A rainy, stormy day in Arab Alabama!

Sally is really glad to be back home in her house!  I think the prospect of possibly having to move from her home of the last 48 years has made her stop and really appreciate what it means to her.  She’s still thinking about what her next step will be.

Monday’s visit with Dr. Mengesha (neurologist) went very well.  He thinks she’s made tremendous progress since he last saw her in November in Huntsville Hospital.  He checked her balance and strength (exactly the areas that Pam and Kersten the San Antonio physical therapists had been working on) and was pleased with her.  He said she should be especially careful at night to leave some light on.  He said most falls occur in the home at night.  He also said that regarding her neuropathy, we cannot reverse what has already occurred.  We can, however, prevent any further deterioration by keeping the diabetes under control.  He verified that the compression hose are a good idea.  We really like him.  He suggested that she take his card and if she has any problems after I return to Texas, she should call him.  He’ll see her again on 11/2/09.

Tuesday’s visit was with Dr. Johnson, her endocrinologist (diabetes doctor).  He is also very personable.  He reviewed her blood sugar/insulin logs and decided to adjust her insulin downward, just slightly.  He confirmed that she should not be going barefoot and should protect her feet!  He also said that our blood sugar is usually at its lowest about two hours before we wake up in the morning and then it starts to climb.  So, when we have a low blood sugar before breakfast, that means that it has been lower a couple of hours before.  Sally's HbA1C has improved from 8.8% on 10/14/08 to 6.6% on 1/15/09 to a great 5.7% yesterday!  Her goal is an HbA1c less than 6.5% so this is great progress!  A1c, by the way, is average blood glucose coverage over the previous 2-3 months.  He’ll see her again on September 8^th.

After the doctor visit, Sally treated me to lunch at the Blue Plate Café in Huntsville.  This is an infrequent treat since their food is delicious and served in abundance!  We saved half of our lunch and had it for supper.  After lunch, we got her chest x-ray in preparation for next week’s appointment with her pulmonary physician.

We’re continuing to have rain, thunderstorms and tornado warnings in North Alabama.  This is turning into a very wet Spring.  I’m wishing we had some of this moisture back home in South Texas!