Excel? Word? Why Are They So Hard? (sigh)
So, I developed the chart I wanted in Excel. But I don't really need this as a spreadsheet, so I moved it over into Word. Personally, I like to make a 'table' first in Excel, then transfer (copy and paste) it into Word. Believe it or not, it seems to work better, and doesn't really seem like 'extra' steps, because I find it a bigger pain to create the table in Word. (smile)
Both Excel and Word have some very annoying default behaviors, in my opinion. And they're far from user-friendly. It seems like even the most simple thing is a bear to manage.
I still miss WordPerfect. You could view Reveal Codes, and easily remove whatever formatting you didn't care for, thankfully. Word? If you really want to reformat, you need to pull things out and make them ASCII (text only format), then put them back in to Word and format. What a pain!
Anyway, I wanted to make my own chart to keep track of bloodcount results. I tried once but didn't like how it turned out (too complicated), so I did it again this morning. Now I'll have all my results in a weekly chart. I do one week per page, which gives me room for multiple results as well as relevant comments. I think it's easy to read, but we'll see what my doctor thinks when I take it to him next Wednesday...
I also have to turn it in (two weeks worth) to the company that's going to be providing my testing supplies. Normally they only cover once-a-day testing, except when you're first diagnosed, when they allow multiple tests.
Part of the deal right now is getting used to pricking my fingers. I'm NOT squeamish, nor am I at all afraid of the pain or sight of blood -- whatever. But I've been having trouble getting blood, partly because I'm tending to be dehydrated right now -- which is crazy, as one of my symptoms that I was diabetic was constant thirst and drinking, which has already abated. So I can't seem to get enough liquids in, no matter how hard I try...
I'm sure this will all balance out in a few weeks, so I just need to be patient!
Right now the fingers I test on are bruised and painful. Here's me deal: I haven't used my right hand (my 'mouse hand') for testing at all. I've actually been testing mostly on two fingers of my left hand. This is odd, because as a left-handed person, I would normally tend to 'protect' my left hand. But because of all the work I do with my right hand (including art), it's been just the opposite right now.
The other somewhat amusing thing is how I still 'protect' my left thumb. I was a thumb sucker as a child, and I always did things to keep my beloved thumb clean and okay. (That's probably hard for a non-thumb-sucker to get, I'm sure.) I still remember when I was a child and my Aunt Mabel was trying to get me to stop. She told me a story about her brother who sucked his thumb. He went to have a cookie directly from a cookie sheet, straight from the oven -- and because his thumb was more sensitive from being sucked all the time, he burned it badly. I was struck when she told me the story and can remember how it bothered me to this day...
I used to want to do research about thumb sucking -- and maybe write a book about it. I'm somewhat fascinated by what makes some people suck a thumb (or both thumbs), when others don't. Anyway, that's digressing a lot, but it fascinates me that after decades of not sucking my thumb, I still protect the thumb I used to suck.
I imagine I'll get over all this protection and eventually just test on both hands. Denise (the nurse we met with) did show me how to test on my arm, but it was a huge pain to bother with it. It's much more difficult to get a decent sample that way, so why bother?
Anyway, getting back to Excel (smile), as I said, I've made my new chart and entered all my results. Now I'll be able to easily keep them, print them out and share them as necessary -- which is exactly what I need.
I'm slowly getting used to the routine, as well. I want to manage things without changing my unusual hours -- because after years of living this way, I know I'm not going to suddenly keep totally different hours! So I need to find ways to follow testing, taking my meds and eating properly, while living with odd hours (by most standards). I believe it can be done, but I'll need to get used to everything. Frankly, I'd need to get used to everything even if I kept the same hours that everyone else does, so what's the difference?
The main thing right now? My results are really good and I'm not stressed by the changes in my life. In other news, my mouth is hurting far less than earlier in the week, which is a good thing. I'd prefer not to take Vicodin if I don't have to. (I was amused when Paul advised me about how addictive it is. I'm the 'half a pill' type -- and if I do take a full pill, I don't end up taking more than two pills in any given day, which I told him. When I had my surgery years back and went for my two week evaluation, the doctor wanted to give me more pain pills. I said, "Why? I still have a half bottle left." I'm just not big on taking any meds unless I absolutely MUST. But it was sweet of Paul to be worried about me...)