CFRD

11/30/12 - This was originally written on this date, but I wasn't sure if/when I wanted to share this on my blog - especially until I had more information. Look for the "follow up" story in the next day or so.

I saw this on Facebook and I just couldn't stop cracking up! 

Of course about a week later, I was told that I might be developing Cystic Fibrosis Related Diabetes (CFRD). But before I get ahead of myself, let me explain. For the past couple years, I've had to get Oral Glucose Tolerance Tests completed to see if I was developing CF Related Diabetes. Having CF makes me more likely to develop diabetes. And I don't think it's Type 1 or Type 2, which is why they've called it CFRD.

Anyway, I had my most recent GTT completed in the middle of November at a local hospital instead of going all the way out to Chicago to my CF clinic. I've been getting them done in the winter for the past couple years and I knew that I was due for one soon. Since my CF clinic appointment got pushed back til January, I figured I'd get my testing done before I went so that we could discuss the results at my CF appointment. The test goes like this: Fast for 8-12 hours, get my blood drawn/blood sugar checked, drink a nasty glucose drink (this time my flavor was Tropical Punch - more tolerable than the Orange), wait two hours - no eating or drinking those two hours, then get my blood drawn/blood sugar checked again.
My fasting blood sugar was 101 and I went and sat in the waiting room for two hours. Then she calls me back to take my 2 hour blood draw and when she tests it, she goes, "Woah, that's high." So I got a little concerned and asked, "What was it?" And she said, "Well, I'm not really supposed to tell you." How can you sit tehre and say out load 'woah, that's high' and expect me not to be curious?! So she looked around (I guess to make sure no one would hear her) and she said that it was 219 and it's supposed to be under 125 if I remember correctly?
So, she started asking me how I was feeling and was totally freaking me out. She told me that I couldn't leave yet because she wanted to check with a doctor to make sure I was okay to leave. I told her that I felt fine, and that I was just a little bit hungry. She looked at me and said, "Oh, you're hungry?" (Note to self: don't tell a really worried, uninformed phlebotomist that you're feeling ANYTHING, even just a little hungry.)  Anyway, she found the on-call doctor and explain my sugars to him and he said that I was fine to go. They were going to fax the results to my CF doctor and a nurse would call me tomorrow to discuss these results.

The next day a nurse called me and explained that I might be "hyperglycemic" because I have high blood sugars. She said they'll probably put me on Metformin (an oral pill), which is typically what they give patients with high blood sugar. But she wasn't completely sure because she didn't know how it would interact with all of my CF medications. I told her that I'd talk to my CF doctor about it and let her decide since she knows me and my CF much better.

A few days later my CF doctor called me and we talked about the results. She explained to me that I'm "not falling apart" and not to get worried. We kind of knew this was coming because the past couple glucose tests were borderline high. She said she wants to set me up with an appointment with an endocrinologist at the University of Chicago (where my CF clinic is) to discuss my results. She's said I'll most likely not go on the Metformin that the nurse suggested because since it's an oral medication, my body already has a hard time absorbing things, I'll most likely have to go on injections -- yikes!!! That totally freaked me out!! But she said we won't know anything for sure until I see the endocrinologist. I'm currently waiting for that appointment to be set up, which will either be the end of December or the same day in January that my CF appt is on. But my CF doctor explained that if/when I get my sugars under control, it can help with weight gain and lung function = bonus! It got me wondering if this sudden weight loss is possibly due to CFRD? Hmm...guess I'll find out in the next couple months....I hope.