Diabetes, life and all that - personal diary

Pretty good day so far with some very good glucose readings

I was at 4,4 on waking up, so I took the opportunity to succumb to the appeal of a satsuma mandarin that was flirting with me for the last two days, ever since arriving home from our orchard in the village.



Seven grams of carbs but pure sweet and sour bliss.

Went for an hour's brisk walk (just over 6km) and came back to find Sheelba waiting at the front gate for her own walk

And Ginger enjoying a rest on one of the kitchen chairs.

More importantly, my glucose was at 4,8 before and 4,6 after a breakfast of Greek yoghurt with som frozen raspberries and blueberries and a sprinkling of three kinds of seeds, all washed down with some herbal tea.

Have a nice day

Pavlos

On the 16th of last September, I found my way back to this forum having just taken a glucose count for the first time in months.

That reading was 236mg/dl 13,2 mmol.

My weight had ballooned to 102 kg.

I felt terrible, my self esteem at an all time low. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have left myself go so much!

The answer was I got complacent. I stopped testing, then I stopped minding my diet so much and I also stopped exercising.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

I decided that enough was enough, that it was no good feeling sorry for myself, that I would turn my feelings of disappointment into determination to get things right.

So I logged back onto this site, it has always been a source of support and a great way to maintain my focus on glycemic control, got the kitchen scales out of the cupboard and tied my walking shoes back on.

It is now a month later.

My fasting glucose count today was a best ever 74 mg/dl (4,2 mmol).

I weigh 95 kg- a loss of 7kg in a month.



I have just completed a brisk 5,3 km walk at a pace of 8,51 minutes per kilometer.


A month ago the best I could manage was over 11 minutes per kilometer.

My glucose levels have stabilized

And I am know able to keep both pre and post meal counts under the NICE pre meal ceiling of 7mmol ( the blue band in the above chart).

In fact, I only had one reading in the last week that even came close to this. All the rest, pre and post prandial were below six.



I am proud of the progress I have made. My latest HbA1c taken a week ago came in at a non diabetic 6,0% - 42 mmol/mol and probably does not really reflect my current state. If I can maintain my current glucose levels, my next one should be down into the five percent range.

My lipid counts were at an all time low.

It took a lot of discipline to get here. I have cut my carb intake right down, I know longer eat any bread or rice or pasta and only the occasional fruit. I test regularly before and two hours after meals, I have stuck to my morning walks religiously and have since added gym sessions and bike riding sessions, sometimes all three on the same day, to my exercise regime.

My average step count over the last month is over 12.000 paces per day compared to a target of 10.000.



Best of all, not only do I now feel great, I also feel great about myself. I no longer feel a helpless victim of my diabetes. I feel back in the driving seat, making decisions and taking action to take things were I want them to go.

Why do I post all this?

To brag? Maybe. I am a little bit of a show off I guess!

But honestly, mostly to show that it can be done. There is nothing remarkable about me, I am just an average man. So if I could manage it so could anyone else with some perseverance...

And, of course, with the support of the wonderful people on this forum, to whom I am truly grateful.

Have a great day

Pavlos

Just completed an hour's bike ride round the street of Nicosia,

This 14 km I have covered is nothing special really as such rides go but it is by a fair distance the longest I have ever ridden; I think the next best was 8km.

I also kept up with my 5km walk in the morning. I think this is the period in my life when o am going through the most physical exercise.

I found some time to slow down for a relaxing look at what's in bloom in the garden this morning and here are some highlights;

I had to cut my morning walk short today, three rather than my usual five kilometers, as grey menacing skies overhead, pregnant with the promise of rain, finally delivered on their promise.

Blue sky again

So time to catch up with those missed kilometers.

Back from my 5km walk ( 8km if you add the earlier 3km)

Time for a look round the garden





And some floral highlights

The morning started off wet and overcast but very rarely are days a complete wash out in Cyprus.

By lunchtime the brightening skies gave us the opportunity to travel to the nearby village of Kato Moni for lunch at s very nice taverna





As is my habit after a nice traditional and reasonably carb free meal I took the opportunity to indulge my passion for photography while also enjoying a short walk in the countryside.









Pavlos

I received an invitation this morning for an event next month, The English School, Nicosia 30 year reunion.

Did my eyes deceive me? That can't be right?

Three, zero!

Thirty!

There was even a photograph attached; the invite came through Facebook, sign of the times I guess.

The title on the photograph "ESL84".

English School leavers 1984.

My God it has been thirty years!



I spent some time looking at the photograph.

Plenty of familiar faces but also plenty I could no longer name.

There's me! Standing, eighth from the left third row back!

So young!

A bright kid from the more humble side of town in a rich kids' school.

I was not one of the cool kids, did too well academically and was too sensible to be that; my "rebel" years not coming until later at university. Not was I one of the in crowd; the kids that were always talking about parties and ski holidays and summers spent abroad.

It was a stretch financially for my parents to send me to this school, where if I am honest some of the kids came from a different world to mine; I would spent my holidays doing some kind of summer job.

But I enjoyed my time there and made some good friends.

Maybe with time we drifted apart but that is just the way of the world.

It will be good to catch up with them again.

I look at the photograph again.

I look at me again.

So young and naive!

I realize that the fresh face kid staring back at me is not really me; not any more.

It is someone who looks familiar, who I can look at and feel affection, even a bit of sadness, for but it is not me.

Not now me.

I have moved on as well.

Time you see. It changes everything!

Pavlos

My latest acquisition/addition to the garden: cestrum nocturnum, the queen of the night or night blooming jasmine.



This unspectacular night bloomer has the most intoxicating smell which seems to travel for incredible distances on the night breeze.

In fact I will have to experiment with positioning a bit while it is still in the pot to make sure that from the patio the smell is not overpowering.

It has the kind of smell that one either loves or hates but certainly does not ignore.

Pavlos

connie104 said:

I think it is the same as we have in Spain we call it Dama de noche or lady of the night beautiful perfume in the evening.

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I am sure that we are talking about the same plant. I have read that it is colloquially known as queen of the night or lady of the night because of its intense scent at night.

I was not too keen on the plant before finding the smell a bit too overpoweringly strong but I have now grown to like it.

One of my neighbors has one planted in his garden and I can smell it from tens of meters away as I walk past it during my morning walks.

Finding the right spot for it in the garden will be key. I will need to experiment a bid to make sure of best effect from our sitting position on the patio.

Pavlos

aqualung said:

@pavlosn our first landlady when we moved to Durham lived in Nicosia and I think she worked at the English school (maybe headmistress?). This was in 1990. Not the most pleasant landlady!

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That would be quite a coincidence.

I left the English School in 1984, when the headmaster was Mr Humphreys, affectionately known amongst the students, as "the Czar", for his attention to discipline.

Pavlos