"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck
Duke, our adopted Lancashire Heeler is getting old. He is turning white around the muzzle and grey along his hunches. He has also started developing cataracts.
We aren't sure how much he can see, but he seems to go about his daily business of jumping of the furniture and stealing trash with no problems. Unfortunately, there are no canine ophthamologists, and no doggie Lasix (actually there might be, but can imagine what that would cost?!?).
Speaking of ophthamologist, I saw mine today for my annual "diabetic" eye exam. I am not sure how this differs from a "normal" annual eye exam. My doctor uses digital retinal photographs, so I do not have to have my eyes dilated (hallelujah!) to see any retinopathy that might be lurking behind my corneas.
I was expecting to see some little hemorrhages because Iforgot missed my lunchtime bolus and ended up at a lovely 369 mg/dl about an hour before my appointment. But, Dr. Eyes explained to me that it takes sustained high blood sugars to cause hemorrhaging.
However, even with a decent A1c of 7.4 I do have a few small hemorrhages. So does that mean I have diabetic retinopathy? Is this my first diabetic complication? I was nearly in tears in the office over the idea of loosing the ability to say "I've have type 1 diabetes for 28 years and I am completely complication free." As if that was solely from my excellent d-managing skills and not some random combination of variables.
Dr. Eyes says that he is calling my diagnosis mild background diabetic retinopathy, he suggests that if my A1c's were stable in the low-mid 6's, this "complication" would go away.
So what does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Probably not much, I will continue to strive towards that elusive 6 range A1c, but I am not at risk of losing my vision to diabetes related complications anytime soon.
As for whether or not I have any d-related complications, I will proudly say; "I am healthy even though I've lived with T1 diabetes for 28 years."
We aren't sure how much he can see, but he seems to go about his daily business of jumping of the furniture and stealing trash with no problems. Unfortunately, there are no canine ophthamologists, and no doggie Lasix (actually there might be, but can imagine what that would cost?!?).
Speaking of ophthamologist, I saw mine today for my annual "diabetic" eye exam. I am not sure how this differs from a "normal" annual eye exam. My doctor uses digital retinal photographs, so I do not have to have my eyes dilated (hallelujah!) to see any retinopathy that might be lurking behind my corneas.
I was expecting to see some little hemorrhages because I
However, even with a decent A1c of 7.4 I do have a few small hemorrhages. So does that mean I have diabetic retinopathy? Is this my first diabetic complication? I was nearly in tears in the office over the idea of loosing the ability to say "I've have type 1 diabetes for 28 years and I am completely complication free." As if that was solely from my excellent d-managing skills and not some random combination of variables.
Dr. Eyes says that he is calling my diagnosis mild background diabetic retinopathy, he suggests that if my A1c's were stable in the low-mid 6's, this "complication" would go away.
So what does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Probably not much, I will continue to strive towards that elusive 6 range A1c, but I am not at risk of losing my vision to diabetes related complications anytime soon.
As for whether or not I have any d-related complications, I will proudly say; "I am healthy even though I've lived with T1 diabetes for 28 years."
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