G'day!

My real blog is at http://randomexperiments.blogspot.com

I also have my glucose levels online on my website at http://gaelyne.com/gr-bgl.php - I do this to keep myself honest and it ensures I keep my records up to date. I also really love Sugarstats.com, which is where I heard about tudiabetes.com

I use green tea to help control my glucose levels and have 2-3 cups of green tea after every meal. I have an infection and recently had a cortisone shot (both of which play havoc on glucose levels) but my readings haven't been all that bad. My diabetes nurse was really amazed I didn't have any really big spikes. I put this down to the tea as when I don't have the tea, that's when my readings tend to go higher. My Random Experiments blog is used to comment about things I've learned about my diabetes, including using green tea to help keep the levels normal.

For the last 5 months I have had a hole in my side that is attended to every other day by a Royal District nurse who comes in and changes the dressing. It started with a cellulitis infection (an infection of the skin) that followed the tract/scar tissue from reconstructive surgery I had 2yrs ago for breast cancer. It developed an abscess and I had to have emergency surgery. The hole in my side is getting smaller, but they want it to heal from the inside out, and it's a very deep cavity. It used to extend to my spine (10cm) but it's now only about 6 to 7 cm. It is healing very very very slowly.

I also have arthritis, and I think I recently cracked the ribs just above where the hole in my side is. It's quite painful, and if it keeps up I'll have to have it checked. One of the things that's always on the back of the mind after having breast cancer is the worry that it might have returned or spread into other areas like the bone, so things like rib pain can be quite scary if I think about it too much (and I try not to).

Having all of these health issues is really frustrating and way beyond a joke, but I do my best to keep my spirits up, keep trying to do the best I can to control my glucose levels, and take my mind off the problems by staying busy working at the computer.

Sometimes I wake up in the night and this is one of those times. Now that I've introduced myself, I think I shall go back to bed.

I think this is a great website and I look forward to exploring it further and making new friends. Thanks for reading!