What was your fasting blood glucose? (full on chat)

Just had a no reply text from the GP Surgery, saying "
Dear ....Your blood test are stable, there are no changes required at present.
Regards Practice Nurse"
This was for the diabetic blood test.
They will never tell you the results of any tests in this surgery. I have been in and asked what my AC1 was. But I was always told everything was fine or whatever placatary words they used, to mean everything was in limits or everything was fine.
I have asked the practice manager, and I have asked the doctor when we did have a doctor in eons gone by. I have used a patient's advocate, but this particular practice does not give you the results of anything. You are completely in the dark.

I know, or at least I think my AC1 would be a bit higher this time, than before (last year), at least because my blood glucose readings are higher during the day when I am eating food and higher than it used to be but I can still get it to be in the 6's, only just, for Fasting blood glucose.

Knowledge is power. But they take my blood (that blood is my blood) and I want to know what my AC1 is.

You all seem to be given that knowledge from your surgeries.

I have to prick my finger to take readings, I cannot afford a continuous glucose meter.

gennepher said:

Just had a no reply text from the GP Surgery, saying "
Dear ....Your blood test are stable, there are no changes required at present.
Regards Practice Nurse"
This was for the diabetic blood test.
They will never tell you the results of any tests in this surgery. I have been in and asked what my AC1 was. But I was always told everything was fine or whatever placatary words they used, to mean everything was in limits or everything was fine.
I have asked the practice manager, and I have asked the doctor when we did have a doctor in eons gone by. I have used a patient's advocate, but this particular practice does not give you the results of anything. You are completely in the dark.

I know, or at least I think my AC1 would be a bit higher this time, than before (last year), at least because my blood glucose readings are higher during the day when I am eating food and higher than it used to be but I can still get it to be in the 6's, only just, for Fasting blood glucose.

Knowledge is power. But they take my blood (that blood is my blood) and I want to know what my AC1 is.

You all seem to be given that knowledge from your surgeries.

I have to prick my finger to take readings, I cannot afford a continuous glucose meter.

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Isn't it a legal requirement that they have to let you see your records? That would include results of blood tests. My GP's are not keen on letting me know the results of tests, but the nurses will look them up for me online when I go in for my legs.

Annb said:

Isn't it a legal requirement that they have to let you see your records? That would include results of blood tests. My GP's are not keen on letting me know the results of tests, but the nurses will look them up for me online when I go in for my legs.

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It's not that easy @Annb
The practice manager insists he has to be in the room with you, no one else, and you have to make an appointment with him. Then the fun and games started. I turned up for the appointment, but he wasn't there, I was told he had been called away. Took awhile for him to agree to appointment 2. I turned up. Apparently his child was sick, and he was at home supporting his wife. It took some time for him to agree to appointment 3. Again he was not there, I cannot remember what the excuse was this time. This went on for weeks and weeks and....
Finally I got a patient's advocate to help. The same happened again and again.
The patient's advocate said this happened all the time.
Finally after some months we got an appointment, just for me to see my records, We only had a set time to look at the records, before the practice manager said he had to go, and said to make another appointment....and I hadn't got to see as much as I had needed to.

I could not go through that again, I don't have the energy needed, I need my energy for my day to day tasks (I don't have enough for that), not for some time wasting game playing exercise.

gennepher said:

It's not that easy @Annb
The practice manager insists he has to be in the room with you, no one else, and you have to make an appointment with him. Then the fun and games started. I turned up for the appointment, but he wasn't there, I was told he had been called away. Took awhile for him to agree to appointment 2. I turned up. Apparently his child was sick, and he was at home supporting his wife. It took some time for him to agree to appointment 3. Again he was not there, I cannot remember what the excuse was this time. This went on for weeks and weeks and....
Finally I got a patient's advocate to help. The same happened again and again.
The patient's advocate said this happened all the time.
Finally after some months we got an appointment, just for me to see my records, We only had a set time to look at the records, before the practice manager said he had to go, and said to make another appointment....and I hadn't got to see as much as I had needed to.

I could not go through that again, I don't have the energy needed, I need my energy for my day to day tasks (I don't have enough for that), not for some time wasting game playing exercise.

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You definitely don't want to waste your precious time on that sort of appalling c**p @gennepher.
It is absolutely appalling behaviour from your practice manager.

Krystyna23040 said:

You definitely don't want to waste your precious time on that sort of appalling c**p @gennepher.
It is absolutely appalling behaviour from your practice manager.

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No, I don't.
Yes I agree @Krystyna23040

Just a quickie today.
No FBG, I'm still waiting as Diana Ross once......!
I had just got Mrs L settled on the couch, when my phone rang.
I was trying to get in front garden, in the sun.
It was housing.
Can an electrician come round to do bi-annual check?
What time?
Now?
No! Can you come later?
1pm?
That will do.
Thanks!

Grrrrrrrr!

So we always have chores needing doing but with some stranger coming around, it was necessary to clean where it doesn't usually get done. You know what I'm like!
Mrs L wasn't happy, but ok. Get it done!
It was feeding time for Mrs L, and of course constant cuppas.
Mrs L wanted a nap after filling her face.
But of course, couldn't go to her pit.
So she put a film on, and settled.
And as, the electrician knocked, Mrs L needed the ......!
I asked him to wait.
then he was everywhere in the house, testing everything including the shower and fire alarm especially. And he found the front door light wasn't earthed.......!
new alarm in kitchen (heat only)
Adjusted fan in bathroom.
And, said I could save money in a couple of ways, which I wasn't aware of.
anyway, we passed!
no work to be done.

Mrs L, even napped through the testing of all the alarms at once.

Finally, my lawn is desperate for a haircut. Still too damp!
weather is beautiful, not a cloud, but plenty of contrails.

I remember a saying from an activist back in the day.

Tradition is great, if you can afford it.

And to add, if you remember where my last job was.
Some of the attitudes still prevalent in sport, is still there.
It is slowly becoming less, but some ancient behaviours are still here.

And it is still those involved in power brokering and in the public eye, the privileged, that are the most likely to adopt the worst perversions, because they can pay for it. And cover it up!

My best wishes to you lot as always.

Lamont D said:

Just a quickie today.
No FBG, I'm still waiting as Diana Ross once......

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Ah, the great diana Ross

(Good song btw )

Sounds like a hectic day .

Glad it's over for you and seems to have gone well .

jjraak said:

More than a suspicion they've been hijacked by big business & poor victims are suffering Stockholm syndrome ...

Too frightened to say no & being outcasts, due to the societal pressure of 'image' that means others can't or won't say no, ad infinitum

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So true, sadly @jjraak.

Recently, the granddaughter of a close friend has been agonising over an invitation to be a bridesmaid for the third year running, not because she's superstitious, but because she cannot afford another dress plus accessories (bridesmaids are expected to pay for their own attire now apparently) let alone travel expenses to the hen party and wedding. It's the prospect of declining the invitation that keeps her awake at night.

Tuesday's FBG 4,6 mmol/L on waking at 6.00 am.

We have expectations, placed on us, of the 'modern' world where we are expected to do this that and the other against our beliefs, and maybe at our own expense (like the granddaughter of @LivingLightly), which we cannot remotely afford.

I have never ever subscribed to any of this kind of stuff to fit in and not upset the people around me, but I have spent hours/days/weeks of my life agonising and sleepless nights over refusing/objecting/etc and the consequences of not 'fitting in' because others say I should because everyone else does. It is heckishly difficult when you are in the workplace. I know from experience, being spat upon and pushed and shoved (and more) while 'trapped' in a lift, because I would not conform to a thing (something that went against my beliefs and integrity, I was the only objector, and I would do the same again now because I did achieve something by my actions in that instance). And in that lift, they were all men older than me. I was 18 years old at the time. There was more stuff to that...

We are expected to go along with all this stuff, whether it is 'bigger' stuff in the workplace, ('bigger' as in far reaching implications for others too), or day to day social stuff.
As a female, in particular in childhood, I was brought up to be a 'Yes' person. But I never was, and had to be silent (mostly), fisticuffs were used when necessary and I then went on to reasoning...
It has taken a heck of a long time to shake that feeling. And even now, it is so ingrained in me, that the 'Yes' response is still at the forefront. But before I say it, the brain always says think/consider/safety in some cases/what are the consequences either way and the'No' or refusal/etc response leaps in when necessary. One of my children (adult) got the heck out of their workplace when scapegoats were being 'selected' because of whistleblowers. I'd already seen the international news, when the first scapegoat was 'selected', and my adult child got on the first plane back home. No one was safe, however good they were, as long as the 'whole' was protected, especially if you are a foreigner in that country, and once arrested you have no rights whatsoever, and are 'forgotten'..... And I fully concurred with my adult child, for their safety and protection.

Why did/do I waste my life of precious time and energy agonising over this kind of stuff in the past?

I do ask myself questions now (for myself) when I am in a situation. And yes, the 'fisticuffs' are still there but in my imagination. They give me the adrenaline and spur and determination to continue, if it is necessary and needed.

You always need to live to be able to 'fight' another day. No sense in being a helpless sacrifice...

Good morning everyone on a pretty gloomy start here in French Froggy France. 5.5 this a.m. Dad was cremated yesterday. His wishes were that nobody attend. A very stoic atheist who would have been happy to have been just buried in his orchard given the choice. I expect that that is where mum will scatter his ashes. Instead, we sat in the sunshine outside a restaurant overlooking the sea and the beach where some of my sister’s ashes were scattered a couple of years ago. Now long gone. We ate food and reminisced about those parts of dad’s life that we shared. I had a glass of Leffe Blonde - a beer that he loved to have at lunch times. My brother went back to Bristol yesterday evening and my niece goes back to work in Bordeaux today. Another of my brothers is being driven down from Falkenburg in The Netherlands and should be here tomorrow lunch time - he can't drive himself any more. Mum's carer comes this morning to take her shopping. We made a list! Later we need to contact pension people and sort that bit out - state pension and dad's NHS pension. I am slowly working my way through dad's collection of wine - a big job, but the task has been assigned to me and I will do my best - may take a year or so but I will persevere. Art bit, ink splodges that I did at home last week. Hope your day persuades you to smile. I shall make koffy and watch the clouds escape the rising sun.

dunelm said:

Good morning everyone on a pretty gloomy start here in French Froggy France. 5.5 this a.m. Dad was cremated yesterday. His wishes were that nobody attend. A very stoic atheist who would have been happy to have been just buried in his orchard given the choice. I expect that that is where mum will scatter his ashes. Instead, we sat in the sunshine outside a restaurant overlooking the sea and the beach where some of my sister’s ashes were scattered a couple of years ago. Now long gone. We ate food and reminisced about those parts of dad’s life that we shared. I had a glass of Leffe Blonde - a beer that he loved to have at lunch times. My brother went back to Bristol yesterday evening and my niece goes back to work in Bordeaux today. Another of my brothers is being driven down from Falkenburg in The Netherlands and should be here tomorrow lunch time - he can't drive himself any more. Mum's carer comes this morning to take her shopping. We made a list! Later we need to contact pension people and sort that bit out - state pension and dad's NHS pension. I am slowly working my way through dad's collection of wine - a big job, but the task has been assigned to me and I will do my best - may take a year or so but I will persevere. Art bit, ink splodges that I did at home last week. Hope your day persuades you to smile. I shall make koffy and watch the clouds escape the rising sun.

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I have given you a winner emojie but I would have liked to give you a whole pile of emojis @dunelm

I like that, that your dad wanted no one attending.
And that you sat in the sun reminiscing.
It sounds beautiful to me.

I love your art bit xxx

6.0 this morning.

gennepher said:

I have given you a winner emojie but I would have liked to give you a whole pile of emojis @dunelm

I like that, that your dad wanted no one attending.
And that you sat in the sun reminiscing.
It sounds beautiful to me.

I love your art bit xxx

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Thank you @gennepher. It was a good day yesterday.

Good Morening Ladies and Gentlemen and remember it’s good to talk at times.

A 5.7 this morning on that meter.

@dunelm , a hug for the loss of a parent, a winner for the way of celebrating his life and finally a laughter for the humour of the wine cellar.

Finally thanks to all for the kind comments on my radiotherapy treatment.

Now I must move on into the garage to find some Allen Keys that a friend needs to borrow to fix his back door.

Have a great day, smile, blow raspberries and wave two fingers to the wind.

alf_Josiah said:

Good Morening Ladies and Gentlemen and remember it’s good to talk at times.

A 5.7 this morning on that meter.

@dunelm , a hug for the loss of a parent, a winner for the way of celebrating his life and finally a laughter for the humour of the wine cellar.

Finally thanks to all for the kind comments on my radiotherapy treatment.

Now I must move on into the garage to find some Allen Keys that a friend needs to borrow to fix his back door.

Have a great day, smile, blow raspberries and wave two fingers to the wind.

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Thank you @alf_Josiah

Morning all from a sunny L.A. where a semblance of summer lingers so all those emails advertising offers to purchase bargain layering can safely be ignored. According to the medium term weather forecast there should be no need for Hive to trigger the heating until at least early October. MIL's bedroom and our lounge face South and are heated by the sun. Her bedroom is also heated by warm air from the airing cupboard circulating into her wardrobe. My bg when taken at 8.47 was 4.6 and by now, 11.20, is 5.1. In terms of bg management it seems I can stay in the game until steroids and antibiotics kick in. @gennepher how sad to read of the horrible experiences of you and your child when your principles were opposed to workplace demands. @dunelm thank you for sharing the art and being able to share yesterday's events with warmth and some humour. For me there was in that post a sense of how you felt contentment in meeting your father's wishes. I remain very thankful to be still in the game but I'm not entitled enough that I expect to enjoy every day although some moments can be unexpectedly wonderful. Yesterday afternoon my 6 year old granddaughter saw me outside doing my steps without a hat,, put on one of her own and brought me one. My egg, cheese and avocado salad last evening was wonderful. Neither of those will make an iota of difference to the elephant in my room but there and then they met the moment perfectly. I sincerely hope you all have similar moments this very day.

Still no test strips, but I feel really thin today, I have banned mirrors from the neck down.
Why is it?
When you do a lot of chores more needs doing?
Why is it?
Just when you think you have time to get your feet up before feeding time, that Mrs L will ask for an errand to be done?
Why is it?
You put the washing on, only to see cloud, and no forecast sunshine?
Why is it?
I'm asking stupid questions?

I'm with @dunelm 's father, I would rather have no fuss or faff around my demise.
Celebrate by all means, but nothing elaborate or religious, cos it's not me.
I would rather let the family have the money.
They deserve it more, for putting up with me!

Why me?
There was incidents and accidents.
Hints and allegations.
Mid post, and after settling Mrs L for her nap, there came a shout.
On a day where two washes have already been done, and on the line, Mrs L dropped her cuppa.
All over the bedding.
So twenty minutes later, another wash has just been put on.
But it's my fault.
The cup was too heavy, and you know that! She shouted at me.
I couldn't deny the wrongdoing.
I apologised.
Made the bed to Mrs L 's approval. And put the kettle on again. This time her favourite small cup.

Think I'm going to have a nap myself....... Sure!
Too much to do!

My best wishes to you lot as always.

5.3 this morning.
Fitbit is unhappy with me. One of my readings has been out of normal range the last few days - which makes me so happy.
Resting heart rate has gradually lowered and now is 9 beats per minute lower than it was.I

I am so happy. The ribcage breathing does lower your resting heart rate but I didn't think it would work so quickly.

Will catch up with posts later.

ianpspurs said:

Morning all from a sunny L.A. where a semblance of summer lingers so all those emails advertising offers to purchase bargain layering can safely be ignored. According to the medium term weather forecast there should be no need for Hive to trigger the heating until at least early October. MIL's bedroom and our lounge face South and are heated by the sun. Her bedroom is also heated by warm air from the airing cupboard circulating into her wardrobe. My bg when taken at 8.47 was 4.6 and by now, 11.20, is 5.1. In terms of bg management it seems I can stay in the game until steroids and antibiotics kick in. @gennepher how sad to read of the horrible experiences of you and your child when your principles were opposed to workplace demands. @dunelm thank you for sharing the art and being able to share yesterday's events with warmth and some humour. For me there was in that post a sense of how you felt contentment in meeting your father's wishes. I remain very thankful to be still in the game but I'm not entitled enough that I expect to enjoy every day although some moments can be unexpectedly wonderful. Yesterday afternoon my 6 year old granddaughter saw me outside doing my steps without a hat,, put on one of her own and brought me one. My egg, cheese and avocado salad last evening was wonderful. Neither of those will make an iota of difference to the elephant in my room but there and then they met the moment perfectly. I sincerely hope you all have similar moments this very day.

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Thank you @ianpspurs and what a clever and thoughtful granddaughter you have there. Salad sounds good, we will be having something similar tonight.

ianpspurs said:

Morning all from a sunny L.A. where a semblance of summer lingers so all those emails advertising offers to purchase bargain layering can safely be ignored. According to the medium term weather forecast there should be no need for Hive to trigger the heating until at least early October. MIL's bedroom and our lounge face South and are heated by the sun. Her bedroom is also heated by warm air from the airing cupboard circulating into her wardrobe. My bg when taken at 8.47 was 4.6 and by now, 11.20, is 5.1. In terms of bg management it seems I can stay in the game until steroids and antibiotics kick in. @gennepher how sad to read of the horrible experiences of you and your child when your principles were opposed to workplace demands. @dunelm thank you for sharing the art and being able to share yesterday's events with warmth and some humour. For me there was in that post a sense of how you felt contentment in meeting your father's wishes. I remain very thankful to be still in the game but I'm not entitled enough that I expect to enjoy every day although some moments can be unexpectedly wonderful. Yesterday afternoon my 6 year old granddaughter saw me outside doing my steps without a hat,, put on one of her own and brought me one. My egg, cheese and avocado salad last evening was wonderful. Neither of those will make an iota of difference to the elephant in my room but there and then they met the moment perfectly. I sincerely hope you all have similar moments this very day.

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Thank you @ianpspurs