Health Update

Note: This is somewhat of an obligatory post. I suspect some diabetics ignore this blog because I so rarely write about my diabetes. To do so - IMO - would be akin to writing about shaving: it's a necessary evil and one that needs to be approached with caution, concern and care, but otherwise, I've got more fun things to talk about.

Anywho, I had my regular check-up scheduled two weeks ago and had my fasting blood work done. Heading into the week of the appointment, however, I told my wife I was bagging the appointment because my schedule that week was a mess. She looked at me as if I was shirking my diabetic responsibilities, but I said, "Here's what's going to happen: My A1C will be good, my thyroid reading will still be off and they'll adjust my Synthroid. If I'm wrong, I'll go in."

Sure enough, I was right.

My A1C this time was 6.5. The coolest part about bagging my appointment was the doc actually sent me a copy of my lab records, including a running A1C tally from the past several years, which I'd never seen before. Here it is:

4/08 - 6.5 *Up a tad. I suspect some of the blame should go to my new beer trading club, which results in me consuming new beers that I'm guessing the carb counts of.
11/07 - 6.3
7/07 - 6.6
10/06 - 6.9 *NOTE: I'd only started running 3 months prior, and I suspect I was running higher to avoid lows while exercising.
4/06 - 6.4
7/05 - 6.1
1/05 - 6.4
4/04 - 6.4
8/03 - 6.0
1/03 - 5.4
4/02 - 6.1 (My first test 3 months after going on the pump.)
12/01 - 7.5 (Decided to go on pump.)
10/01 - 7.1
3/01 - 7.0
12/00 - 9.2

So that's 8 years of being a diabetic, which gives me a rolling average of 6.66 over the past 8 years - much less since I've been on the pump.

Meanwhile, while I think I'm a pretty lucky diabetic, I'm a mess with my thyroid and haven't been able to keep my TSH reasonable since my cancer scare nearly five years ago. I've switched meds numerous times and the only time my level was good, I felt like garbage. So, I've had *issues.* Also - unlike insulin, which my body is extremely receptive, too (I was still on PORK and BEEF insulin when they were discontinued, for instance.), my body is very picky about the brand of thyroid pills I take.

However, there might be good news on this front, too. Even though I need to be on new pills for eight weeks prior to getting a new test, I've found that I can tell rather quickly how the pills make me "feel" and I'm giving a tentative thumbs-up to the new dosage, which I've been on for 4 days now. I seem to have a bit more energy - today is my third day in a row of running and I feel pretty good (usually by the third day I'm really looking forward to my rest day), so we'll see.

But all in all, nothing much has changed. I'm a good diabetic and a bad hypothyroid patient.

Comments

  1. Anne Findlay9:55 AM

    those A1c's rock. Congrat's.

    ReplyDelete
  2. jpnairn1:18 PM

    Yes, Marcus,
    That's an enviable string of A1C levels.
    I have nodules on my thyroid consistent with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, though my thyroid hormone levels have been within the normal range so far. (I'm overdue for a checkup.)
    So that's another ugly thing we have in common.
    I suppose I may be subconsciously putting off making a new appointment because the last time I saw my endo she did a biopsy on my thyroid. That was pretty stressful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:23 PM

    Marcus...Great string of A1c's. Even with the great A1c track record, have you considered a CGM? If so, which one? I searched your blog for your views on CGMs but didn't find anything. We are considering a CGM for our 20-yr old son. He has good A1c's every 3-months (never been over 6.5), but he does seem to have extreme high and low's to arrive at that good A1c. We are wondering if a CGM would help. Your thoughts would be appreciated on this topic. Al from runningahead.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7:13 AM

    those a1c's are great. congrats and good work.
    the thyroid thing jerry talked about just happened to me also. unfortuanately, while waiting for the biopsy results, i convinced myself i had cancer and was miserable. what a waste of time worrying...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous5:06 AM

    Yay for awesome A1Cs. My wife's latest is 6.5 as well. w00t!

    -- Don

    ReplyDelete

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