Notes From Diabetes Class - Know Your ABC's

During the diabetic follow-up class Dad and I attended last week, I took a few notes and thought I would share some of the information in this post.

Only 7% of all U.S. diabetics know their ABC's and have them in order. Here is what you should know to get your ABC's in order.

A = keep the A1C test at or below 7%. There is a test called the A1C, which is short for hemoglobin A-1-C. It is a fasting blood test that measures your average glucose level over the prior three months and is often used to determine whether someone is a diabetic or prediabetic. Dad has this test every three months, prior to his routine visit with his primary physician.

The 7% or below indicates the goal that most diabetics should strive to maintain. As for Dad, MJ told him to not go much lower than the 6.9 that he is presently at due to his age and because he has been a diabetic for twenty-five years. Going much lower would compromise his health. Remember, every individual is different. Work with your primary care physician or diabetic nurse educator for your particular numbers.

B = Blood Pressure. For most diabetics, their systolic blood pressure should be no higher than 130 and their diastolic, no lower than 80, i.e. their perfect blood pressure reading would show 130/80. Obviously, you need to contact your physician for your optimum blood pressure. Every individual is different and these numbers are only guidelines.

C = Cholesterol. Here are the ideal ranges to aim for:

Cholesterol = 200 or below
HDL = 100 for men, 70 for women
LDL = 40 for men, 50 for women
Triglycerides = 150

According to the American Diabetes Association, "Over time, high blood glucose levels can damage vital organs such as your kidneys and your eyes. High blood pressure is a serious disease that makes your heart work too hard. And bad cholesterol, or LDL, builds up and clogs your heart arteries. Managing all three means a longer and healthier life."

Click on the title of this post for an informative two page pdf giving further information about the ABC's.

Wow! That was just the start of the notes I kept in a small memo pad. I will share more in a later post.

The thing is - we can live much healthier lives than we do when we have the proper information. We hear about living a healthy lifestyle, but sometimes it takes numbers to truly wake us up to the fact that we need to make changes in our health regimen.

How about you - are you living a healthy lifestyle? Are there changes you should make? Does having the numbers in front of you help motivate you to make changes?

Sunday Morning Sage - Peace or Patience?

Many years ago, I learned of a portion of scripture (in the Bible) from Galatians 5:22-23 called the fruit of the spirit. These virtues are strengthened as our relationship with God develops.

The nine virtues are love, joy, peace, patience (longsuffering), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Actually, they are what all of us should aspire to in our daily lives. I planned to write a Sunday morning series over the next nine weeks beginning with love.

This morning, due to frustration, I decided to begin with patience instead, especially when that virtue was in short supply today.

Years ago, I attended 12-week class at a local church. The teaching session would end in a time of prayer for whatever the topic was that evening.

One night, as two women were praying for me at the altar, one of the women started to pray for me to have patience during a time that could take years before I received the answer. The other woman suddenly said, "Stop! Do not pray for patience."

We both looked at her in astonishment.

"Why not?"

"Because, if you pray for patience, God will make sure she develops patience. It's like a muscle that needs exercised over time. She will go through whatever it takes in order to develop patience."

Well, that didn't sound very promising as an answer to prayer, so they decided to change the wording to "peace." They prayed I would have peace in the situation.

That sounded much better to me after the explanation I received about patience.

This morning I remembered that time of prayer as I was dealing with a very slow computer. Now I know I need peace, not patience, whenever I am going through any kind of trial.

Over the years, staying in a peaceful state of mind has helped in many situations.

As a caregiver to an elderly father who is deaf, almost totally blind, and shows increasing signs of Alzheimer's, peace is just what I need.

Although I think God is working on the patience part at the same time.

What is He working on in your life? As a caregiver, do you even feel like He is present in your situation?

Re Elder Care Cafe Link

I forgot to tell you - If you click on the title of the Elder Care Cafe 2.0 post, you will go directly to the new Elder Care Cafe.

Please realize it is a work in progress, much like a construction site, so put on your hard hat and steel toed boots and have a look around. And then leave a message for me here, or there, and let me know what you think.

I know you will, so be honest. Thanks, and have a great weekend!

Elder Care Cafe 2.0

For the past several weeks I have been working on a new Elder Care Cafe website. My main problem (of several) rests on the fact that it is not as warm and fuzzy as this blog. It feels too sterile for some reason.

I'm taking a wonderful course from Yaro Starak, called Blog Mastermind, that has my blog learning curve heading straight up to the sky. I'm not sure the curve will ever turn down again in my lifetime.

Blogging is a blast no matter what the subject. In fact, I'm planning on several more blogs, but I don't know if I should try another bells and whistles blog site or not.

Years ago, when I was transferring to another department, my soon-to-be-former boss gave me a nifty book mark with the saying "no guts, no glory" and a picture of Garfield on the front. Handwritten on the back was the note, "Reach for the stars - they can be yours. Good luck in future endeavors."

As far as this present endeavor goes, the curve may be up to the stars before I reach the top. I don't think that's what she meant.

What are you reaching for? Are you stretching up to the stars or are you settling for second best?