A Doctor A Day...

 

I went to my endocrinologist today for a quarterly appointment. He likes to check my blood for a host of things in order to make certain that my diabetes is under control. There are so many things that diabetes can hurt within my body that he checks my blood in seemingly countless ways. The blood test report is always three pages long. He also checks my feet with a tuning fork to see if I can feel the vibration. My blood pressure, pulse, and blood glucose levels were all great. I have had trouble sleeping since the accident and he offered to prescribe a sleep apnea test for me. I declined because my wife tells me that I don’t snore and I also don’t toss around in my sleep. He asked me if I’ve been worried or stressed lately, and I assured him that I’m a pretty mellow guy. 

Prayer and faith allow for me what the Bible calls a peace “which passeth all understanding”. The truth is that I haven’t slept well since my time in the hospital. I understood the trouble with sleeping at first. I was initially in a hospital where they checked my vital signs every three hours, twenty four hours a day. When I first arrived at home I wore a large leg brace and my arm was in a cast. My body was so sore in so many ways that any problem with sleeping was understandable. The issue now is that almost four years later I still don’t sleep well. I wake up often and cannot fall back to sleep. A really good night involves about five hours of sleep, while a bad night involves about an hour and a half. I don’t really think about anything that is important through the night, but I still have trouble sleeping. Strange.

In any case my endocrinologist said to me that I’m a “great patient”. He’s happy that my numbers are all under control and that my general health is well. I view the diabetes (caused by damage to my pancreas in the accident) the way that I see all of my injuries. It’s just something that needs to be controlled or beaten. This is the only way that I can allow myself to live life. There’s too much potential for good in this life for me to allow the accident to rob me of enjoyment or fulfillment. My dad has always told me two things about diabetes that I try to keep in mind. (1) The foods that you’re not supposed to eat should be seen as poison, not food, and (2) almost every aspect of a diabetic’s life is affected by the disease, so it is vital to manage the disease aggressively every day. Consequently, proper diet and exercise have become a bit of a mantra for me since the accident.

And… I still plan to outlive everyone that I know.