So today we celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary and reminisce of the extremely beautiful and picturesque Niagara Falls where we said I do, albeit at -17°c! I remember walking, or should that be waddling down the aisle, 6months pregnant, which wasn’t the plan, but that’s all thanks to 3 false-positive pregnancy tests, which scuppered any plans of the Waikiki Beach swimwear wedding that we’d originally opted for. Nevertheless, the bumped-dress was beautiful, as was the day. Read more…
And this morning was lovely too. Cards, gifts, and of course chocolates exchanged, washing basket emptied, at least for now, kids packed off to school, meat in the slow cooker for tonight, we’re all good. And then it all changed.
After having my bloods taken last week, a result of feeling cold, tired and a little off balance the last month or so, and receiving a follow up call to go for re-tests today, I had been a little nervous all week. All I knew was that it was glucose related and that they needed more blood, and a sleepless night didn’t help the anxiety this morning. When I think glucose, I think sugar levels, which in turn, makes me think diabetes, but then I associate diabetes with being inactive, maybe a little overweight and eating too much of the wrong stuff, all of which may not be true! And as much as I’m a chocolate fan, and probably eat too much of it, I run 4-5 times a week, am healthy weight for my age (the wrong side of mid-30’s) and I don’t eat bad food, so what’s the issue?
I get to the surgery and am told, yes, there is a potential problem. Apparently my fasting glucose level was higher than what it should be (6.8mmol/l), so more tests are required to see what’s going on. Apparently though, it’s not all lifestyle related, the way your body processes the sugar is also an issue. She explains about the tests she’s taking today (HBA1C) and two withdrawal attempts later, balls of cotton wool strapped to each arm, I’m good to go.
However, after a lengthy Google search once I’m home, (I know, not the best thing to do when it comes to anything related to an illness!), my mind again wanders as I sit here alone reading more on the subject of high glucose levels and looking at number charts. What I did work out as I play investigator / Doctor, is that a fasting glucose reading of 6.8mmol/l, equates to approx. 122.5 mg/dl, which is in the pre-diabetes bracket, actually it’s quite close to the type 2 diagnosis of 126mg/dl.
Granted it’s a self-diagnosis at this stage, and I will have to wait until around Thursday to get the actual, scientific results but its looking likely that I may be pre-diabetic. With both this and full blown Type 2 in the family, plus the fact that I’m healthy and active, I guess it’s more of a genetic thing than a lifestyle one, therefore maybe harder to fix??
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not panicking just yet, I will wait to speak with the Nurse again, and pre-diabetes can be reversed, but it’s certainly given me something to think about, enough so that I didn’t have anything at all after my lunch today, a time that’s usually spent, certainly of late, enjoying a crème egg.
Will the results come back as I expect? Hopefully not. Am I a complete worrier over things like this? Certainly am. My mum died when I was young so anything medical related scares the hell out of me thinking of my babies, but will I let it beat me? No chance.
I may have to cut back on the chocolate, which will be tough no doubt, but today has made me think about concentrating on the good things and not letting this, if it is anything sinister, get in the way of living. I may need to make lifestyle tweaks, I may need to take life-long medication, or I may be perfectly healthy and there’s nothing wrong with me at all, but either way, today has made me stop and think, life really is too short and anything can change in the blink of an eye (or the prick of a needle!)
Not the best way to spend our Anniversary, but a lot more of those to come… possibly unlike crème eggs.
Rhian
x
#workkidssleep