Diabetes, life and all that - personal diary

[andcol]

Happy belated birthday. BTW what are all the sticks in the sand for in your beach picture?

 

[pavlosn]

Happy belated birthday. BTW what are all the sticks in the sand for in your beach picture?

Hi Andrew thanks for your wishes.

I am not entirely sure but as the beach in question is known to be one of the few used by the rare and protected Caretta Caretta species of sea turtles to lay their eggs, I would guess they were used to mark nesting sites so they could be protected.

The friend that took me to the tulip site last week promised to take me there when it is the season for the turtles to lay there eggs ( June I think) and that is a promise I definitely intend to follow up on.


Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

Some more photos of donkey

Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

Far too high this morning 127mg/dl. I need to get a tighter grip!


Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[Karbstruck]

Still loving all your photos and your thoughtful comments. Baby donkey and your cat are just gorgeous.
Happy Birthday too! I tuned in a bit late but hope it was enjoyable.
I must admit I used to worry about turning 39/49/59 more than turning 40/50/60, as once you hit the big number birthdays, it's a fait accompli. Now, at 67 I feel glad I have lasted this long.
Reducing BS and losing weight have helped me feel healthier and still hopeful for the future. Life can often be difficult, but on the good days it is such a wonderful gift.

 

[pavlosn]

Morning blood sugar 102mg/dl so much better than yesterday's 127mg.

This a a very stressful week for me with a lot of work related pressure I actually woke up at 3:00 am last night and I only just managed to get back to sleep again when the wife's alarm clock went off at 6:30.

At such stressful times it is easy to consider that taking care of glucose levels can wait for a while. This is not really true though. We may like to take some time off from diabetes, however unfortunately diabetes does not take some time off from us.

At least Ginger thinks so anyway ( petting a cat really is a wonderful stress relief)!

Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

I've had to be at work early the last few days so I've been missing on my morning walks. These are not only part of my diabetes care routine but a genuine source of pleasure for me (nighttime walks not quite the same thing)

I was determined not to miss out today, so I decided to make an early start of it.

In case you ever wondered what dawn in Nicosia looks like, here is your chance:

I did manage an hour's 6km walk by 7:30am, which even allowed for a wonder round the garden, where our first yellow flag water iris is in bloom in the pond

Competing for attention with a couple of its dry land siblings of the bearded type

And with Ginger, who was determined to get himself in every shot; that cat really hates anything taking my attention away from him!

Morning bloods at 109mg/dl.

Have a great day everyone!



Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[zand]

Yet more lovely photos! Thanks Pavlos. Very inspiring

 

[Jamrox]

Wow . I will.be in Cyprus in Spring in the next few years. Its now on my to do list

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[pavlosn]

We don't often do rain in Cyprus but when we do.....

It was clear sky and bright sunshine when I started my lunch break so I decided to walk to the restaurant a kilometer and a half away for some extra exercise. I did not even bother to take a jacket along as it was quite warm.

By the time it was time to walk back, about an hour later the weather had changed dramatically.

I rang a colleague, who was kind enough to come and collect me but it was raining so hard that even the couple of exposed meters between the restaurant and the car were enough to leave me completely soaked.

Half an hour later and not a drop of rain in sight.

Just my luck!


Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[Jamrox]

You see the difference is that it rains in Scotland like that for hours heehee.
We were on a cruise at easter a few years ago and couldn't get into Cyprus because the seas were to rough ( I think that was the year of the Iceland volcano eruption. )

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[pavlosn]

Have to go in to work today, which is not my favorite way to spend my Saturday but needs must.

Still managed to fit in an early morning game of tennis. We really are having some glorious weather for tennis, which makes having to spend the day locked up inside struggling over financial statements and tax returns, even less appealing.

Spent my customary five minutes looking round the garden,with Ginger in toe,

- The Aloe Veras are all blooming nicely now

- More yellow flag irises flowers appeared in the pond

(I really need to take out some of the overgrown water plants to make room for the water lilies)

- Just seen the first Dietes bicolor flowering in the garden.

This is another clump forming South African plant that tends to do well here.

When suddenly the water sprinklers went off

And Ginger and I had to make a dash for the kitchen where a nice cup of tea was waiting for me.

Ginger did not see the funny side of it but nothing that some tender loving care could not set right!

Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

Today is the Sunday before Easter, also known as Palm Sunday.

Unfortunately I have to spend it at work.

Where I would love to be able to go is to the village.

As today commemorates the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by a crowd holding palm and olive leaves, the village and especially the church will be richly decorated with flowers and palm leaves, the villagers will take olive branches to the church to be blessed and there will be a procession round the village as part of the service.

All very picturesque.

As I can not be there today, I post some pictures from a few years ago to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

The church entrance, a man can be seen carrying olive branches after they have been blessed.

Blessing of olive branches

Part of the procession, the children hold young palm leaves woven with flowers.

My then much younger son does not look too happy to be there!

Village ladies waiting to greet the church procession with burning olive leaves. Blessed olive leaves are burned as an offering to God, just like incense.

The procession

One of my favorite pictures of my son, taken by me on that day on the steps of the church's bell tower.

Bloods this morning at 107mg/dl after a morning 5km walk



Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[Alanp35]

Thank you for taking time to share this with us on a busy work day.
Blessings on you and yours.



Late onset T1, several auto immune issues.
Humalogmix25 twice a day, Methotrexate 25mg once per week, FolicAcid 5mg once per week, prednisolone 5mg daily, Allopurinol 300mg, Calcichew-D3 800iu, Levothyroxine 50mcg, Atenolol 50mg, Losarten 100mg, Aspirin 75mg, Nicorandil 20mg, Nitrolingual GTN spray, Metformin 2000mg, Allimemazine 10mg, Lanzoprazole 30mg, Atorvastatin 20mg, Co Codamol 8/500mg, Depo Medrone (Methylprednisolone) or double Prednisolone for 7 days in case of RA flare.

 

[NotSoSweet2]

View attachment 3986
Pavlosn, so sorry I missed your birthday, I hope you had a really special day!
An early morning game of tennis to start off my forty-ninth birthday today.

I have never been much for celebrating birthdays.

Or New Year's Eves.

They both always leave me feeling slightly down. Everyone expects you to be joyful, everyone else seems to be so happy, yet most of the times all I can think about is "one more year gone".

So it was with a certain feeling of apprehension that I approached today's birthday!

After all forty nine is no twenty one!

But you know what? I feel surprisingly good about it.

View attachment 3984

Even looking forward to it even; although nothing more special than a quiet celebration with the family is planned- going out for a meal, blowing out the candles and sharing some birthday cake.

Forty nine years are a lot of years but at least they have been on the whole forty nine good years, full of love and treasured memories thanks to my wife, my son, my parents and my friends.

As for regrets I can honestly say, at the risk of sounding conceited, that they really have been too few to mention.

I may no longer be in the first flush of youth but hopefully I have lots of years ahead of me to look forward to still, diabetic or not!

My son is now eleven, still in elementary schoolI and thinks that girls are these strange useless creatures that don't get football.

I want to be around when he gets his heart handed to him on a plate by a girl for the first time,! I want to be around when he hopefully meets the right one, when he settles down, when he has children of his own.

And I want to be around healthy and strong. I want to be around to see all this with my own eyes and on my own two feet.

So Diabetes be damned! You are not going to rob me of my dreams! Not if there is anything I can do about it!




Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

Morning bloods at 111mg/dl

Garden and Ginger provide a welcome if short term distraction from work and it's stressful deadlines

Can't wait for the Easter weekend to begin.

Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

More of Ginger


Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

I grow both kinds of strelitzias in my garden.

Strelitzia reginae, the bird of paradise plant grows to about 1,5 meters and has long lasting bright orange flowers which are hard to miss.

Strelitzia Nicolai, the giant bird of paradise plant, grows much taller, this one in my garden is about four meters high

And it's flowers although large in size are actually harder to spot being a much more subtle shade of white/blue. Can you spot the flowers in the photo above

In fact the plant is grown more for its spectacular banana like foliage than for its flowers. Here is another example of the plant growing above my pond

In fact both kind of Strelitzias can be seen in this picture: Reginae immediately above the yellow spears of the Aloe Vera flowers and Nicolai with the much larger leaves further back.

This is turning more and more into a gardening thread but I will not make any apologies for this. My garden helps reduce my stress which in turn helps with my diabetes. Plus I like pictures of plants/flowers more than talking about glucose levels!


Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

A flaouna is the traditional Cyprus pastry for breaking fast at Easter.

It is usually prepared during the Holy Week to be consumed on Easter Day. Their preparation was usually a communal affair, with the women of the whole family or neighborhood, coming together to team their efforts.

They are traditionally cooked in wood-fired earthen ovens.

Made with short crust pastry, stuffed with a combination of various cheeses such as haloumi, kefalotyri and graviera, mint leaves and sultanas and sprinkled with sesame seeds, they are unfortunately both high carb and high fat, so hardly diabetes friendly.

Still, they are delicious and Easter only comes but once a year!


Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough

 

[pavlosn]

Good Friday today and I will finally be able to make my way to the village.

Here are some older photos of what Good Friday in our village is like

Have a happy Easter everyone.


Pavlos
Type 2 - Diagnosed 2009; Latest HbA1c 5,8%; Diabetes Medication: metformin 2x850mg; Other medication: Aspirin 75mg, Valsartan 80mg, Rosuvostatin 20mg, Ezetimibe 10mg; Exercise: One hour walk daily, tennis weekly, swimming when warm enough