My TII Diabetes Life!!

This is where I started – but really my journey began 9/6/2017 – weighing in at 330 lbs because for the past 4 years I haven’t been able to exercise or move as much because of the constant pain I was in because of my back. The pain started when I was meandering in the local woods, when suddenly I felt throbbing pain in my ankle, only to see it was a rat snake that had bit my ankle. I never thought I’d put those epipen coupons to use until that day. Either way, this was a different ailment. Walking longer than 1.5 minutes on a treadmill would cause my right leg to start shaking uncontrollably. Good days I could walk around a store for about 30 minutes holding onto the shopping cart and by the time I got to my car, I was having spasms. I was done, over it. So I talked to my Dr. and I asked for help. I started off by taking my migraine medicine (side effect weight loss) with a weight loss supplement along with creating a meal plan of 1200 to 1500 calories. I didn’t want the Gastric Sleeve or Bypass. I wanted to change my lifestyle and eat the foods I love but properly. I purchased some kid plates that we set up for portion control and started using kid plates to eat on, if we went out to eat – before I ate, I set aside half my food for a different meal. By January I was down 40 lbs and feeling great – I kept my weight off during the holidays – then I hit a plateau around 295lbs. argh. At my check up with my Dr. I asked for a full panel of bloodwork to be done to check to see if I maybe diabetic per the request of my mom since it runs in my family and I was showing symptoms – who knew. I also asked to have my liver checked because I was noticing some light brown spots showing up on my right foot which for years I have had issues with it, I was worried. I didn’t realize my bloodwork was going to be done right after meeting with the Dr. I thought I was supposed to drink something and fast – but apparently not anymore. So these numbers are a little off because of having breakfast. I will meet with my Dr. on  5/9 for a new test.

I am starting to journal this journey here so you can see what I go through, plus I am weak and need encouragement – just like everyone does. I also want to help others who are on this same path. So 1 month ago today (4/22/18) I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, my numbers were good a year ago – no clue what change – I turned 42. You can see my numbers below are crazy high. My Dr. again suggested that I consider the gastric sleeve to which I promptly said ‘no. I would like to learn how to eat properly since I love food – I want to change my lifestyle.’ He put me on 500mg of Metformin extended release which I am to take 1 time a day. At first my body was screaming to get this stuff out of my system – it hated me. I was supposed to meet with the Diabetes specialist a few days after being diagnosed but I missed the appointment because I felt so horrible – I barely left bed. This continued for a week.In that first week, I joined a couple of groups and spoke with my visiting teachers (now ministering sisters) who mentioned the Keto diet and like everything I do – I jumped right in after doing some research to learn how to go about it and foods I can/cannot eat – gave myself the Keto Flu – yes it is real, look it up. But around the end of the second week my Blood Sugar (BS – hehe) was starting to be between 160 and 185 – it did spike to 400 but for 1 day.

I was so stoked. I bought these meal prep containers and keto cooking ebooks and again jumped into fixing my Keto meals for a week to see how I would do on them and it was a success. As of 430am on 4/21/2018, I managed to get my BS down to 124 – can you believe it?1? Nope – me either. I shouted it out to the world of FB and people started asking me questions. Well, to my inspiration for my weight-loss journey – #FatGirlFedUp – this is no longer just that – this is a fight for my life. I caused my body this damage because of the weak and lazy lifestyle I was living for almost 20 years. I want to be sealed to my husband in the Temple and have 40+ years of marriage with him. I want to see my girls get married and see my grandchild go to college. I want to LIVE!! So if you want the same things and are in a similar boat come join me and I will share what I am learning and doing with you so you can decide for yourself if this will help you.

Here is my panel results and I started taking notes on what everything meant and how to fix it because I had no clue what I was looking at, as I was reading it, I saw the damage in my body. Have you had your full panel done – if not do that before you start this journey and talk to your Dr. about what everything means. Please feel free to comment with any questions you have or any encouraging words that I can look at on days I am struggling. If all you want to do is be mean, just know that I am sorry you feel that way but I wish much happiness in this life, but please know your comment will be deleted.  Thank you all and may you have a blessed day!

ResultsValueReference RangeFlagDate
Hemoglobin A1c/Hemoglobin.total in Blood11.50%4.8-5.6H3/22/2018
blood glucose362 mg/dL65-99H3/22/2018
very low density lipoproteins79 mg/dLMay-40H3/22/2018
Triglyceride [Mass/volume] in Serum or Plasma395 mg/dL0-149H3/22/2018
Cholesterol in LDL [Mass/volume] in Serum or Plasma109 mg/dL0-99H3/22/2018
Cholesterol in HDL [Mass/volume] in Serum or Plasma27 mg/dL>39L3/22/2018
Cholesterol [Mass/volume] in Serum or Plasma215 mg/dL100-199H3/22/2018
thyroid stimulating hormone1.190 UIU/ML0.450-4.500Not applicable3/22/2018
carbon dioxide, serum, total22 mmol/L18-29Not applicable3/22/2018