Night Owl Cards

Longtime readers may remember that I was diagnosed with diabetes more than five years ago. I don't often write about my personal issues here much (or at least keep them well-veiled), but I felt this event was important. I took the diagnosis to heart, both in chronicling it and in attacking it. Six months later I was told I was no longer diabetic. My doctor and nutritionist marveled. However, diabetes, as many of you likely know, is a life-long battle. It takes constant persistence and I have overhauled my habits because of it. I work out daily, which was not even remotely the case five years ago. I monitor my eating routine, although I am the first to admit that it is a work in progress. I need to attack the disease aggressively every day. What I do not do is take medication. I declined to take it after first being diagnosed and continue to do so. I received my yearly check up today and the doctor again marveled at my state. All of my medical numbers are ideal and trendi...

I received a follow-up physical today. They (and I) wanted to see if what they saw last June was just a fluke or whether I'm some kind of freak. How could someone diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in March not have it in June? Well, the results are in, and I still don't have diabetes. I'm a freak. Not only that, the doctor said my blood work numbers are the same as "an 18-year-old who just came in for his athletic physical." He also wanted to know if I wanted to give a clinic to his patients. Needless to say, that made me feel good, and it's definitely a great start to the new year. But let's steer it toward cards again, OK? Another bonus to the new year, for me, has been the return of some bloggers who were absent for a few months. No Relics Pulled , Indianaland Baseball Cards , Uncle Doc's Closet , Carl Crawford Cards  and The Lost Collector  have all emerged in the last couple of weeks. It seems "blog more" was on a lot of resolutio...

I hope this is the last time I write about my medical issues on this blog. For those of you who groan with the realization that you're about to read about people's doctor visits, I assure you, there will be cards in this post. Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit. Regular readers here may know I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes three months ago and was pretty devastated by the news , as someone who had been in relatively good health for a number of years. Since then, I have wandered around in a haze, receiving an abundance of information from a variety of sources, realizing I can't possibly process all of the information, recognizing that some of it was making me crazy, and settling on a plan that worked for me. Diabetes is an overwhelming disease, and I'm convinced its most effective weapon is confusion. Fortunately, according to my nutritionist, I have cut through the confusion in record time. Those who are diabetic, or know someone who is, are pr...

(Get ready, this is a heavy one. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 138th in a series): Gum? That is what Oddibe McDowell appears to be offering. And if he were offering it to me, in April of 2012, I would have to consider a few questions first. Is it sugarless? If so, what is in it? Am I making too big a deal out of a stick of gum? Am I making too little of a deal out of a stick of gum? Why am I thinking so much about this? It's a piece of gum! Why am I so stressed out? But what I would probably say instead is, simply: "No thanks." And I would leave the rest of the thought out: "I have diabetes." I was diagnosed with diabetes last month. It's the big health news that I wrote so cryptically about, first because I didn't know what the hell was going on, second because I didn't want to believe it, third because of stress and frustration and anger and disgust and fear and worry and just way too much in an already preocc...