Allen Cash's living with Diabetes

Seeing what I can see (Part Two) 12/08/2015 Well it looks like I have narrow eyes. From what I understand , I have a Angle-closure Glaucoma in the left eye and right eye. The procedure is called a YAG Laser Iridotomy or Laser Surgery on the Iris. Basically I have fluid build up in my eyes that is causing nerve damage and other nasty things. The surgery is to use a laser to make a small opening in the eye under the eyelid so they can drain properly. This will release the pressure in my eyes. I should have better vision once both eyes are done. I am sure I will still need glasses but I am okay with that. I am just ready to put this behind me and get on with life. The procedure sounds pretty straight forward. I'm sure my eyes will feel sore for a bit but nothing hard core painful. I will be awake for the whole thing so it will be more freaky than painful. They will start with the right eye this morning and then the left eye on a later date. So I have a lot of crap to deal wi...

Seeing what I may See. 12/07/2015 Greetings all, Today I go in to the eyeball doc's office for a follow up on my vision after completing  the laser eye therapy. I think he is going to check for bleeding or something like that and to see how my eyes have healed. Since I am still having issues with floaters and light sensitivity... my guess is I am still dealing with bleeding. If that is the case then I am sure he will want to do laser surgery. It's also possible he will do the Laser therapy all over again. I think I would rather have the surgery than do that shit again. I'm not too crazy about this guy as it is so I'm not sure what I should do if he wants to repeat what he has already done. It's clear I need help but this guy and his assistant is about as warm and helpful as cold coffee and as we know... cold coffee is just nasty! I am going to do my best not to lose my cool with him today and try my best to behave politely. However when I ask a question... pleas...

Obey me Pancreas...OBEY! 11/27/2015 Greetings all! So this is a fairly quick update on the goings on with my wacky Pancreas. As some may know, the D-Rex had lowered my dosage of Metformin to once a day. He would have taken me off the Bydureon injections if I had wanted but I wanted to go with his medical skills and knowledge. SO... after a mouth or a little over... my fasting readings had increased a lot. I decided to switch back to the Metformin twice a day and not take the once a week Bydureon pen. That was almost a week ago and my readings have improved dramatically. However... I think I am still getting too much medications. My sugar tends to drop suddenly even after I eat a meal. This makes me think I may need to be off the Invokana. The plan is to keep a log of how my levels are doing after I take a couple of weeks off the Invokana so I can share the data with D-Rex. I am a bit unsure if this is a good move or not but if I start to experience high numbers again after a couple...

Crappy Vision but the Coffee is awesome! 11/2/2015 Good am/pm all, Well Nov. is upon us again and so is Diabetes Awareness Month. I'm thinking about volunteering for Step Out but I'm sure I won't walk but maybe I can help in some way. However I think I am too late to try. I am hoping  to at least just be there to cheer on the walkers.  I've never been to anything like this since I was a kid in the walk-a-thon in the late 70's. We shall see. As I have spoke about before.. my vision has been not too good the last year or so. I've had laser therapy on both eyes but I'm not seeing any positive results. No Pun intended. :) Dale tells me to give my eyes a chance to heal and see how it goes and I know he is correct but still...it worries me a bit. My next visit to the eye doc is in December so I will know more then. I suppose I should just relax and not get too concern until I have something concrete to be worried over. In other new my Blood Pressure and my ...

Quick Update. 10/9/2015 Greetings all,  within the last two or three weeks my blood sugar level seems to be stabilizing. My fasting number is normally under 115 to 120. Although this is considered normal levels...it may effect my AIC by increasing it. It's too soon to know that for sure but it is something to keep in mind. My Blood pressure is still doing very well which is awesome since I no longer take B.P meds. Things are looking up healthwise so I can't whine too much. My weight lifting is becoming more enjoyable. It isn't easy but it's well worth the hard work. I started off light and this week I started adding more weight to push myself a bit. I still need to work on cardio and to come up with a more stable diet to help with the Diabetes and to help heal and grow muscle mass. Not an easy thing to do on your own. I think it can be done. I think anyone can do it really. All in all... things are improving slowly but surely. I hope you guys are seeing positive ...

It's October Homies! 10/2/2015 Good AM/PM all, Just a quick update to share. So far my blood sugar seems to be decent. The Fasting readings have been a tad higher than normal but still manageable. I started my weight lifting routine again and so far that is going well. I decided to go slow and really pace myself in order for me to get the best workout I know how. I'd love to hire a trainer but I can't afford one. I have to base my information on what I can find on the internet and what I already know. I'm not 100% sure I am approaching this correctly but it's still a step towards getting more healthy. I hope! A couple of days last week I experienced something that worried me a little. I woke up about 2 am in a sweat and feeling very confused. All I could do was check my sugar to see what was going on. Apparently my sugar had dropped down to the lower 60's. I made my way to the kitchen for some orange juice. Naturally that worked on increasing my B.S level. ...

Good news: Less Meds Bad News: Feeling unsure. 9/16/2015 Good AM/PM all, So all went well with my visit to D-Rex. Blood work was perfect and my A1C is too. He wants to reduce my Metformin to two pills a day, which is pretty awesome! However, I'm not too sure if this is the right time yet. It's not that I don't trust his process but it's more I don't trust mine. I still tend to eat (at times) food that is not so great for me. I lack willpower at times I guess. Eating foods that are good for Diabetics isn't as simple as some would like to think.  I have always theorized that finding balance between what I need to eat and what I want to eat is what works best for me. Of course it's much more easy to do so if you are on a bunch of pills that can interact with the not so low carb foods. For example, I ate about 12 oz. of dried fruit w/nuts last night and it was my first night not taking my other two Metformin meds. My fasting number this morning was 127..whic...

Cooler nights, Spooky House and maybe another great number for my A1C? 9/11/2015 Greetings All, Although I have been dealing with sudden drops in Blood Pressure... I feel pretty good. My good eating habits are hit and miss but I think that's all apart of the process of learning. I'm pretty much healed from my surgery but I am still going to be very careful of heavy weights. All in all... things are going good. The change of season and my favorite time of the year is almost upon us. The nights are getting cooler and the daytime not as warm as it was. I already have my fall and Halloween stuff up, which puts me in more of a good mood. I have a appointment with D-Rex next tuesday and I should have a great checkup. If my A1C is as good as it was three months ago...It will make my good mood even better. The last 15 months has been very rough on me health wise. However , I feel like as long as I don't give in to the frustration and confusion of it all... I will get even mor...

Nausea...Oh Sweet Nausea. 8/16/2015 Yes all, it's been one of those weeks. For the last week my blood sugar levels has been much higher after fasting than normal and during the day time my levels has been up and down and back and forth.I have no clue why because my eating habits have not changed at all. All I know is the constant feeling of nausea and confusion. Okay..I know me being confused is pretty much a normal thing for me so... HUSH! :) One night this week Dale and I had a grill night with my Neighbors. I had about 4 beers and I ate. Not as much as everyone else due to not feeling so good. We were sitting at the table when I got the shakes and felt sick to my stomach and I dazed out and had know clue where I was at. Well according to Dale I was out of it. Normally moments such s this passes fairly quick. I checked my B.S level and it was 73 I think. Still considered a safe number but an hour before my reading was 101. My guess it was the sudden drop that got me but I ha...

Feeling decent and blah,blah,blah! 8/7/2015 Okay I shall make this short and less dork-topia. That's my new word. :) So my follow up with the surgeon was great. He told me that they did not find and cancer and the bloodwork came back good. Apparently my gallbladder was in much worse shape than I thought. He told me that I had waited it could have burst and I would have been in a bad spot. Not sure what that meant but... it's out so as far as I can tell.. I'm out of danger. My incisions are healing great so far but I am dealing with a little pain but not as before. So as far as I can tell.. that part of my journey is almost done. I had a follow up with my focal laser therapy and that went well too. I was told my vision in my left eye had showed some improvement. It was 40/20 so now it's 30/20. I honestly can't tell if it's better or not but they are moving forward to my right eye to blast with laser light the end of this month. I am guessing once my eyes he...

Still alive and all that junk. 7/22/2015 Well kiddies, it would seem I got through the surgery without a hitch. I don't remember much at all. I woke up hurting and my throat is sore as hell. They gave me a shot for the pain... which was Fab-U-Lous! I have four small incisions around my stomach which makes moving around a bit difficult but I already knew it would be.  I know for the next couple weeks or so I have to make sure none of them gets infected. So as you can see... nothing really detailed to report. I have a follow up with the Surgeon on Aug. 4th to see how I am healing. I think he is having second thoughts about the lesion on my Kidney based on what he told Dale while I was in recovery. I think I am just going to deal with one issue at a time for now. Besides I have no real information to get all worried about the lesion anyway. For now I am all about healing and feeling better. I am so ready to get back to my exercises and weightlifting. Today I am still alive and enjo...

Stony Update. 7/16/2015 Okay... here is what I know. He is going to remove the gallbladder completely via Keyhole surgery. I should be in and out in a day. It depends on if nothing goes wrong (bleeding etc etc). He also said that he was not too concern over the spot on my kidney. Now.. I don't know when the date will be for the surgery yet. They will call me in a day or so to set a date. I am hoping it will asap. I will have to reschedule my laser eye therapy for the next month. That should give me time to heal and all that junk. I will so fucking glad when this is DONE! :)

A New Adventure. 7/16/2015 Not much to report right now but today is the day I see the surgeon Jon Moore. Over the last few days, I have given this situation a great deal of thought. I honestly don't feel worried or concern over the whole surgery deal. Seems like I would be but I'm not. To me it's like this new adventure into knowing more about how my body works and what I can do to make it work better. I may start to feeling more anxious after my visit with Moore. I think thats pretty normal really. However I can not allow myself to become fearful of the unknown. I have to place my body and my life in the hands of medical Science. I'm okay with that. I feel confident that all will go well and I'll be back on my feet soon enough. Don't get me wrong, I am well aware of what could go wrong but I see no need to let that mess with my head. To me...this is one more hurdle to get over to a healthier life. I will update later today on what the surgeon says and when...

Poor Stoned Me. 7/11/2015 Okay...as I may have mentioned before, I have been having issues with back pain for a few months. Well it seems to have escalated. However it isn't my back. I have been dealing with some hard core pain in my back, stomach and right side for about two weeks. Over that time the pain got worse. I made a appointment to see my doctor on friday. He sent me to the ER to have some test done instead of making many appointments to get what can be done in one day. What they found was two gallstones and they found a lesion on my kidney. The stones aren't infected nor did they find any blockage but I was sent to a Dr, Moore to do a followup and to be set up for having the stones removed. It does not sound like a huge deal and not a huge deal to fix. However the Lesion is my only concern. I doubt it is cancerous but I was told to deal with it before it gets worse. Dr. Moore will be the one handling both issues. I was told by the ER doc that it was more than like...

A Late update. 6/28/2015 Good AM/PM all, So with all the excitement of Marriage Equality being law and all the work I have been trying to get done, I just simply forgot to post a update of the Focal Laser Therapy so here I go..  They started with my left eye since it was the worst one. The session wasn't horrible and for the most part it was not painful. Although right at the end of the session, it began to hurt a little. When he was done, I could see anything out of my left eye but an imprint of of the laser light patterns. If that makes any sense.  They gave me drops to use once a day to help with the healing process. The first 3 days my eye hurt and so did around my eye. It took almost a week for me to see clear enough to function properly. My eye is still pretty weird to see with. I can still see what I call starie points of light all the time but mostly when I try to sleep. The vision in my left eye seems to be worse but I was told it would be at first.I still have tw...

Feeling defeated for whatever reason. 6/10/2015 The last couple of weeks has been kind of rough for Dale and I. Last week my great dane got out the back yard and wandered into the neighbor's swimming pool and drowned. She was an old girl and I knew he time was about up but I did not expect her to drown. Seems like a horrid way to go since she was very afraid of our pool and water in general. As odd as this may sound, her death isn't really the key to why I have been feeling so out of sorts of late. Her death was certainly not helping but I was in a funk before she died. It may be the concerns with the laser theraphy coming up or just general depression. I just feel like everytime I get a few steps ahead something else comes along and pisses on it. I guess I just need to process things before I completely freak myself out. I don't know why but I feel so fucking alone. Foolish I know... but it is how it feels. Maybe I'm just having a pity party and I should just get t...

I DID NOT see this coming! 5/30/2015 Apparently Diabetes has graciously given me yet another hurdle to get over. This one is much more serious than I ever could have imagine. Here is what I know so far. last Thursday I had my yearly eye examination. I went in with the theory that more than likely I would need new glasses. I knew my vision was weakening due to the last few months. I was having issues with constant hazy vision and slight dizziness. Dr. Rowland (love her!) spotted some bleeding in my left eye and wanted me to see a specialist who happen to work in the same area as she (Eye Institute). I set up my appointment with Dr. Suelflow for the next morning. When we arrived the place was packed, so needless to say... we were there waiting for a long time. To make this story short, They took a few photos of my eyes and injected a dye so they can see the issue better. To my shock.. they found multiple bleeds and leakage. I have these white spots too that I can not recall what he s...

Best Follow up EVER! 5/15/2015 Hello all, So I had my Diabetic check up today and I am so excited and very happy how things are going. My cholesterol is real good and so is my white blood count. Both are in normal range. In Fact all my blood work came in perfectly. However... the best news is my A1C! 12 months ago my BP, cholesterol and my AIC was sky high. My A1C was a whopping 14 and now (drum roll).... it's a sweet low 5.4!!!! I do still have to keep a close eye on my B.S level because it tend to drop fast. Not below the range set but enough to make me shaky and dizzy. D-Rex did seem a bit concern with the sudden drops but he wants us to keep a close eye on it for now. My next appointment is in September, so we will see how it goes. Anyway... that was The Best Mutha Fukin Follow up EVER!!!! Now I want some cheesecake.. HA!

Slow and steady loses the weight. 4/28/2015 Good Morning all, So far everything with my BP and Diabetes is really falling into a good place and the weight is coming down. My energy is making a comeback and my emotional state of mind if on the rise. I still have a lot to learn about many things such as a balanced diet and Diabetes, but slowly I am learning by simply listening to my body. I can assure you that none of this is easy or will you find one answer fits all. It takes looking at yourself with a honest frame of mind and to understand that your health is your responsibility and your's alone. It also takes rekindling your love for yourself. That is something that has changed the most in my life. I take pride in my efforts and my willingness to overcome my self doubt. I know that I won't always eat the right foods or workout as hard as I know I can. I know I won't always feel in control over my Diabetes, however I also know if I give in and stop trying... I won'...

My Fitness pal and ME! 4/18/2015 Greetings All, So my spouse and I bought each other Iphone 6 plus for our marriage anniversary. I was not sure I wanted one due to the fact that are incredibly expensive but we did it anyway. My sister was here for a visit during that time. She had bought us a few needful items. One was blood pressure monitor that works perfectly with the iphone. I love it because since I am no longer taking BP meds... I need to keep an eye on my BP. I can also use my iphone to input Blood Sugar readings in it. I use the app Myfitnesspal to log in my workouts and my calories. It was maddening in the beginning to learn how to use it but I am getting the hang of it now. I even have a medical ID app (I still need to set up) which is pretty cool. I am loving the feel of control with my body. I like knowing what is going on with my body or as much as one can be with tools such as these. My Blood Sugar readings and BP has been really good for a while now and it is so dam...

It's all getting GOOD! 4/14/2015 Yes folks.. it's going to be one of those annoying perky posts. As I have mentioned before in my last post, I decided to take myself off my Blood Pressure med just to see how things went and if I could get through a week without nausea and fainting spells and to see if my BP would be more stabled. So far the idea is working very well. My BP is still reading in the normal range and the dizzy spells and nausea is a thing of the past. Of course D-Rex does not know I am doing this so he may bitch slap me but it's worth it. My blood sugar numbers has been really good consistently. All in all...I feel better than I have in years. I'll still have sudden sugar level drops once in a while but nothing I can't handle. I have been feeling so good that I have decided to start up my workout routine again. I'm going easy with it so my body can get use to the stress and motions. I started yesterday as well as Dale ( my spouse aka love muffin...

Less Nausea and reduced blood pressure meds. 4/3/2015 Greetings Earthlings, I actually have very little to report but I thought a bit of an update was in order. I sent an email to my doc's office about the last couple of months of bad nausea and extreme dizzy spells.  His assistant wrote me back and said to come in the office to be checked out to make sure everything was okay. I did not expect to hear from him so fast nor did I think he would want me to come in. I just thought maybe because of the weight loss and diet change I may not need to take as many diabetic meds or maybe it was a side effect of the back pain meds. I decided before I went in to stop taking the back pain meds to see if that was causing all the extreme nausea. After a couple of day and ever since then.. the nausea seem to lession a great deal. When I went in for my appointment on the past Monday... my B.P was a little too low. This was a concern to D-Rex and so he reduced my BP med by half. I told him about...

WARNING! Perky Update! 3/14/2015 Just a quick update with the goings on. So far my fasting numbers are still looking great and I am still expecting my A1C to be in the normal range on my next visit to D-Rex. My body is still getting use to the lower numbers and my weight is at a standstill right now BUT... I am not worried at all. Once the nausea subsides during normal blood sugar readings I am sure things will start to even out so I can get in treadmill time and other exercises. My back is doing better but still not 100%. I'm not worried about that either. It will heal when my body is ready. I am emotionally at the point that it does absolutely no good to freak out over my health. I will keep on doing the right thing and try to maintain a positive frame of mind. It's important to me for me to be balance and logical about my health and mental well being. I feel like I have come a very long way in a short amount of time and I can't bitch about that. Everyday is a step cl...

Self estimate of the notorious A1C 3/2/2015 For the last few weeks my fasting numbers have been almost perfect and thats a good thing. However I have been curious how to figure out my A1C mathematically. Just to see where I'm at at this point. Yesterday I found a website that will give you a round about estment of your A1C. Here is the link https://www.accu-chek.com/us/glucose-monitoring/a1c-calculator.html#  if anyone cares to check it out and give a whirl.  Now..if I have the number correct... my A1C for the last 44 days is 5.63. That is based on the total amount of my am readings for the last 44 days which is 5,059 and was divided by 44 (days) Which means my A1C has gone down 1.38 since my last lab work 1/15/2015. This gives me a grand total of a 9.37 drop within the last nine months. Even if my number is off a little... it will still put my A1C in the normal range. Now I know this site isn't 100% accurate bu it does give you a decent ballpark number to work with. ...

A tad better back and way better Sugar. 2/23/2015 Quick update on my tired old body. My back is getting a little better or so it seems. The pain is not as bad as it was. I have been spending time in bed to give my back a rest so it can heal. It needs a little more healing I think. My weight right now is still between 242 and 243. Since my back issues... walking the treadmill is on the back burner for now. If I can keep my weight about where it is now til my back gets it's shit together, I should be fine. I miss walking the treadmill. Gives me time to think and relax my head. My morning readings have been pretty good the last few weeks. This morning it was 104 which is the lowest it's ever been! I'm pretty happy with how things are going. I know my numbers will go up and down from time to time but as long as I keep going the route I'm going... I will be just fine. Life is pretty decent right now. :)

Back issues but nice fasting numbers. 2/14/2015 Not much has been doing on since my last post other than my back pain that does not seem to want to go the hell away! Last Monday the pain was so bad that it started to radiate to my chest. Mostly on my left side right where my heart is. The pain was bad enough to make me think it was time to go to the ER. So I did. I knew it was not my heart but I just did not know what to think or do. They checked me out and other than a possible pinched nerve.. I was fine . When I went to do a ER follow up with my Doc... he agreed it is a pinched nerve that is causing all the pain. I'm on a painkiller and a muscle relaxer for my back. I never take the pain meds unless the pain is too much for me to handle. I have enough to think about than to get addicted to pain meds. The pain is slowly getting less but not there yet. As for my Diabetes.... things seem to be on a upswing the last 3 weeks or so. My Readings have been much better and my fasting ...

A late update and no Pizza. 1/22/2015 First off... this has been an interesting week. The D-Rex visit went very well. VERY WELL! My A1C is down from 16 to 7 in less than a year. I guess the drugs and the lack of carbohydrates is starting to show. He said all my blood-work came in much better and it looks like my diabetic medications are doing the job so he felt none of it needed to be changed. I have also lost about 10 lbs since my last visit four months ago. So far over the period of about 10 years... I went from 350 lbs to 248. I have lost a grand total of 102 lbs. I am pretty happy with my progress so far and I am hoping to lose another 25 lbs. this year. Also my daytime Blood Sugar readings is starting to fall even more than before. So far my numbers today has stayed under 95. Which will if consistent.. should show in my ACI number at the end of four months. I hope. Now the things that have me a bit concern is... my eyesight seems to be getting more blurry and my feet is gett...

Low numbers and lower weight...for a change! 1/12/2015 Just a quick update and a little bragging. My Blood Sugar numbers has been up and down  a great deal the last few weeks.Today my B.S levels has stayed below 105 all day My weight was stuck between 252 to 255. ! My weight is down to 249! Now I know me and I know todays numbers will go back up and then back down. Thats for both Blood Sugar and my weight. No matter how you look at it... it's a step closer to my goal. I feel pretty good and positive about the direction everything is going. Also... from my last lab work My A1C is now 7.0. My A1C has dropped from 14 to 7 in less than a year! I still have a little ways to go but right now I think my A1C will be in the normal range in no time. Keeping it that way will be the real challenge I am sure but I'm still ready to get it right. I'm truly motivated now. I mean... Low numbers and lower weight...for a change! Who wouldn't be motivated? I hope you guy's new year...

Happy 2015 1/1/2015 Well another year has gone by and a new one is upon us to drive us insane as the year before. I'm okay with that really. After 54 years I think I am about as insane as I will ever be so... Bring it ON 2015! For months now I have been dealing with the ups and downs of my mood swings and blood sugar numbers. Some days I forget to eat or I just don't feel hungry and other days I eat all day. I don't know if it's the meds or just me.. or both. However I am ready to start a new year with a plan. My first step is to get involved in a Diabetic support group where I can gain and share information and to become much more active. As I have said before... it is clear I can't do this alone. I can't hide myself away and expect to be successful with my health and my emotional health. As hard as it will be around strangers, I know I must try. Next Step is to lose twentyfive pounds this year. I think that is a reasonable number and one I know I can hit....