So every 3 months I have a major medical check up. I call it major because well I also have daily medical checks. So anyway here’s a list of things that’ll be checked this Friday. Just a note to say that i’m now based in China. And to my surprise the treatment is better to what I am use to. I have all of the following medical checked completed within a few hours. This is special for foreigners in China. I am a VIP patient at a Chinese Hospital. I wish it was the same for me at home where the following tests would take me a few days if not weeks to complete. Anyway here’s the list: 1) Dilated eye exam from an ophthalmologist
2)Tthese are the blood tests that I have
a)Hemoglobin A1C
b)Glucose
c)Uric Acid
d)Non-HDL Cholesterol
e)Cholesterol-LDL calc
f) Cholesterol-HDL
g)Triglycerides
h)Cholesterol
i) GPT (ALT)
j)Thyroid
k)Tsh
l)T3
m)T4
3) I also have an ultrasound to check arteries in the neck and thighs As I said this only takes a couple of hours - So on Thursday night I begin my fast till Friday morning when the check begins at 8:00 A.M. and I’ll be all done latest by 11:00. Sometimes already in the afternoon I will receive the results of my blood test having already been given the results of the eye test and ultrasound at the hospital.
Wow I must have really missed the mark on this post - I thought I would have got some feedback. But a lot of people did checked it out.
Looking forward to hearing your positive results!
No 1, i just did for the first time in 5 years.
Most of the no. 2 blood things once every 6 months.
No. 3 I have never done.
I have been scared into doing 1/4rly checks. It’s always good to see. Obviously being able to have all the checks done within 4 hour is a definite benefit.
When you say you’ve been scared into doing quarterly checks, is that just because of diabetes or was there anything else that triggered the extra concern?
My endo requires an HbA1c every six months, since that is the Medicare rule to have him continue to write my prescriptions for insulin and testing strips. He said otherwise he’d only require it once a year because my diabetes has been so stable and I’ve been able to estimate my A1c almost right on every time since on insulin.
My PCP requires most of the other tests every four months and has been ordering an ultrasound of the left carotid artery every two years since she discovered a bruit eight years ago. Just the left, though. And so far they haven’t found anything more significant in that test. My next test on that isn’t until December, but I’m slightly concerned that they might find something more this time, as my blood pressure has increased quite a bit in recent months.
Let us know how your tests come out. Hope all will be well.
Not so much scared into but told these are the things to watch when you have Diabetes II. All of the checks are not there. I don’t think that I wrote down foot check. And tomorrow I’m having an Upper Endoscopy - that’s to see what’s going on in my stomach. I’ve had bloating, constipation, diarrhea and a higher A1c (which maybe connected. I’ll be able to tell you more about that tomorrow after. I can tell you that when looking at the results, I look first to the A1c. Since my diagnosis - everything is more acute. A chronic disease does mean it won’t be getting better - so the longer I can keep all these things at bay the better for me.
I am amazed at how complete the blood works is and that it is done every 3 months. I get that same but once a year for everything except A1C (done every 3-4 months) and the fact your eyes are checked that often. I guess it shows once again how far our medical coverage needs to go to get where it is in many other countries. Now you said VIP coverage so I’m not sure what every else gets but wow. We have a long way to go, don’t we?
I’m in no way trying to brag but I rarely follow what is covered by medical coverage. I am not rich but I do place my own health on a very high priority. By the way I only have the eye check once a year. And by the way, whether it’s a government or a private medical coverage, both have their own agendas. The government’s agenda is run by politics of groups trying to get what they want and the private - well they’re in it for the money. They don’t have YOUR best interest at heart. Now for a freshly diagnosed diabetic, the 1st 2-3 years is just settling in and needs, I believe 1/4rlies. Things happen and they happen quickly and some of these things can damage you to the extent of being irreversible. Listen - I don’t count carbs, mainly because I don’t want to live that way. But I have given up a hell of a lot of junk food that I use to eat and other things. I keep a daily excell file of my morning sugar and blood pressure - been doing it for more than 7 years now. I have a non diabetic eating day once a year(on my bday), where I eat ice cream and chocolate and other stuff. I don’t exercise as I should but I believe I am keeping this disease under control. And it is a chronic disease. It’s for life and in the near future things will not get better. Saying all that I still believe that I am healthier now than I was 7 years ago when I was diagnosed. If I had my way, (and maybe hopefully it will come to pass) there will be clinics just for us people. I mean we are now somewhere between 10%-20% of the population). In these clinics where you will visit a minimum of 4 times a year, you’ll have all the resources from training to endos to whatever we need in 1 place. There should be NO reason in hell that I read day after day the horror stories from people who just weren’t smart enough or were not treated well enough. Anyway avagoodweekend.
So nearly all of my results are within tolerance
and the 1s out of tolerance are just out.
Best result in years
So what happened?
This will need a bit of explanation and background
About a year ago, I realized I was finding it difficult to get through
a meal.
I’d be getting full very quickly.
Around the same time, my daily blood sugar was going haywire
Well different from usual
Type 2 diabetes is dictated by The 3:
what food you eat,
exercise and medication
- I suppose I’ll add a 4th thing now:
The passage of time
Being a chronic disease - I suppose things deteriorate over time
specially the pancreas - but that’s another story
So getting back to a year ago - blood sugar was haywire
lows as well as highs
my usual treatments wasn’t working most of the time
and I was feeling sick or bloated sometimes with abdominal or back pain
some of the time
I don’t know what my A1c was when I was first diagnosed
But since then I have been getting tested every 3 months
It always between 6 - 6.5
6 months ago it got to 7.2
That’s a big jump
Unchecked diabetes 2 can easily skyrocket to 12
Anyway with the help of my Chinese doctor and google
I was given a probiotic to help with digestion
At the same time I got into yogurt
mainly Greek yogurt
- not sure whether it’s from Greece or just named after the country
but it’s taken time and still going to take a lot more time
but this has helped make my A1c drop within 6 months from 7.2 to 6.2
I still get some irregular sugar readings highs and lows
and I still get bloated and pain from time to time
but it’s getting better
All the other blood tests seem to have fallen into line
ie; cholesterol…
I’ve even lost a couple of kilos
Yogurt is good for anyone. Unflavored is best since it isn’t full of sugar. If you are in a foreign country it helps maintain good bacteria in the gut. And will help to replenish it if you get sick. I always mention it to people who are traveling
Your digestive problems remind me of gastroparesis, a diabetes complication I have. I also discovered that daily pro-biotic pills help me, a lot. Doctors did not recommend these to me; I just figured that they would likely help my digestion. I also mix up and drink some potato starch, a resistant starch, every night. My gastroparesis has not progressed and in some ways is better. I’ve been doing this for six years now.
Congrats on your willingness to find and act on new information!
Thyroid I get whenever the doctor feels like checking it (usually every couple of years). The full liver panel includes glucose, AST, ALT, GGT, T Bilirubin, LDH, AlkP, Ca, TP, Alb, Phos, Uric Acid, BUN, Creatinine, Na, K, Cl, cGFR, CO2, Total Globulin, A/G ratio, and microalbumin.
The cholesterol panel varies, but it always includes total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and triglycerides. The total/HDL ratio is sometimes given, but is easy to calculate (mine is usually in the 2’s or low 3’s). Some labs have also provided VLDL numbers.
I get the A1c, liver panel, hemogram, and usually urinalysis every three months.
We’ve occasionally done other tests, but these are the main ones. I had a Doppler ultrasound shortly after diagnosis to determine a cause for what turned out to be iatrogenic edema (water pills cause my legs to swell, go figure!), and diagnosed chronic venous insufficiency in my left leg. I do have an echocardiogram every few years.