OK – I decided that since I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes on Thursday (3/11/11) I would try to blog about my journey getting myself healthy and getting my BG (Blood Glucose) under control. My mother has Type 2 and my father was also a Type 2 diabetic. I think you can even go back to my grandfather on my mom’s side was Diabetic. So there is a family history with the disease.
This all started last week. I had not been feeling well for quite a while. I had battled 2 bouts of Bronchitis and so I was really exhausted. Last Tuesday I had come home from my ladies meeting and my chest felt some pressure. It felt like my heart was going a million miles an hour. I took my BP and it was kind of high. My husband suggested that I take a hot shower and try to relax myself. I did just that and it seemed to pass.
I worked from home on Wednesday and felt OK. But when I got to work on Thursday – again I felt some tightness in my chest and my heart was racing again. Being kind of nervous, I called my husband and had him take me to the local ER.
They did an EKG, which came back normal. My BP was not extremely high (higher than it should be, but then again I was sitting in the ER, what do would you expect). When the Doctor came in with the results of my blood work, she casually mentioned my BG was kind of high. I could have just let that slide, but I didn’t. I told her that there was a history of Diabetes in my family. She suggested they run the A1C test, which they didn’t typically run in the ER. Again, I don’t believe that this was a coincidence that she recommended this test.
The rest of my blood work came back clear, but since the enzymes that are released into your blood stream during a heart attack sometimes take 4-6 hrs to show up, she recommended we wait and run the test again to be completely sure. So I sat in the ER until 3:30 when all the blood work was run again and came back clear. All except the A1C test. Since there was no evidence of anything Cardiac related, the released me, with instructions to follow up with my Cardiologist and GP.
I got home and made an appointment with my Cardiologist to wear a Holter monitor to see if they could see a cause for my heart racing. The phone rang and it was the doctor from the ER telling me that the A1C had returned and that the normal results should be around 6. Mine had returned 9.1 and that I should consider myself a Type 2 Diabetic.
The Holter monitor showed that everything looked good with my heart. The heart rate was in the normal range. And over the last week I have been trying seriously to get my BG under control. Which has not been as easy as it might seem.
My GP had requested that I be sent to a Diabetes and Nutrition class. Great! I can learn how to get this disease under control. Unfortunately , the class is not until April 4th. So I am trying to read all I can and learn what I can now. But it is still feeling very overwhelming.
Take Breakfast as an example. I decided this morning that I would have a healthy bowl of Raisin Bran. High in Fiber. Whole grains. Until you look at the fact that there are 47g of Carbs. So 2 hrs after eating my BG was 206. Doesn’t really help that I had pasta for dinner which pushed my BG to close to 300. My BG after not eating all night started the day at 175.
The one thing that we have done that has felt great is my husband and I (along with Gabriel) have begun going out for walks after dinner. A brisk 10 minute walk. It has really felt great.
I intend to try to blog to pass on the information that I’m learning. To be an outlet for some of my frustration. And I think just as a way to write out the journey that I’ve begun.
