Still Not Diabetic.

Well, my lifestyle interventions appear to be holding the line. I had my employee health screen today. I was basically pleased with the results. The good: BP was 110/70, A1c was 5.5.  My HDL cholesterol was 68, and the LDL and triglycerides were each below the threshold detection levels of the machine. That’s a good set of healthy metabolic numbers. But it wasn’t all roses.

My total cholesterol was 208, which is a little high. Though the nurse told me with an HDL as high as mine, I shouldn’t worry about it. And that echos what my MD has told me in the past. My weight was 185ish giving me a BMI of about 26. Still overweight. The most worrying number was my fasting glucose. It was 109. That’s about where it’s been for the past 10 years. Too high, prediabetic but still non-diabetic. But with a normal A1c, clearly I’m not having too much trouble maintaining blood sugar control.

Overall, though, I should consider these to be pretty good numbers, and a good bill of health. But it is worth noting how hard I have to work to keep this slate. This is one of the ways I was not born privileged. I have to work out something like 6 hours a week, hard, to maintain normal blood numbers. I won’t be able to keep that up as I get older. It’s just not possible.

Diabetes is definitely in my future. But with apologies to George RR Martin,

“What do we tell the god of diabetes?”

“Not today.”

The longer I delay the onset, and the harder I work now, the lesser the complications will be when I inevitably develop metabolic disease. The consequences my father has suffered for his unwillingness to confront his disease aggressively will not be the same ones I suffer. Not while I can run. Not while I can fight.

It is interesting the different approaches I have to take to confront alcoholism versus diabetes. I don’t surrender to diabetes. I don’t give up, like I did with alcoholism. Diabetes I fight. I run. I lift. I try to make better food choices. And I’ll keep it up. I’ve learned to love where my fitness exploits have taken me. I’m excited to keep going. And determined to stay healthy.