Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Heart of the Matter

Today was a great day!  Today was a follow-up appointment with my doctor.  She entered the room with a big hug for me.  I have to tell you doctors, hospitals, and the like make me nervous as I tend to have bad experiences or what we'll call "interesting" visits.  But I do believe today was the first doctor visit my doctor entered the room with a smile that only proud parents tend to share.  My A1C Results were in....*Drumroll please*  6.1  !!!! Yay!  That is awesome compared to four months ago and my results were *gulp* 10.2.  For those who don't know the A1C test is a three month average of your glucose levels.  Healthy people typically range 4 - 6 on this test.  Pre-diabetics run about 5.7 - 6.4 ( I fell in this range this time around :)  People with diabetes usually have a result of 6.5 or over.  I believe 12 is the highest score.  But doctors tend to get nervous with anything above a 7. Some would describe this as uncontrolled diabetes and research tends to push that concern as a score above 7 on the A1C tends to be a patient with a lot of complications from diabetes.  So a score of a 10.2  is cringeworthy.  It means on average my blood sugar readings were around 246 mg/dl but now my sugar readings are closer to an average of 128 mg/dl.  That's a pretty awesome change in results and now you understand why my doctor greeted me with a hug.  I am pretty excited.  Especially, as I was hoping for a little more weight loss on the scale.  But since my first visit to the doctor on October 4, 2011; I have officially lost 15.2 lbs.  So yay (and that included the feasting holidays.  Also it was the first good blood pressure reading on the first attempt I have had in the doctor's office on the first try.  As I mentioned I get super nervous and anxious in a doctor's presence and that tends to mess up my blood pressure readings.  So overall good visit with actual tangible results showing me that the extra effort is most definitely paying off.

So to celebrate my hubby and I planned to celebrate Valentine's day a day early due to our schedules.  We had a lovely steak dinner with a heart-shaped rib-eye (my husband is a meat manager) so this held some sentimental factor.  He also surprised me with a dozen white roses which happens to be my favorite flower.  They smell divine and already are so pretty.  After our delicious steak dinner with a baked potato, green beans, and lovely salad (strawberries, avocado, mushrooms on mixed greens) we tried our first chocolate souffle.  Oh they were delicious !!!  And so much fun to create together.  When cooking together we have so much fun.  We laugh, we talk, we get frustrated, but through it all we work together as a team to create something worth remembering - a treasured memory and hopefully a scrumptious meal. 

So the heart of the matter is enjoying health.  I still have a long ways to go but it was so uplifting to hear positive feedback through the test results and affirmations from a super pleased doctor.  But what was even better was enjoying a special evening with my forever valentine: who was ecstatic about the results, happy to share time with me, and reminding me that we both still have a lot we want to accomplish - as individuals, as a couple, and as a family. And by making a lot of small choices the benefits of a healthier life are already coming back tenfold.  My heart is growing stronger and filling with a bit of extra pride.

May your HealthFULL Journey help to pump up your heart; so that is may be stronger, happier, and healthier.  'Til we meet again. . .

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