Here's one of my first posts I had on friendster about 3 years ago. I always have lots of things to be thankful for during Thanksgiving, but it's also the anniversary of where over a period of days I found out I had type-2 Diabetes. I guess this is why I tend to focus on just having time off from work, watching football, and not seem to care too much about food around this time when everyone else is ...........................
From December 2005:
The weekend after Thanksgiving, for some reason I had a craving for Orange Juice and Apple Juice. For the first time in my life, I was wanting to drink that, instead of sodas or coffee drinks. Anyways, I just kept getting thirsty and I was also drinking lots of other liquids. I was wanting more to drink things than eat for some reason. Anyways, the weekend went on and I didn't think much about it. Just thought I might be coming down with a cold or flu. Well Sunday night, I had a tough time going to sleep. I was so thirsty that I kept drinking water all night- in fact, I had two glasses of water in my room at all times. I literally would wake up every hour or so, pee, drink more water, get more water from downstairs, and try to go back to sleep. This cycle just kept going on for hours that I ended up calling in sick the following Monday because I was feeling crappy, tired, and my throat felt really dry. During this time, I also started to notice that my 20/20 vision (via LASIK a couple years ago) was getting a bit blurry every here and there. So, I just stayed home on Monday just to relax.
That same night, I went through the whole thing again with the water, bathroom, etc. So, I went to the doctor on Tuesday and took a urine test. Found out that my blood sugar (glucose) level was at 450!! Your glucose level is supposed to be around 100 or between 70-140. Took a blood test and another urine test the next day while fasting and the results verified the same thing. So, as of my doctor's visit on 12/2/05, I am now officially a "Diabetic." Type 2, so I have to take medication, but not Type 1 where I need to have insulin shots.
I was given medication to bring my blood sugar level down and it worked. I felt fine after that. A few days later, I was given a second one. Then, I started having problems. When I started taking the 1st med, my eyesight started coming back. I visited the eye doctor (optometrist/ophthalmologist) and I was close to 20/20 again and the eyes looked healthy. A few days after taking the 2nd med, my eyesight got blurry again. This was weird because your eyesight is supposed to be blurry when your sugar level is off the charts, but mine was normal. Told the doctor this and he thought it was just my eyes adjusting to the "changes" going on. A few days later that's when I realized this started happening after the 2nd medication. So, I skipped an evening dose and wouldn't you know it, my vision vastly improved the next day!!!
I was thinking about how my eyesight would be fighting to focus throughout the day and then in the morning it would be blurry and it was like deja vu every day. That's when I realized the only consistent thing in my system was the evening medication that I was taking. That's why I skipped that day's dosage. Thing is, eyesight being blurry is not a side effect of this drug. Go figure.
So, now I'm living my life watching what I eat, staying away from sweets, monitoring my blood sugar with my new trusty glucometer, exercising (slowly building up), and having alot of water around me. So far, I'm doing well and I eat alot of chicken, steak, pork chops, sausage, jello, etc. Hardly or no white bread, candy, RICE, regular sodas, ALCOHOL, etc. Almost as if I'm on Atkin's diet, which I did a couple of years ago and I did lose like 16 pounds in a month.
I'm taking this as a challenge to myself to get back into good shape. I used to be one of those guys that people looked up to because I would work out twice a day and eat whatever I wanted like when I was at USF. I was in the best shape of my life back then and I'm hoping I can get somewhere close to where I once was. I always make a New Year's promise to get my weight down and I always start motivated and then I stop. Maybe this is God's way of helping me get back into "Bigsexy" shape? Only time will tell, but for my drinking buddies out there......that time is gone. I guess I'm your designated driver now. And, you know how I hate being the one taking care of the drunks!
Everyone please take care of yourselves and even if you don't watch what you eat or workout, please try to drink more water everyday. Try to take the stairs instead of the elevator when you are only going up or down 1-2 floors. Try to cut down on eating fast food, which is full of sodium, sugar, fat, calories, and carbs, although there are some healthy things at McDonalds, Burger King, etc.... Park in the middle of the parking lot instead of in front of the store. It will make a difference in your life. We aren't getting any younger and those days when we were teenagers and in our early 20's when we thought we were invincible might catch up to you. I just want to live for a long time and have ALL my friends there with me, ya know? We need to live, not just for ourselves, but for our loved ones as well. =)
Peace, love, happiness, Happy Holidays, and sincerely,
-Paul.G.Togonon-
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Warriors Filipino Night, 11/21/08
Last night I had fun at the Oracle Arena watching the Chicago Bulls @ our Golden State Warriors. Went to the game with Rich, Jasmine & her parents, Joey, and Jeorge. Dean was there and he looked intense watching the game. Plus, I ran into some folks from high school too! As expected, saw some pinoys and pinays that I know and ALOT of people that I think I know (You know that "I'm looking at you and you are looking at me and hoping it clicks that one of us remembers the other" look LOL). BART took longer to get to the game so I missed the opening Filipino performance(s), which I heard was tinikling, but it's all good as I got my beers and my SHIRT!
Beers are expensive at any pro sportings event, but even if I don't get buzzed, they seem to make me happy when I have at least 2. As most of you know, I'm pretty quiet and like to observe, so here are some thoughts-
Tickets of course for this Filipino event were in Club 200 (upper level for those that don't know) and some dude a couple rows in front of us kept standing up throughout the game. I'm sure you can imagine all the folks behind us yelling at this guy to sit down. At first, it was annoying 'cause we had to look up at the screen to catch some of plays, but then we turned an ackward situation to an entertaining one. Although he would get up at random times, whenver the Warriors hit a 3, blocked a shot (daym on Randolph's 4 blocks!), made a dunk, we knew he would get up. So, Joey, Jeorge, and I posed for pictures with him in the background. I know.... I know... it's stupid, but if you were there, you would of jumped in too for a picture!
Derrick Rose- Wow! Because the Warriors are in the Western Conference, I don't really follow the Eastern Conference that well, so I didn't really know what to expect from Derrick Rose. Other than being the #1 pick on the Bulls and seeing some highlights on tv, I didn't expect almost every offensive move he made to be a potential highlight. Even when he missed shots, it looked smooth! I was impressed and I'll probably look at his stats throughout the season since I do fantasy basketball anyways.
Something weird- not sure if others noticed this, but there were gaps in the areas for the Filipino Night tickets. Not sure if a lot of people didn't show up, but you could see empty seats in the areas. To make the event look good, wouldn't the planners try to fill all the seats (ie. sell the seats) in the same sections so it looks like a mass of people where there! I went to the first Giants Filipino Night and that was packed like crazy! I would of thought the event planners would of pushed everyone to wear their shirts, so that people in the Oracle can look at once section and just know "hey, that must be the filipino night section." I took a look around and even if everyone wore their shirts, there were a lot of non-filipinos there. Not that I mind that, but why would they want a "Filipino Night Shirt?" I knew some Filipinos in other sections (ie lower level) that would of bought the shirt. Anyways, that was kinda interesting.
I have a couple more games on my mini-plan, plus my cousin and will get another 1-2 plans, and my work will offer periodic $15 tickets to games, so I'll post more about the Warriors. Until then..........
Oh and did I mention.............GOT MY SHIRT TOO!!!!!! =)
Beers are expensive at any pro sportings event, but even if I don't get buzzed, they seem to make me happy when I have at least 2. As most of you know, I'm pretty quiet and like to observe, so here are some thoughts-
Tickets of course for this Filipino event were in Club 200 (upper level for those that don't know) and some dude a couple rows in front of us kept standing up throughout the game. I'm sure you can imagine all the folks behind us yelling at this guy to sit down. At first, it was annoying 'cause we had to look up at the screen to catch some of plays, but then we turned an ackward situation to an entertaining one. Although he would get up at random times, whenver the Warriors hit a 3, blocked a shot (daym on Randolph's 4 blocks!), made a dunk, we knew he would get up. So, Joey, Jeorge, and I posed for pictures with him in the background. I know.... I know... it's stupid, but if you were there, you would of jumped in too for a picture!
Derrick Rose- Wow! Because the Warriors are in the Western Conference, I don't really follow the Eastern Conference that well, so I didn't really know what to expect from Derrick Rose. Other than being the #1 pick on the Bulls and seeing some highlights on tv, I didn't expect almost every offensive move he made to be a potential highlight. Even when he missed shots, it looked smooth! I was impressed and I'll probably look at his stats throughout the season since I do fantasy basketball anyways.
Something weird- not sure if others noticed this, but there were gaps in the areas for the Filipino Night tickets. Not sure if a lot of people didn't show up, but you could see empty seats in the areas. To make the event look good, wouldn't the planners try to fill all the seats (ie. sell the seats) in the same sections so it looks like a mass of people where there! I went to the first Giants Filipino Night and that was packed like crazy! I would of thought the event planners would of pushed everyone to wear their shirts, so that people in the Oracle can look at once section and just know "hey, that must be the filipino night section." I took a look around and even if everyone wore their shirts, there were a lot of non-filipinos there. Not that I mind that, but why would they want a "Filipino Night Shirt?" I knew some Filipinos in other sections (ie lower level) that would of bought the shirt. Anyways, that was kinda interesting.
I have a couple more games on my mini-plan, plus my cousin and will get another 1-2 plans, and my work will offer periodic $15 tickets to games, so I'll post more about the Warriors. Until then..........
Oh and did I mention.............GOT MY SHIRT TOO!!!!!! =)
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