GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #46: Growing Old With Type 2…

For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes four years ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!

I suppose a few years ago, I’d have ignored the article below, “Managing Type 2 Diabetes in Your 70s: A Complete Guide”…but next May, I’ll be turning 70…

 So, this article caught my attention. The author wrote, “Over 25% of Americans aged 65 and older have diabetes, making it one of the most common chronic conditions among seniors.”

That’s a pretty sterile, statistic kind of thing. I’m looking for something I can “work with”, so I’m framing it this way, “If you’re at a birthday part and there are a 100 people in the room, one out of every four of them are going to be Type 2 diabetics.” Now, if it’s a BIRTHDAY party, then you’ll have variously-aged grandchildren (possibly even a few great-grandchildren.) You’ll also have the parents – none of whom are going to be 70+)…so let’s take your group of 100, drop it to 50 people (minus 20 grandkids, and maybe another 30 kids…). Of THAT fifty, you’ve got one in four are T2, so 13 or so will be T2 – 37 will be “normal”…of course, among THEM, you’ll have heart disease, joint replacement…most likely ALL (but a very few) will have glasses of some sort…

So, you’ve got a bunch of geezers whose bodies are falling apart. According to statistics, those of us born in the 1950s have a life expectancy of  “72.5 years for males and 78.5 years for females” [US Social Security Administration]. I assume that includes everyone and so your healthcare and personal choices during your 70-something years of life will modify those numbers – and also if you’ve treatments for various and sundry ailments with impact that life expectancy.

All right, there are the facts. Now, using this guide, what MIGHT I be doing to stretch that out a little farther…oh, WHY? My personal goal is to be alive for the weddings/joinings/significant event celebrations for all four of my (current) grandchildren who range in age from 1 year to 16 years.

What can I do to reach the significant  events of my 1-year-old granddaughter? Say…at 20 years to my current 70. My genetics seem likely to support that goal – as I neither drink nor smoke, and my main life-challenge thus far has been T2. The things the article recommends are NOT fancy pants stuff. It’s pretty straightforward stuff I can do even if I’m not a zillionaire.

I can name a few right off the top of my head:

Exercise: I bike regularly (when it’s NOT winter…here in Minnesota that is an admittedly narrow window…) the rest of the time, I walk. I don’t do any fancy exercising, just (at the height of summer bike between 10-20 miles a week.) During the winter, I walk (when the windchill is unlikely to freeze my skin solid) so let’s between 5-8 miles a week. I DO NOT have biking shorts or walking sticks or down jackets or a fancy bike. It’s all normal stuff.

My A1-c a couple weeks ago was 6.4; so no longer a concern to my doctor. I DO use Ozempic, but NOT for weight control, but for my diabetes; AND I only take it every OTHER week (after conversations with my doctor and reviewing preliminary research that supports the change for people whose blood sugars aren’t wildly out of synch.

 In conclusion? There isn’t a “conclusion” yet. I’m on a regularly monitored (by my doctor) schedule; and frequently read journal articles (I was a science teacher for 41 years. Everything but the DENSEST of “scientific-ese” is something I can parse) on Diabetes research; focusing particularly on T2, but also skimming T1 work as that findings from THERE might be usable down the road…plus, as you’ll know if you’ve read my initial posts, my best friend and best-man died after a diabetic seizure brought on by growing weary of taking care of himself and listening to everyone else’s concerns. He just got tired and his body gave out…

At any rate, I’ll be coming back to this and other articles in future posts!

Source: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/diabetes/diabetes-older-people, https://allseniors.org/articles/managing-type-2-diabetes-in-your-70s-a-complete-guide/

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