I'm trapped! But I may try to escape...

As I suspected, my endo wants me on multiple daily injections (MDI). We did not speak one word about the roles and benefits of diet and exercise in blood sugar control. He did not ask me what I eat or when, or whether I get at least 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise. He said if he had his druthers, he'd put every one of his diabetes patients on MDI as soon as they were diagnosed. He showed me a little PowerPoint presentation (training tool) on determining the efficacy of various doses at different times.

And in his office, after a 20-minute walk and a 45-minute wait, my BP was 102/60, which is very low! And I have put on a couple of pounds in the last couple of weeks. And I have been more active this week.

I might have mentioned that I don't cook that much -- I have food, appliances, cookware, and so on, but every flat surface is covered with clutter and filth. I figured I do have a place for everything -- it's getting everything in its place that's the bother. In the past I've been a maker of lists. I haven't done so recently but I've been keeping a kind of diary. Although it's in Word I don't go back and edit what I've written. It seems to be motivating me for some reason.

Inertia: a body at rest tends to stay at rest; a body in motion tends to stay in motion. It’s the motion I need! Next steps: finish dishes; unhang laundry and hang fresh load; pull out stove and fridge and collect all the cat toys underneath. That’s exercise for you!

Doctors' visits (to them, not to me)

My annual physical was Friday. I'm menopausal, diabetic, trying to reduce my meds and gain muscle weight, watch my cholesterol, get fitter (first by walking daily for 30 minutes, taking a yoga class for 2 hours a week, then by playing badminton, and once I get stronger and more flexible practicing Karate). My blood sugars are BADDDDD, but if I am disciplined with diet and exercise and meds on schedule I can get them down (so why don't I). And my blood pressure, outside the doctor's office, is 11o/70 (this is good, by the way).

Also, I'm as weak as a kitten (except I can't scratch the hell out of the furniture). Since my doctor now knows that my maternal grandmother died of intestinal cancer I now have to get a small-bowel screen as well as a colonoscopy. And my physio wants me to get an Xray on my right knee to be sure I just have a slight inflammation and not incipient osteoarthritis.

I found a $10 bill on the sidewalk this weekend! Hoo-Rah! I make a good living and don't have any debt but mortgage, but I'm not ashamed to bend down and pick up a penny or nickel.

Please define the following terms: Backer rod. Contact cement. Water control valve. Staple. I have not been able to get a hardware store person to send me to the right department using any of these terms. Are they really strange?

Dark rye bread: I had some in a restaurant on Friday for a late breakfast following my fast and appointments and exercise. It was yummy. So I had some again this morning. It's very dark bread (black-coffee dark) and I had it with fruit salad and two scrambled eggs. Until I googled Dark Rye Bread recipes I would never have guessed that cocoa powder might be an ingredient---from a tablespoon to a quarter cup, depending on the recipe.

Glucosamine-Chondroitin-MSM: I found a liquid on sale. It's tangerine flavoured and very yummy, which persuades me to keep taking it three times a day for the 60 days it needs to be effective in reducing joint deterioration.

Black cohosh: One source says it's contra-indicated for diabetes. Another source says it's a hypoglycemic. Since it seems to promote periods I don't take it (I want to stop having menstrual periods). But who the hell knows for sure!? Anyway, I have a beautiful mature black cohosh plant growing in my back yard. It's a native North American species (you can get one at www.richters.com).

It's a pain in the gut

Stomach pains are getting worser and worser. It's a combination of poor diet, too much red wine, Metformin, and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Also unmanaged stress, probably: I've been testing my blood sugar several times a day (instead of just in the morning, or not at all) and except for one day they've been consistently high. I have an appointment with my GP on Friday for an annual checkup, and will have to admit to her that I am not doing well at all. Then I will go right to my physiotherapist to get him to look at my knee and tell me what's wrong with it. To hell with all that. Here's my next complaint:

Don't rush off to check out that handy steamer that's being advertised on TV these days. You know the one: use it to freshen bedding and dry-cleanable clothing (save $$!!), and your life will be swell. I only wanted to compare the price of having one delivered to the price of the one on sale that I could pick up myself. To see that I had to submit my credit card information. "Your order has been processed!!" Whaaaa?? No confirmation page, which I find somewhat like going to the midway at a carnival. When I was a child, I actually had a carny grab my dollar bill out of my hand and drop three quarters into my purse, in order to make me play his silly game. I must have looked at him funny, because when I held out those quarters he gave me back my dollar.

Anyways, I made two phone calls and sent three e-mails (for which I did not receive a response even though the autoresponder promises I'll get one within 48-72 hours. Those must be Albanian hours or something. And they lie. "Oh, the confirmation page is not working, I guess, it should be there." "Oh, your shipment is already with Canada Post." That was January 22. But I got the confirmation from Canada Post just today. I can't win: if I don't accept the delivery (which I'll have to pick up with the car) I will get back only the cost of the item less shipping and handling. If I accept it I was promised a $20 discount (or was it $30? Doesn't matter. I'll never see it). And I can use the thing and then return it in 30 days for a "full refund." I guess I will try it out. My only concern is the fiddly bits on my silk blouses, the collar, hem, cuffs, darts, button panels. I can see myself gettin' out the ol' ironin' board.

Roasting green coffee

Today I am roasting a few days' worth of green coffee beans from Papua New Guinea (Sigri locale). Though I'm not a real coffee aficionado, I started home-roasting about 8 years ago when I heard about Merchants of Green Coffee here in the T-dot. I love the idea of support fair-trade, shade-grown, organic, cooperative, sustainable coffee, where the co-op farmers sell the dried green beans directly to the Merchants, who sell them directly to me, for 8.00 CAD per pound.

(Fasting blood glucose 10.5/189. Not as bad as yesterday, but that's not saying much. I am going for a walk to pick up groceries and more wine.)

My favourite sport is badminton -- I played in the back yard with my brothers, and didn't realise for quite a while that for me it's a SPORT, not a pastime. I bought a membership to a karate dojo and went for a class about once a year for three years. Then I found a badminton club within walking distance of home, and found I got in shape really quickly while playing and having fun. I was able to get through a karate class more easily and started going about twice a week. I was THIS CLOSE to getting my blue belt when first my office moved downtown and then I moved downtown. My BGs haven't been any good since. So I've been walking past a Goju karate dojo for years now, and recently found a place to play badminton on Saturday afternoons.

Question: how did Haley Berry "wean" herself off insulin??