This year has been full of ups and downs for me. Some of the highlights were graduating with my Associate of Science in Business Management, buying a house and scoring a new job. One of the low lights was dealing with my first full year of diabetes and changing my health lifestyle.  This year hasn’t been a bad one. it started off a little rocky but as time went by it got better. the biggest thing this year was becoming a home owner. There’s nothing like coming home and turning the key to something that you own!  I love every moment of it even when something breaks and I have to fix it. It doesn’t matter because its MY house.

I’ve changed jobs once again this year. I know I know it seems like every year I have a new job but hey I need to continue to progress and when I feel like I am in a spot where I cannot go any higher than its time for me to move on.  This time I plan to stick with this company for a long time. Hopefully.  I have no plans to change on my end I can’t speak for them though.

Finishing my Associate degree was a big deal. I’m working on my Bachelor as we speak  type. I worked hard for it and I think that I definitely earned it. I could have done better but I graduated with a 3.0 GPA. I should be finishing up my bachelors by 2012 and then who knows what’s next.

One of my low points of this past year was dealing with and trying to control my diabetes. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Oct 2009.  This is the first full year of trying to change my lifestyle. It’s hasn’t been easy but I am maintaining.  The good thing is that I’ve gone from an average of over 500 (that’s diabetic coma type numbers) to an average of 92 as of last week. My cholesterol has improved as well. I plan to cut out some more red meat from my diet. I’m down to just once or twice a week.   The only problem is that I have to inject myself  at least 5 times a day and prick my finger to check my levels at least 8-9 times a day. it’s a pain but I have to do what I have to do.  Since I have type 1 diabetes, my pancreas doesn’t produce insulin, so I have to inject myself. Trust me these injections hurt! Not only do they hurt but your body takes time to get used to the insulin so at first I was really sick.  I still get sick from time to time but I have to do what I have to do to stay alive right? Right. One of the other side effects are that I’ve gained weight. No matter how much I try to lose it I’m going to gain it back.  I’ve been able to manage my diabetes with exercise, diet and medication.

All in all this year has been a good one for me and I hope that next year will be even better. As you guys know I don’t make resolutions for the new year, just try to make everyday better than the last.

This totally sucks!! I hate getting sick! I feel like my head is going to explode, I’ve lost my voice. I sound like I’ve been smoking for 40 years nonstop. Just awful!! My throat is so sore that every time I sneeze it feels like my throat is going to come up and exit out of my nose! Painful stuff!!

My glucose levels are fluctuating as well. As soon as I start to get them under control and start taking less insulin by controlling it naturally with my diet, exercise and cinnamon pills, this cold comes along and ruins everything!! anybody know of any herbal or old time remedies that I can try? I’ve been drinking lots of water and tea to help sooth my painful throat and its helping a little but only temporarily.

That’s about it, I’m off to sleep again,

Sincere

Today marks the beginning of Diabetes Awareness month. Please get tested and encourage a friend to encourage a friend to get checked. For more info you can check out sites like diabetes.org and jdrf.org.

As a type 1 diabetic this cause is near and dear to me and I want to make sre that I spread the word and inform as many people as possible. Diabetes is a major killer amongst African Americans and in the majority of the cases (type 2) it is preventable. By living a healthy lifestyle that includes healthy food choices and exercise we can beat this disease. With more research, like stem cell research, we can hopefully one day have a cure for type 1 diabetes.

I really hope that you all go get checked. You don’t even need to go to your doctor’s office, it can be done at CVS or your local  pharmacy.

So last week I had my comprehensive exam. It’s been a year since I started taking my meds and such and I’m doing great!! my a1c levels are really well. I went from almost 15 last year to 6.8! I need to get down to at least 6.5 but 6.8 is very close. my cholesterol was over 250 last year and now thanks to my diet I’m down to 122. That is a vast improvement. Every visit is better and better.

the only thing left to do is work on my weight. The medication causes me to gain weight so I have to be careful with what I eat and my exercise plan to ensure that I don’t gain too much weight. I’m not happy with the size I’m at right now. I really want to lose at least 15-20 pounds but I’m not overweight or at an unhealthy weight so my doctor is not stressing it. I just want to lose the weight for my own self.

This year has been a journey. I’ve had some good and bad days. I think I can say that there have been more good days than bad. I really don’t even count some of the bad days as bad because I’m the type of person that learns from everything so even though I may view it as bad I really learned something from the situation.

Anyway, that’s about it. I’m doing so much better and I want to thank everyone that sent me words of encouragement or prayed for me. I really appreciate it.

Diabetes has had a profound effect on my life and those of my friends, family, and loved ones. As you may know, type 1 (juvenile) Diabetes is a devastating disease, and while insulin does keep people with type 1 diabetes alive, it’s NOT a cure. That’s why I’m committed to fighting for a cure through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) Advocacy program. Please join me in this effort to make a cure for type 1 Diabetes a reality.

I’m participating in JDRF’s Spread the Word Campaign.  Please join me as an Advocate and help find a cure for type 1 diabetes.  JDRF’s success is built on a close-knit group of Advocates determined to tell their stories of living with type 1 to their Members of Congress. Through telling these stories and building lasting relationships with Members, our group of Advocates have been lauded by Time Magazine as “one of the nation’s most forceful disease advocacy groups.”

Although great strides have been made over the past few years to increase federal support for juvenile diabetes research, more needs to be done and we need your help!

By becoming a JDRF Advocate, you will truly be making a difference in advancing a cure for diabetes.

Please click here to visit my JDRF advocacy page where you can learn more and sign-up to join JDRF’s network of Advocates.

I sincerely appreciate your support

Join JDRF’s advocacy network today!

One thing that I really hate is when people say ‘you know you shouldn’t be eating/drinking that because you’re diabetic’. That really does aggravate me and I am so easily tempted to tell them to shut the fu_k up! Every case of diabetes is different. There is no one disease fits all. Just because your aunt, grand parent, sibling, or parent had it and couldn’t do this or that doesn’t mean that I can’t. Unless you’re a certified dietician/nutritionist and you are familiar with my medical history then again, shut the fu_k up!
I understand that you are trying to help and all and I appreciate the effort but you’re really not. A piece of fruit will raise my levels the same as this piece of candy. People really need to research and learn more about stuff before they try and give out advice. That goes along with other things in life as well.
If you have never been in my situation how can you tell me how to act or not react? Seriously. Think before you speak.

I’m back at the Doctor’s office again. I haven’t been here for a follow up since February. That’s a good thing. Since I did so well at the last appointment he has started to space out my visits. That’s great for my health and wallet! Lol His office is about 30 minutes away from me and I have a $30 co pay each visit. There are closer endocrinologists but he’s the best in the Metro area. Seriously, he was voted the #1 endocrinologist in the Atlanta Metro area and top 5 in the state. Plus he’s cool as all get out!
Anyway, this visit should go just as well as the others, while I haven’t been sticking to my meal plan as well as I should I still think I’m doing well overall of controlling my levels.

So here I am at the doctor’s office again. I swear it seems like I spend more time here than I do at my job. I’ve been here like twice a month every month since October. Getting labs, then back for results. I mean its cool because every time I come back he says that everything is fine and I’m progressing right along but geesh, all this back and forth is killing me.

I finally have my diabetes under control and even though I’m type 1 so I need it to survive I only need a small dosage thanks to my exercise and diet regimen.

Remember when I said I was going to do a total overhaul of my diet? Yeah, ummerra that hasn’t totally taken affect yet. I did however cut out sweets as well as fried foods. I need to watch my sugar intake as well as my cholesterol.

Slowly but surely I’m taking my health back to where it should be.

30 Something – Jay Z

Today is my 30th birthday and I’m super excited right now!!!  I’ve been waiting on this day for a while.  I can finally say that I’m officially a ‘grown ass man’!!!  You see in my family you’re not really grown until you reach 30. Yeah you can vote and buy a pack of cigarettes aka cancer sticks at 18 and drink at 21 but that still doesn’t make you grown.

I really don’t feel any different than I felt last year.  Still not big on celebrating the day, just glad I made it to another one.  This birthday reflection is no different.  This year has been an eventful one.  I was laid off because of the company’s mismanagement of funds *Ahem Coughs AIG Bastids Cough*.  Now I’m working for a new company and still on the hunt for something else. It’s all about progression, loiterers should be arrested. © Jay Z. I’m in school looking to finish up in Nov 2010.  Oh and I found out that I have Type I Diabetes aka Juvenile Diabetes.  In other words, my body doesn’t produce enough insulin to help break down the sugar and carbohydrates that I take in therefore I have to use insulin to regulate it.  that’s about it.

Hey!  I just noticed that if you add up the year 2010 that it equals 30!! Maybe that’s a sign that this will be my year. If you add up next year 2011 it’ll equal 31 so maybe it’s not so much of a sign… Ah well. As tradition, lift your glasses *Lifting glass of Ciroc and Simply Lemonade AKA that Ciroc Obama* and toast to seeing another birthday and end of year as well as a prosperous new year!!      *Blows out candles*

Once again I’m sitting in the doctor’s office awaiting my lab results. So far everything has been going well and actually better than expected. See I’m a fighter and I hate sickness. I refuse to let this not only claim my physical body but my mind as well. I treat it as if its nothing. When I say nothing I mean I have worked it into my daily routine so well that taking the insulin and testing my levels are second nature to me now.
I’m still in the works as far as overhauling my eating habits completely but I’m about 60-70% done. I feel healthier and when I went home everyone seemed to noticed that I gained weight but I’m actually about 15 pounds smaller than the last time they saw me. Not sure what’s up with that.
I haven’t really been in the Christmas/holiday/birthday celebration mood this year. Truth be told I haven’t really been in the mood for about 10 years now but I’m a good actor and I can pull it off when need be.
I’ll be 30 years old this year yet I don’t feel excited about it. I was pretty hyped about it around a month ago but ut seems as the days get closer I’m less interested in doing anything and I just want to treat it like any other day. I should do something though. I’ve never had my own birthday celebration. Never. My birthday is on December 31st so I may get a cake and a song at the new years party as they really celebrate the new year. I thought about throwing myself a party but that would be wack because they still would focus on new years and not my actual birthday. Ah well, what are ya gonna do?