The Snake Shack Fiasco: Reversing Diabetes
Started doing a story about snakes in Texas and ended up with a story about reversing diabetes.
I initially intended to write a story about venomous snakes in Texas, but it turned out my story was to be about reversing diabetes. I wanted to get authentic pictures of venomous snakes for my snake story. Not only that, but I did some research as to where I could acquire these pictures. I came up with Texas Discovery Gardens located in Fair Park.
Texas Discovery Gardens advertised their hours to be Wednesday-Sunday 10:00 am to 5:00 am, with the last ticket being sold at 4:45 pm.
“If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail” — Benjamin Franklin.
I arrived at Fair Park by public train Wednesday at 4:10 pm. I spent the next ten minutes looking for the entrance to the park. Furthermore, I had earlier done my 30-minute daily walk. Once inside the park, I frantically tried to locate Texas Discovery Gardens.
Each time I approached a venue inside Fair Park, the doors would be locked, I thought only if I could find a human I could ask for directions My thought was answered. I found a maintenance worker who gave me directions. I followed the maintenance worker's directions to no avail.
As my phone slowly advanced to 4:45 pm I still couldn’t locate Texas Discovery Gardens, I decided to make my way back to the train and head back home.
Fair Park is an 18-acre Community Park located in Dallas, Texas. Probably the most famous venue in Fair Park is the Cotton Bowl.
I headed out earlier to Fair Park the next day, which was Thursday. This time, I knew how to enter the park from the train and didn't have to spend time searching for the entrance. I also revisited the website for directions.
The problem was the directions were written for a car and not for someone walking. However, once in the park, I came across a sign that pointed the direction to Texas Discovery Gardens.
As luck would have it, Texas Discovery Gardens was located at the opposite end of the park. I had been walking all over that park when I finally found Texas Discovery Gardens.
Finally, I entered the venue, approached the counter, and stated I’m looking for the snake exhibit, I want to take pictures of poisonous snakes. The girl working the counter said, We don't have any poisonous snakes, but there is a Rattlesnake and a corn snake displayed in the front. The rest of the snakes are in the snake shack outside in the back.
So, the girl told me they didn’t have any poisonous snakes, but they had a rattlesnake in the front. I decided to pay the admission and check myself.
I was expecting to get a senior discount on the admission ticket, as the screenshot from their website states below. But the girl had no clue about a senior discount, so I paid the full admission.
I first made my way to the front displays to get a picture of the rattlesnake. Surprisingly, there was no rattlesnake, only a corn snake, and a rat snake.
I had one last chance to complete my mission. The snake shack. I went outside and tried navigating to the back of the venue, looking for the snake shack.
While navigating to the back of the Texas Discovery Garden venue, I came across this aesthetic fountain.
Continuing to the snake shack. The following sign looked promising.
To my dismay, none of the snakes were venomous, and they were all kept in fish-type aquariums with a glare that made photography bad.
I made my way back to the train. In the last couple of days, I had gotten more than average exercise. The last couple of days were not a total loss. It got me closer to where I want to be with my reversing diabetes story.
The biggest benefit of the last couple of days and my relentless walk toward collecting information for the snake story was the exercise I got.
I have the continuous glucose monitor Libre 2. So most of the time I can check my blood sugar number instantly. Blood sugar numbers for adults should be from 90 to 130 mg/dL. The Libra 2 reader has a high blood sugar alarm that goes off when your blood sugar is higher than 240 mg/dl.
Near the end of last year, my blood sugar numbers were out of control, many times reaching 400 or 500 mg/dl.
High sugar levels slowly erode the ability of cells in your pancreas to make insulin. The organ overcompensates and insulin levels stay too high. Over time, the pancreas is permanently damaged. A good discussion on blood sugar and diabetes can be found here.
When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I weighed 250 lbs. At a height of 6'3 (1.91 meters), the BMI (body mass index) calculator said I was obese.
Late last year, according to my doctor’s weight scale, I weighed 231 lbs. That’s a loss of 19 lbs since I was first diagnosed with diabetes. According to the BMI calculator, I moved from the BMI category of obese to overweight.
Currently, I weigh 219 lbs. I have lost an additional 12 lbs since late last year, however, the BMI category still has me in the BMI category of overweight. To get to the BMI category of normal weight, I would have to drop to 200 lbs.
My blood sugar numbers have been getting much better since I started regularly taking the medication Jardeanc. I am prescribed insulin shots in the morning and at night.
I only take the insulin shot when my blood sugar is high. My blood sugar level seldom is high since I lost weight and started taking the medication Jardeance. Today, I had a blood sugar reading of 69 mg/dl, this caused my Libra CGM to sound an alarm for low glucose. I had an orange with raised my glucose reading to 84 mg/dl. This number was out of the low glucose alarm area.
I’ll speak to my Doctor next week about my latest blood lab results, and see what course he thinks I should follow.
I think I'm getting a handle on my diabetes, but now is not the time for me to let up. Furthermore, I must continue to exercise and eat well.
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