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

Fbg this morning 6.7

Here are my walking stick kale. They reach the height of my garage roof, about 10 foot tall. They have large textured green and purple leaves, and woody purple stems. We have literally had a drought the last few weeks, and so the leaves are not as bushy as they have been. But if we get another week's rain, they'll be loads of loads of leaves on them. There are about 5 or 6 plants here, and I have some more growing elsewhere...

Night night from me...
Sweet dreams...

 
This morning I was at the hospital for a biopsy at the endoscopy unit and even with a shot of fentanyl it was not a very pleasant experience am feeling a bit better now but am under instructions to take it easy had to have a responsible adult to keep an eye on me when got home the effects of the sedation can last 24 hours and the physical I shall say trauma for won’t of a better word can take a few days to get over.
Ade returned to Ireland this morning missing his presence dreadfully but we did manage to go to Brierley park yesterday taking advantage of a sunny period it rained about five minutes after we got back we took a couple of flasks of hot drink one coffee the other tea as I was travelling down on my scooter I happened to look down to see a Robin trotting along beside me amazing.
 

I come from a line of women whose arm veins are so deep as to be almost mythical

The latest phlebotomist surprised me by immediately finding a juicy vein in the back of my hand, it hurt far less than I thought it would and the "large bruise" she warned me about never appeared.

Think I'll just ask for it in the hand in future.
 
I had a friend who was a phlebotomist, and he said that he used a butterfly needle for people who had very deep veins, and it didn't hurt anywhere near so much for them when he used that. I don't know if you can ask for that @debs248 ?
 
That was beautiful, a little robin trotting alongside you!
 
Morning all on a chilly start to its a day too early to wheel out those blue bins this week day here in L.A. @JohnEGreen hug for the biopsy but hopes for a gentle recovery in the heart of your family. @gennepher thank you for sharing the kale picture. This caught my eye after your experiences which sadly seem the norm. My A1c came back as 44 which is a full 10 points higher than June last year and the highest since 3 months after DX. I wonder which of a year's steroids or almost a year with no immunotherapy is the bigger factor or even both combined?. I'll get the next CT scan and results over (30th April and May 8th) before enriching Abbott. The steroids are down to 1 a day and end mid-May provided no more bullae appear. I guess the key takeaway is I'm still in the game after all the fun last summer. Have a good day wherever possible.
 
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Yesterday day it took the nurse three attempts to get a cannulae into one of my veins she at one point was about to give up and leave it to the doctor but I was able to point out a likely spot to her and that worked.
After years of taking steroids daily my veins are somewhat thin most of the nurses at the GP’s won’t even attempt to draw blood but the phlebotomist does it with ease she is a whizz and always draws blood painlessly.
As I had to stop my warfarin for five days and use injectables I have to start the warfarin again today and so have an INR check booked for tomorrow so have had to cancel the appointment I had at QMC not to unhappy about that as I hate going there it’s about 17 miles from here and anyway have been told to avoid travelling for a few days.
 
gennepher said:
I had a friend who was a phlebotomist, and he said that he used a butterfly needle for people who had very deep veins, and it didn't hurt anywhere near so much for them when he used that. I don't know if you can ask for that @debs248 ?
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That's the kind of needle they always use on me. Total wast of time using a bigger one. My bigger veins must be very deep because they just can't find them so they have to use the smaller ones nearer the surface but, often, those veins just close up when approached by a needle of any kind. Usually they do hurt quite a lot, but I'm used to it and just put up with it. This time, it really hardly hurt at all.
 
BG 9.3 at 04.20 today.

Leg day today plus my Covid jab. I'm told lots of people have Covid at the moment - mainly people around Neil and Alistair's age. Might that have something to do with the fact that people over 50 weren't offered vaccinations this year? I suppose that was because it would have been expensive but not as expensive as the hospital care required by that age group with Covid.
 
Good morning everyone on a wonderfully sunny start to the day here in the dark and dangerous north.
5.8 this a.m.
Late after a restless night and only just managed to get the bin out. Perfect timing like a well oiled 4 x 400m relay race baton hand over.
Cold yesterday down on the lower prom even through a fleece and a warm coat. Caught the funicular back to town. Passed through the mythical 10 000 steps but not as much as we wanted.
Garlic is well into bloom in the woods so need to go and pick some - smashing in soups and salads. I think that there is still some left from last year in the freezer so better check and use.
Art bit - similar to yesterday.
Remember to include yourself in the list of things to take care of today. I simply must make some koffy.
 

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Good morning all. fbs this morning was 9.4. Scan this afternoon followed by consultation appointment tomorrow morning. Still no biopsy results despite several unanswered phone messages and an email left. Maybe 6 weeks is not long enough for results to be fully analysed and reported on. I must remind myself to be a patient patient. Best wishes to you all for today. (PS Two beautiful jays have just visited my bird feeder.)
 
Thank you Ian.
Yes Ian, that guardian article doesn't even scrape the surface of what deaf people have to put up with in hospitals... you fight your corner but you haven't achieved anything because you have to fight it again again and again... and that is soul destroying...
 
Fbg 6.3

On Tuesday I went to the opticians .

The optician there was lovely and very patient, repeating things as much as I needed. Unfortunately, the acoustics were horrendously awful - very echoey - and no matter how I adjusted my cochlear settings, it was hard to understand anything. By the time I got home around 1:30, I was so exhausted I slept on and off for the rest of the day.

The optician himself was brilliant - kind, understanding, and never once impatient, even though I must have delayed his whole schedule. I was with him for about an hour and a half, and he gave me his full attention the entire time. The eye tests were thorough, much more so than Specsavers, and he used very up-to-date equipment, including an OCT scan.

He confirmed there’s nothing alarming in my left eye - no sign of what the hospital mentioned about a nerve issue - but I do have a very slight dry macular degeneration and a tiny cataract. It’s not causing problems yet, and it may never worsen, but he gave me advice on eye care and diet. The right eye (the one that had the cataract removed) is absolutely perfect.

He tested my eyes and he spent a very long time with me to get both eyes perfect. Mostly it was my left eye which does need some help and I am thinking Specsavers did just a few minutes of similar kinds of test where this new guy spent well over an hour just testing my eyes. He did not rush me at any point whereas Specsavers rushed me and I got flustered and all hot and sweaty. I was in his opticians room for more than an hour and a half, there was no clock in there. It was hard work for me, because I had to keep asking him to repeat or rephrase his instructions. Not once did he show any impatience with me as most people do when I am in a situation like that, I'm so I did not get flustered and I was able to keep trying to hear what he said (but when I get home, I completely crashed out for the rest of the day).

He encouraged me to think carefully about whether to accept St Paul’s offer to operate on the left eye - reminding me that NHS Wales won’t touch it unless it gets significantly worse, to the point of being blind. St Paul's in England apparently can over ride the NHS. He said it’s okay to wait and see how I feel when my St Paul’s appointment comes around in four months. For now, I’ll follow his advice and keep an eye on any changes.

He also strongly advised wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed sun hat, so I’ll be shopping for those soon!

I don’t need glasses for driving, but I do need them for reading. He also offered a prescription to slightly improve my long-distance vision (not needed for DVLA), especially for night driving — things like spotting kerbs better — and I’ve taken that prescription too.

Here is a drawing of me in a wide brim sun hat and dark glasses!

Creative...a drawing of me in Sunglasses

Heatwave here... too hot for me...

 
Love the landscape, lake, and mountains @dunelm
 
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