Well, finally!
My doctor just prescribed anti-diabetic medication. It’s about bloody time!
That may seem like an odd attitude, given that most folks aren’t the least bit interested in being diagnosed as diabetics, and frankly, given a choice, I would have chosen a different set of genes — but there it is.
I’m not even sure about the genes. My paternal grandmother (from whom I most likely inherited the diabetes) lived to be 98 years old. She was as loony as a bat, and as blind, but healthy right up until the end. Those genes I’m not interested in giving up, thankyouverymuch. I figure that, given the fact that My Own Dear Personal Mother will be 100 years old next November, I’ve got some pretty good odds stacked in my favor if I watch the cholesterol and occasionally drag myself away from the computer for a bit of exercise. My Own Dear Personal Sister, who at age 79 is caring for Mom and going strong, is diabetic, as is my younger brother. Of us four sibs, my older bro is the only one who escaped.
So I’m not exactly surprised, given that I’ve been glucose-intolerant for years.
The one thing that really scares me about diabetes is my eyesight. I’m a reader, a photographer, and a seeker of beautiful places, people and things. That, along with the fact that I’ve known I was diabetic since before seeing the doc a year ago, made me pretty antsy to get on with it. Adjusting to an illness that changes your lifestyle is one thing: a doctor who drags his feet, something else. No denial here. I lost most of it back in the 80’s towards the end of my active alcoholism.
As the rednecks like to say, “Git-er-done!”
So now I’m on Glucophage, and hopeful that in addition to stabilizing my blood sugar it will also help my triglycerides. My total cholesterol is 156, and my tri-g’s are almost 400 — almost certainly as a result of the diabetes. They were higher, but I stopped taking Valerian a while back because my liver panels were abnormal. They’re back to normal now, and I expect that and the G’phage will improve the liver function and the fats a good deal.
In any case, about bloody time! I want to keep these eyes for a few decades yet. I’m fond of the toes, kidneys and liver, too, actually.
