feelin good

so today I was off and decided to play raquetball today. my brother keeps giving lame excuses, such as "i dont like indoor courts". wuss. well, needless to say it was interesting trying to climb 3 flights of stairs back to my place. a cold glass of water and i feel nice.

For the first time in a long time my A1C was down. While 8.6 is still high, it's down from the 10.7 it was. Still waiting on my cholesterol numbers as that was pretty high as well. I still hav a long way to go but I'm getting there!

Checking in

I've had a couple of people ask me why I don't post to my blogspot. I have a few reasons for that, but to sum it up, i've been preoccupied with things. I slacked off a little on my working out. Not totally but hadn't been going everyday. Then I lost my job (like everyone else) so that was a bill that I unfortunately had to put at the end of the list. I've since moved to a community that has a very nice gym, including an indoor raquetball court. Once my muscles stop hurting from the move I will be embarking on that journey. It has everything the other gym had, but has a little more privacy of sorts.

Everything else with my health has been a see-saw effect. Some days are good, some days are a challenge, but nothing really terrible. I think I have another bone spur growning on a toe, and another toe may have a cyst in it (it's quite painful). I have a jacuzzi here, so i can bubble all my pains away now :)

So to my lurkers, all is well. I promise to try and blog more often.

Feeling good!

So I've been working hard the last week. I've gone to the gym everyday, taking a break for the weekend (unless you want to count washing and detailing my car, that was a FULL workout). I decided to start slow and not overdue it, and not have immediate expectations. I think that was my downfall in the past. I do about 45 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, yesterday I started with 10 minutes on the elliptical. That was the longest 10 minutes I've had to deal with so far. Today I got a tour of the machines, and some target training with some emphasis on abs. It's wierd. Lately I would stay at work late, but now I'm ready to get out of there and head to the gym, I really look forward to it everyday, even tho every piece of me is aching.

Right now a hot soaking bath and a bowl of fruit sounds good :)

There's no excuse

Kind of. I never left. I made a decision today. I had no excuses and had a funny feeling. So today I joined a gym. I pass it every single day going to work, there's no excuse. I pass it every single day going home, there's no excuse. It's a few blocks from my house, there's no excuse. Still battling my diabetes and high blood pressure, it's been years, really...there's no excuse. I saw my doctor on Monday, and she basically looked me in the eye and said, unless I want a long relationship with her I need to do something about it. You'd think I have all the demotivators in the world to get me to do what I have to do. I've been battling my nicotine addiction and having the urge to quit for a long time, and to think i'd save $120 a month give or take, i'd quit immediately. Easier said than done. I'm gonna be bitchy for a week at least. I'm not buying anymore, and I honestly mean it this time. Getting over this touch of bronchitis was hard this time, and I full well know why. My throat and lungs burned but I still lit up! I got a class reunion coming up in October, and I'll be damed if I'm in the crowd of classmates that added pounds over the ** years.

I took a picture of myself, front and side view. I see myself in the mirror, but I can easily look away quickly. I printed three copies of the picture, one on each bathroom door and one in the kitchen. I dont have an eating problem per se, I dont pig out, it's the content. Plus its harder for me anyway because I have to watch what goes in on account of the diabetes. I just have to be smarter and be a little disciplined. When you are pinching pennies on the grocery bill, it's hard to keep it healthy sometimes. I wont have to worry about using gas as an excuse to not go to the gym, it's right up the block from me, literally. When I'm really feeling good, I can start just walking there.

Dear Lord, help me thru this epiphany, i want to COMPLETE it this time!

Better times

It's been a while, but that's because there hasnt been too much change. Things arent terribly better but they arent worse either. I'm on a hiatus with doctor visits right now because i'm not on any medical coverage at the moment. Before that ran out, I stocked up on my insulins, and the pills I take for my blood pressure and diabetes, I can get from Wal-mart for $4. My current job I'm working as a temp, with the hopes of going on the company's payroll. With God's will when that happens, the first appointment I'm making is the neurologist. I ran out of the meds that she had me on and the headaches came back like never before. I took a chance and called the office and explained my situation and they gladly provided me with more samples, three bottles worth to keep me going. So while it keeps my headaches at bay, that means its keeping something else at bay. I did some searching and the meds are mainly to treat seizures and severe migraines (that lead to seizures) that cause strokes. My blood pressure has been fine. My sugars has been hard to control sometimes. I'm starting to believe it doesnt matter what I eat it affects my sugars. I dont even feel the needle anymore.

Altho I still have some feet problems sometimes, I've started walking on my lunch hour. I walk the perimeter of the parking garage with a coworker. I used to do it with a cigarette, but I found that wasnt a good combination. So during my lunch hour I dont smoke. That helps! Then I started parking on the third level and taking the stairs. I work on the 5th floor.....but not ready to take those stairs yet lol.

I'm still alive and kicking. Just going thru the day-to-day for now. The holidays are coming and there's alot to do. With the little changes I"m working on, I hope to eliminate on of my meds by the turn of the new year. We'll see!

Getting Better

Well it seems the new regimen is starting to work a little. I'm really starting to notice every single thing affects my blood sugars. So I've learned to stay away from fast food. And because of it, my recent doctor visit told me I lost 8 pounds!! I dont know where they went (sure as hell cant see it in the mirror) but it's a motivator. Sometimes my sugars are a bit elevated, but the overall average is lower. My doctors are happier. The medicine my neurologist has me taking has helped with my headaches as well. I dont have them everyday. Every now and then I may get one from maybe a hard or stressful day. I still have to focus harder on what I'm eating and how I eat. I've never really been into eating fish, but my doctor recommended eating it more, salmon specifically so it's something I'm going to give a shot.

Focus!

More issues

It's been a whole month since posting and I should be ashamed of myself! I've actually been trying to not think about some things, and focusing a little harder on other things, going on with life trying to keep up.

A few weeks or so ago, I went to see a neurologist. Been having some terrible headaches that have some wierd symptoms such as confusion and memory loss. Was sent for an MRI and recently an EEG. According to my doc, she states there seems to be some "tissue loss" or "tissue damage" suggesting I had a stroke some time in the not-so-distance past. I believe her. Some things I forget I know I shouldnt be forgetting. Simple things that I know the answers to. Sometimes someone can explain something to me. Usually I'll absorb it quickly and run with it, but lately it's like i'm slamming into a wall and have a WTF feeling of "ok what does it mean that you are saying". Very worrying. I truly believe it's stress related. I'm being medicated for the headaches, and I've actually been free of the daily problems for a while, still some confusion here and there. When I get stressed is really when I just can't comprehend. It's getting better, but not 100% yet.

Today I saw an endocrinologist. My diabetes has not been under control for months. And thanks to my PCP staff scheduling me for days that my doctor is NOT in the office, I havent been able to see her in almost two months. I take two pills and insulin and my blood sugar is still averaging 350 all day. The insulin does nothing for me anymore. So now, one of my pills is discontinued, one has been increased, and i'm on two NEW different insulins. About to take one now, and the other before I goto bed. I hope I don't wake up dead in the morning.

The exercise routine is slow. I was actually walking around my building at lunchtime, but it's scorching hot these days. Record-setting hot days. I've decided not to pay someone almost $500 a year for something I can do for free, and I can enjoy the outdoors at the same time (provided the above conditions arent happening). I still have to pick up a treadmill from a co-worker that she has for me. Neither of our cars is big enough and my brother (after promising to do it) has come up with ever excuse in the book to not get it for me. I started doing situps everynite tho, altho it's only 10 at this point, it feels like I'm doing 100!!

Once I get all these doctors out of the way and I fully know how battered and bruised my system is, I think I can really focus on a better routine for things. Right now, I have a needle to deal with. :-(