WIXY's Gone Bananas

For the past more than 3 months, I have been getting out and walking first thing every morning, primarily for my own benefit. And the benefits have been great, as I have had medications cut, I'm wearing smaller clothes, and my weight has go ne down. My main push is to  #DefeatDiabetes . On October 5, I WILL be participating in the Walk to stop Diabetes in Akron, Ohio. This is a benefit walk for the  American Diabetes Association .  Diabetes runs in my family. I was first  made aware of this when I was 10 years old, as we went to the hospital to visit my grandmother. She was almost in a diabetic coma. Later in life, I became aware of diabetes as both my parents were diagnosed as being diabetic. As I approached my 50th birthday, I too, was diagnosed as being diabetic. I first became gung ho about it, but t things did not appear to me as serious as it should have. Increases in oral medication and needing several insulin shots before emergency surgery got me conc...

The photo at the top of this post is my granddaughter, Makenna. She is 9 years old, and she is doing something that many of us, our parents, grandparents, and possibly great grandparents enjoyed doing. That is reading the comics from our daily newspapers. That trend could come to an abrupt halt during this generation. The newspaper's funnies that are being read in this photo is from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. That paper is only home delivered four days a week nowadays. This was done as a cost cutting measure. The internet has cut deeply into readership of the daily paper worldwide. Why pay for day old news when you can get it fresh for free? It's very sad when I remember being able to read the comics every day. I enjoyed reading Peanuts, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, B.C., among others. And the Sunday paper had 2 full color comics sections. I think that this is a privilege every child should have. It would enhance their quiet time, something kids need way more of. ...

It came to a head on April 22nd. This was the Tuesday after Easter Sunday, and we were very busy the day before at work. I work the customer service line for a toy company and the day after Easter, understandably, would be a very brisk day. I had been having problems with my eyesight for the past several days, and working a job where you are staring at 2 computer screens for several hours is not good when you have blurred vision. When I woke up on the 22nd, I was also experiencing headaches. At this point, I decided to check my blood glucose. I hadn't done that in many months, I wasn't even sure that my monitor was even working. The monitor read 230, more than 100 points higher than the top level should be. After thinking about it for over an hour, I had even packed my lunch for work, I decided to call the doctor's office and leave a message for the medical receptionist to call back. After that, I called off work. My call to the doctor was returned by his receptionist. ...