My Journey With Health And Fitness – A Health Check In

I had a physio appointment today to get suggestions about what to do on my trip to Mexico. More exercises have been added including balancing to fire up the muscles around my ankle. I have also come to realize that despite the heat and discomfort of my brace, I am going to have to wear the brace even when I am walking in town. The challenge is going to be to protect that ankle from turning and causing even more damage. Sigh, I may come back with interesting tan lines on that leg.

Yesterday was blood work time. Every 6 months my blood is tested to determine my A1C level. Basically the test checks the average glucose levels over the past 3 months. I’m always worried about this test because I have worked so hard to get my weight and blood glucose under control since I was diagnosed with diabetes nearly 6 years ago. Let’s face it, I have been successful at doing this but it is a lot of work. It was 4 years ago that my medication started getting reduced and not long after that they were removed completely.

But I still worry. This one was quite distressing for me because it is only 3 months since I lost my little brother to complications from diabetes. I saw what this horrible disease did to ravage his body. It wasn’t just losing his leg, he had cardio vascular disease, kidney failure, eye problems and quite frankly the whole gamut of how diabetes can destroy you. I have vowed I am never going to let that happens and if that means working out 3 hours every day to keep that monster at bay then so be it.

So I got all worked up about my blood test yesterday and was very frustrated when the results weren’t posted last night. However, I had a look this morning and despite being nervous as the past 3 months things have been a bit out of sort, my test came back in the normal range. And when I say normal I mean below even the pre-diabetes range. My blood glucose levels are very well controlled and I plan on continuing this.

Could I suggest to my doctor that we just do the bloodwork annually? Sure but doing it every 6 months holds me accountable to keeping my health in check. So, this health check in, like so many over the past 3 years or so, came back just the way I like it, I’m doing well.