Friday, September 27, 3:30 p.m.
Francis left me a voicemail saying that he would have to move my 3 o’clock appointment to 3:30. No problem. It gave us an extra half hour at home before leaving. We got to the Union City Kaiser facility at 3:21 p.m. and I didn’t wait more than 5 minutes before Francis appeared.
He took a different route to his office (no reason given) but I followed. I thought I might feel awkward (I always think that before my appointments) but, strangely, I felt more relaxed today. Probably because of what Lisa Galan had said about choosing another emotion to replace guilt and I chose gratitude!
My mouth was very dry in spite of taking frequent sips from my water bottle. And I have this (probably) annoying habit of looking upward when I’m searching for the right words to say something. It’s that old-age brain fog when I have a very clear concept of what I want to say but I can’t think of the right words!
I started by telling him about my last session with Lisa Galan, especially the part about not feeling guilty for continuing to see my Pain Physical Therapist. I told him about the cruise, that it was gifted. And we talked more about gratitude. Then I told him (what I hoped was a summary) about my feelings about Lisa Galan, and that her approach toward the motivation to exercise was to start with just adding one day a week to what I was already doing. So I have added one weekend day (Saturday or Sunday) to be a planned exercise day.
I asked him what he, a serious bicyclist, thought about the 3-wheel adult tricycles for old ladies to get exercise (in addition to walking). He said he thought it was fine, and he asked what goals I had for either time spent or distance for riding the trike. I told him my ultimate goal was to be able to ride the 5-mile round trip from our house, along the Heron Bay Trail, to the San Leandro Marina and back. However, shorter goals were to ride around the perimeter of the mobile home park once, then twice. Then milestones along the Heron Bay Trail.
More about the cruise. I told him one of the biggest challenges was going to be to stay on a reasonably “safe” diabetic diet! “Lots of salads and meats,” I told him. Oh, yes, and that made me think about telling him about Dr. Prabaharan’s sweet young Certified Diabetes Educator who was young enough to be my granddaughter! So I told him I still needed to craft a response to her email expressing fear that I would have too low blood sugars by saying whatever words would affirm her that she’s doing the job she was trained to do, but at the same time letting her know without a doubt that I have no intentions of taking basal insulin every day, not even a small amount, if I don’t need it. But taking it when I do (which is keeping my blood glucose under 140 mg/dL, if she should ask). Well, that’s what I’ll tell her, even though my personal goals are much lower. He agreed that I could be an important part of her education, because…
“You are probably one in a million diabetics who has that tight of control of your blood sugar,” he said, as he was looking at my medical records online and saw my A1C of 5.9%. I told him my goal was to get it under 5.7%.
Then he saw that my vitamin D test was high. “I don’t think I’ve seen anybody with vitamin D that’s too high,” he remarked.
“That’s because I take 10,000 units a day,” I responded very quickly. Then I added, “When I was tested two years ago, my vitamin D was low so I started taking 10,000 units a day at the same time that I started taking CBD tinctures. Within 10 days, my migraines disappeared. But I don’t know if it was the vitamin D or the cannabis or…”
“Or a combination of both.” Francis finished my sentence.
At the end of the session (and I was sitting where I could watch the clock), I told him I really need to still have appointments with him every two or three months to keep me accountable. He looked at his schedule and made my next appointment for the third week in November.
As we stood to leave his office, he asked if I wanted to get my weight today, and I responded with a resounding, “No!” Then, “I’ve been suddenly gaining weight and that’s why I asked Dr. Prabaharan for the thyroid tests.”
“But they were all normal,” Francis noted.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I still have to search for the reason. Or just fast the week after I get back from the cruise!”
The conversation continued all the way back down through the corridors until I got to the last door that opened into the back waiting area. But I no longer accept the emotion of guilt for having appointments with Francis. Only gratitude!
And gratitude to Linda for driving me. She and Emily were chilling in the van with the windows open so the cool afternoon breeze could blow through!
Flu Shot
As we were driving out, I saw a sign that said “Drive-up Flu Shots” with a red arrow pointing to the right.
“Do you want to get your flu shot today?” Linda asked.
At first, I said no, because I thought Linda and Emily should get home in time to rest before supper. Then I said, “Well, yes, maybe. Let’s just drive around and look.” So we did.
There was a double canopy in the back of the parking lot. “We’ve never done a drive-up flu shot before,” I observed. There was a staff of mostly young Filipina nurses in dark blue scrubs with clipboards and forms and little stubby yellow pencils. All the same procedures as inside flu shot clinics, just done outside. We heard the girls talking in the kiosk under one canopy and they were saying, “This is the last one!” Yes, it was the last dose they had and it was regular, not the high-dose that is routinely given to patients over 65. The next patient in line behind us would have to be sent to the walk-in clinic (just inside the side door of the building).
Then one of them came to the passenger side of the car with her supplies: alcohol, a round adhesive bandage, and the last syringe full of the flu shot. As used to taking insulin injections as I am, I literally did not feel the needle go in to deliver the flu shot. Only that she put the round bandage on. And that was it!
