I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on January 8, 2008. I haven't had an A1c test yet. The doctor told me that she didn't get the request in on time for the first blood sample and I "slipped through the cracks" on the confirmation test. The doctor guessed that my A1c was probably somewhere around 8. I am getting *fingers crossed* an actual A1c test in May.

Since diagnosis, I've lost 30 pounds so far (I had already lost a little over 40 pounds before diagnosis) and my blood pressure has dropped 30 points each on both systolic and diastolic measures. I've walked 185 miles since diagnosis and my resting pulse rate has gone down about 40 beats per minute.

I'm following Dr. Neal Barnard's program for diabetes, as a result of doing searches in the medical journals and diabetes journals and finding the NIH-funded study of his program that showed it to be as much as three times more effective in controlling diabetes than the standard ADA diet that's usually prescribed. And I *love* the food, so I'm really thriving on the program. I've looked at what's required on the ADA diet and I honestly don't think I'd be very compliant. At best, it would be a constant struggle for me.

Here's hoping I can keep this blog up and that my future entries will be at least slightly less boring than this first one.