The Diagnosis
I decided in order to help me get through what is ahead of me that having a place to track my progress and knowledge accumulation would be a positive step. I may for some time go back to write-ups to make edits for clarity or factual flaws.
About 2 weeks ago I scheduled a doctor’s appointment as I hadn’t had one in a long time and felt a mild pain which I thought might be a hernia. I’m male, 47 and had not been to a doctor in a few years, not even for a basic checkup. Generally I have been reasonably healthy all my life, no complications, no weight issues, I spent months earlier this year working all around my house and landscaping by myself with no issues. In past checkups doctors all warned me about high triglycerides in blood tests but other than that no other issues at all. Good BMI, perfect blood pressure, perfect heartbeat, no chronic illnesses, and the past few years I have done well with what I believed was a decently balanced diet. My main weakness was getting a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich most mornings on my way to work (no hash brown, coffee to drink).
I didn’t think to prepare for the checkup and had just had lunch before, a healthy salad with baked chicken slices, a piece of french bread and a blood orange lemonade. I was still sipping on the lemonade when arriving at the doctor’s office. After the nurse did the usual checks, as well as pricking my finger, the doctor came in to review the results with me and ask me about any issues I came in for.
As he was discussing things with me, he used the words “…as a diabetic…” and I was caught of guard and asked him what he meant. He said, as if I already knew, “well your blood sugar came up over 300”. I didn’t know what that meant. I had had some family (mostly on my father’s side) who ended up with diabetes but that’s all I knew. I told him if that was very high and he said, “yes, it’s extreme.” I pointed to my juice sitting on the counter, still recently sipped, and suggested to him that maybe because I had just eaten lunch and a sweet drink that the levels were an anomaly. He told me that most people who are not diabetic would never go above about 140 even after a meal with heavy sugar. He then explained a few things and we determined I should come in again when I have fasted to get a reading here a recent meal was not influencing the number.
So here I was now in a state of denial to myself. I decided that, OK, for the next few days before the next appointment I would eat “super healthy” and not have any sweets or sugary things – which I already mostly did anyway, so I figured this would not be hard. I stopped drinking juices and sodas, but I was still eating meals with rice, pasta, tomato sauces, some breads (“whole wheat is good, right?”) and confidently stopped eating 11 PM the night before my appointment scheduled for 11 AM.
I was astonished that the following day’s fasting test came in at 259.
For those not yet educated about that this number I am referring to, it is count of how much glucose is swimming in your blood stream at a count of milliliters per deciliter, of ml/DL for short. People who do not have any form of diabetes stay easily within the 75-90 range and even after a meal will hardly ever go above 126 and certainly never go above 140.
They drew 3 vials blood from me and wee going to do a full blood work-up including what’s called a HbA1c test (often just referred to as “A1C”). That test would determine what the average blood sugar levels were averaged over the most recent 2-4 month period. Although the doctor was already certain he had a newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic on his hands, the results of the test would be conclusive in that regard.
My follow-up visit (which also included an ultrasound to check for hernia) was scheduled 9 days away and leaving the doctor’s office I immediately knew that I had to take this seriously and whatever I was doing with my diet and lifestyle needed to change immediately. Not moderately, not easing into it, but I needed to treat this like a war. It is how I go about most goals of mine that end up successful – I attack it like it must be won.
My next post will describe what I did from that day onward, particularly my immediate first steps.
For those wondering what the outcome of my ultrasound was, it turned out to be nothing – just the result of muscle spasm or mild pull. Had it not been for that discomfort, I may not have gone for a checkup in some time, so in a way it was luck I felt that mild pain to get me off my ass to see a doctor.