John
May 23, 2002

I will be very brief. Last summer I had a little trouble swallowing and saw an gastroenterologist. He scoped me and found a substantial carcinoma in my esophagus. Six months and a lot of chemo and radiation later, I seem to be clear, no guarantees, but if I stay clear for the next five years, the diabetes will have an opportunity to be a real problem.

I suspect that since this is a stress disease, which I have an inherited affinity for, the cancer tipped the scales. I was diagnosed three weeks ago (in March 2002) with a bg of 319mg/dL (17.7 mmol/L). I have been taking 5mg of glucocol daily and following a modified atkins diet. I am using a LifeScan OneTouch Ultra bg monitor and my bgs are running in 85 to 140mg/dL (4.7 to 7.8mmol/L) range now that I have them down under control.

My initial reaction was shock, not surprise, as I have been running high normal for the past several years. On second thought I decided this was a picnic compared to cancer. I have been reading everything I can and working my way to becoming seriously knowledgeable about the disease. The only thing that has been difficult at all is the changes in my eyes that have been occurring as the bg has dropped.

Next month I will get a referral to an opthamologist and take care of that issue. I will get an endocrinologist involved if I can find a tame one that my insurance will approve. I hear that like surgeons they tend to be arrogant and omnicient. The one thing I have learned in the last year is that every day that you wake up is a good one. I intend to live long enough to see all of my children graduate from college, get to know my grandchildren and have a hell of a good time. Diabetes can't stop that. It just changes the rules a little.