Sunday, March 20, 2005
This, that, and other stuff...
Went to my appointment with the nutritionist on Friday. Was in so much pain that I could hardly walk, and the diabetes center is at the far end of a huge hospital that takes up two city blocks. Took me over 15 minutes to get there from my car.
The nutritionist was nice, but I could tell she does not get a lot of people who do not need to lose weight. She wanted me to switch from Boost to Glucerna for those times when I'm too sick to eat solid food, but she had no idea whether the stuff was gluten free or not. We had to spend a lot of time figuring out how to keep the meals small enough for my gastroparesis and but large enough for some nutrition.
Woke up yesterday hurting even worse than the previous day, when I had been in tears from pain. If I'd been healthy and hurting that bad, I would have been in the ER demanding some relief. But I didn't bother because I know from past experience that they wouldn't help me.
I did make up my mind, though, that I've had quite enough of waiting around for the sleep specialist's office to get back to me. I've been trying to get a message to the doc for two weeks and can't even get a hold of a human being. The whole reason I'm in such agony is that I've been off my Ambien for two months while trying to find an effective treatment for my periodic limb movement disorder and haven't gotten any doggone sleep.
I have to go back to work in two weeks. There's no way I'll be in any condition to do that unless I get some quality sleep, so I went back on my Ambien last night. I slept 11 hours straight through, and I hurt less today.
Yesterday, I took Dan to the airport before my group diabetes instruction. Dan is in Florida for a week visiting his grandfather. I would have loved to have gone, but I'm too sick to travel.
The diabetes class was an eye opener. I was amazed that they tell people they should drink diet soda pop. I was even more surprised to find out that the amount of food they advocate is actually less than what most people eat.
I'm discovering that my usual diet contains more protein and less carbohydrates than the diabetes plan, and I eat much less than what is recommended. I fear if I convert to the diabetes diet I'll gain weight. I'm going to ask about that at my next class in two weeks.
And I am trying to reconcile myself to getting a meter so I can start checking glucose levels at home. I will see the endocrinologist on Thursday, so I'll ask her to write a script for the test strips. My insurance company will provide a meter free of charge if I am prescribed the strips that go with it.
One thing I have decided to do is get a medic alert bracelet. It's probably a good idea for anyone with multiple ailments and/or allergies. I don't have anything life-threatening, but the combo of Sjogren's/celiac/diabetes could get pretty uncomfortable if I were given inappropriate treatment in an emergency.
This is too funny....Chip wouldn't eat last night or this morning because Dan wasn't home, so when Dan called this afternoon, I asked him to talk to Chip. So I held the phone receiver up to Chip's ear while Dan told him to eat. Right after that, Chip walked to his bowl and started eating! Crazy dog.
Got to go out to eat tonight for my birthday since I'll be getting a tooth filled on my actual birthday. It was my dad, stepmother, stepbrother and his wife, and sister and her fiance. We ate at a nice Asian place that has a gluten free menu upon request. I had cantonese shrimp. Also, my dad and stepmother gave me a wok and a DVD of the third season of the "Dick Van Dyke Show", my sister gave me a cool candle set and some awesome dangly earrings with purple stones, and my stepbrother and his wife gave me movie passes. And before Dan left, he gave me "Ray" on DVD even though the Duran Duran concert was supposed to be my present.
Gonna be a long week without Dan to drive me around and spoil me. I thought I was gonna pass out when I was at the grocery store yesterday, both from exhaustion and the difficulty of maneuvering a cart. Wish I was up to walking Chip, but the last time I tried, he about ripped my arm out of its socket, and this was over a year ago when I was stronger.
Oh, and I finally wrote a poem about radishes. Quite some time ago, sol in her journal asked her readers to do that. I'm too tired to go downstairs and get it right now, but I'll copy it some time soon.
Better publish this before I doze off.
Pain level: 8
Fatigue level: 8
The nutritionist was nice, but I could tell she does not get a lot of people who do not need to lose weight. She wanted me to switch from Boost to Glucerna for those times when I'm too sick to eat solid food, but she had no idea whether the stuff was gluten free or not. We had to spend a lot of time figuring out how to keep the meals small enough for my gastroparesis and but large enough for some nutrition.
Woke up yesterday hurting even worse than the previous day, when I had been in tears from pain. If I'd been healthy and hurting that bad, I would have been in the ER demanding some relief. But I didn't bother because I know from past experience that they wouldn't help me.
I did make up my mind, though, that I've had quite enough of waiting around for the sleep specialist's office to get back to me. I've been trying to get a message to the doc for two weeks and can't even get a hold of a human being. The whole reason I'm in such agony is that I've been off my Ambien for two months while trying to find an effective treatment for my periodic limb movement disorder and haven't gotten any doggone sleep.
I have to go back to work in two weeks. There's no way I'll be in any condition to do that unless I get some quality sleep, so I went back on my Ambien last night. I slept 11 hours straight through, and I hurt less today.
Yesterday, I took Dan to the airport before my group diabetes instruction. Dan is in Florida for a week visiting his grandfather. I would have loved to have gone, but I'm too sick to travel.
The diabetes class was an eye opener. I was amazed that they tell people they should drink diet soda pop. I was even more surprised to find out that the amount of food they advocate is actually less than what most people eat.
I'm discovering that my usual diet contains more protein and less carbohydrates than the diabetes plan, and I eat much less than what is recommended. I fear if I convert to the diabetes diet I'll gain weight. I'm going to ask about that at my next class in two weeks.
And I am trying to reconcile myself to getting a meter so I can start checking glucose levels at home. I will see the endocrinologist on Thursday, so I'll ask her to write a script for the test strips. My insurance company will provide a meter free of charge if I am prescribed the strips that go with it.
One thing I have decided to do is get a medic alert bracelet. It's probably a good idea for anyone with multiple ailments and/or allergies. I don't have anything life-threatening, but the combo of Sjogren's/celiac/diabetes could get pretty uncomfortable if I were given inappropriate treatment in an emergency.
This is too funny....Chip wouldn't eat last night or this morning because Dan wasn't home, so when Dan called this afternoon, I asked him to talk to Chip. So I held the phone receiver up to Chip's ear while Dan told him to eat. Right after that, Chip walked to his bowl and started eating! Crazy dog.
Got to go out to eat tonight for my birthday since I'll be getting a tooth filled on my actual birthday. It was my dad, stepmother, stepbrother and his wife, and sister and her fiance. We ate at a nice Asian place that has a gluten free menu upon request. I had cantonese shrimp. Also, my dad and stepmother gave me a wok and a DVD of the third season of the "Dick Van Dyke Show", my sister gave me a cool candle set and some awesome dangly earrings with purple stones, and my stepbrother and his wife gave me movie passes. And before Dan left, he gave me "Ray" on DVD even though the Duran Duran concert was supposed to be my present.
Gonna be a long week without Dan to drive me around and spoil me. I thought I was gonna pass out when I was at the grocery store yesterday, both from exhaustion and the difficulty of maneuvering a cart. Wish I was up to walking Chip, but the last time I tried, he about ripped my arm out of its socket, and this was over a year ago when I was stronger.
Oh, and I finally wrote a poem about radishes. Quite some time ago, sol in her journal asked her readers to do that. I'm too tired to go downstairs and get it right now, but I'll copy it some time soon.
Better publish this before I doze off.
Pain level: 8
Fatigue level: 8
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