My surgeon's office called me late last week to tell me that my a1c was higher than where the doctor needs it to be for surgery. A1c is a three month measure of your blood sugar. Mine was 7.7. It needs to be 7.5.
I frantically called every medical professional I could think of to help. A nurse at the insurance company told me that she didn't think I had a chance of lowering it. The endocrinologist's office said that they didn't think .2 of a point mattered. They were not going to change any medication, but they could write the surgeon a note saying the .2 didn't matter to them. Real helpful!
A dietician at the hospital was the one who was able to help me. First of all, the goal is to get the sugar down. Second of all, labs can vary by .2 on the same day. Her theory is that I dropped my carbs too low. Since I wasn't eating carbs consistently throughout the day, my body was confused about producing insulin. When my liver dumps sugar at night, my body didn't make enough insulin to counteract. The dietician's suggestion is to eat one carb (15g) at each meal four times a day. I also need to do 10-20 minutes of hard exercise after each meal. I have been following her method. I am sore and tired, but my fasting sugar has dropped 45-50 points!
The surgeon's office has given me until Tuesday to do what I can. I go in Tuesday morning for a blood test. I will know by the end of the day. If it is a go, I start prep on Wednesday and have surgery on Friday.
So, what exactly is a1c and can I really change it that much in just under two weeks? We all, diabetics and non diabetics have some glucose floating around in our blood stream. Some of our red blood cells pick up the sugar and become glycated (real word, I swear). If you are not diabetic, about 5% of your red blood cells are glycated, meaning your a1c is 5.0. Red blood cells live 120 days. Therefore, a1c is a 3 month reading of your blood sugar control. Obviously not all of your red blood cells regenerate at the same time. I have read that 50% of your a1c is based on the last four months and more heavily weighted on the last two weeks. So there is hope for me.
I have learned a lot from this. Thank you to my friends who have helped me with these realizations. My surgeon may seem like an obstacle to me, but really she is my protector. Not all surgeons are this strict, but not all have her success rate either. This is all for my best health. My intent of having surgery is to lose weight and lower my blood sugar. If surgery is delayed a few weeks, it isn't a delay of my goals. I will continue to lose weight and lower my blood sugar until I have surgery. God is on my side always. The timing will work for my best benefit.
So Tuesday will be a very long day of waiting for me. If you know me at all, you'll understand that having the plans up in the air stresses me out (of course I have to try not to stress because that raises blood sugar). I will take all the prayers and well wishes I can get. I'll update when I know.
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