Medical update

An update to an earlier post:

Had a long visit with my doctor today, and things are looking up. Fever is gone and bloodwork looks good, so any infection is on the wane; pain is (mostly) gone, and we are now entering the more aggressive phase of trying to nail down what caused the pancreatitis, and also dealing with the blood sugar issues. For the time being, the assumption is that I am officially a new diabetic, and that's how we're going to manage things.

Got a fistful of new prescriptions (sigh), referrals to specialists (endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, ophthalmologist) and a schedule of upcoming tests; it looks like, barring a real setback, I'll be able to go back to work on Friday, just in time for my traditional April Fools' Day pranks on my unsuspecting colleagues.

Ordered a very fashionable set of MedicAlert dogtags today. (The emergency instructions read, in part, "Sensitive libertarian: in the event of political derangement or appalling economic news, apply a current issue of Reason magazine and some medical marijuana, stat!")

Also have some good books on order from Amazon.

I now have my very own glucometer, am taking my blood sugar readings several times a day, and can look forward to (at least for the near future) permanently sore fingertips. The cute little gadget has a long memory (it holds your last 500 test results) and can be interfaced to a computer, so I'm sure that I'll be boring my doctors soon with Excel spreadsheets and graphs showing my blood glucose levels by time of day, phase of the moon, correlated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nielsen ratings, the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction bestseller list, etc.

I hope that I will be able to restrain myself from posting them on the blog.

I'm also on a pretty strict diabetic diet, which, counterintuitively, in some cases means eating more - e.g., I've never been much of a breakfast eater, but I have to develop the discipline to eat at least a small breakfast (a little cereal, a piece of fruit) every morning. Can't miss any meals, and can't splurge or binge either. (Au revoir, Krispy Kreme! Sayonara, Pepperidge Farm!)

On the upside, it's an excuse to order some new and interesting cookbooks.

Thanks to everyone for your e-mails, calls, and offers of advice, assistance and prayer. I appreciate it all more than I can tell you.