Sunday, February 26, 2006

More Diabetes Stuff (but parrots on the way!)

Here I am, a couple of days later, to add something to my previous post that will hopefully make my situation be a bit simpler to understand--I am a 'brittle' diabetic. Here's a link to an article that explains brittle diabetes very clearly: Brittle Diabetes .

Once I spent 30 days in the hospital so that doctors could try to determine why my diabetes is so hard to control. Every bite of food I took, every step of exercise I did (and we had regular exercise twice a day), my sleep, emotions, blood sugars, everything, was recorded and analyzed. The result? Nothing they tried regulated my glucose levels, my blood sugars swung merrily from pillar to post, and I earned the spiffy label of brittle diabetic.

This means that my blood sugars don't respond to treatment as expected, no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try. For instance, I may have a normal blood sugar reading one minute, then twenty minutes later be in the 400s, then half an hour later, my glucose levels might drop to the twenties. I can go for days and be in fairly good control, then boom! Things go haywire, and who knows why? It's aggravating, dangerous, sometimes kind of funny, and never, ever boring. Diabetes, my friends, ain't for wimps. I just thank God that my daughter's diabetes responds well to traditional treatment.

And now, what you've all been waiting for (well, Mac, anyway *grin*), parrot stuff is on the way! Stay tuned for all you ever wanted to know about the feathered maniacs who provide me with boundless inspiration, spread seed hulls, poop and good cheer throughout my office, and cheerily scream their little heads off when the telephone rings. Pictures and information are on the way! 'Til then, take it easy, be happy, and be good to yourselves.

8 comments:

Anne C. Watkins said...

The problem with my diabetes is that there's no way to predict what's going to happen. Sometimes I'll even have a very intense insulin reaction right after a huge meal! And then again, I'll be feeling fine, things will be exactly as they should, then suddenly my blood sugars spike like crazy. Makes no sense at all.

I was diagnosed in 1981, so this is an old, old ongoing thing. Don't know why I even posted about it--I don't spend tons of time thinking about it because it's just my everyday life. Maybe I was so looking forward to enjoying my new treadmill that the stoooopid problems with insulin reactions just forced themselves to be blogged about. Yeah, that's it. lol

I'm working on something about the parrots--and there'll be pictures and everything! :D

Honestly, though, if Rio doesn't stop biting my hands today he's gonna find himself the main ingredient in parrot pot pie. Rrrrrr.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Anne. I'm sorry that your diabetes is like that. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have to handle the constant ups and downs with diabetes. I have enough trouble handling the ups and downs of Disthymia (a form of depression).

I'm glad you have such a good attitude toward it though. I wish you all the best and I hope that it never gets the better of you.


Talk to you later, Anne, and I hope you have a good day. :)

Othmar Vohringer said...

I have a good idea what you must go through Ann. One of my family members had this cursed illness too.
At times when I think about it I can get very angry at how much money (billions) we spend on the research of Diabetes, Cancer and Aids and yet we are nowhere even close to find answers let alone a cure. Makes me often wonder what they do with all that money.

I admire your attitude and good spirit. Keep it up and have a good day.

Othmar aka huntwriter

Frank Baron said...

Glad to see you're making lemonade out of that diabetic lemon you've been handed Anne.

Hopefully before too long some medical wizard will figure out how to treat you.

Looking forward to some parrot stuff. :)

Joanne said...

Anne,
I hope one day you'll be able to get that diabetes under control. How tiring each day must be for you to have to go through this. Keep that smile. I can see that's part of what gets you through.

ohdawno said...

Hi Anne! I'm also looking forward to the parrot posts - not that I don't appreciate having a better understanding about diabetes.

Oh, don't forget to talk about green bean casserole, too. ;-)

uniquematerial said...

I've heard parrot pot pie is good for ulcers...not too sure about diabetes. Tell your feathered friend to shape up or you're going to try it. :D

Anne C. Watkins said...

Sean, Othmar, Frank, Joanne, Dawno, and Unique--thank you all for your posts! The encouraging words of friends will always get you through even if you just feel too icky for words. :D

And Unique, the parrots probably come closer to causing ulcers than soothing them, even if baked up in a flaky crust with yummy veggies and a cream sauce. rofl!

I love'em anyway and they know it! :)