Don't stress

I am reminded yet again how stress and negative feelings can effect my blood sugar. Just got into a bit of a fight with the husband and now my blood is 399. NOT GOOD.

After eight years of marriage I can't seem to get it through my head to not
--have a serious conversation with him at 1am
--take serious things he's said after he's been drinking
--they are his angry words, I don't need to make them mine
--etc...

But what can you do when you are upset and frustrated? It's human nature to be emotional and stress out, the key is to realize you are upset and move from there. Take a moment to analyze why you are upset. Is it something you can take care of right this second? (If its passed midnight probably not). Most of the things we get upset about are completely out of our control.
In this case I was getting upset about what my husband was saying to me. His words and actions were not okay, but a discussion about them at 1am is not going to be productive. I should have let it go until the morning. As with most things, you are going to be able to better resolve your issue once the sun has risen. So if you need to, literally take a note of whats upsetting you and come back to it later.

That's all fine and dandy, but what if you are already extremely upset (you tried to solve the problem at 1am) and your blood is high?
--Of course take insuln (or other diabetic meds)
--If you can, go for a walk. Its 1am here, so I am going to pass on that one. If I wasn't so tired though, I could drive down to the 24 hour gym and get on a treadmill.
--Do some calming breathing exercises. Calm breathing exercises seriously help and it will probably improve your blood sugar too.
--Turn on a funny movie or TV show. Not only will it make you laugh but it will distract you from whats upsetting you.
--Do something else (like blog).
--Even better, do something productive (like the laundry).
--Do something creative, like paint a picture. This is supposed to be very therapeutic.
--Take a bath
--Drink a hot tea (NO sugar or cream though...you know that will just make your blood higher)

No matter what you decide to do, DON'T dwell on what is making you upset. I am sure you are 110% entitled to your angry feelings, but they will only hurt you. Stress will for sure raise your blood sugar.

Time to practice what I preach. Think I'll turn on an episode of How I Met Your Mother.
(I tried to find a picture of Barney and Robin fighting to stick here...sadly I could not find one)

Blood Test Results-A1C

I recently had my blood work done. FYI I am a huge wimp. I am a diabetic who is afraid of needles. I cannot watch TV shows or movies with too much blood and guts. I could never have been a medical doctor or a crime scene investigator.

So when I sit down to have my blood drawn the first thing I always say is, "I'm a big wimp, don't let this hurt."

Well last week when I went to get my blood work done, this is what the technician said in response, "Hi my name is John and I am an intern."

"What!"
I was very nice about it, but I basically said, "NOPE" you aren't going to be poking me today. They gave me to the pro and thank God they did because as it was he was having a difficult time finding my vein and had to take blood from my hand!

Anyways after that traumatic experience my blood results are in...and they aren't good. My A1C is high and my cholesterol is high. On the plus side I do not have Celiac Disease (although that means I have no idea why I am having stomach issues).

My doctor wants me back in SIX WEEKS to test my blood again. The A1C is usually done every 3 months...so she means business.

I am going to share my A1C with you. I think this is a very personal number for diabetics because if the number is bad (as mine is) I believe a diabetic feels it is a reflection of them as a person. Much like overweight people don't like to share their weight (not going to do that one today!) But I am sharing it because I know I'm not the only person with a bad A1C and I want other people to know they aren't alone in this. I'm also sharing this number with you because I want to try really hard over the next six weeks to improve that number.

A1C as of today: 9.7

How am I going to improve that number?
Testing my blood regularly
Eating well and taking the proper amount of Insulin for what I eat
Doing my best to exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.

Wish me luck...

Check your feet

I have a doctor's appointment this morning to have my toe looked at. My big toe is infected. It already had puss come out of it last week and now it is still hurting. Having an infection can be serious business for a diabetic. We are often slower to heal, an infection can cause high bloods (which I've had lately), and in severe cases, you can lose the part of your body that is infected.

My sister also has diabetes and she is missing a few of her toes.

I think its infected because of an ingrown toe nail. I am hoping it is something easy to resolve and that the doctor can give me some medication and we'll be good to go. I am not a fan of going to the doctor.

In addition to my toe, I have another infection on my body (I sound like the plague has attacked me). I have what appears to be an infected skin tag. I think it might be from an ingrown hair or maybe it got nicked while shaving. Same thing though, I hope there is an easy solution.

Healthy toe, although my feet are very dry.

Please ignore the "hairy feet" my husband says I have Hobbit's feet.

Infected toe.

Ouch.

Here's wishing for a pain free easy doctor's visit.