DBW-Wildcard- Let's Get Physical

Managing diabetes during exercise can be tricky, so share what works for you or your loved one with diabetes and maybe it can help someone else. What to do when you want to work out, but your blood sugar is lower or higher than you want? How do you cope with this? Or how do you manage gym days at school for your child with diabetes? How do you stay motivated to work out? Or how do you encourage your loved on with diabetes to get active? What is your favorite kind of exercise – conventional or non-conventional? (Let's see how many types of exercise we can find!

When I saw this one, I knew I was going to do this one. Not because of how I take care of my insulin during exercise, but for the past 2 years, actually it's been longer than that. It's gotten worse since my two surgeries in 2014. I have not been able to do any sort of physical activity, none, nothing, not a thing. I am in pain 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I sleep maybe 45 minutes at a time, then I wake up. It takes me up to an hour to fall back to sleep. The pain is in my neck, both shoulders, it continues down my back and stops at my hips, although both hips rarely hurt at the same time.

It took me 5 years to convince my now primary care physician that I had a back pain. He thought the pain was caused from the abscesses that had developed after my cancer surgery. Even though I kept telling him no, he was sure that was where the pain was. He even told me it was probably coming from the incision, which is about 10 inches long. After I convinced him I had back pain, this was after the abscess had been healed for six months, he decided the best course of action was to send me to physical therapy.

Let me tell you, that was hell on earth. All the muscles in my back are TIGHT. Side note I had a 90 minute massage last summer and the masseuse told me she could have massaged the wall for all the good she was doing me. After my physical therapy, I got an x-ray. That didn't show anything wrong, so my physician suggested I go to a pain clinic. I didn't like that idea after I check the pain clinic out via the internet.

Next I tried sacral cranial massage therapy and neuromuscular therapy, neither of those worked. So I went back to my primary and asked for an MRI. After it was scheduled my physician called and said due to some obscure reasons, I needed 4 more weeks of physical therapy before I could have the MRI done.

So back I go to the torture chamber. Thankfully the PA I was seeing knew how to do visceral massage. Unfortunately, that can only be done once a week. And that only slightly helped my pain. During all of this I had also been seeing a Bowen Therapist. The Bowen treatment has given me the most relief, but it only lasts at most a few hours.

After I finished the last session of physical therapy I did get the MRI done and... NOTHING IS WRONG. I was in tears. I had hoped, prayed that something would show up on the MRI, something so we could figure out what was causing all of this pain. Someway to end the pain. So once again my physician suggests the pain clinic.

I don't know what to do now. The pain clinic my primary has suggest doesn't look very good for me. Medically, I've done everything they say they'll do. The next step would be shots or pain medication. I'm allergic to cortisone, so that is out. I don't want steroids because I know what they do to blood sugar. Pain meds? I want to keep my kidneys. Yes there are pain meds that aren't that harsh on them, but for the rest of my life? I don't think so. .

Right now I can't do housework. Shopping is a chore. Doing laundry is a pain. Cooking is no longer fun. Going to see my endo, which is 100 miles round trip, puts me out of commission for up to 3 days. I can't go to my nephews high school graduation, can't go see my son and his family, he has a now 6 year old, nor go see my daughter and her new house and car because the car trip would be too difficult. People tell me to fly. Well I can't sit that long so flying it out too. .

So I have no exercise plan. Walking causes me pain. I have a stationary bike and if I try riding that, I'm up most of the night in pain and the next several days the pain is increased. My endo gave me the name of an Acupuncturist who I have been seeing for the past two weeks. Hopefully he'll be able to do something. Right now, he's not working on my back pain, but trying to get me to relax. HA HA HA. I don't know HOW To RELAX. About the only thing that takes the edge off the pain is blackberry brandy.

Wednesday evening I tried 3 ounces. It did help me sleep, but when I woke up the pain was more severe. That's probably because I wasn't in any pain during the night and I didn't have to be careful while I moved around in bed.