Thanks for the full-sentences post, I miss them.

Something I've noticed in 15+ years of insulin usage is the more regularly I bleed on the little piece of cardboard, the more stable my readings become. But remember that the human body is not a precision instrument, so don't let an anomalous reading panic you.

Ask your doctor about Byetta, and as judifilksign says, sometimes the number on the meter won't match the way you feel.

With your level of NPH, you're not insulin-resistant, which will make long-term maintenance pretty simple. Good luck, we want to keep you around for as long as possible.

[harmonyheifer.livejournal.com]

Patrick is taking Byetta as well and switching to a diet that isn't all "programmer chow" has also helped. Tonight he got back into the Y and did the treadmill while I was teaching my Deep Water class. He needs to do that three times a week. Whole foods can make a huge difference in diabetics. Fast food, processed foods that aren't really food at all, white flour, sugar and the deadly-for-diabetics high fructose corn syrup that they put in damn near everything now is making so many of us chronically ill.

I am trying to convince Patrick that a healthy diet and regular exercise should be the two biggest priorities in his life. Diabetes is nothing to fool around with.

*hug*