Today is “Health Day” at my office. This means we all have to go get weighed, measured and the ol’ fingerpoke test for glucose, cholesterol and all kinds of other fun stuff. It’s a requirement for us to participate in this in order for us to continue to get the company health insurance.
My appointment was 10:40, and although they requested that you fast for 6-8 hours prior to the appointment, there was no way I was going to be able to do that. I had my usual breakfast around 8:15. Greek yogurt, if you’re really dying to know.
When I went for my appointment in the work cafeteria, where they had set up a makeshift triage area, I was cared for by a 40ish, friendly looking bald guy with what I’d nicely refer to as a “beer belly,” but he was clearly overweight. He asked me some standard questions, such as DOB and SSN and all that, and then asked whether I had fasted. I said I hadn’t. “Me neither,” he said. “We have to eat, right?” He patted his stomach and smiled, making me feel at ease.
“I’m diabetic, so I had to,” I tell him.
“Me too.”
“Really? Type one or type 2?”
He held up two fingers. Then he said there’s a hyper and a hypo diabetic, terms I had never heard of before. I guess he’s referring to hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia? Anyway, he says he is BOTH. He told me that if he gets below 160, he feels sick and dizzy and basically can’t function. Really? 160? That’s kinda high, isn’t it? I freak out when I see a 160 reading on my meter. Anyway, we chat a little more and he reveals that he was diagnosed in December of 2011. So we are both newbies at this. He said he went from 275 to 208 pounds, but is now back at 260 “because he cheats.” He basically does all the stuff we, as diabetics, are not supposed to do. Let me remind you, HE was the health care worker and I was the patient! He volunteered the info that last night, he had three beers and pizza. Later he admitted to also having Kool-Aid to drink. Ew! Even a non-diabetic would be pushing their luck with that kind of food and beverage choice.
We talked some more and he actually gave me two book recommendations that I will check out. The first is called Syndrome X which he said is like a diabetic handbook. It discusses reversing diabetes through diet. (Sounds like he should re-read this book, perhaps?) The second book he told me to get is The South Beach Diet. Of course I’ve heard of the diet before, but never paid attention before. Anyone read these two books and have some insight? They look to be pretty cheap on Amazon, so I may just check them out and post my thoughts here once I’ve read them (and also on my book review site — shameless plug!) Of course I’m going to take the advice of a pizza eating, Kool-Aid drinking, beer chugging diabetic guy with a few grains of salt, but I think he realizes that he SHOULD be following these things. He just isn’t, for whatever reason.
I also think fate has a funny way of throwing people like me together with people like him. I don’t think anything happens by accident. Both because I thought, hey, now I have a blog post for today! 😉 and because I was shown an example of just how good I am actually doing. And I got some advice along the way.
Then came the weirdest part. The numbers. Keeping in mind that I ate around 8:15 and it is now about 10:45 when my glucose is tested. On a typical day I would test myself around 10:00 and receive back a BG of anywhere between 140-180, with no rhyme or reason.
It was 76.
SEVENTY SIX.
Seriously – I had to ask him if he meant to put a 1 before the 7. (176). This was a top-notch machine doing the test, so how could I question it? I was truly shocked. I haven’t seen a reading that low from my meter … well … EVER. This makes me call into question the accuracy of my meter. Could the meter be faulty and that’s why I’m getting these whacky readings? That is definitely to be investigated. 76. I mean, I want to run around and tell people! Hey, I got a 76 BG! The number for a person to “pass” the BG test was less than 100. On a good day I can barely manage that according to my meter, and here I was sporting a very pretty looking double-digit number that passed! How do ya like them apples? (I just tested myself using my own meter and it was 140. This is about an hour later, and although I did munch on some cooked and salted pumpkin seeds between now and then, I doubt it would have jumped that high. Definitely wondering about this meter now.)
My BMI is currently at 24, well within the normal range, which is excellent. He wrote my weight as 143, even though my scale at home this morning said 146.5.
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though. Although my total cholesterol was less than 100, with 240 being the benchmark, my HDL or “good” cholesterol was lower than it should be. I really don’t understand what that means, but I’ll look into that. My blood pressure was 128/89, which for these rigid benchmarks was considered high. It had to be BELOW 120/80. Which I think is pretty much the widely-accepted standard. My BP is usually lower than the standard but today for whatever reason, it was not.
Anyway, some interesting findings at Health Day that I wanted to share with you. Hopefully Ed the HCW will have something better for dinner tonight and skip the beers and Kool-Aid. Hopefully meeting me showed him that you CAN do this if you take control. I’m trying my hardest. I’m not saying I’m perfect. Right now there is a half-eaten LARGE chocolate chip cookie at my desk from yesterday’s lunch. I plan on eating the other half today. Should I be eating it? Probably not. But I’m making the decision to do so, and deciding to eliminate a carb from some other part of my day. That’s all you need to do. I hope Ed gets it together, I really do.
What Do You Mean I Can't Eat Red Vines? 