not a great check-up

My own measurements this morning before I left for the hospital:

BP: 87/64 (corrected from 67/64, which was a typo)
fasting blood sugar (BS): 101
approx. A1c: 6.81
pulse-ox: 99
heart rate (HR): 69

At the hospital, though, I gave my blood and urine samples. The results:

BP: 118/67 (higher, but still low)
BS: 115
A1c: 7.2
HR: 76

I can attribute higher BP and HR to the usual stress of being in a hospital setting, but the A1c is disappointing since I was at 7.3 at my previous hospital visit. So the only way to improve the A1c, then, is by radically dropping the home measurements, which are apparently too optimistically low. In other words, if the home measurement shows an A1c of 6.8, it's really a 7.2 by the hospital's measurements, so I need the home measurements to get down to a 5.1 or something for the hospital to register a 5.5 A1c. 

I could try going back on the Newcastle diet again, but (1) I don't know that it'll be as effective this time given all my recent fasting, and (2) it's going to be interrupted by my upcoming walk which, frankly, I might not do.

Yes, I'm considering canceling this year's walk. If, as I'd reported earlier, angina is still with me despite the lack of insulin, then I might have to seriously consider the idea that last year's disappointing walk—during which I'd had to take a month-long break—might be it for yours truly. Which also has implications for the future walk along the Camino de Santiago. Well, we'll see. For the moment, I'm just gonna take this a day at a time.

For what it's worth, the doc took me off insulin after I'd told her about chest pains. If things get desperate, and I end up needing insulin again, I've still got three pens sitting in my fridge. I doubt I'll need them, though.

My cardiac appointment is on January 9 next year; my next appointment with this doc, my diabetes doc, is also on January 9, at 9:40 a.m., which is unusually early. This means I have to come in to the hospital at an unusually early time, and it's also awkward because I have a cardiac ultrasound scheduled for that day, at 8:40 a.m. So I guess my schedule on January 9 will be something like:

7:00 a.m. Arrive at the hospital.
7:15 a.m. Give blood and urine samples.
8:40 a.m. Cardiac ultrasound. 

8:50(-ish) a.m. Eat (per instructions).* 

9:20 a.m. Give blood again.
9:40 a.m. Appointment with diabetes doc.
10:10 a.m. Appointment with cardiac doc.

I think I'm going to be late for the cardiac doc's appointment. Sorry, Doc.

__________

*The point of eating, then giving blood again, is to see what effect eating has on my system. If my blood sugar goes down (recovers) too slowly, something is very wrong with my metabolism. On days when I've had to do this "eat, then give blood a second time" thing, I've normally just bought a salad and a bottle of water.