By: lyndon ploss

lyndon ploss — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:50:42 +0000

I have had type 1 diabetes since the age of 2. I am now or will be 46 in April 2010. My body has undergone changes and with that, I must also adjust my insulin dosages. The insulin usually stays constant but will vary to the degree of activity which I’m involved in. My height is about 5′ 6” (same as Oprah) and I weigh approximately 175-180 pounds. I’m stalky and solid. Right now I do experience some numbness in my fingers of my right hand and some slight tingling in the toes of my left foot. It bothered me seeing the lady who was younger than me with an amputation and on kidney dialysis. I’m kind of scared that this could eventually happen to me also. So far, when I go for checkups, all my bloodwork comes back normal, and believe me, that’s what I want.
When I was first diagnosed, not to much was known about the disease (1966). It involved one needle per day and voiding on some litmus paper. If the paper turned green, you had sugar in your system. If the paper remained yellow, your system had minmal sugars in it and therefore you needed to eat. Meals were weighed to the gram as to how much I could eat of a certain food. My mother followed strict guidelines as to what I could or could not have. It may have seemed like I may have been robbed as a kid (in regards to food), but I feel I’m probably much healthier for it.
As time progressed, so did more information about diabetes. I am currently on 4 insulin shots per day now, but not of a high quantity. The quantities of insulin which I take, depends on what my sugar level is at. I take “Humolog” insulin at b’fast, lunch and dinner, usually between 2-10 units at each meal and about 32 units of Lantis insulin before bed. I’ve heard in the past that Lantis insulin is the Poor man’s pump. My last hemoglobin A1C was about 8, which is slightly high and I’m trying to get it down to about 7. Between 5 and 6, I believe, is normal. I’m doing my best now to workout at least an hour a day and start eating a little healthier such as smoked salmon and having sandwiches and vegetables with no butter. Hopefully that may help a bit.
Eating healthier can make the difference between becoming and not becoming a type 2 diabetic statistic. Type 1 is not reversable and I’m comfortable with that, although it would be nice for one day in my life not to have an injection. Eat healthier, you’ll live longer, that’s if you want to.

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By: lyndon ploss