I realized this morning that it has been nearly 7 years since by diabetes diagnoses. I was talking to a newly-diagnosed diabetic yesterday, and we were discussing the signs that led us to believe we had a problem. The doctors believe I was diabetic for years before we discovered it. I was showing many of the signs, but they were brushed off as side effects of cancer treatments. So, in hoping to help someone else out, here are some signs that you might be diabetic:

1. Frequent urination. This is one most people are familiar with. Your kidneys are trying to flush out the extra glucose in  your bloodstream, causing you to have to urinate more often.
2. Increased thirst. Another symptom most people are familiar with. Because of the more frequent urination, you get dehydrated faster, causing you to be thirsty more and to have a dry mouth.
3. Unexplained weight loss. Yeah, this never happened for me. I just ate more to make up for the fact that my cells weren't getting enough glucose for the energy.
4. Increased hunger. As I said above, this one I had. Again, it's because your cells are being starved of the glucose they need, either because your pancreas isn't making enough, or in mose cases of Type II diabetes, your cells have grown resistant to the glucose and aren't accepting enough of it.
5. Foot pain and numbness. I was having foot and leg cramps, especially in the middle of the night, before my diagnosis.
6. Slow-healing wounds. These can be as little as a small cut or a bruise that heals very slowly.
7. Frequent infections. Both yeast and bacteria multiply when blood sugars are high.
8. Blurred vision. At the time of my diagnosis, I was just thinking I was needing new glasses. Some days they seemed fine and other days they were really blurry. The blurry vision is especially prevalent with the rapid changes in blood sugar that occur with uncontrolled diabetes.
9. Mood swings. I went through terrible mood swings for years right after my cancer treatments. The doctors blamed it on anxiety from dealing with the cancer at first and gave me a stronger anti-depressent, and then they blamed it as a side effect of the Zolodex they were giving me to shut down my ovaries. It turned out to be from the extremes between high and low glucose. I still have days when my mood swings quickly, especially if my sugars drop very low, but this doesn't happen very often since I started controlling my blood sugars better.
10. Acanthosis nigricans. (Say what???) This is a fancy doctor term for skin changes due to high glucose levels. The skin in soft areas like the back of your neck, crook of your elbows, behind the knees, under arms, groin, etc., because a darkened color with a more velvety texture. I had this sign, too, especially on the back of my neck along my hairline, but it got blamed on a skin rash that I get almost every year when the seasons change from hot to cold or back. This is more common with darker complected people, especially blacks and Hispanics.

Only two more weeks until Thanksgiving. I cannot believe it is here already. I'm not ready for the Christmas season yet. My heart is ready to celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior, but I'm not ready for all of the commercialism that comes with it. I feel like I get engulfed by that commercialism every year because I own a retail store front. No matter how hard I try to avoid it, the busy-ness of the season overwelms me. Please be in prayer for me as I struggle with keeping my focus on where it belongs this holiday season.

On a more upbeat note, only two more weeks before I get to see my mom and siblings. YEAY!!! I love having a family Thanksgiving with them. It's been over 18 months since I've seen most of them, so I am REALLY looking forward to the visit.

I have been thinking all week about how this Pastor Jones in Florida is not acting how God commanded Christians to act. Today's devotional, while written well before Pastor Jones stepped forward, addresses just this topic. Of course, the author of the lesson knew today would bring many emotions forward, being the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Romans 12:14-21 says:

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”^[a] says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore

      “ If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
      If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
      For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”^[b]

 ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

As I was reading this myself, the first thoughts that came to my mind were about this hick pastor's threats to burn the Quran today, but then the spirit led this back to my own heart. My own soul struggles on a more personal level with someone whose "evil" deeds, while shielded as being saintly to some, breaks my heart. I've tried forgiving this person, even though they have not asked for forgiveness, and then they do something else to drive that knife back into my heart, or at least open the old wounds. It's much easier to forgive someone who repents. It's much more difficult when they don't even recognize or acknowledge their sins.

Please pray for me as I continue to struggle with this. Please pray for the other people involved. I do not have to go into detail for you to pray about this. You can just pray to God that He knows the situation and His will be done. Please pray that this Pastor Jones and his congregation, and others like them, are moved by the Spirit to change their ways and show love instead of hatred. Please pray for the families of the victims of 9-11 as they very publicly are reminded every year of the tragedy that took their loved ones.

Thank God that Jesus Christ died for my sins, and that He does not struggle with forgiving me whenever I fall into sin again.

I absolutely love this commercial. I've watched it over and over and still get a great laugh out of it.

I am still hanging around. I haven't been on Xanga for 6 months. I really do wish I had the time to make up juicy blogs and read what is up with everyone else, too. I am glad some of my Xanga friends are on FB, but I miss those who are not.

We are homeowners now and have to make time to fix things up ourselves. I love my house, but it's had a few problems. As John said to me the other day, "It's not like we can call the landlord and have him fix it while we are at work. We have to schedule some time at home to take care of things." How right he is.

My mom and youngest brother are coming for a visit in 3 weeks. I'm so excited I can hardly stand myself. They will be here to help out with the Nelson Pioner Farm's Old-Fashioned Fiddle Contest during the Pioneer Fall Festival. If you are in Iowa and want a fun experience, come out to the Nelson Pioneer Farm in Oskaloosa on Sept. 18. They have pioneer living displays, antique farm machinery and displays. They'll be threshing oats with a steam engine and cutting corn with a single row picker. Plus, the great music you'll hear at the fiddle contest. For more information, visit www.nelsonpioneer.org.

I've been spending most of my time on Facebook of late. I'm in love with FB now the way I was in love with Xanga. I finally got my theme changed here. It took me a while to find the cherry blossoms, but once I found it, I knew that was the one I need for spring.

Speaking of spring, it is spring here in Iowa. John and I got to work out in the yard of our new home yesterday after work. We got an old water pond torn out. At one time I'm sure it was lovely with all of the wheels and moving pieces that the water ran, but with all of them out of the yard, it was just a stinking breeding ground for mosquitoes (which looooove to eat on me above all others) and a safety hazard for the neighbors kids.

We got to meet another neighbor last night. Everyone out in University Park is so friendly. I'm glad God led us to this house. It is definitely home to us.

Wishing all my Xanga friends a very merry and blessed Christmas.

John woke up early this morning and found a show on PBS that was talking about brain health and one of the modules discussed cancer brain. Cancer brain is different from chemo brain. I've heard of chemo brain since I had cancer 8 years ago, but since I didn't take chemo, the term chemo brain didn't fit.

Chemotherapy destroys cells throughout the body, including brain cells. This results in "chemo brain" because brain cells are destroys and the neurons no longer fire correctly.

"Cancer brain," on the other hand, results from a protein sent into the body by the cancer in it's preparation to spread through the body. The proteins destroy a coating on the neurons, causing them to misfire and therefore leaving us cancer survivors with memory losses. It's frustrating to know that you know something but cannot recall it.

The good news is, you can reroute the neurons by learning new things, so I need to make the time to study new things.

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Ours was wonderful. For the first time since I've been with my husband's family, we all sat around a table eating together, instead of having plates in our laps scattered around the house. We all went around the table and said what we were thankful for - it was perfect! My sister-in-law's turkey was so moist and it just fell off the bone. Good job, Jenn! John and I had a good time playing wii Monopoly and golf with the nephews. It was a very nice day.