Monday, March 17, 2008

Hero of the Day and CFRD

So I've really started to kick it up on the fundraising side for my CF walk. Part of my campaign was to see if I could get a bunch of small donations from a shopping site that I'm a member of, Jellyfish. JF is a site that auctions off one item at a time, with the price going down, until someone buys it. There also is a chat component where people talk while the price ticks down. I started to use the chat to share my story, this site, and the link to donate to my CF walk. I quickly had numerous donations rolling in and I was touched. Today I was nominated for Smack Hero, which is ceremonial by nature, but also gets the word of CF awareness out there which is something that is deeply meaningful and touching to me.

On the health front, I've started my path down the road of dealing with my CFRD (CF-related diabetes). I've always known that I was at high risk for CFRD. The older us CF patients get, the more our risk goes up at developing diabetes. This is mainly because with the CF affecting the pancreas, it slowly slows down, and decreases it's production of insulin. I've ran some high blood sugars for years, but finally at my last fasting glucose test it was determined that while I do not fully have CFRD yet, I am glucose intolerant, meaning my body does not process blood sugar as quickly as needed.

I had my first appointment with the endocrine team at OHSU on Wednesday. Right now they are still formulating a plan of action. I'll be going back up to OHSU on Wednesday, where I'll be meeting with the diabetes educator. They will most likely have more diet changes for me besides cutting out Pepsi which I have been fairly successful at. I'll also be getting a meter, which I'll probably have to use intensely for 6 weeks. We'll be working on determining if I can control my CFRD through diet, if I need pills to stimulate insulin production, or if I need to go all the way to shots. I'm not looking forward to doing the monitoring, but I don't have a choice, so I'll have to accept it and move on. Something that I'm fairly used to at this point. I just hate not knowing the exact plan. That's my main complaint with CF. I never know when the next major infection is going to be... I don't know when or if I'll get a transplant... and it bothers me. I'm fine with what the results are going to be, but I just want to know....

2 comments:

Beverly said...

Thinking of you today. Thanks for the reference to JellyFish. I find it quite intriguing.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on earning "Smack Hero"! I'm so glad that it is giving you an opportunity to raise the awareness for CF. I hope that you raise lots of awareness and donations with your CF walk.

I've been reading your blog and have found it very interesting and informative and I plan on keeping up with your blog. You are a hero in my book every day for being such a fighter and not just fighting for yourself but for others in your situation.