Re: Catching up to Debs down under

[Guest guest]

Dear Debs,

Good to hear from you again! I'm doing pretty well, I've been

traveling all summer (on another trip right now, up in my

" hometown " of Lake Placid, New York for my father's 80th

birthday). The traveling by car earlier this summer was

miserable because of cramped quarters and inactivity, but if I

can fly it's quicker and less troublesome. Fortunately all this

time away from home has kept my mind off not having Austin

home with me, as he has gone to Oklahoma to live with his dad.

My husband and I miss him so much and we have been feeling

so empty hearted with a sense of loss.....so keeping busy

seems to help.

Healthwise things are on a positive swing, (finally!!!)....my last

diabetes A1c was a 5.5%, so you can see that I've been working

hard to maintain good control of my diabetes. My scan two

weeks ago showed that my pancreatic pseudocysts have

resolved some, one to 3.5 x 4.5, and the other to 3.2 x 2.8....so

these are all very good things and I am optimistic that this year

will end so much better than it began.

Now if I could only gain some weight...(smile)....I was doing well

and had gotten up to 116 by the end of August, but have since

lost 5 pounds!

I know we've discussed all types of medications like Miralax,

Senecot and Metimucil and you've tried them all without them

helping much, so I'm at a loss of any more suggestions. Are you

trying to cram as much fiber as you can into your diet, too?

Perhaps a bowl of high fiber cereal each night before you go to

bed? I know I was eating 8-10 dried prunes every day before my

diabetes and that always helped, too. And make sure you drink

AT LEAST 68+ ounces of WATER every day to keep the colon

well flushed....these tips in addition to one of the medications

mentioned at the beginning of the paragraph are all I can think of

that could work. Maybe someone else in the group has some

other tips they could share?

Yes, I'm still taking all my pancreatitis antioxidants and some

other new ones that are designed to help with diabetes insulin

resistance and those are all just as important to me as ever, and

do seem to work for me. I've been using the duragesic patches

(50 mg.) since February and think they're very effective. If you

tried them in the hospital, what did you think? Do you have

insurance that would help offset the cost? They are expensive,

but I will pay whatever I need to to keep myself out of pain as

much as I can.

Keep in touch more often when you can and let us know how you

are doing!

With hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina

SC & SE Regional Rep.

PAI, Intl.

Note: All comments and advice are personal opinion only, and

should not be substituted for professional medical consultation.

" What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters

compared to what lies within us. " - Ralph Waldo Emerson

> pain is still there but I am on antox and that helps somewhat.

My bowels seem to be my main problem as usal. Cosntipation

lol I think i ahev taken every med known to man and still do.

I see that you are using patches now. I tried them whil in

hospitla last time. How are you finding them? They are really

expensive here.

debs