April 9, 2008:

 

When I was in my pre-teens I was nearly hit by a train while walking on what I thought to be unused tracks.  In my early 20’s a ‘friend’ was returning from a gun range.  As I waited at his front door he pulled his very real gun out of his jacket and pointed it in my face and pulled the trigger.  The next fraction of a second I wondered if this was it for me.  I heard the click and nothing else.  I was alive.  From these events one could argue I‘ve cheated death a few times.  Now it seems fate or dumb luck wasn’t quite finished teaching me a lesson.

 

It seems I was the lucky one in my gene pool to inherit all my father had to give posthumously.  While my brother got the “prized” Caddilac and home stereo system, the coin collection and various and sundry material things, the bulk of my inheritance wouldn’t arrive for about 6 years.  

 

The first installment of my “inheritance” aka “the gift that keeps on giving” came in the form of a dime shaped growth on my torso.  From the first time I saw it I knew it was psoriasis.  My father had it on various parts of his body, most prevalent on his elbows and knees.  A few years later that one dime shaped spot had spread all over my torso, arms, legs and back.  Surprisingly the two parts that were spared for the most part were my elbows and knees.  The fun didn’t stop there.  In the summer of 1999 I was suffering from chronic urination, excessive thirst (hence the peeing) and unusual fatigue.  I scheduled a blood test which confirmed my diagnosis.  Now that I knew I was a diabetic, how would that change my life I wondered.  The answer.... not much.

 

For the better part of the next 8+ years I would run the roller coaster of denial, anger and all the other emotions, and through it all I never really dealt with the problem.  I was considered by my doctor a non compliant diabetic.  While I was prescribed medication to treat my diabetes, at best I would take my pills around 40%  of the time year over year.  The goal was always to lose weight and  lower my blood sugar levels and eventually get off the numerous medications completely.  I just wasn’t ready to commit to myself.  I would go through good times when I was on my game and my levels would normalize with medication.  More often than not, I was not taking my meds, eating whatever I wanted and not moving my body at all.  What didn’t help at all was when I was off my meds for a long period of time, I would actually lose weight without even trying.  What could be better?  For all things there is a trade off.  While my body weight was going lower, my blood glucose level was skyrocketing.  

 

The Virginia Mason website states that a normal blood glucose level is <100 for a fasting test.  At one point my blood glucose level reached 511, roughly 5 times the norm.  An A1C test gives an average of your blood sugar levels over the past 3 months.  Normal for non-diabetics is 5%.  Diabetics aim for <7%.  At my highest I was an 11.1%  That number translates to this:  Over the past three months leading up to this test, my blood sugar was on average around 311.  Remember normal fasting is <100.  To close out this paragraph I will tell you what my doctor told me at my visit in the summer of 2007 summer.

 

 

Last decade?????  That kinda sound serious, no?  Serious like blindness, amputation, kidney failure and insulin injections.  Serious like leaving my daughter without a father.  Serious like never playing another round of golf.  Serious like never getting around to sharing a bottle of Riesling.  Serious like dying before I turn 45.  Yeah I’d say it was serious.  I felt now was the time to do something about it....

 

Well, not RIGHT now...  I’ve cheated death before... Am I willing to take my chances again????

 

End of Part I

 

Next: Death (RC1) and Rebirth