My Christmas Present - On Australia Day

My three boys gave me a great gift for last Christmas.  A 1-hour flying lesson at Gostner Aviation.  I was lucky enough to have David Maddock, the owner take me himself on a very hot day out of Camden Airport.

I originally got my PPL back in 1992, but lasy flew in October 1993.  After near enough to 20 years it was a great feeling to be at the controls again.  The Jabiru was faster and lighter than the 150 I learned in, but not quite as solid feeling as the PA28's I last flew in.  But glass cockpits are quite a change for me.  It was hard to remember where to look.

Clearly I must have done something right, because it was my aircraft from beginning to end on the second leg of the lesson.  Sorry about the hard landing David!

Taking my medicine

So my blood readings weren't extreme, but they did vary an awful lot over the last two weeks.  What it shows is that I'm not able to effectively process the carbs and sugars (yeah, I know they're somewhat the same), rather than an overall deficiency.

The haemochromotosis results came back, and with readings in the low 400's we should be able to manage this with a combination of diet and venesection (literally, giving blood).

So what's the plan for now?

1. I'm now on metformin (diaformin in my case) to try to smooth out the blood sugars
2. Cut out red meat (control the iron intake)
3. Cut out alcohol
4. Lose some (well a lot) of weight

  Doctor tells me that losing weight should also be a big help with controlling these things as well.

I've got bad news, and I've got bad news

A lot of things went on between November and now.  Work, Christmas events, my GP going on leave, ME going on leave, fear of the unknown but I finally managed to go to the doctor tonight and get my results.

I'm not at all surprised about what he told me; but it's not fun to hear it.

Result 1:  Your testosterone levels are so low you might as well be a woman.  In fact most women have higher levels than you do.

Result 2:  Congratulations, you're a Type 2 Diabetic.  Now, we're not sure how bad it is just yet, so get a glucometer and start measuring for 2 weeks.  Spread the readings out so you get a good distribution of numbers.

Result 3:  As a bonus, you also got your father's Haemochromotosis.

Result 4:  You're clinically (and visibly) obese.

Geez, doesn't get much better than that, hey?  Actually, there is a bright side.  Haemochromotosis is generally not picked up till men are in their 60's or later so I figure I got a 10 year head start on it.  The ferritin levels are not too bad at this stage, so it's going to be manageable (or at least that's the theory).

It wasn't that I doubted the doctor (did I mention he looks and sounds like Lewis Hamilton?); but I want a second set of tests while we're at it.

To be sure, to be sure