"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not." Mark Twain

 ****We had a wonderful time of celebration Saturday evening with our eldest and his family to celebrate our daughter-in-law's birthday. Happy Birthday Sherrie, and may God continue to bless your life. Love, mom and dad ****


I told you. That's right. I am here to keep that promise I made to try and find something worth sharing. First of all I want to say hello and welcome. These little fireside chats have come to mean a lot to me. Not familiar with fireside chat? It's a historical reference but I will let you check that one out. It is Monday, July 29, 2013, and I'm always thankful to be able to be up and going. And, that's not just because it beats the alternative. Being able is a blessing. I did suffer a little bit of bracket creep in the wrong direction on my diabetic numbers from this last visit. As they say back home, that's not good. I do know what it takes to change that, but, I will tell you that consistently doing the right things right is not that easy. But, now that I know I will have to try and add a little more "D" to my daily regimen. No. Not Vitamin D, but in this case the "D" stands for more discipline. Some of you might be thinking that I don't sound surprised by this outcome. Not really. I think most of us know along the way when we are not paying enough attention to the things we should be focused on. Living by a set of numbers does get old but I am thankful they are there to help me. My next appointment is six months away and I will do my best, with God's help, to have a better report, next time.

For those of you who may not know how it works for diabetics, the blood test known as the A-1C is more or less the holy grail as it relates to managing the disease. This test result reflects your average blood sugar level for the past two to three months. Since finding out I am a diabetic some six years ago, I've done fairly well in keeping the A-1C under the target of less than 6.5. I've been pretty much all over the map, 6.2, 6.4, 6.3, and numbers like that which is what we are trying to achieve, but this time I scored a 6.6. It's not a huge alarm but it does reflect the first time I've exceeded the target since I started trying in earnest to manage the problem. There are many other factors, of course, that are related and they have to be addressed as well. Triglycerides is a big deal because of heart health and I had been doing a pretty good job working on this area by taking a healthy dose of fish oil supplements. Now it is clear that fish oil supplements are not the right thing for me to be taking because of a newly confirmed potential for cancer in men over 50. There we go again. My reason for talking about this is to encourage everyone to be involved in your own health. Not obsessed, but involved. After all, it's your health. I read just about any and all things that I see regarding the stuff that pertains to my situation. I brought up the fish oil situation with my doctor. He agreed I should stop taking it. This means even more "D" to deal with some of the residual issues but I'm not complaining because in this case knowledge is power and it's up to me to act upon the information I have.

Let me also assure everyone that my diabetes is nothing compared to what some face every day. I am well aware of that and my heart goes out to those of all ages who deal with a much more advanced form of this disease. I know some folks who would be elated to get even once the numbers I fret over. Again, it does point out just how serious all of this is. The good news is how that God still loves us whether we are sickly or in excellent health. And, He knows all about it. I typically am not one to go into great detail about my personal situation but maybe someone will be encouraged to take seriously the warning signs that come into our lives. I've recently had two people close to me that have been told they are either in the pre-diabetes or borderline diabetic categories. I consider them finding out this early as being a God sent blessing, but, like me, it will be up to them to respond in a way that could keep them from the challenges that many of us face each day. I well remember my denial when I was first told. I also remember trying to reverse it by sheer personal determination. Reality. It can be so cold sometimes. But, then again, I do like the cold. In fact, an unexpected cold front would be great right about now. But, if that were to happen we would likely be inundated with a whole new wave of global cooling warnings. Just joking. You can smile. And, keep smiling and have yourself a blessed day. Amen.         .....More later.