10: The Ups and Downs

I remember the first time I rode a roller coaster. I was terrified.

It was the Georgia Cyclone at Six Flags Over Georgia. A wooden coaster that took you through turns and hills up to 60 miles per hour. That was fast at that time when Six Flags had fewer coasters. Goliath more than buries the Georgia Cyclone today and so many other coasters that have come along since then too.

But I remember getting on it with my friend Nick Brenchak and climbing that hill to the top. I was so scared, I couldn't look up. I held on to the handlebar in front of me as tightly as I could and tried to breathe normally, my heart pumping. Once you reached the top, a camera captures your final moment before you plunge into the twists and turns of the coaster. In the picture afterward, Nick has his hands raised high, his mouth wide open, looking forward to the descent. I was hunched over in fear, still gripping the handlebar, holding on for dear life.

Did I also mention I was 17 at the time? I was so scared of rides like that when I was younger that I hardly ever went near a theme park like Six Flags. I remember one time my parents wanted to take me there on a trip to Atlanta, but instead I asked if we could go to Hartsville-Jackson International Airport instead. I wanted to watch the planes take off and land. It was so much fun. Back in the 1980s, you could go to the airport anytime before the days of September 11 and Homeland Security. I was so happy watching that, yet still scared to get on a plane. My first flight wouldn't be until I was 35 years old.

Yet, here I was at 44 years old, dealing with something truly terrifying. For all the things that seemed to be delayed in my life, diabetes came on early.

The good news was that I had conquered the beast a bit. With a reading of 5.6 for my A1c, I was physically, mentally, and spiritually in a great place. My provider even said it wasn't true to say I was diabetic now. I was dealing with hyperglycemia, but saying I was fully diabetic would have been a stretch. So, everything was looking good. I was still living with something I had to work on, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. That sounds like how I felt after riding roller coasters and airplanes.

But now came the hardest part, the real part of living with something--maintaining.

It was so easy to shed the excess weight. It was so easy to start up a better exercise routine. Going from an A1c of 10 down to 5.6 seemed so easy. But maintaining from here on would take real work.

Things from August on seemed to be going in the right direction for me. I was scheduled to visit my provider again in November, this time checking an array of labs in addition to my A1c. So, I wanted that visit to shine. Fortunately, things appeared to be going that way.

For one, my weight was maintained at a stable level I was happy with. The goal my provider and I deduced would be good for me regarding weight was to stay between 200-205 lbs. So, the changes I had made to my diet remained in place from August through November. I decided to go to Canes again on campus. My gosh, those are some good chicken fingers and fries. Eating that meal again was like manna from God. I still was not eating Chick-Fil-a regular sandwiches, though, which could be a bummer. But I was managing to eat the grilled chicken sandwich instead from Chick-fil-a. I've really developed a love for it. Other diet pieces were in place, and I felt like I was doing exactly what I needed to in order to maintain the 5.6 or lower.

My exercise routine was going perfectly. I ran and walked quite a bit, but the weightlifting became problematic. I gradually increased the amount of weight for lifting, but eventually, my right shoulder began to have some issues. This issue stemmed from an injury I had as a teenager, where my shoulder separated. The shoulder issues have been something I have to live with. My shoulder ached all the time, forcing me to reduce my weightlifting routine. I had been lifting weights almost every day since April of that year, so by September, I had to reduce that. The last thing I wanted was to injure myself, trying to stay healthy.

Additionally, things at work and school were going well. I was nearing my proposal defense for my Ph.D. That created some heavy stress. But the proposal defense was good stress because it was nearing completion. Next, work was going well. I was enjoying teaching in a course I had been in for 7 years, at that point, more than I ever had before. I felt more positive at work and looked forward to what might be at Clemson. Unexpectedly, I found myself in a television commercial for Clemson, which was a huge bright spot. I was asked by a student in the program to come to a photo shoot because they wanted an instructor present too. I had no idea that would be on the jumbotron at football games, almost every sporting event at Clemson, and television commercials. That was good and bad stress because it was awesome, but I felt bad for it because that was never my intent. 

Even during this stretch of time from August through November, my favorite sports team, the Atlanta Braves, won the World Series for the first time in 26 years. The last time they won it, I was at Game 6 that year to see them win it in person in 1995. 

All of these things, the proposal on October 27, my diet and weight holding strong, the World Champs, the commercial, it all felt like such great things were happening. I was really living it up and felt so positive and happy about the direction things were heading. I couldn't wait to get to my next appointment at my provider to see the A1c result. I was sure that vast changes would ensue for the better. My A1c would be excellent. Maybe the meds would be reduced or gone. I would be completely back to "normal." 

So, you can imagine my surprise when I got my A1c result back on November 18, 2021.

When I went for my visit that day, here were my vital signs and other demographics:

11/18/2021

BP 120/70, down from 142/78 in April

Weight: 202, maintained from August

BMI: 27.40

These were so good! Then came some other labs.

Cholesterol 151, down from 205

Triglycerides 46, down from 162

HDL 51, up from 41

LDL 91, down from 132

Risk Ratio 3, down from 5

Glucose 87 (WNL)

AST 17 (15-37), ALT 29 (14-63), so my liver was in great shape.

All of this was very good too. In the past, I had high liver enzymes due to obesity when I was 29, so I knew these numbers were great.

That brought me to my A1c:

Now, let's be clear on this result. This is not a terrible result for an A1c. 5.8 falls in the range of 5.7-6.4, indicative of prediabetes. People typically must make lifestyle modifications at this level before the medicine is included. So, this is nothing near like the 10 level I had 7 months earlier. But I was discouraged.

All the happiness and joy I had felt was hollow suddenly. Everything had been going well for me during that time. EVERYTHING. And then suddenly, my A1c went UP??? I didn't understand it at all. I hadn't changed my diet much. I hadn't changed my workout routine much. My weight was stable. How could my A1c go up AT ALL?

I was not happy with this result, as you can tell. I was even less happy with the decision to INCREASE my Glucophage. I had been taking 1000 mg per day since April. Now, I was going to have to take 2000 mg per day, 1000 mg twice daily. I was very discouraged by this. If anything, I wanted to reduce the Glucophage, if not eliminate it. So, being told to increase the medications made me feel like I was being punished in some way.

I wasn't being truly punished, but I had a sinking feeling. My mindset instantly switched in that direction. I didn't want to take MORE medicine. I didn't want to have to do MORE. I wanted things to stay on an even keel. When this happened, it really felt like I had just hit an iceberg. Fortunately, this wasn't the Titanic. But the ups and downs continued from there as I progressed, trying to unravel how to work through this hurdle.

This hurdle had its twists and turns I didn't see coming as it turned out. But that's a story for next time. Look for more about the ups and downs on 10: Ups and Downs Into Darkness.