Posting Away . . .

Warming By the Hearth

I posted an entry at the KJV Blog Directory earlier today for their Monday Ministry Highlights! Feel free to pop over there and read about our Sunday school.

It's a rainy, windy, dreary day here, and it's been this way for days and days - typical November weather for Vancouver. I've been staying cozy, sitting in my big comfy chair by the fireplace! I hope you're staying warm and dry this November day!

Simple Woman's Daybook: November 16, 2009

Rejoining the Simple Woman's Daybook . . .

Outside my window . . . rain, rain, rain and wind

I am thinking . . . about my boys this morning - college bills & projects due this week, job hunting for one

I am thankful for . . . our faithful church members

I am wearing . . . my pj's still; going to the gym soon

I am remembering . . . cousins, as I've just reconnected with another one on Facebook

I am going . . . just to the gym today - that's enough!

I am reading . . . nothing other than my Bible right now

I am hoping . . . praying that my biopsy will be good news

On my mind . . . surgery to remove a facial lesion next week (more on that to come)

Noticing that . . . I really need to get down to business decluttering my house

Pondering these words . . . "your labor is not in vain in the Lord" I Cor. 15:58

From the kitchen . . . beef potpie from leftover roast beef

Around the house . . . clear away weekend clutter, catch up on laundry, clean top shelf of the fridge where something spilled

One of my favorite things . . . curling up with a blanket on a chilly, blustery day

From my picture journal . . . part of our city as seen from the deck of our cruise ship in September

Too Sweet

Mixed Candies

In my last post I mentioned that my HbA1c number (aka glycated hemoglobin) had gone over the "magic number" of 7, indicating that my blood sugar has been too high over the past three months. My blog friend, Barbara, mentioned that she didn't know how to convert the numbers, so I thought I'd explain it a little and show you how the number corresponds to blood sugar control.

When your blood sugar is at normal levels, your blood is thin and watery like skim milk and moves easily through your veins. When your blood sugar is high, your blood thickens from the sugar and becomes more the consistency of corn syrup, thick and sluggish. This thickened blood has a harder time reaching the parts of your body that have smaller blood vessels, such as your eyes and kidneys. This syrupy buildup is like a candy coating that sticks to your red blood cells. Your red blood cells have a lifespan of about 120 days, and once they have that candy coating on them, they stay that way. So the HbA1c, done every 3-6 months, tests your red blood cells to see how much candy coating is on them, giving an average of your blood sugar levels over the past three months.

The HbA1c number is actually a percentage rather than a blood sugar reading. The percentages correspond to your blood sugar levels. The test I had done in July, for example, was 6.8%, which corresponds to an average level of 148. My latest one, taken in late October, was 7.4%, corresponding to an average blood sugar level of 166. Here's a conversion table, if you're interested. You can see that my blood sugar has been going up over the past 6 months, which alerts my doctor that something is not right: I need to have more medicine, more exercise, to eat better, or a combination of the three. In my case, I know that I have been taking my medicine faithfully, but not exercising at all and not eating well. So my doctor told me to tighten up my eating, continue exercising every day for a month, then repeat the test. If the percentage goes down, he'll know that we're on the right track; if not, he'll have to intervene, probably with more medication.

If my blood sugar were allowed to stay high, the blood will have a hard time reaching my eyes, kidneys, and extremities, causing them to be damaged. My mother, who had type 1 diabetes, had kidney failure caused by her high blood sugars over years of time. She was also going blind. Some people lose toes or fingers from poor circulation caused by high blood sugar. So you can see why the HbA1c test is so valuable in monitoring diabetes and preventing complications.

I like to be sweet, but here lately I'm a bit too sweet for my own good! ;) I've exercised every day this week, and my daily blood sugar readings are in a better range. I think my A1c will come down over the month. My goal for the month is to get some form of exercise every day, even if it's just a quick walk around the block. Today I walked to the post office, bank, and grocery store instead of driving. I went to the gym a few days and used the elliptical trainer at home a couple of days. The important thing is simply getting some exercise!

Followup the Followup

The Patient and the Doctor, 1660S

I went to the doctor today for my annual physical (courtesy of diabetes!) and the followup to the biopsy I had two weeks ago. I don't mind going for followups, but I sure do hate physicals! This time I knew a lot of what was going on, because I had the lab send me a copy of my blood test results. It wasn't pretty, y'all.

My average blood sugar for the past 3 months (HbA1c) has gone above 7, which is the "magic number" for avoiding all those complications that go along with diabetes, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney failure . . . and the list goes on. Of course, staying below that number doesn't guarantee those things won't happen, but it does give you a goal to aim for in managing blood sugar levels.

The bad thing is that I know why my A1c as gone so high: lack of exercise and discipline in eating. I sound like a broken record, don't I? So I began exercising faithfully again this week, and it's already working to bring my sugars down. It really is amazing what exercise can do. I'm also eating a lot better. Both things together are helping me feel a lot better.

The biopsy. It was inconclusive. Apparently the sample my doctor took was not large enough, so I'll have to have a second, larger biopsy done. I already had an appointment to see the dermatologist next Tuesday, so he'll take care of that for me. I was really disappointed not to get a definite answer today. To remove the entire lesion will take plastic surgery! I say just go ahead and do lots of work on my face - nip here, tuck there - while they're at it! ;) So we'll see what happens with that.

And that's that. The answer was no answer. We'll followup the followup with a followup! LOL Thanks for your prayers; please keep praying if the Lord brings it to your mind.

Wednesday in the Word: Wisdom

This entry is also posted at KJV Blog Directory.


I'm going to cheat a little bit this week and use a devotion that I heard over the weekend that I just loved. Last week, my daughter and I went to College Days at West Coast Baptist College, where our sons attend and our daughter wants to go. Before we left on Saturday morning, Dr. Mark Rasmussen met with the potential students and their parents/sponsors for one last word, and he gave this devotion on wisdom. I immediately thought of this blog and my commitment for today's devotional. Dr. Rasmussen gave some very valuable and practical advice for acquiring wisdom, in the form of an acrostic.

"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." Proverbs 4:7

W - Walk with God - "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long." Proverbs 23:17

I - Integrity - "The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them." Proverbs 11:3

S - Service, Soul-Conscious - "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Mark 10:45

D - Determination - "But none these things move me . . ." Acts 20:24

O - Opportunities Grasped - " . . . and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

M - Ministry-Minded - "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." I Peter 4:10

Four Sources of Wisdom

God - "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not: and it shall be given him." James 1:5

Wise People - "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." Proverbs 13:20

God's Word - "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Psalm 19:7

Reproofs of Life - "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." Proverbs 6:23

I Just Can't Help It!

There's another giveaway at Green Fairy Quilts, and I just can't help but enter. This time it's the Morning Bloom quilt kit, which includes everything you need to make the quilt top and binding - perfect for someone like me who has never made a quilt yet, but sure does want to try it! Go over and enter for yourself . . . but I hope I win it! ;)