Meaningful Glances

I've got a few minutes while Evelyn is still in the bath over here at Gramma's house (Brigetta's mom) to update those of you who have been wondering how things would go for me at the endocrinologist today. Thanks for the comments, phone calls, and prayers, too! I hadn't meant to sound so grim and bleak, but I was frustrated and your support helped.

First things first. Brigetta and Evelyn are at Gramma's right now because I kicked them out last night and set myself to the task of pulling back carpet and tearing out soaked carpet padding in our family room. About a week ago, our area had over 2 inches of rain fall in less than a full day, which overwhelmed the crude drainage system we have on the north side of our house. The same room flooded last year because some earth had been displaced nearby that funneled the rains right up next to concrete slab that this particular room sits on. This year, having arranged for a drainage pond to collect the water away from the house, we found out the hard way that it wasn't quite deep enough. So when I went to soak up what I thought was an Evelyn-caused spill on the carpet the other night, I ended up soaking through two full-size towels on a spot no larger than a volleyball. Our landlord and one of his helpers came and tried to shop-vac out the water through that spot, but the pad underneath was thoroughly soaked, so I offered to pull it out and our landlord offered to replace it. Time is really of the essence in a situation like this, so I sent the girls over here and got to work getting the musty smelling, soaked pad out of the house. The last of the wet areas is drying tonight, and I'm hoping to have things put back together by tomorrow afternoon, but I hadn't been able to see my girls all day between taking care of the flood, going to the dentist, and my endocrinology visit.

The dentist appointment, by way of a brief explanation, was to fix a tooth that broke during the big Arctic Blast. I'd already had a root canal done on it, so there was no exposed nerve or anything excruciatingly painful like that - just some mild discomfort. I got in and out today with some temporary stuff filling in the nooks and crannies and a date to come back and get a new foundation built up in preparation for a crown.

The endocrinologist visit was helpful. I had suspected that I needed to raise my basal (long-lasting) dose by at least one unit, and that is, in fact, exactly what the doctor suggested. Further than that, though, he suggested that I begin to take this once-a-day dose in the evening instead of in the morning. To transition without overlapping, I'll split the daily dose tomorrow between morning and evening, moving the entire dose to the evening the following day. It makes sense and I won't bore you with the details as to why that is. What's more exciting to say is that the endocrinologist also thought that one of my medications was redundant and told me to stop taking it! I've thought this medication, which I take twice daily now, was unnecessary since I started taking insulin, but the first endocrinologist I saw wanted me to keep taking it anyway. Of course, the doctor today really wanted me to add in a baby aspirin every day so it's only a net-loss of one pill a day. Still, one less prescription to worry about is a good thing. Lastly, and let me offer a warning to the squeamish before I go on, I had him look at an ingrown toenail on one of my feet. Actually, having your feet checked is a part of any doctor visit as a diabetic, but this one was more exciting than most since I'm in the middle of one of the 2 or 3 ingrown toenails I get every year. I keep a close eye on them when they happen and they usually run their course in a matter of a few days. This one, however, looks to have a mild infection that was spreading to another part of the toe, which I realize sounds more alarming than it really is at this point. I'll be on antibiotics for a week-and-a-half, but the infection will most likely clear up within a day or two.

So that's my quick and dirty update. I'm off to help Evelyn get to bed before heading back home to get ready for tomorrow's work on the family room.

For Now,

Andrew