When drinking a lot of liquids you also have to urinate a ton. Drink, piss, drink, piss… I was going to the restroom every hour, if not more frequently. I didn’t think too much of this though. I have had times where I have drank a lot of liquids before and eventually I get back to normal. Though, in hind sight, this was even worse than other times.

On Saturdays I usually go over to my cousin’s house and we play World of Warcraft and hang out. This time we postponed it to Tuesday. I woke up on Tuesday, feeling fine, took my shower, dressed, took my asthma medicine, and left for Bart’s house. Just before I left I started feeling a little wonky and my vision just slightly started to blur.

While at my cousin’s house, I just couldn’t get motivated to do much of anything. I couldn’t focus my vision on anything more than a few feet in front of me. I was not, and am not, blind, but it was, and is, difficult to read anything or make out details. I didn’t have any trouble driving, other than being unable to read license plates or signs. It’s unnerving to have this crop up out of the blue. I just got my glasses a few months ago.

When I got home from Bart’s it was early, early Wednesday. I woke my mom up and explained to her that I’ve been drinking a lot, pissing a lot, and that my vision had blurred. We both mentioned diabetes. She doesn’t remember parts of the conversation now, though. I checked the American Diabetic Association website and found the list of symptoms:

• Frequent urination
• Excessive thirst
• Extreme hunger
• Unusual weight loss
• Increased fatigue
• Irritability
• Blurry vision

On Wednesday afternoon I called my doctor’s office and set up an appointment and, today, Thursday, I went in at 9:15 AM to see if my doctor could tell if it was diabetes or, hopefully, something less life-altering (or life-threatening). When I eventually got called into the smaller waiting room, as apposed to the large one where they make you wait to wait, I was told that a medical student was shadowing my doctor and I was asked if I would mind if the student was present. I had no problem with that.

The nurse left the room, after asking me what all I was there for, and I began waiting… again. I’m not sure if I mentioned this earlier but I have been lethargic the last few days and tired as Hell. I very much wanted to curl up on that bench thing and fall asleep, but resisted the urge.

Eventually the student came in, without my doctor, and he started asking me all of the questions, including why I was there today… Okay, let me take a brief moment to bitch about why it is that the nurse asks you why you are there, writes it all down in the notes, and then the doctor asks you the same shit. Seriously! Patients don’t want to be at the doctor’s office at all. Please be more efficient and don’t force me to repeatedly explain what’s wrong with me. Okay?

Now, back on track. So, the student guy asks me what’s up and I explain that I suspect that I may be diabetic, or that I am at least showing the symptoms and would like to know what’s up. He asked some of the same questions twice, which told me he wasn’t really listening. He also seemed nervous. Now, I get that doctors need to be trained but I don’t want that done at the expense of my health. I would have been fine if my doctor was in there while this was going on, but he was off jerking off in the hall, or something. Lucky for everyone involved, the student was cute. Unlucky for me, he was wearing a wedding band.

The student guy didn’t seem to listen when I told him that I had just gone to the optometrist and just got these glasses about five months ago. He would try to repeat what I had said, to make sure he had it straight, and he would say things like, “So, your old glasses don’t work any more?” I’d then calmly tell him, “No, these glasses are new and my vision has gotten bad in only a few days.” Actually, I goofed up when I talked to the doctors and I told them my vision had been going bad over the last few weeks, but it’s only been a few days.

So, the student tells me, after he eventually gets everything straight, that he thinks I have diabetes. My thought, nice bedside manner. He then wanted to take a quick look in my eyes using some sort of… eye-ball-oscope-thingy. Before doing so he asks me what my vision is like. I say, “Um, I don’t know, what do you mean, like, nearsighted/farsighted?” He mumbles something and I tell him that I’m nearsighted. He then asked me what my prescription is. Who the Hell knows their vision prescription? Come on!

Anyways, he makes a failed effort to look into both of my eyes and, as he’s all up-close and personal, I resist making a joke about him trying to kiss me. Eventually he leaves to consult with my doctor (THANK YOU!) and a while later they both re-enter the room. The doctor says he reviewed everything and tells me about a test that he’d like me to take in which I have to fast for 12 hours (the student told me it would be 24 hours) and come in to the lab area and tell them that I was there for a fasting glucose test, or some-such. I can’t remember the exact wording. I’ll probably do that on Friday. I want to nip this in the bud before things get worse.

Oh, I asked the student if I should go to an eye doctor to make sure everything is okay or if I should wait until we know the results of the tests and such. He suggested I see the eye doctor as soon as possible. I’ve set up an appointment for next Wednesday. My doctor also suggested that I see a sleep specialist to see if I have sleep apnea and gave me a referral for an ear, nose, and throat specialist for a consultation on my deviated septum. I guess they just want to rule out sleep apnea as a reason for me being lethargic. I explained that I wake up a lot because my mouth dries out in my sleep because I end up breathing through my mouth – one of my meds also dries my mouth out – so I wake up a lot to take a drink of something.

Well, I’ve cut fast food out of my diet and sugary drinks, like soda, are gone too. I was drinking a lot of orange juice over the last couple of days but the med student told me that orange juice has a lot of sugar in it. Anyways, I finally found some water that doesn’t have added minerals “for flavor.” *scoff* I bought some of those little packets of sugar free drink mix which are portioned for 16.9 oz water bottles. They aren’t bad, but I’m missing my Coke.

Anyways, so, here’s the rundown in short: Eyes are fucked up so I’m avoiding driving as much as possible. Doctors need to do more testing to see what’s up. as far as diabetes goes. I’m making dietary improvements. I may call the ear, nose, and throat specialist tomorrow for a consultation. I’d love to fix the deviated septum (and if they could fix the bump on my nose, I wouldn’t complain). And my eye doctor appointment is next Wednesday.

The only good thing out of all of this is that, just a few weeks ago, I applied for medical insurance, which I haven’t had since I was laid off in December. Without the medical insurance, I don’t know how much, of this, if any, I could afford. So, thank goodness for medical insurance!

I’ll keep you all up-to-date as much as possible.

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