Saturday, November 19, 2011

Promise To Remember Me Video

In September I was asked to record lead vocals on Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Campaign song "Promise to Remember Me" along with other type one children.  We had a blast. They played the video at the annual JDRF walk at dodger stadium a few weeks ago for millions of people to watch and learn.  What a blessing just a great experience.

Friday, November 18, 2011

13 Days in The Hospital

I cannot believe that I was in the hospital for 13 days.  The diagnosis Gastroparesis.  Which is caused generally by diabetes.  The nerves in the stomach are damaged and therefore the stomach doesn't contract as it should which slows down the digesting process.  This is a problem that will always exist now just like neurpathy but it is treatable.  Treatment: Low fiber diet, 5 small meals a day every 3 to 4 hours as appose to 3 larger meals a day.  I have already started to switch to a more vegetarian based meal plan with meat and starch as my small side dishes hoping that, that will help my digestive system along.

Symptoms that made me go into the er:  Strong abdominal pain, constipation for more than 3 days, strong burning sensation in my chest and upper abdomen.  They gave me antibiotic and pain medication for the first couple of days. They ran several test and came to the conclusion of gastroparesis and gastritis.

I ended up in the hospital for my 31st birthday which was really depressing but the one good thing that came out of all of this is I am back with Kaiser and getting the proper treatment a diabetic should have.  I have a wonderful primary doctor and I meet my nurse practitioner in a week.  I learned that I got my 13 count A1C down to 10.  It should be under 7 so I have a ways to go but I am on the right track.

Its during the challenging times when you find out who is in your corner.  I have so many loved ones all of my friends have been the best cheerleading squad I could have to get better.  Most of the folks close to me came out to the hospital to see how I was doing. The love of my life has shown nothing but unconditional and unselfish love and support for me. I knew already that he was the one but times like this confirm that he is heaven sent.  Of course my mother has been in my corner the whole time helping me take the sometimes nasty medication I needed to take to get better and out of the hospital.

Now it becomes a daily balancing act to get my sugar levels, my gastroparesis and my neuropathy under constant control. It is very challenging but I have all the right people in my corner and now I even have the right medical team helping me out. So God willing i will be able to take control of these conditions.