day eight hundred and forty six
i had to use an online calculator to figure that out. 846 days since my RD diagnosis.
i haven't been to a rheumatologist since summer of 2014, so like a year and a half. i'm going back next monday (providing my PCP gets my referral together). i have been off all RD-related medications since then.
since then, my brother got married. i spent an entire vacation to disney in a wheelchair because i couldn't walk it. i graduated with my bachelor's degree. i received a state certification for drug and alcohol counseling. i got a new job. my new sister-in-law left my brother 29 days before their first wedding anniversary. and my dad died suddenly.
dh and i started trying to be healthier after my mother died from cancer in 2010. my father's death has affected me deeply. emotionally/mentally, i had a very odd relationship with my father and i've been trying to work through that. but my father died very suddenly - one day he was fine, the next he was acting odd and people tried to get him to go to the doctor, the next he was dead. he had high cholesterol (genetic) and diabetes. there was no autopsy and the death certificate says cardiac something or other (don't we all eventually die because our heart stops?).
but i know differently.
dad was using an omnipod for insulin delivery and had just started using something that monitored his blood sugar. the little remote control had a list of the last blood glucose readings, like weeks worth. the day before he died, dad's blood glucose was high. he woke up over 300 and spent much of the day over 400. i could see he kept giving himself extra insulin trying to fix it. he was obviously in ketoacidosis and he died from it.
i'm not prediabetic. but it scared me. he died alone, locked in his office, and he did not take care of his health.
i want to now.
i need to address my rheumatoid disease. i need to address my eating habits. i need to lose weight.
so i made an appointment at a new rheumatologist. i am starting weight watchers tomorrow. and i plan on talking to a bariatric surgeon about sleeve gastrectomy. i need to get my weight under control and keep it there. i read a study that really supports bariatric surgery for RD patients. really got me thinking.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26018243
i haven't been to a rheumatologist since summer of 2014, so like a year and a half. i'm going back next monday (providing my PCP gets my referral together). i have been off all RD-related medications since then.
since then, my brother got married. i spent an entire vacation to disney in a wheelchair because i couldn't walk it. i graduated with my bachelor's degree. i received a state certification for drug and alcohol counseling. i got a new job. my new sister-in-law left my brother 29 days before their first wedding anniversary. and my dad died suddenly.
dh and i started trying to be healthier after my mother died from cancer in 2010. my father's death has affected me deeply. emotionally/mentally, i had a very odd relationship with my father and i've been trying to work through that. but my father died very suddenly - one day he was fine, the next he was acting odd and people tried to get him to go to the doctor, the next he was dead. he had high cholesterol (genetic) and diabetes. there was no autopsy and the death certificate says cardiac something or other (don't we all eventually die because our heart stops?).
but i know differently.
dad was using an omnipod for insulin delivery and had just started using something that monitored his blood sugar. the little remote control had a list of the last blood glucose readings, like weeks worth. the day before he died, dad's blood glucose was high. he woke up over 300 and spent much of the day over 400. i could see he kept giving himself extra insulin trying to fix it. he was obviously in ketoacidosis and he died from it.
i'm not prediabetic. but it scared me. he died alone, locked in his office, and he did not take care of his health.
i want to now.
i need to address my rheumatoid disease. i need to address my eating habits. i need to lose weight.
so i made an appointment at a new rheumatologist. i am starting weight watchers tomorrow. and i plan on talking to a bariatric surgeon about sleeve gastrectomy. i need to get my weight under control and keep it there. i read a study that really supports bariatric surgery for RD patients. really got me thinking.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26018243
Replies
Steph, that\'s a whole lot of stuff- both good and bad, but heavy on the bad- for such a short period of time. I\'m happy to hear your reaction is to start taking better care of yourself.