Friday, June 05, 2009

Personal Health Update

I know I haven't been great at blogging lately. Partly I think it's because the things that I spend most of my thoughts on aren't all that upbeat and chipper and I don't really think that things that frustrate me are things that I want to blog about. The mysterious side pain that prompted my initial doctor's visit in March where I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes continues to be vague and persistent, but has now been joined by a burning/tingling/itching sensation in the vicinity of my right scapula (shoulder blade). At my 2 month diabetes follow-up last week, I mentioned it to my PCP, but he suggested that that appointment was to follow-up on diabetes and that I ought to come back another time to talk about this new pain.

I did that yesterday, and he felt around back there and said that the pain I was having seemed to be in my rhomboid muscle, and suggested that I ought to have my right scapula x-rayed just to rule out any kind of bone cyst or anything. Got my x-rays done yesterday (sometimes its nice to work in a hospital), and everything looked fine, so now I've been referred for physical therapy. Not sure if I'm every going to be healthy enough to get some follow-up on the original side pain...and that's kind of what's been frustrating me lately.

That and dating. :)

In the spirit of ending on a more upbeat note, my diabetes follow-up went really well. After 2 months of watching my carb intake and trying to exercise more often, I lost 20 pounds, got my hemoglobin A1c down from 7.5 to 5.8 (7.0 is a common standard for "controlled" diabetes. 6.0 is the high end of "normal" ranges, for non-diabetics), lowered my cholesterol a bit, and really brought my triglycerides count down. Oh, and my blood pressure, which was pretty close to normal already, came down a bit, too. So for now, not going on any medication. Follow-up in 6 months.

5 comments:

Colette said...

I think that is awesome that you were able to do so much in only two months! Awesome work!

Tandy said...

I'm sorry things are frustrating in one (or two) areas. But you ARE doing a great job! Congrats on all the good news you did receive. :) Quite an accomplishment. :)

Shayla said...

I have to say, you are looking good! Your hard work is paying off. :)

Anna said...

Dr Tripp you are lookin GOOD! congrats on the good news from the doctor and good luck with the not so great.

Matt and Marti Jo said...

awesome A1C. (oh yeah, this is matt.)