'The Porage Diaries'.
Dont worry - 'Crivens Jings' is here to stay and will keep on in the same vein I hope but I'm going to try a blog of a more specific nature.......
To be frank I never expected to be setting up another blog right now even though I'd laid the foundations for 'The Porage Diaries' well over a year ago, when the name came to me one day in a haze of porage and sunshine. I know - most people see porage as a winter food, but I happen to like it and am known to have an occasional foray in a poragely direction at any time of the year.
We all get gifts at Christmas time. Most of the time these are more than welcome but sometimes the odd gift will arrive that's either unwelcome or at least greeted with less enthusiasm. This year the unwanted gift I got was type two diabetes which is quite annoying. Even more so when I consider that the person that gave it to me was; well - ME. Now, I take full responsibility: I'm a Scot - well known as having one of the worlds most unhealthy diets, which I have wholeheartedly embraced for many years.: I'm overweight - for many reasons, explanations or excuses which will probably come out in various guises as the blog develops: I'm in the danger zone of middle age {53}: I've lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle for far too long even though I knew I should have been doing something about it {introduce those explanations/excuses again here} and finally: I'm a typical male 'ostrich' in many ways. There is simply no-one else to blame.
I'd been unwell for a few months and had complained to my doctor of lack of energy, aches and pains, insomnia, a general increasing weight despite addressing {somewhat} my diet for more healthy stuff and a dozen other things that I couldn't put down to any particular change in circumstances. This lead to a whole seies of blood tests over a short period of time and a diagnosis of an underactive thyroid and a slow process of medication and monitoring to establish the correct dosage of medication which I'll have to take for the rest of my life - a process that's not yet complete. During this time one of the tests threw up an anomaly with liver function leading to another series of tests and an ultrasound scan which showed that everything was tickety-boo and there was nothing abnormal. I came home from the hospital that day happy that my fears about the big 'C' were unfounded. Two hours later my doctor's surgery phoned to say that there was a problem with my last blood tests and that my doctor wanted to see me right away, so first thing the following morning I saw her and was told that my blood sugar levels had suddenly rocketed and more tests were needed to confirm her suspicions that I had diabetes.
So it was that the week before Christmas I got a confirmation call that her suspicions were correct. Most of that week was spent reading up on the information she had provided, supplemented with information from the web and in making significant changes to my thinking. I have to admit after the previous few months I took the news quite badly and perhaps focused on some websites which emphasised the more negative and serious side of the condition and it's impact on long term health prospects. Probably as a result, my mood and well being took a big dip and I think I convinced myself that I felt dreadfully ill for the bulk of Christmas until one day I just suddenly realised that there are millions dealing with this and doing so successfully. I realised I'd perhaps been given the kick in the pants that I needed to get things back in balance and that tackling this could be beneficial in every way:
I suddenly felt doors opening instead of doors closing. there are many opportunities that could come out of this condition - now that I have it and can't avoid that reality. There are things to discover, things to tackle and things that can be discussed and shared. 'Crivens Jings' showed me that I could use writing as catharsis as I did when I was made redundant. This too is something that I can write about while I experience, come to terms and understand what the implications have on the reality of my life ahead. While I'm not stupid enough to be looking forward to living with any kind of diabetes, I can see that there are benefits to be had for myself and maybe for others in writing about an experience that I can't avoid. So now I have to face some consequences and deal with this condition.
Do you fancy coming along for the ride? I promise you rants, raves and reflections - and porage:
LOTS OF PORAGE!
See you later.
Listening to:
