Day of Reckoning

Twas the day of dreaded reckoning,

My diabetic nurse a - beckoning...

Anxious nerves twined together in knot,

Results weren't nearly as bad as I'd thought!

An emotional morn' this was today,

Awaiting results, the nurse to convey.

Tears flowed from thine eyes at the word

That my prayers had been heard!

Elated to hear this news,

(Colin Firth being my muse)

My heart shall continueth its beat,

And not fall prey to defeat!

A new lease on life I received today, 

And my dedication indeed did pay!

It's been a long time since I've attempted a crack at poetry and I apologize for my lame attempt at it here.  Sometimes when I was younger that was how I best dealt with emotions - arranging them in prose.  Today was indeed an emotional one for me.  I thought my appointment with the Diabetic Nurse was tomorrow for some reason and she called me just after 10 am wondering why I wasn't there.  Oops!  After apologizing profusely, I rushed right over to her office to meet my fate.  Perhaps it was better in the end that I wasn't expecting to go to the appointment today.  I had less time to fret over what my results would unveil.  The first thing I was told was that my blood work was excellent!  I managed to evade Diabetes!  Yeah!  Not that I was worried so much about that - I was more concerned with the cholesterol and blood pressure.  So, although my blood sugars did me proud, my cholesterol levels are still of some concern.  However, when she looked up my previous results for comparison she was shocked at what I was able to achieve with diet change.  As you may recall, my LDL (bad cholesterol) level was 4.55 when I began the Colin Firth Diet Club - now I've managed to bring that number down to 3.29!!  Because I am NOT Diabetic I don't have to take medication for this yet!  If my blood sugars were in the Diabetic range I would have been prescribed medication immediately!  The nurse seemed so shocked at the decreased LDL and worried that I had been depriving myself (of food I presume).  I relayed the story to her of how the Colin Firth Diet Club came about and all the changes I've made not only for myself but for my family as a whole - and she was genuinely impressed and proud of me!!  I had intended to bring my arsenal of information to back up my story of the past 6 months, but since I goofed on which day the appointment was I went unprepared and had to resort to a verbal report alone.   I was beginning to think I would get away without her taking my blood pressure but being thorough as she is, she stood up to take my weight, girth and blood pressure respectively.  This was the moment I had been dreading most all these months and the results of which I anxiously worked myself up over.  I needn't have worried so much.  My average blood pressure taken from 6 successive readings was 126/93.  The nurse was excited about the top number but the diastolic is too high.  However, she suggested that by drinking more water every day, that alone may aid in bringing that number to where it should be.  "Done", I told her!  "I can do that!  I can drink more water!".  As she was congratulating me on my success, I must confess that I broke down and cried.  Why?  I can't really say.  Were they tears of elation, relief, anxiety, liberation, fulfillment?  Probably all of the above to some extent or other.  It's been a long journey, the changes of which I am very proud of, but it's not over yet!  I think I was just so happy that the changes I have made actually did make a very tangible difference and that all of this had not been for naught!  As I got up to leave, the nurse gave me a big hug - I didn't know it but that was what I really needed right then, a simple hug!  My next appointment is in 6 months time, just a couple of weeks before I turn 40.  So I have managed to achieve my goal of being 40 before having to take medication!  I've bought myself some more time to continue making positive lifestyle changes!  I walked toward my car a contradiction - very happy, yet as I sat down in the drivers seat, the tears streamed down my face once more.  Passersby could have mistakenly thought I had received bad news from my Doctor, but they would have been so wrong, so very wrong.

Last weeks pep talk I gave to my blood cells on the way to the Lab to get my blood tested seems to have done some good!  "Survival of the fittest here troops!  Those who are healthiest please enter the front-line trenches for extraction".  I have so much more to say, but I'm feeling drained now and need to get my beauty rest, so I'll write more later...And Colin, thank you for being my muse!