Blood sugar levels

Last night I was feeling shaky and clammy so I decided to check my sugar level -- it was 77, a bit low. I had a cup of orange juice and in a little bit I felt better. This morning my sugar was 72, even lower. Another cup of orange juice. This afternoon my sugar was 58, getting scary. Orange juice and dinner brought it up to 129. So now I have something new to figure out -- how to eat to keep my sugar levels stable.

I got on my computer and went to my Aurora Cardiology Portal and sent Dr. Pacheco an email asking him to (1) clarify what is going on with my pacemaker; and (2) give me his opinion on the sugar levels. When I sent the message a note popped up saying not to expect an answer for 24 hours.

Well, my phone just rang and it was Dr. Pacheco. Boy, I really like this guy.

With regard to the sugar levels, he said that none of the medications I am on even remotely cause any problems with sugar. He said if it keeps up and I am not able to control it, he will refer me to an endocrinologist. So I will try to remember everything Marshall did to stay stable. I know crackers and orange juice were important.

Then Dr. Pacheco explained to me -- again -- what we are doing about the loose lead on my pacemaker. I had kind of spaced out a bit yesterday when he mentioned the possibility of needing another surgery. So, he went over it again:

Sometimes during the healing process, while the body is getting accustomed to the mechanism that's been implanted, the inflammation and swelling that occur during the healing process causes things to move around ever so slightly and therefore the wires can move a bit. That's what happened to me, the wire moved just enough to interfere with the "pacing" duties of the pacemaker. There is inflammation and there is swelling. As the inflammation and swelling go away and the wires start attaching to scar tissue things can go back into place.

I had thought he said that a screw came loose and I was wondering how in the world a screw could magically go back into place, so it was good to hear that that's not what was said. I think the Medtronic representative was trying to explain a lot of things about a pacemaker and he might have mentioned screws and I probably carried that thought over to my conversation with the doctor.

I made the mistake of Googling the process of changing out a lead and I wish I hadn't. That Google search came up with absolutely nothing that was even remotely encouraging.

So now I wait two weeks. I think I will suspend all unpacking of boxes and lay low for two weeks. Monday is Coco's appointment with the vet.


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