Matthias Gelinski

12.5? 10.0? 7.8? 8.2?

That is what my last four hemoglobin A1c tests have been. I just got the results for my latest blood work this week.

When my nurse gave me the results I was not surprised. My carb intake has been a lot more then usual and my blood sugars have been high often. Since I switched to the Weight Watchers Core Plan like so many of you suggested, my BG has been very good this week. I am hopeful that I can get that A1c down next time. But are those numbers bad? (READ MORE)

aetv.com

Did you see this week's  Intervention on A&E?  The subject of the intervention was John C, a young man with type 1 diabetes.  The episode's on YouTube, this is the link [the show has been removed from YouTube].

Watching his behavior around his diabetes nearly made me physically ill.  He never tested, guessed at insulin doses, didn't count carbs, didn't exercise - it was horrific.  John tests at one point and his meter only returns HI.  I'm surprised the producers didn't call 911.  He also looked like death warmed over - very pale and thin.  In several shots his arms looked as big around as the spindles on my porch railing.  (READ MORE)

Right before I turned off my computer monitor last night I read an article about diabetes and amputations. The article is startling.

One statistic, “Currently 40,000 legs are amputated in India each year” really freaked me out.

Losing my feet is a major fear of mine. It is the reason I quit smoking. It is what kept me up all night last night.

I tossed and turned for hours on end. Every movement made me aware of my feet and how numb they always are. Neuropathy has taken its toll on my feet and it terrifies me. (READ MORE)

discouraged. No, that's not the right word.  Or maybe it's that it's not the only word.  Cocky is one, disappointed another. Defeated is too strong, but more internalized than disappointed.  Judged for sure, as it really does feel like my "grade". 

Following gestational diabetes, I was "diagnosed" with type 2 by an A1C result of 6.0 by an endocrinologist who shall remain nameless to protect the incompetent. It was later that I discovered that the A1C is NOT a diagnostic tool and you shouldn't be diagnosed by it. 

There was some debate once I changed endos as to whether I was "pre-diabetic" or actually had diabetes.  After several years on metformin, and another round of insulin-dependent gestational diabetes, with only a 0.2 improvement in my A1C, I think the debate is over. (READ MORE)

For me, the desire to live to 100 is all about quality of life. Frankly, living to any age is about quality of life.

I don't know that I considered my mortality much until I was diagnosed with diabetes. I was 30 when I was diagnosed. Which means that at the traditional retirement age, I will have lived with diabetes for 35 years. That's a pretty long time. Live 20 years past retirement, and diabetes will have been part of my life for more than half a century.

One of the toughest parts of living with diabetes for me are the intangibles--I feel fine now, but that doesn't mean that my internal organs or my eyes aren't feeling the strain of high blood sugars and extended periods of time living with a chronic disease. (READ MORE)

Sometimes I am shocked at how invisible diabetes can be. I was having practice at church the other night for the contemporary band when my Bass player asked us to pray for him.

"Of course! What is going on?"

He explains to me that he is having surgery on his eye to drain fluid in it and would just like us to keep him in our prayers. He started telling us about how he had this same surgery on his other eye and that it worked really well so he his hopeful that this surgery will be another success. I asked him what causes the problem he is having.

"Diabetes." (READ MORE)