So, it has been a While. Life has been tricky, between terror at four years under a government which openly desired my death for multiple reasons, getting a kid through the early stages of a school system I don't fully understand, and the whole pandemic thing. We're finally starting to come out of that, though, and then when I finally managed to get my blood tests done (and there were plenty; it felt like they took a full unit, split up among the various vials) I got a thoroughly unwelcome surprise: I am now diabetic. I don't know the full details yet, they haven't had me in for the initial inspection and "welcome to diabetes" appointment (and won't for another couple of weeks, which is both annoying and comforting, as it says I'm not in danger of imminent death), but the figures are plenty stark; my fasting blood glucose is far higher than it ought to be, my A1C is in the range of concern, and honestly, this explains how bad the skin on my feet has been lately and why I've been constantly peeing, so I'm not going to claim they must have misinterpreted. No, I will be going in with a checklist, a notebook, and a refusal to leave until I've received referrals to a dietitian, a pain management specialist, and until I'm satisfied that I understand what's going on.
In the meantime, I have given up sugared soda (which is somewhat annoying, as I still had most of a case of genuine Irn-Bru in the fridge and that stuff is sugary as hell), I have reevaluated my carbohydrate intake, and I'm working on walking more. Ultimately, this is most definitely an Embuggerance, but it is an Embuggerance I can live with. I shall be working on slowly decreasing my weight (crash dieting is almost certainly a Bad Idea) and learning what I can and can't do.
I do wish I had my little miniature panther to help me through this, but alas, time has had its way with her and she is no longer with us. We may want to consider taking on a dog instead, as a means of forcing me to go out and walk around.
