Gathering my thoughts

I seem to be right in the middle of so many projects right now.  Some diabetes related and some not.  Writing them down can be therapeutic and help me set and see some priorities.

ADVOCACY
I am trying to organize two Promise to Remember Me meetings with Ohio congressmen.
I was able to get a meeting date for my own local representative, Bob Latta.  It will be on Tuesday afternoon.  I have a college student and hopefully a younger child attending with me.  We will all tell our own diabetes stories and I will leave an information packet.

I'm also trying to get a Promise meeting with Speaker Boehner who is from the Dayton area.  After several calls and emails, I still don't have a meeting set.  I'll just have to be persistent.

I'm busy getting my JDRF walk organized.  The email system of communication is convenient, but too easy to ignore.  I think I have a day of making phone calls ahead of me in gathering my troops.  That's in 3 weeks.

I will be going back to  Minnesota! for a Transplant Symposium.  Dr. Hering told me about it at my visit last month.  I've been waiting to see it in print before I start preparing and buying a plane ticket.  I finally have seen a brochure, so am starting to think about what I want to say this time.  Needless to say, I am very excited.

HEALTH
I have my appointment with the nephrologist right after my meeting with Congressman Latta on Tuesday.  I am more curious than worried about this.  When my endo increased my dose of Lisinopril (BP medicine), the ankle swelling went away.  My biggest fear is being told that I now have to limit my protein intake.  I'm already limiting carbs and fats and am too thin.

Renae called on Thursday to tell me that my monthly lab draw showed that my level of Tacrolimus was very low.  We're hoping it is a fluke or lab error and I had it redrawn yesterday.

My BGs have been fluctuating more lately.  Since my last A1c and C-peptide results, my new strategy is to just increase my insulin.  Its frustrating, but works.  Yesterday was better, so hopefully I'm getting back to normal.  My sleeping habits have not been good lately, probably due to some of the above and below.  That can effect BGs.

Still working on getting a continuous glucose monitor.  I need to call my endo to see if he has submitted his letter yet.  I want to tell him about the Diabetes Symposium too.

GOODBYES

On Monday evening, Cassie left for California.  She and a friend made the trip across the country.  They arrived in Sacramento on Thursday where Cassie is in a friend's wedding.  They will leave there on Sunday to visit Gary in Santa Barbara and then make their way back to San diego.

Dolly was released from the Assistance Dog program.  She just couldn't get past her fear behaviors.  We had her for about 10 days until a family was found to adopt her.  We said goodbye to her on Thursday morning.  It was very emotional for all of us.  We really miss her.

I have decided that I want to try training another dog.  It was suggested that I try an older dog this time because I won't be having as much help at home now.

We have a nice weekend planned.  Nothing for today and a trip to Put in Bay with some friends tomorrow.  Sounds about perfect.

C-peptide and a visit to my endo

I have to comment on my C-peptide on a separate post.  I just put the results on the previous one and I am really excited to see that they have increased since the last time they were measured.

To compare:   at 2 1/2 years, Fasting C-peptide was 0.66               At 3 years it is 0.94
                     at 2 1/2 years, Post-prandial C-peptide was 1.39       At 3 years it is 2.20

My C-peptide has been steadily decreasing over the last few visits, so this is very encouraging to see.  It could just be due to the fact that C-peptide is difficult to accurately measure, but I'm still happy to see that I could still be this high.

My A1c has decreased during this time period too.  At 2 1/2 years it was 6.4.  Now, at 3 years it is 6.0

I have been more aggressive lately with using insulin.  I have been taking 7 units of Lantus instead of 6 and usually taking 1 unit of Novolog with each meal.  Sometimes I can still skip the suppertime dose if I am sure I will be getting some exercise.

I saw my endocrinologist this week.  He was pleased with my A1c and excited as I was with my C-peptides.  I asked him what he thought the reason for the increase might be.  I was trying to get him to say the regeneration word, but he thinks its due to the increased insulin and therefore decreased stress on the islets.  All I know is that I plan to keep on using the higher doses of insulin.

The bad news at this appointment was that my blood pressure was up.  It was 140/90 which is higher than I have ever been.  So he increased my dose of Lisinopril.  He was also concerned with some of the kidney function tests that I had done in Minneapolis.  He is repeating a few of them.  I see a nephrologist at the end of the month, so the followup should help him get a better picture.  I am still getting some ankle swelling during the day.

It sure seems like one thing leads to another, but that does keep it interesting.
In the meantime, I am working on setting up two JDRF Promise meetings and starting to plan for my JDRF walk next month.