March 17, 2003

Lab Work

Lesson Learned: ALWAYS ask for the actual results and ranges of tests, not just whether or not they are "OK." I was told by the nurse that my GD test was "OK, even though one of the values was high." After I digested the numbers she gave me though, they don't make sense to me.

Here's my logic: You're fasting, then you drink a ton of sugar, then you metabolize it over the course of three hours. The number should spike at the 1 hour point (now that your body has taken in all that glucose), then trend downward. At the very least, maybe it makes some sense that it doesn't get to its highest until the second hour (if your body is slow to get the sugar from your tummy to your blood stream), but then it should definitely go down or worst case stay the same. Certainly, the cut-off numbers trend this way: Fasting should be less than or equal to 95, 1 hour--180, 2 hour -- 155, 3 hour -- 140. If two of your numbers are above those numbers, they treat you for GD.

My numbers, they tell me, were: fasting--81, 1 hour--128, 2 hour--148, 3 hour--156. The last number is obviously over the cut off. But this makes no sense to me -- why am I trending upwards over the course of three hours? Unless my system is REALLY slow on the uptake, that can't be right, because I didn't intake any more sugar. I am confused. If the lab results are wrong -- perhaps 1-2-3 should really be 3-2-1 -- then I am fine. If the lab results are wrong and 1-2-3 should be 1-3-2 (spiking at 2 hour, then going down a bit) then I have GD according to the cut offs. If they really are trending upwards, isn't that a problem, even if I don't actually have GD?

I put a call in to the doctor to talk about the results, since the nurse could not give me any more analysis. Long story short is that I think everything is OK, and I am just going to continue to monitor what I am eating and try not to go crazy with sugars. I only hope my questioning doesn't lead to me having to re-take the whole test!

Posted by Dineen at March 17, 2003 04:00 PM
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