Been Tested

Humour saves.  It can save your perspective, relieve stress and serves a myriad of other positive responses within us at times.  Thank goodness for humour right? 

There are a few shows on tv that have staying power to permeate into society with a fortunate permanence I think.  Two that come to mind easily are “Seinfeld” & “The Big Bang Theory.”  A couple decades after going off the air, expressions from the Seinfeld show are alive & well.  If you enjoyed or enjoy that show you will be nodding your head with a grin too right about now.  When it comes to The Big Bang Theory show hyperbole thrives in the character of Sheldon.  His character has made being a geek cool.  Best of all the character has & does provide many teachable moments I have found with our middle son.  Sometimes he is not overly flexible yet when I point out to him that he is being a “Sheldon about it” he gets it & as a result is open to other choices.  It may be somthing a lot of us can relate to that gets the point across in many situations.  At times perhaps each one of us has some Sheldon moments or in other words felt pretty comfortable doing things the same way.  That show is just plain entertaining & in the spirit of Harold Pinter, it is enjoyable just for the sake of entertainment.  Why bring Mr. Pinter (famous author) into this?  It is the way my mind weaves & has its many sidebars.  I choose to laugh at that too.  To connect the sidebar here I will share a short explanation of how these two things relate.  (Harold Pinter & the show The Big Bang Theory)  When I was in 2^nd year university, I had the fortune to take an English Literature Course that featured some of the gems of authors specializing in topics of the absurd.  It gave your brain a workout.  It was taught by a marvelous Scottish professor with a heavy Scott’s accent who had no patience for nonsense or anyone who chose to shovel the brown stuff.  He was most abrasive with the students who sat eagerly in the front row & had their hands up all the time.  It was comical many times.  There was a student in this class in the front row that seemed to have his hand up almost before the prof asked a question of us.  That particular student carried the invisible shovel & the prof was amused & ready accordingly.  When we arrived at the portion of the curriculum about Harold Pinter books there was a moment of laughter in the room.  It was right after the front row kid (who was always wearing a stripped winter scarf like the Cat in the Hat’s every class) shot his hand up to spout off a bunch of bull about what the book was all about.  The prof simply grinned, and in his heavy Scottish brogue stated, “Relax man, the book is not about anything.  It is just written to solely entertain us.”  At the time I thought that reminded me about the show Seinfeld as it was meant to be a show about nothing & it was just plain hilarious in the process.  Okay, enough sidebars for now.

The line that the Sheldon character says from time to time that never fails to elicit a laugh is “I know, my mother had me tested.”  If you & I live with type 1 diabetes we have to get tested more than we will ever want to right.  Last Friday I went to the lab to have the test done to prepare for this Wednesday’s endo appointment.  In the last 8 or so months the lab has begun releasing the entire lab report within 48 hours to the patient.  I love that.  I like knowing what my results are before my doctor’s appointment.  If it is good news I get to start celebrating sooner & if the news is not stellar then I get to choose to make some needed changes right away.  I also don’t want to be disappointed in front of an audience if the news is not great.  So, the news is not great according to the recent lab report this time around.  It is not horrible by any means but it is nowhere near my goal & there are some flags on the report.  Some of the stuff on the report I understand & a couple of things are like Greek.  My A1C is too high but I did bring it down several decimals in the last month so that is a step in the right direction.  The winter months can be tough I find since I tend to catch everything going around.  Kids going to school seem to bring home all kinds of contagious colds & flus & strep throat & more from that environment.  I catch them all & then my blood sugars soar & I try with all my rascally might to bring them back down into range.  My A1C gets destroyed during the winter months accordingly.  The report is what it is.  I have worked my guts out & I realize that had I not done that then I would have a really scary lab report in front of me right now.  Next appointment should be much better.  I am still learning to stop beating myself up over a disappointing lab result.  After this endo appt & then the diabetes centre appointment the following week I will let the report go.  It is time for a fresh start & I will be able to keep a close eye on A1C fluctuations since I still have 6 at home A1C tests that I plan on using monthly.  I am doing my best with the given technology I realize yet it is still an uphill battle not to feel super disappointed that the effort in has failed to prove itself in the numbers.  That is diabetes though.  Insert many swear words of your choice!

The interesting thing about getting the report was that I was able to see how accurate the at home A1C test was.  It was bang on.  Also I could see that my previous vitamin regime actually does make a difference.  Racally me stopped taking my vitamins from about the beginning of January to yesterday.  The lab report though screamed out at me that I have an incredibly low iron count & other gaps that did not appear when I had religiously taken my vitamins.  It convinced me that I need to stop experimenting with going on & off my vitamins.  Everyone is a beautiful original so what works for me or does not work for me will be different for you.  Always, always be sure to check with your doctor about what is right for you.  Having a profoundly low iron count explains the lack of energy that I have felt.  It will likely take a few months but my goal is to restore my iron count to normal range.  When you get tested, you know & with this information we get to do what we can to feel as well as we can.  I hate the idea of getting tested for the sake of testing or in other words because big brother is watching.  In order to keep qualifying for my insulin pump & supplies there are hoops that the provincial government insists upon like tests at certain times of the year.  The tests tell me necessary information as well thankfully so it is not a test for the sake of a check box in some beaurocrat’s department.  Yep, big brother is watching my testing results but I am watching them too.  And the difference is that I have a personal stake in my own health so I am not looking to check off a box but rather to improve my health with the information.  The information can be top drawer or kitty litter liner…I still learn something & do something with the information. 

My heart’s hope for you is that you live the healthiest life you can within any diagnoses.  And when you are tested, whether the results are great or not, please continue to be one determined rascal.  I think the world needs more determined rascals.  Disclaimer…I am biased.  Smiles, Saundie :)

As always, be gentle with yourself.  May there also be plenty of humour to keep you laughing too.  The next story will be shared in 2 weeks on Monday May 23rd.