I listened to my doctor fault my blood sugar number and my kidney function, then I sent up a Hail Mary.
“So doc,’’ I asked, “if you could give my health a grade, what would it be?’’
I was trying to salvage a little bit of ego. I figured that I wasn’t terribly overweight, played full-court basketball three mornings a week, reffed lacrosse or basketball 3-4 nights weekly, and I would soon be walking 18 holes and carrying my golf clubs. All that had to account for something positive.
The good doctor pulled no punches and delivered her assessment.
“You are a D-minus.’’
I was stunned. I tried to hide my dismay, but she read through it, and continued.
“Look, you’re type 2 diabetic, you’ve had two heart stents and your A1C is 9.0. You’ve got to get that number down. You have to cut down on the carbs. You’re only a cholesterol glob away from having it land in those stents, then you’ll suffer a stroke or heart attack.’’
Ouch.
We don’t pay doctors to tell us what we want to hear. They don’t hand out participation trophies. They work best when they are thorough and straightforward.
She kept directing me, explaining that an A1C that high made me 20 times more susceptible to a stroke or heart attack. That was stunning.
I am one of about 38 million Americans with type 2 diabetes. Typically, a diabetic’s cells don’t handle sugar efficiently. That’s called insulin resistance. A diabetic’s pancreas can’t make enough insulin to offset the resistance so your blood sugar rises. A normal A1C – the long-term measure of blood sugar – is less than 5.7 percent. At 6.5 percent, you’re considered a diabetic.
This isn’t something I brought on myself. Sure, I inherited the Holleran sweet tooth (thanks Coach). It’s a genetic inheritance (thanks Eileen).
I’ve managed to curtail the loves of my life – donuts, Guinness Stout and chocolate – but that’s not the problem. It’s the reliance on carbohydrates found in bread, potatoes and pasta; they are overtaking my exercise regimen.
So it’s time to cut down the hamburgers and French fries and syrup-smothered pancakes and breakfast biscuit sandwiches and bagels and meatball subs and chicken quesadillas and pizza with sausage and pepperoni.
It’s not that we diabetics can’t eat them; it’s that we need to eat them sparingly. Fruits and vegetables!
So I got it. Then she dropped another hammer – diet soda.
“I can tell by these numbers that you’re under some renal impairment,’’ my doctor said.
She didn’t ask how many Diet Cokes I drink a day, but it’s a lifelong habit begun on the newspaper’s sports copy desk. When you’re under deadline stress, you nibble on snacks and drink a Coke. When you figure out that you need to cut calories, you try diet. It still has the caffeine hit you desire, making you feel alert and focused. Caffeine can fool your brain when you don’t get enough sleep or you need to keep going late in the day.
But carbonated drinks may increase your risk of kidney disease. That much was clear on my kidney function test.
“You’re only 67 and you’re alert,’’ the doctor said. “You have to figure out how you’ll handle the next 20 years.’’
“My father-in-law is 87. He drinks six diet sodas a day. He’s 87. At this point in his life, he doesn’t care.’’
I’ve gotten past the caffeine withdrawal – headache, fatigue and decreased energy – so now I’ll focus on the blood sugar. I can think of several reasons to fix this. The family photos in my phone serve as motivation. I can’t afford another D-minus.
Morristown native Jim Holleran is a retired teacher and sports editor from Rochester. Reach him at jimholleran29@gmail.com or view past columns under “Reflections of River Rat’’ at https://hollerangetsitwrite.com/blog/
Holleran Gets It Write 