Diabetes Community

I will have an adventure this week. Tomorrow I will have a total hip replacement. A couple of days in hospital, then home (to be restricted to the 2nd floor). Actually, I'm very excited about the surgery, I've been in constant pain for months.
I'm lucky to have a daughter who has had experience in home health care, and will stay with me. (She has also had a THA, thanks to a broad-side by a driver who ran a red light.)
This time next week, I expect to be totally bored and ready to scream!

Nwsmom - good luck with your hip replacement surgery. I'm sure you'll have a bit of a tough road over the next few weeks, but you can look forward to being pain-free soon!

I have my last physical therapy today to wrap up my lymphedema self-massage training. And on Wednesday I have my 4th of 8 chemo treatments. It's the last Adriamycin/Cytoxan infusion which is supposed to be the hardest part. After this treatment I'll have 4 Taxol treatments. Taxol is said to be much easier, but there is a greater risk of neuropathy, so I'll be discussing the use of a couple of supplements that are said to help reduce the risk.

I have written a blog entry that I think sums up my philosophy about living life with cancer and diabetes. You might find it interesting, I hope it helps to inspire you to live every day to the fullest.

www.mch-breastcancer.blogspot.com

Have a great week, everyone!

Michelle

Thanks for the info. As I stay away from most milk products and don't take meds, I would put myself in the low risk group. My love of cheese is my only source of lactose, and there I try to eat lower fat cheeses. The only time I get sick on cheese is when I have whole milk cheese.

This week will be more wound care, time with granddaughter, kayaking/biking if the heat breaks, and exercise. I am going to pick up a UFC fight trainer for the X-box as my niece wants to do it with me online. Should be fun, and be good for the coming months-WINTER .

Well, I had 1 day of "fixed" internet, and it went down AGAIN!
I just got back on this morning after calling Verizon. They said they could see my internet readings going up and down. I'll have to call them again when I get back, as it will continue to happen.

I'm going to be gone for two weeks. I'll be thinking of all of you.

Newsmom, good luck on your hip replacement. A friend of mine just went through that months ago and is doing GREAT, without pain, too.

Betaquartz, just enjoy those moments in your kayak and your new game!

Everyone else, have a great two weeks!!!

Michelle, I'll try to check out your blog later, if I have some time!
You're doing so great!

Hello beta, I have been watching this discussion for over a year and I am greatly impressed with your ability to handle the T2. I wonder if you and/or anyone can help with my problem. I have been doing great with my T2 without any drugs for the last 11 years. Last check up in May my A1c was 5.6 and I was feeling good. Then since THIS HEAT WAVE STARTED, I have not been able to bring down my sugar, it is all over the places, ranging from 97 (rarely now) to 160 2 hours after a meal. I no longer have it under 100 in the morning test, even though it still is in 100-125 range. I did not eat anything different than what I would normally do, and my activities were still as streneous (I replaced my long 10 miles hiking with short 4 miles and 1/2 hour on Nordict machine with 1/2 hour weigh lifting. Now I am at the wit end as what I should be doing. Today, 1 hour after dinner it was 121, then 1hr later (2hr after dinner) it was 130. Do not know what was going on.
And betaquartz, I do not drink regular milk but soy milk instead, and I love cheeses too. The coming week I will have to devote to figuring out what was wrong with me now. Thanks in advance for any help I can get.
Kieu

Michelle - beautifully written - so positive and inspirational!

And fun to put a face with your name and flower

Have you posted in Breast Cancer community? (I have not made my way there yet)

Thank you so much for sharing!

Haylen

In the higher temps, I have gone to raw veggies or salads twice a day. Not for weight loss but for balance of an overall slower metabolism for the heat, and to eat cooler foods that are not as much filling. When I eat carbs in the heat, they seem to heat me up more, so I cut back there, and try to get more fiber from the veggies by eating them raw or really lightly cooked. You may find it helps.

By the way, in my opinion those numbers are pretty good that you listed in the last half of you paragraph.

Haylen - I just tried two different posts on the BC community and they got lost in the blogosphere. I'll try again tomorrow. It's a bit frustrating and I don't understand why WebMD can't fix this intermittent problem that has been around for a very, very long time. If I would just remember to "copy" my words before pressing the magic post button, it would help...but there's chemo brain )

Michelle

Got the UFC training program for the X-box yesterday-it will kick my butt! Yesterday was a test to start that set my physical levels. One minute time for each activity I had to do as many push-ups, sit-ups and jumping jacks as possible. It put me into Intermediate level even though it didn't register all of my movements-I'll have to work on that. Then it did training with a warm up, punch series with jabs, crosses, and elbow blows at a weight bag finishing with combos to end the whole thing with cool down stretches. Tough

Michelle - Your comments have been passed up the chain! I completely understand your frustration and work is always happening to remedy problems!

Beta - WOW! Can't wait to hear your progress. We got the Wii Fit for Christmas and it is covered in dust - you've inspired me to dust it off!

I use the wii fit quite a bit-the yoga and the aerobic stuff is great. It does more with balance and posture than the Xbox will ever do-it is even a pretty reliable scale!

Gomer and Betaquartz:

Consumption of lactose is not related to lactic acidosis. Lactic acidosis occurs when oxygen supplies do not meet the demand.

There are two main processes that produce ATP, which is the direct source of energy for cellular processes (think, "ATP = energy"). One is glycolysis, and this produces two pyruvate molecules and 2 ATP per glucose molecule. Glycolysis occurs outside of the mitochondria, in the cytosol (intracellular fluid) of cells. Then, pyruvate enters the citric acid cycle (AKA Krebs cycle) in a mitochondrion, and lots of ATP is produced (something like 30 ATPs are produced for every two molecules of pyruvate). Thus, as you can see, the mitochondria are very important.

The citric acid cycle is an aerobic process--it requires oxygen. Glycolysis, however, is an anaerobic process. Therefore, when oxygen intake is low and energy expenditure is high, the citric acid cycle is not able to meet the cell's energy (ATP) demands. When this happens, glycolysis rates shoot way up, to try to compensate for the lack of ATP from the mitochondria. The increased rates of glycolysis relative to the rate of pyruvate use in the citric acid cycle results in a buildup of pyruvate molecules; the extra pyruvate is converted to lactate, which is a negatively charged ion. The production of lactate is NOT the direct cause of the "acid" part of "lactic acidosis." Lactate is not acidic.

When ATP is used for energy (ATP hydrolysis), it is converted to ADP plus an inorganic phosphate molecule. ATP hydrolysis results in an overall increase in acidity, which is the same as an increase in H (protons). Normally, the protons produced during ATP hydrolysis are used in the citric acid cycle. However, when the citric acid cycle is "under-productive"--in other words, when the oxygen supply doesn't meet the demand and the cell has to rely on glycolysis for ATP--then the protons start to build up.

So now, because of the increased rate of aerobic processes in the cell, both lactate and H build up. When too much of something builds up inside a cell, chemical potential pushes it out of the cell and into the plasma. From there, the "extra stuff" will enter the bloodstream. In this case, the "extra stuff" is lactate plus H . Since lactate is a negatively charged ion, and natural solutions tend to be electrically neutral, every lactate molecule that leaves the cell is followed by an H . As the H build up in the blood stream, the acidity of the blood may increase, stay the same, or decrease, depending on the body's ability to buffer the acid. Lactic acidosis is diagnosed by measuring the amount of lactate in the blood.

By the way, though lactic acidosis is characterized by high levels of lactate, neither lactate nor the increase of H (lowered pH) is what damages the body's tissues. Rather, it is the insufficient supply of ATP and oxygen that causes the symptoms of lactic acidosis.