07 August 2007

It's been a little while since I posted. Unfortunately, my job exploded and I've been doing a lot of traveling; most of the upcountry sites don't have good internet access. Considering that I wanted this blog to be a handy place to store articles and links about diabetes, I decided I've better start fueling it.

My progress over the past year has been up and down. Working in Laos involves personal relationships that are professional and professional relationships that are personal. I often live in the same house with my staff when I'm out in the field. When I eat at people's houses, they're concerned if I don't eat the daily minimal standard of sticky rice (a high-glycemic version of rice which causes a tsunami style sugar rise). Outside of the rainy season Buddhist Lent, parties and drinking are the main social activities, especially in building working relationships. And with all the traveling I've been doing, I don't get enough sleep or exercise.

I was surprised to find, that after all that, my last HbA1C was 6.3. While it was higher than the 5.5 of the previous visit, I was glad that it was not much worse. My doc also put me on a statin for cholesterol. Since I returned to Vte, I've been running and bicycling and trying to lose those ten extra ponds that my work put on me.