Being diagnosed (officially) with Type 2 Diabetes back in 2016, I was not really committed to improving my health.
When the outset of diabetes showed up at my doorstep, my weight was not an issue. Exercise had become a forgotten word in my daily life. I was teaching and very active in the classroom so I sort of figured that my constant activity should count as some type of exercise.
My eating habits were generally healthy except for a passion to eat certain sweets, breads, and pasta. Honestly, I can remember buying a whole pumpkin pie or a dozen donuts to scarf down in a couple of days.
Why worry, my health had been generally great (“boring” as my doctor told me). My cholesterol levels had been borderline for many years, but I was facing few complications from it.
Early in 2016, distressing news finally showed up at my doorstep. My health numbers were elevating to much higher and detrimental levels. With cholesterol levels going higher than ever before, my doctor took more tests, and A1C became my new score to worry about.
Here are my lab results from 2014, 2015, and the first half of 2016. Remember now that HDL is the “good” cholesterol component and LDL is the “bad” one.
Date | Cholesterol | HDL | LDL | A1C |
Feb, 2014 | 218 | 42 | 154 | NA |
Feb, 2015 | 222 | 41 | 162 | 6.4 |
Feb, 2016 | 249 | 42 | 179 | 7.5 |
As the above numbers indicate, my numbers were going in the wrong direction as of February, 2016. In an upcoming post, I will discuss more of this journey with my diabetic shadow.