Dear Fran Drescher #32

Dear Fran,

So, where was I when I last left you? Oh yes, hiking and biking my fool head off and trying to learn how to work my Fitbit.

I told you about this Shapeup Challenge I have to take part in for our health insurance plan, right? I have to keep track of my steps, my weight (blech), and how much I exercise.

Another requirement was to get a blood test done. Now, my blood has been tested to death over these past seven years—since getting cancer in 2009—along with my heart (nine of those tests were done), my liver, my bones, and my brain.

I don’t know if I told you, but Dr. Martinez told me when I was 14 that I had to stay away from sugar because of the six-hour glucose tolerance test he had performed on me.

I’ve also had about 352 people tell me to stay away from sugar—don’t get me wrong, I know they all mean well—because cancer “feeds on sugar.” If I got a dollar for every time that someone has spouted those (wretched) words to me, well, you know the line….

Do I think sugar is bad for you? Yes. Do I think that all people should stay away from it? Probably. Do I get resentful of my friends that a) drink alcohol (pure liquid sugar) on a regular basis, b) eat way more desserts than I do, c) are skinny, and d) don’t have cancer? Sadly, yes. Do I wish those same friends would get fat and end up with cancer? Of course not.

What I’m saying is, while I sometimes go off the deep end and eat four Nestlé Drumsticks in one sitting—especially when it’s PMS time—I eat uber healthy the rest of the time. And I’m still overweight. And nearing diabetes. And got cancer.

While I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m not like other people when it comes to getting away with eating sugar, I am also trying not to use this as an excuse. I could blame my thyroid over and over, but that doesn’t do me any good either. I’m getting off my butt (literally), and trying to do something about it.

Back to this blood test I started telling you about… I guess a person’s blood sugar should be between 65 and 99. Here’s what my blood sugar has been doing for the past three years:

2014: 73
2015: 91
2016: 108

I tend to eat sugar when I’m stressed out. Or happy. Or sad. Or on vacation. Crap. No wonder I’m fat and in need of a Fitbit.

I’m going to try my darnedest to get my blood sugar back under control and not get diabetes and/or a recurrence of cancer. I want to remain your bestie for a long, long time to come.

Best friends always,

Marie

 

 

 

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