Recovering

[Mortblanc]

I have had quite the adventure for the past few months.

Back in June I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. It was a sudden onset since my checkup 6 months earlier had been clear of any difficulties.

My blood sugar was not just a bit high, I was extremely high and well over the danger threshold. You folks use a different system that we do but we can just say that the blood sugar was 5x over normal.

Type 2 diabetes is not something you catch, or something you cause. It is a condition where the liver and pancreas quite working together. Insulin is still being produced, but the body rejects the insulin, which makes the blood sugar go up.

The results can be devastating; kidney failure, liver failure, escalated incidence of heart attack, elevated cholesterol, damage to circulation resulting in amputation of limbs is common as well as decreased resistance to infections.

I lost my first wife to type 1 diabetes complications many decades ago and my sudden diagnosis scared the crap out of me! I went on a strict zero sugar/low carb diet and began a cardio workout program.

I was not "over the top" with my weight but I was overweight at 240 pounds and 5'10". The diet and workout program has helped me drop a few pounds and more will follow.

More importantly my blood sugar is back to the normal range and my cholesterol is back under control.

The return to near normalcy was just in time to go through a procedure for removal of a cataract in my left eye. I had the right eye done 8 years ago and the left was overdue. I have been recovering from that procedure for a week.

Not really recovering one might say, just taking it easy. The procedure was a painless 10 minute process with sleeping with a patch over the eye for one night the greatest inconvenience. Eye drops three times daily are a follow up some folks do not like, but that part I do not mind. Put the drops in, close your eyes and take a little nap!

All this, from a prepper point of view, could be seen as preventive maintenance, especially the eye. I can now see better than I have since I was 20!

The diabetes means there is one more medication I must stock up on ASAP. At this point they are keeping me on a 30 day supply, which I feel is very restrictive. I need to figure out a way to secure my 6 month supply as I do with my other life sustaining meds. That might be a slight problem since my normal script writer has retired.