On the Islet front.

My trip to Chicago for the most part went well. My islet cells are still producing huge amounts of insulin while by blood sugars are running a little higher then they should. Why I'm having issues with insulin resistance is a puzzle since I'm not over weight and didn't have resistance before my transplant. The game plan now is to increase aerobic exercise in order to increase insulin receptors in my muscles.

I have since started walking minimum of 3 miles a day and I'm seeing some results already in my fasting blood sugars. Now we just need my post meal numbers to start coming down a little faster!

While in Chicago I had a test called CIMT done. CIMT is an ultrasound of the walls of the carotid (neck) arteries, the thickness of which can be reflective of the health of coronary (heart) arteries. I also accidentally had C-reactive protein (a marker for heart disease) tested instead of c-peptides. Both the carotid artery u/s and c-reactive protein results were excellent. Which makes me happy since I've had diabetes for 30 years, been on cholesterol lowering meds for 20, and both of my parents had heart disease at a young age.

Kinda makes me feel like I'm doing something right. It's either my snack obsession with popcorn or celery. I can't think of anything else I do all that consistently, but eat those. ;)

I'm guessing its the celery.

or else the popcorn.

It is a whole grain after all...



Green Bean. Caught in the midst of mischief. Naughty bird likes wires.

Chicago Marathon 2010

The Chicago Marathon is sold out, however if you'd still like to run, you can join CellmatesOnTheRun, and help support diabetes research at the same time.

You can find registration info here.

I'm heading to Chicago Sunday for a 3 month follow up appointment with the islet cell transplant team as UIC. I'll be having two more metabolic tests done. The first an IV glucose tolerance test and the second a glucagon stimulation test. Both will give the research team a better idea of how my islets are functioning. I'll finally be able to talk to them about the results of the metabolic tests I had done in April.

Hopefully this next set of tests will be better then the April's. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me and I'll let you know what they say.

btw. June's donation goes to the American Cancer Societies Relay For Life.