Happy Birthday to me, I made it through another year.

I am sure you have noticed a lack of posts, I think in my past life I was a bear that went into hibernation during the winter period but I did managed to poked my head out from under the duvet today considering it is a very special day.

I can't remember when the exact date of my Diaiversary is,(Shh sometimes I also don't remember my Anniversary.) but I do remember that I was 10 years old.So on my Birthday I also celebrate living another year with Diabetes.

I have been a Diabetic for 32 years Wow. Still relatively healthy apart from the frozen shoulder which from my internet research would just magically disappear in 2 years time, unfortunately I was talking to my Uncle about a month ago and he said he had, had a frozen shoulder for over 5 years now but that is another story which I don't want to think about today.

I am healthy and I thank God for that plus as my Doctor always says you have some good genes and I always think , hell these genes are what gave me the Diabetes but the rest are good ones.(Levi's or something.)

I would like all my readers today to remember that you are in control of whatever life throws at you. This can apply to a variety of situations but lets take the Diabetes , you have many options when being diagnosed -

• You can deny it and act like you don't have a life threatening disease.
•  You can blame every one else , My Doctor is no good , my medical aid is no good , my Spouse is no good.
• It is too expensive to follow a healthy diet. (One of the best things to lower the GI of a meal is Baked Beans please)

You can probably come up with more of these reactions but the only one that you need to set in your mind is this.

• I am in control of this disease,I make my own life choices, I need to educate myself about this disease, I need to know and acknowledge when I make the wrong choices and try and correct these as soon as possible, I want to live a healthy long life

Having said that, today I am going out to dinner with my wonderful husband to "Piccolo Mondo Week"the only time us plebs can eat in style at Sandton's Michaelangelo hotel at a reasonable price. Looking at the menu for tonight I will probably make the wrong choices but I will correct them as soon as possible, you don't turn 42 more than once.

It is very funny that Google had their Birthday Doodle for me of cakes and sweets.(Here it is.)

Here's to healthy living.

Stay Linked

Kim

Eyes, Feet, Diet, HBA1C

I am alive!

So I have had another session of doing all the requirements for being a Diabetic on the managed health care programme the CDE.

I have been to the Dietitian, the podiatrist, the ophthalmologist and had the vampires test my blood.

What have I learnt from all these visits?

•      My employer always jokes that I am worse than my kids when it comes to Doctors appointments but luckily I am the one with the chronic disease and not them. Although he says this there is never any problem with me going so a big thumbs up to awesome employers.

•        The Dietitian had nothing new to say except that Sweeto is sugar free and helps make water taste better as I need to drink liters more than I do now. Coffee is made with water isn’t it?

•        The podiatrist poked my feet spoke about unrelated things was happy I had hair on my toes and told me to dry between my toes after washing.

• .       The ophthalmologist told me my eyes where fine granted I am as blind as a bat without glasses and earned my respect by testing my blood sugar before testing my eyes which is the first time ever someone has done that.

•        The HBA1C was good again. Dedicated blood drawers at the labs are far better and painless than a doctor drawing your blood.   

All results from these experts where good. So in summary what I learnt was I have good employers ,I must drink more water and less coffee, I must make sure I keep the hairs on my toes, I am not going blinder and I should keep up the good work.

I also learnt that there are some people with far greater problems Diabetes wise and sadly they have  a lack of willingness to do anything about it.

All the tests and examinations hopefully will catch anything bad happening before it gets worse.

Thanks to the professionals that-

Look at stinky feet all day long

That gaze into a strangers eyes day in and day out

That try endlessly to change lifelong bad eating habits

That do something as accurate and dangerous as drawing a vile of blood.

Here goes to another 32 years of living life with Diabetes.

Stay Linked

Kim

Putting your Diabetes first.

Towards the end of this year I would have been a Mother for 13 years it sounds incredibly long but also feels short at the same time.

 (I will write a post one of these days about my experience of being a Pregnant Diabetic not once but twice so keep a look out if you are at all interested.)

I am blessed with 2 healthy boys of 12 and 9 years old. I am so grateful that God allowed us to have the responsibility of caring for and loving these 2 young boys. They have both enriched my life in so many ways, each with their totally different personalities and all though their looks are pretty much the same they are so very different in their characters and personalities.

Lately I feel like I am going from one check up to the next, First the PT for my shoulder, then the annual Doctors Check to talk about the blood test results, then the Eye Doctor to check the eyes , then the Dietitian and then later it will be the podiatrist. I was complaining about it as I always seem to be asking for time off from work to go to yet another medical appointment.

But the thing is I need to do all of these things and manage my Diabetes and take the insulin and check the blood sugars (Often). God entrusted us with not one but 2 children. But what kind of a good job am I doing at achieving all of these lifes responsibilities if I don't manage my Diabetes correctly.

I might say like so many other Moms that I want to put my children first but after awhile as a Diabetic you need to alter you mind set and say that part of putting my children first is putting my Diabetes first.

If I don't I might not live to see my boys graduate from university. I might not see them married or having kids of their own. That might be a bit harsh but if I do live to see future awesome things with my boys I want to be able to experience these moments not in pain or being any kind of unfit,unhappy complicated Diabetic.

My oldest son said to me the other day.(Referring to my Shoulder) Mom you can't go on holiday so I looked at him a bit confused and said why not? So he turned to me and said you won't be able to sit like this and he raised his arms and clasped them behind his head and smiled at me.

Something like this.

 He was joking with me but I want to be able to once again go on holiday with my Family and say lets relax and do that exact pose.Amazing what little things can motivate you.

Thank you Matthew and Jared for understanding and accepting that by putting my Diabetes first I am in a way putting you first.

Love to every parent out there.

Stay linked

Kim



  

April Fools Day Diabetes funnies

Just a few funnies for Friday since it is April Fools day.

Hope you enjoy.

So what do Ibuprofen,caffiene,and restless dogs all have in common?

I have never been one to suffer from insomnia quite the opposite actually. I was always quite proud of my sleeping abilities. I sleep very soundly. I used to laugh at people who said that caffeine kept them up until all hours of the night, what I can drink coffee all night and still sleep soundly and no I don't drink that stuff they call decaffeinated who ever invented that stuff. That was all what I used to say mind you. Until tonight, I went to bed as usual with my coffee nightcap and I took a 400mg Ibuprofen downed down with the coffee of course. My trusty Lab,Bitsum(our special name for our x everything breed dog) and Border Collie all joined me as well as my snoring husband.So I lay there 5 minutes to fall asleep was all it usually took anything over that and something was wrong. That bloody bird outside was calling no actually screeching to be precise. Mr P says it is a nocturnal bird the only birds I know that are nocturnal are owls and it was not hooting or nightingales and according to stories I have read they sing beautifully. At about 11pm the nocturnal bird shut up , died or went to sleep. Okay it was the dogs faulty they where doing laps and what sounded like somersaults on hardwood floors. They where fast asleep at 11:05. Now it was the husbands faulty why wasn't he snoring as usual. " Hay Mr P are you all right." "Um yes " okay now he was snoring.  So to cut a long night or story short I had now run out of things to blame and I had to start blaming myself so I am blaming my shoulder,and the combination of Ibuprofen and caffeine on my lack of sleep. So that is it people and I am posting this at 1:35 am. So if you can answer the title question good for you as I can't and I am to tired to even try so good night or good morning.Luckily it is a public holiday today so no work . Happy Easter everyone. All editing will be done post posting so apologies for any errors.
(∩＿∩) ╰_╯ Cross eyed , and yawning oh crap best I take a blood sugar reading Good night all.

My Frozen Shoulder story (Adhesive Capsulitis)

I am sure you will remember that I was complaining of a sore shoulder and I have said in my last post that I have got one of my first Diabetes related Complications.

Here is my shoulder saga.

Last year I complained of a really (insert curse word ????) sore shoulder. So at the beginning of this year I went to the GP not the usual one I see but someone else in the practice that Mr P had seen before and he said he liked him. He checked my range of motion and said I had a rotator cuff tear. (Even showed me a shoulder model to explain it.) I had to have a cortisone injection and if it did not improve I had to see a Shoulder Specialist as I then definitely had a tear. Good but he forgot that I sometimes refer to myself as a part time google researcher. After he injected cortisone which had no effect I did a bit of research. I came across other Diabetics with Frozen Shoulders I even chatted with one on Reddit.

 I did a quick check list.

Affects more women than men - þ 
Injecting a shoulder with an anesthetic (done to me when the cortisone was injected) in a person with Frozen Shoulder this will not improve mobility, whereas in people with other shoulder conditions it will. þ 

Can have a link to Diabetes - þ 
People over the age of 40 -þ 
There are more symptoms that I checked but I can't remember them all now but one was that it is painful when moved by yourself as well as movement assisted by another person. þ þ þ 
Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick I was nearly convinced I had a Frozen Shoulder.

I had to see the GP again because that is what he told me to do. So I did.Here was basically how our conversation went:
Me : "Are you sure I don't have a Frozen Shoulder."
Doc : "No this is definitely not a Frozen Shoulder."
Me : "But the cortisone and anesthetic injection did not help?"
Doc: "Oh well then it must be torn." Got shown the shoulder model again.
Me: Will Physio Therapy help? 
Doc : Only if you want to waste your money.
Me: I wanted to see the best shoulder specialist (this was confirmed by many people who had fallen off speeding bikes) I want to see this guy - Dr B.
Doc: I don't know him but here is a note you can make your own appointment.

The waiting list for the best was also one of the best I had seen but I waited. You didn't even have an option to talk to him before X Rays where done. I had to have X- Rays in hand when I arrived at his rooms. Now the thing with a Frozen shoulder is that your X-rays look wonderful nothing wrong perfect joints. That was me and now this is my final diagnosis. R1,025.00 for the Doctors 10 minute appointment alone and we are back at what a non - medically trained patient had thought and yes you guessed it months and months of Physio hopefully not to waste my money.

This is a couple of comparison pictures to show what I am experiencing: (Please note that is not me, I like to believe my bingo wings aren't quite that bad yet.)

 The ABC are with the buggered up arm, DEF are the other arm.C is the worse one for me oh the pain. As you can see this will restrict a lot of things like Putting on a bra,zipping up a zip on the side of your clothes,Shaving underarm,scratching your back,throwing a ball for the furbabies,catching a ball. I am sure you can think of a ton more.

I have exercises I must do 3 times a day. These hurt but I am hoping we are cutting months or even years off the fixing of the shoulder. Frozen shoulder usually fixes itself after +/- 2 years but you might not regain full motion. You are basically doing stretches. It seems to be a bit of a hit and miss situation as experts do not know for sure what causes frozen shoulder, but they think that the joint becomes inflamed and scar tissue forms as this forms the tissues inside the joint shrink and harden make the shoulder harder to move. 

The recovery is a slow process as this is a chronic condition. 

Because of 20 to 30 % of Diabetics getting this condition it has gained a bad rap, with it being said that it is due to bad sugar control. Umm think of it, they don't know what causes this condition but if you are a Diabetic it is due to bad sugar control. I have even seen notes of people saying that it is because sugar has collected in the joint and now you have to break away the sugar. Yes maybe bad sugar control increases the chances of you getting it. Yes most definitely (as with most ailments) if you have it and your sugar is out of control it will take longer to fix it.

I will admit I was very worried with my diagnosis. Maybe all I had been told about my good control was untrue and here was the proof. Maybe this was just the start of worse to come, Maybe I was on a slippery slope downward and I could not stop myself. (It is not really easy to stop yourself slipping down that hill with a bloody Frozen Shoulder), I could carry on and on worrying about what Diabetic thing was to happen next but is this going to help. I could be just as unfortunate and die like Mike Edwards from the band Electric Light Orchestra when a large bale of hay rolled down a hill and collided with the van he was driving. Anything could happen.I like to relate it to this "No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow your progress, you are still way ahead of someone who is not trying."  I can certainly say that I must be better than some Diabetics who don't try at all.

Yes even though I have HBA1C's of 5.7 , I still want to get a CGM ( a continuous blood glucose monitor.) So I can be sure and be more confident in my results. And who knows maybe this will lead to a pump too. (Don't forget us Diabetics don't like change.)

Oh and don't be caught like me remember this - People with Frozen Shoulder very rarely need imaging tests such as X Rays, MRI's or Ultrasounds.

Sorry Discovery Health Insurance I think this medical condition is going to cause you some increase in expenses this year. No really don't worry I pay you over R8,000.00 per month and I will still have to worry about a self payment gap this year but that is a whole other conversation.

Keep health and keep Linked

Kim

What doctors forgot to tell us about Diabetes complications.

When I was diagnosed with Diabetes we where told that if you did not control your blood sugars you could get Diabetes related complications these where:

• You could go blind - (Retinopathy)
• You could loose feeling in hands and feet etc. - (Neuropathy)
• Your kidneys could pack in - (Kidney damage leading to dialysis)

Nobody said but wait if you really want to know what you are in for here is a more extensive list, no siree, that was it Eyes,nerves and kidneys.

Now if you do a basic  Diabetes complications search on the internet you get this list:

• Eyes 
• Kidneys
• Nerves
• Heart and blood vessels
• gums
• feet

Don't be fooled people! Although these might be the worse things, the list of Diabetes related complications is very much longer.

On my 30 year Diaversary I gave myself a slap on the back and said "Well done mate,you're not blind,you're not on Dialysis and you still have all circulation and feeling. But.......

 I was diagnosed with my first Diabetes related complication a few weeks ago. Here is a list of some Diabetes related complications that a lot of us didn't even know existed but when you research any of these you always see the key point - Diabetics fall with in XYZ% of developing this condition.

Gastroparesis - It's believed that the vagus nerve, which controls the movement of food through the digestive tract, becomes damaged and causes food to be digested slowly or not at all. A common cause of damage to the vagus nerve is Diabetes.

Digital Sclerosis (Diabetic Thick skin) - We all have Diabetic Thick skin but that does not necessarily affecting our skin. I took the best pic of this condition. Do yourself a favor and don't search pics of this on the internet.

Vitiligo - Loss of skin pigmentation, it is also an auto immune disease and 7 % of type 1 Diabetics will develop this condition.

Hypoglycemia Unawareness - all though this can be reversed it is still a complication.

Limited Joint Mobility - This includes a number of problems. Trigger Finger Syndrome - This condition affects 2 to 3 % of the population but 10 to 20 % of those with Diabetes.

Frozen Shoulder - (Adhesive capsulitus) a painful and disabling disorder of unclear cause in which the shoulder capsule , the connective tissue surrounding the glenohumeral joint of the shoulder, becomes inflamed and stiff, greatly restricting movement and causing chronic pain. Frozen shoulder affects 10-20 % of people with Diabetes , women are more likely to get it than men and it more frequently occurs in people aged between 40-60 years.

These are but a few of the scary things that could happen due to you just being Diabetic and your sugars can be controlled and you still might get one of these. Statements like "affects 10-20 % of people with Diabetes."Would that not mean that this should be listed on some Diabetes Complications list somewhere.

I wish I had a book that was titled "All the diseases/Syndromes and ailments that could be connected to having Diabetes" What an encyclopaedia that would be. It might be so big you could literally kill someone with it.

Stay linked as in next weeks post I will reveal which one of these strange but true Diabetes health problems I have been cursed with and my start on the road to recovery.

In the mean while post some comments if you have had experience with any of these or any other strange Diabetes related problems. I would love to hear from you.

So what did Doctors forget to tell us? Simply that there are another ton of conditions that you can get that are some how related to us having Diabetes.

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