Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Great News!

The end of September of 2008 I was given the news that I had "out of control" diabetes.

My doctor put me on insulin that very first day.

An A1c number is a number that averages out a persons blood glucose level for the past three months and it is a number that diabetics use as a guide on how they are doing.

My A1c in September was 11.5 -- a blood glucose average of 332 (that is really really high)

I got my blood work taken a week ago and finally got my numbers today...

My latest A1c was 6.1 -- a blood glucose average of 140 (this is excellent!)

I am just barely into the "desirable" range, but I'm in the DESIRABLE range!!

I would like to get my A1c to 5.0 - 5.6 (a BG level of 101 - 122) - that is my long term goal.

I have to say - I am so excited about the numbers I got today.

I have worked really hard to get my blood sugars in control.

I've been re-learning how to eat, how to identify a carb, how to judge the amount of carbs and then determine how much insulin to take.

I have put my health first in so many situations - I even asked my cousin (who was our personal chef that weekend) to make diabetes friendly foods for Thanksgiving, so that I could have most of the food available.

I went out to dinner last night and ordered a broiled fish entree. It came with potatoes and veggies. I asked if I could have a double order of veggies, no potatoes, and the waitress said "I'd be pleased to do that!" The woman sitting next to me said, "You are such a good diabetic."

I have tingling in my feet. That is a kind description of the sensation, but it is diabetic neuropathy and if it gets worse I could completely lose the feeling in feet.

The thought of losing the feeling in my feet makes being a good diabetic really easy.

The thought of possibly getting rid of the tingling in my feet makes it even easier to be a good diabetic.

I have been very aware of my condition and have been doing what I can to get those numbers down - but that real test was the A1c.

I am just so happy.

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin


If your A1C is this:Your average mean daily plasma blood sugar is around this:
%mg/dl
12.0%345
11.0%310
10.0%275
9.0%240
8.0%205
7.0%170
6.0%135
5.0%100
4.0%65

6 comments:

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville said...

Good for you! I am glad that your health has improved.

"J" said...

CONGRATS CONGRATS CONGRATS!!!!

I'm soooooooooooooo PROUD of you!!!! You did GREAT...I knew you would!!!!! Way to make it past the holidays!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats!!!!
It isn't the same thing, but right now my daughter is on a low sodium/potassium diet for renal failure. It feels great when the labs reflect all that effort!

mub said...

6.1 is fabulous, well done!

Unknown said...

That's so awesome- keeping A1C's in control is soooo important. The holidays and everything can take a real toll, what with the temptations and all (weakness for holiday goodies?). I gotta say, when I had a holiday party, I used some recipes from dLife (www.dlife.com)- they had some good recipes to hold me over when I was just looking for that right something...

April Bourgois said...

Congratulations on the great progress. Having worked for an out-of-control diabetic I totally get it. Finally beat my own tingling feet (different cause) and I wish you all good speed getting that symptom squashed. I'd call it the my-feet-feel-like-fire-ants-are-tickling-me syndrome, not "tingling!"