I went to the doctor and the doctor said....

Hi folks! The series I promised you about the inspirational people in my life is still cooking and mulling around in my mind. However, I've been a little distracted with some heavy duties at work. A short summary of one week: College president faced the regents in a challenge by some staff members; restaurant closed by health department after a lengthy legal battle, with the largest fines ever assessed; 21-year-old shot to death and subsequent family battles; and all the normal, everyday ordinary stuff on top of that.

Oh, and I had to go to the doctor today.

The insulin I've been using wasn't doing the job to bring my blood sugar down, even at a bumped-up dosage. Today she changed me to a different insulin, which is a mix of long-acting and fast-acting insulins. I'll be giving myself two shots a day instead of just one; testing twice a day and oral meds twice a day.

She said that my pancreas has just "pooped out." Whoa Nellie, that's not something you want someone, especially a doctor, to tell you about your innards. Anyway, we're going to work hard to take the load off that ol' pancreas and try to keep the rest of me from "pooping out" too.

Last week I went in to have lab work done. Well, guess what. They lost one of the vials of blood so they didn't get the tests done that they wanted to have done today. So ... I had to give up another blood sample.

They did run some of the tests. And it seems that I also have another little problem that I wasn't expecting. She checked my Vitamin D levels. She told me that they consider someone is doing pretty well if their levels are about a 30 or better. Well, being the underachiever I am, I have a level of just 15. Huh. I got a D on my "D!" So instead of taking summer school, she's going to make me take a makeup D once a week in a mega dose. Great, another pill to swallow along with the diabetes pills, the high blood pressure and cholesterol pills and the blood thinner pill.

At least this explains the leg cramps! They have been fierce since the heat has rolled in. And frequent! OWW!

Let's see... I believe that's all of this organ recital. Nothing is as boring as reading about someone else's health complaints, and for that I apologize.

I could have told you about the killer vines that ate my back gate. Maybe I'll tell you that story tomorrow. You'll just have to come back and see, won't you?

A new series

I'm going to be working on a new series of blog posts titled "Inspirations." These will be about real-life friends who inspire me with their creativity and positive approach to life.

One thing I've noticed about these inspirations is that their lives are not defined by their jobs, solely. In fact, in most cases their jobs, while important, are a relatively small part of who they are.

I've been reflecting lately on all the great people I know who have wonderful talents for music, photography, writing, community service and other avenues. I'm really blessed to know such great people, especially when my own life feels like it is taking a "time out." Even better -- these great friends of mine really don't see these talents as any big thing. Their gifts are just such a natural part of their lives that they don't recognize them as being profound.

Stay tuned to this blog. I'll start this series this weekend. I'm looking forward to sharing these people with you.

OK, that was what, a couple of months?

Guess what? It seems I've broken my addiction to frequent blogging!

Sorry about that folks. It has been a couple of months since my last update and I apologize for that. Lots of reasons, but no excuses.

I've gotten a lot of questions about how I'm doing with the insulin, and I have to say, not that well. It does not seem to be changing my blood sugar numbers one darn bit. I've had my dosage increased and still, nothing.

I do go back to the doctor's office next week for more lab work and then see the doctor the next week. We'll see what happens next. Clearly, we have not found the answer if all this medicine is just making my numbers go higher.

On top of the numbers themselves, I've just not been feeling hunky or dory. No energy to speak of.

I've been trying to get my house organized better but my lack of energy is making that slow going as well.

And because of that, I haven't done much of anything to write about. I've made a few trips to Stillwater, about 40 miles to my south, but that's about as far as I've traveled. My aunt has been pleading with me to come to Missouri for a visit for a LONG time now, so the next holiday I get probably will mean a trip up that way. I expect that will be for July 4 if I can, indeed, get more than two days off in a row.

Yes, that's one of the problems with my job. I still put in too many hours without adequate time off, but that is unlikely to change as long as I am here. So I just have to keep trying to get people to understand that only being able to count on having Sunday off puts a definite cramp in my ability to live.

Well, I wish I had more to update. It's past my bedtime and I'm sinking fast so I better just publish this for now and try to catch up more very soon.

It has gotten hot here, but it was cool today. I wouldn't mind more cool tomorrow!