You can only get so low before ANY direction is UP

I think the turning point for me was yet another visit to the Emergency Room - this time in Tennessee, and this time for a blood sugar level of over 600... (they don't like anything over 120)

I am a Type 2 diabetic, but I never paid much attention to it. Whene3ver I checked my blood sugar levels it wa always between 100 and 120 - no big deal. But I had fallen into bad habits and was getting that "I can't drink enough to not feel thirsty" problem. I had seen the ads for the new G2 drink and it seemed to be a good idea to drink someting that would keep me hydrated - and I drank lots of it...

Problem is - although the drink is "low calorie" - it is NOT low sugar!!! The more I drank, the higher my blood sugar went (not that I was checking it) So finally, I went to a walk-in clinic - to see what was wrong... The nurse used a meter much like mine to check my blood sugar levels... Then they sent me down to the lab, where they drew blood to check my levels... Then they told me they had already alerted the Emergency Room that I was coming in and told me to go directly to the Emergeny Room. Both their tests had come in over 600 - and yet the let me drive myself to the hospital - lol

The hospital did their own tests - same results - and put me on an IV and started me on Insulin... Apparently, over 600 you can slip into a diabetic coma - not a good thing. They eventually got me straightened out and sent me home.

Now some people might think that would make me even more paranoid about my health - but it had quite the opposite effect for me. I became "convinced" that nothing I had wrong with me was going to kill me - make me miserable, yes - make life hard sometimes, yes - but kill me - NO. I adopted the notion that I was "doomed" to live a long life as a miserable decrepit old man...

So I stopped waiting to die - and started making plans for my life again. What was I going to do now that I wasn't going to die?

I started by moving "back" to Wisconsin - hadn't been there in over 30 years - but it wa a place to start over. I had graduated from High School in Milwaukee, started college, enlisted in the Marine Corps, and even moved there when I first got married. Now, after all my kids were grown and gone, and the life I had was "over", it seemed like a good place to "pick up where I left off" - I was single when I leved there - started my marriage there - and now I was returning as a retired single...

Oh, and did I mention the Green Bay Packers were right down the road??? hahahahaha I got to meet all of the coaches and over half the players while I was there. Wonderful memories - I've seen Ryan Grant so many times I told him I had run out of things for him to sign - lol. Got to meet Packer legends like Willie Davis, James Lofton, and Bob Harlan... as well as "rub elbows" with over half the players on the 2008 team... now THAT was worth living for...

Got to enjoy a northern winter once again - we got over 4 feet of snow in December - and introduce my son to walking and driving on a frozen lake... Even "forced" him to join me at a Friday Fish Fry at a German Beer Hall - complete with "Oompa" music (German Brass Band music) Once again, well worth living for...

Now I am living in Pueblo, Colorado - drawn back here by the mountains... I love it here - no matter what direction I roam there are different terrains types, ground cover, sights to see, and open country to explore.

Life is good - once again - and I'm enjoying it