If you’ve been following my story for a while you know that a few years ago during the pandemic lockdown I got a report from my doctor informing me that I had skipped right over “pre-diabetic” and landed firmly in the type-2 diabetes category. I control my blood sugar with pulls and diet, and once or twice a year my doctor rechecks my A1C and other stats just to make sure things are going well.

I had my annual checkup a couple of weeks ago, right before the houses flooded, and I meant to document this then until I got sidetracked. Susan and I have all but eliminated sugar from our diets over the past six months. This started on our 30th Anniversary vacation back in March and just kind of stuck with it. We stopped going to Braum’s for ice cream a couple times a week, stopped buying sugary snacks every time we stop at a convenience store for drinks, and stopped having cookies and other desserts always on the kitchen counter.

I was looking forward to my latest checkup. The first thing they do is weigh you and I was excited to learn I had lost exactly 30 pounds over the past six months. Woo hoo! Next, the doctor took my blood pressure and they got 126/80. That’s actually higher than I was expecting (I took it at home with a blood pressure cuff and got 116/72) but I was still okay with their numbers. The visit ended with giving blood and waiting for my A1C results, which take a few days to get.

If you aren’t familiar, a normal A1C number is anything lower than 5.7%. 5.7% to 6.4% is prediabetic, and 6.5% and higher is diabetic. As a point of reference, back in 2021, my reading was 9.3%.

A few days after my most recent visit I got my numbers back. My A1C is 4.7% — squarely in the normal range. That’s the lowest number I’ve ever seen since I started getting tested. Some of that is due to medication and some of that is directly due to cutting out all that extra sugar. If I can keep my numbers that low they may cut back back my medicine even more, which would be great.

Anyway… I’m pretty happy with all my results and the way things are trending. In the middle of a minor home catastrophe, it’s nice to have a win under my loosening belt.