Sorry to scare you Fly,

..but I am fine. This is a condition all too common in diabetics.

Circulation issues beget nerve damage and numbness in extremities. I have trouble turning pages of a book.

Some folks are kept awake at night by a sensation of needles in their feet. Mine are just numb. My baby toes can be chopped off and I'd barely feel it. I've been like this for awhile. My feet were like this when you saw me last August.

I have to look at my feet every day to see that they are okay. And I am never barefoot. Not even from my bed to the potty. And when I see the doctor I always get barefoot so he can check out my feet.

The eyes are something else to check out. Tomorrow is my six-month eye exam to see if there is blood vessel damage in my eyeballs. Last exam was fine.

The other thing to watch is the kidneys. I am getting a kidney test next month.

Fly, I am going to be 50 years old in January. Unlike many who read this blog, I have the privilege of knowing my cause of death. Diabetes will eventually kill me. The day it does is up to the Almighty.

I'm getting a military pension when I hit 60. Hopefully I can hang around long enough to suckle from the teat of the American taxpayer for awhile.

I also know what is going to happen to me after I die. That is also up to the Almighty.

So fear not, friend Fly. If even a writer of God's Word like the Apostle Paul could be given a thorn in his flesh, who am I to complain?