George Here for Another Visit

Last Sunday, Barry called me and said that after three years, George was here for another visit. He asked if I was available to come over, as he would be here only through Thursday. I asked the time and he said about 4:00 PM. Barry said several other members would be there as well.

I arrived on time and yes, there were more than a few members. I counted 20 members and George was definitely enjoying having everyone there. Then Barry asked what his latest A1c was. He responded 5.4 percent and asked if anyone was lower than that. He was surprised when Allen spoke up and said 4.8 percent and A.J said 4.5 percent and Sue said 4.9 percent. Barry said A.J and Sue were not on any diabetes medications and only Allen is on insulin and uses Dr. Bernstein's “law of small numbers” to prevent hypoglycemia.

Then George said that he thought he was doing great, but he admitted compared to these, his A1c was not that great even though he was now off diabetes medications. Tim spoke up and said it still was and the rest of us were all higher than his A1c. He asked if anyone disagreed with this. The answer was an emphatic “NO”.

Next, George asked if he could talk politics, and received another no. Sue spoke then saying that that is not a topic we allow and religion is another. We agreed to this a long time ago and we have held to this. Now anything about diabetes and diabetes related is open for discussion.

George looked very disappointed and thought about this for a while and I just stated we don't go there. George asked me if I didn't include politics in my blog when talking about Obamacare. I said I have made some disparaging remarks, but I don't go further. I said many of us do not like the current healthcare plans and how patients are treated under Obamacare, but that is as far as even we carry this.

At that point George asked if we could talk about Medicare and the best plan. I asked if he had given up on his VA plan and George said no, but he was having trouble matching up to the VA with his Medicare. I said then he, Ben, Barry, Allen, and a few others could discuss later when we would not exclude the others and Barry said that was a good idea.

I asked George if he had done the reading he wanted to and George said he had and thanked me for pointing him in the right direction on the Librarys. He had joined the city library and said he was able to find the books I had and several others. He had even found Dr. Bernstein's book, “Diabetes Solutions.” He could now understand why we held the book so valuable even though we were all type 2's. He even understood why Allen was using his “law of small numbers,” and even he had used it to get off and stay off all medications with the approval of his endocrinologist.

George admitted that the endocrinologist was not in favor until he explained how he was doing this and that he would continue testing to monitor his blood glucose and go back on medications if needed. With the A1c levels that kept improving the endocrinologist said he had never had anyone have success before and he was learning with him. Sue said her husband was back on medications because of all the travel he did in the summer and lack of exercise while traveling and thanked George for sticking with his exercise.

George said he wanted to compare notes with her and with A.J if possible. Both Sue and A.J said they would find time to talk with him.

Tim asked George if he had found a support group of about 40 people and George said in a way he had, but it was too formal for him and when they told him of the dues, he decided he did not need to join. He continued that they had dues of $10 per month ($120 per year) used for paying speakers. He said this was too steep for him and eventually found a smaller group of 10 people and he was happy with that group as they met in people's homes on a monthly basis and they had no dues but a yearly fee of $20.

George said he was happy to continue receiving the news emails from our group and always appreciates them. He feels they keep him in touch with his friends here and wonders why the group he belongs to doesn't do the same, but neither group does this. Next, he said he is considering moving here, but needs to do some investigating. That is why he made the trip now.