Introducing the Sexy Diabetic

purple bud of a tuiip still tightly closed

about to bloom (photo by Charles Earl)

I was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I decided to do what I did when I was recuperating from my near-death health crisis and start a blog to put everything relating to this experience up in public so that others who have gone through or are going through a health experience of any kind, but particularly diabetes can see that they are not alone. As a writer I also need a place to share my thoughts in order to articulate them. I’ll also be including whatever resources I learn about.

Why the sexy diabetic? I think there’s a stigma attached to diabetes, perhaps many stigmas. In particular I’m talking about fat shaming and the point of view that those who have diabetes don’t do much physical activity and eat a bunch of junk food. So food shaming, fat shaming, ableist thinking (disability shaming) will not be part of this blog. You are a diabetic. You are sexy. And of course, I’m sexy as fuck.

I’m going to keep these entries short (I hope).

Thanks for joining me on this journey. Please feel free to comment or get in touch with me via e-mail at amanda at amandaearl dot com or chat with me on Twitter: @KikiFolle.

Comments

Holding Pattern

I am one month away from my next A1C test. I am trying my best not to feel too hopeful that I will have a blood sugar level below 7.0, the target my doctor set for my not having to go on medication. I try to bear in mind what she said: that my 9.5 result in March means it is pretty likely I will require some assistance in the form of medication, but fuck oh fuck oh fuck, I do not want to have to take anything. My brief fling with blood pressure medication was awful. The unsteadiness I felt all the time prevented me from doing as much physical activity as I wanted/needed: not only to lower my A1C level, but also because it makes me feel better now to do a lot of physical activity. I am at the end of the extra FreeStyle Libre 2 sensors we purchased after I tried the Libre 1 and Libre 2 sensors for free. While the trial versions seemed great and taught me a lot about how to manage my diabetes, the purchased versions were awful. Compared with the One Touch glucose monitor, which requires

Dancing to Unsweetened Jams

Yesterday I had my follow up appointment with my regular doctor about my diabetes diagnosis. Today I had the follow up blood tests at the DinoCare (actually Dynacare, but I couldn’t resist) lab that the temp doc wouldn’t let me have when I saw her back on March 29. My regular doctor also prescribed blood pressure meds. I’ve been monitoring my blood pressure with a wrist cuff since I am not able to use the regular arm cuff without my blood pressure going sky high. But even with feeling more comfortable with the wrist cuff, I still get hypertension 1 and sometimes 2 numbers, so I need to lower it. Tomorrow I’m starting PERINDOPRIL, which may have me fainting from low blood pressure and vomiting. Hey, let’s hope not. Don’t read the side effect stuff on the web. The pharmacist said well, you have to take it , right? So yeah. As long as the symptoms are minor, I’ll be ok. ?! The supremely kind and helpful staff of the Community Diabetes Education Program Ottawa (CDEPO) rigged me up wit

ongoing dizzy tizzy

the 4g of Perindopril Erbumine blood pressure medication the doctor put me on was making me too dizzy to be able to take my daily walks without shortening them severely. the doctor halved the dosage a week ago and I’m still experiencing the dizziness when I walk and also in the shower. it’s very frustrating along with being petrifying because I’m terrified I’ll fall. I’ve tested both my blood pressure and blood sugar levels when I’ve felt like this and they haven’t been out of range. I’ve tried taking the meds before breakfast and before dinner. Still dizzy. I feel like my attempts to lower my A1C levels are being sabotaged. today I had a bit of a cry when I was sitting outside on a bench in the sun. I love walking and the weather is beautiful. I want to be outside and enjoy the day. Instead I’m home and feeling like I’m not doing everything I can to manage my diabetes. I told my darling husband who has been walking with me after work when he gets home, holding my hand. He will do

The Sexy Diabetic

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