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Wednesday 15th
January 2020
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08:05 GMT
I'm not sure that anything positive can be
said about yesterday's weather. I suppose that a
late afternoon, and evening temperature of 13° C
should be considered positive for mid January, but
the grey skies and rain made it feel like a very
unpleasant day.
Storm "Brendan" was the cause of
yesterday's weather grief, and although it has
passed now, it's effects are still being felt.
While the storm did it's worst in northern
England, it still pushed a lot of warm and wet air
our way. That caused the thick clouds, and copious
rain. The remnants of that rain are still falling
this morning, but the latest forecast revision
gives hope that the rain may stop at midday, and
that there could even be a few sunny spells in the
afternoon. The maximum temperature could be just
10° C. Tomorrow may start cold and dry, but rain
may fall from early afternoon, and not stop until
past the end of the day. An hour or two after
sunset the temperature may rise to 12° C.
Yesterday centred around my appointment
with the diabetes nurse, and that set the pattern
of my day until I had seen the Diabetes Nurse. The
first thing was to make sure I fasted until the
appointment (which was at 4pm). The second thing
was to try and get in a reasonably long walk which
would "burn up" some of the glucose in my system,
and also decrease my weight a tiny bit (often
through mild dehydration). Other than that I just
rested - except in the morning.
In the morning I went to Tesco because I
had a cunning plan. I also wanted a bottle of my
favourite whisky. My cunning plan was to buy a
couple of sandwiches, and I found a couple with
reduced price stickers on them. Sadly it was a
very miserly reduction, but I guess any reduction
is better than none. I also bought some more low
fat meat, and some vegetables. Most notable of the
vegetables was a purple cauliflower. There was a
box of cauliflowers containing several varieties.
Mine was purple, but there was also green, yellow
and almost spiky.
The only trouble is that having bought all
this food I couldn't touch it until after my
appointment. That was a test of willpower while
being lazy, but not when I went out for my walk.
My intention was to do two circuits around the
park, but it was wet and drizzly. That made it all
rather unpleasant, and after just one circuit I
gave up. The only redeeming factor is it was
probably one of my fastest walks for some time. I
averaged 3.38 mph, and at the beginning it must
have been faster because I know I was slowing down
towards the end. Of course another reason for the
speed was that I didn't stop to take a single
photo.
Eventually it was time to leave to walk to
the hospital for my appointment - also done in the
rain ! I can't think of any reason how it could
have happened, but my blood glucose reading taken
at the hospital was higher than the one I had
taken an hour earlier. It is possible that it was
a faulty test strip - either their or mine. It is
possible that it was theirs. There is a good
reason for me to think that.
The finger prick blood test is done at a
pre-screening before seeing the Diabetes nurse. At
the same time, and from the same small bead of
blood, they take a very small sample that is
analysed in a remarkable machine that spits out
your H1BC1 figure. That number is equivalent to an
average blood glucose reading for a period of 2 to
3 months.
When I saw the Diabetes Nurse he had three
sets of figures to work from. There was the finger
prick test and test strip which gave a figure a
little higher than I would like. Then there was
the download data from my own blood glucose meter,
and finally there was the H1BC1 figure that showed
my average blood glucose level. I think the first
figure, the finger prick test from the
pre-screening was ignored.
The data from my home blood glucose meter
was, as I saw a fortnight ago when I saw the
Dietician, displayed like a calendar with good
readings in green, and bad in red. Amongst all the
green were just 3 or 4 red patches - and that's
from possibly 3 months of twice a day readings.
The Nurse said that those red readings could be
safely ignored, and were just things that happened
now and again to anyone. The important thing was
that 95% of readings (maybe more) were in the
green.
The real arbiter was the H1BC1 reading.
Three months ago when I saw the Diabetes Nurse the
reading was 66 (or 63), and apparently that was
not that bad, although it still needed to come
down. The Nurse thought I should aim to get it
down to 55. Yesterday it was 46 ! Apparently this
is a figure that is called the pre-diabetic stage.
It is an indicator that a patient is probably
going to end up with type 2 diabetes. At that
stage no medication is needed, but advice would be
given to modify diet and increase exercise. For
existing Diabetes patients, like me, it is an
indicator that my blood glucose control is working
better than expected - or at least I had exceeded
the target set for me by fair amount.
So I was praised for my blood glucose
control, and also for my weight loss. I did feel
cheated about the latter. My last home reading,
just before I put my trousers on to go out,
suggested should have ot a better reading at
the hospital, but I think the jeans I was wearing
were heavier than those I wore when I saw the
Dietician, and although not wet, I think some damp
from the rain probably made them a little heavier.
My "official" weight loss in the last fortnight
(actually 12 days) was 100 gram (very approx one
quarter pound). It is not a lot, but it is
something, and apparently quite good. I can
imagine that the Diabetes Nurse, and Dietician,
see far worse people than me.
The final result was the same as with the
Dietician. I have exceeded my target, and they
have both discharged me back to my GP. I will now
return to a 6 or 12 month diabetic check up at my
GP. That is both good and bad. Knowing I had to
see the Diabetes Nurse in the hospital again in
three months did focus my mind. I now have to
carry on without that encouragement - which should
be easy if I manage to make it through winter.
One expected disappointment was that I
didn't get to see Angela when I left the hospital.
It was about 4.30pm when I left, and that was
about Angela's official home time, but she was
actually already home when I texted her. I had
hoped we could pop in the pub for a drink
afterwards. The good thing is that she said she
would see me today at lunchtime. So that is
something to look forward to.
Knowing I would be free from the Diabetes
nurse for the next three months at minimum I had
planned to celebrate by having a small holiday
from dieting. Then finding out I was being
discharged did give the temptation to expand the
scope of that "holiday". One possibility was to
buy fried chicken and chips on the way home.
In the end I didn't, but it is still on my list of
possibles before the week is out. Part of my
decision was based on the fact that I had Tesco
sandwiches waiting for me when I got home, and I
didn't want to push things too far.
I had two of the sandwiches when I first
got home, but no more because I had a cunning
plan. I would treat myself to a takeaway shish
kebab. By omitting to each the starchy pitta bread
I knew from past experience that a kebab, made
from just grilled meat and salad is actually a
healthy option. So it felt like celebration food,
but actually wasn't. It probably had less effect
on me than the two Tesco sandwiches.
One other good thing about yesterday was
that it seems like it was the last day of my
recent cold. I think I only had one good cough
that expelled a small amount of mucus from my
airways. The rest of the time I didn't cough at
all - and that included during the night. I am
reluctant to say I got a good nights sleep because
I feel I got up too early, but I can't seem to
recall any other notably bad things about it.
This morning I think I feel like I have a
mild hangover - just a small, almost, but not
quite, ignorable headache. The rest of me feel
fairly OK. My blood glucose, which I will only be
taking once a day now, shows a small rise that I
attribute to the sandwiches, but it is of no
concern now. I will be checking my blood glucose
in the morning to help guide what I do in the day.
I have yet to have a decent poo (or any poo), and
so my weight is a bit higher than it could be, but
it is still in the right units range.
Today I have an indefinite definite plan
that is basically a walk whose length will be
determined by how I feel, and how the weather
behaves. The more definite part of the plan
involves meeting Angela in the pub. A less well
formed plan is to probably do a bit of laundry.
Maybe there is one other plan for today, and that
is to eat some purple cauliflower. Despite my
intention to have a "holiday" from dieting, it is
possible that I might have just a low calorie/low
fat all vegetable dinner tonight, but time will
tell.
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