Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Bad Diet and Diabetes Go Hand In Hand! How Is Your Diet?

Nothing can compensate for a healthy diet! Click Here!You can take all the drugs, herbs and supplements you can find and you can buy and it will not make up for a bad diet! How is your diet? Is it full of carbohydrates, sugar and fried foods? Then no amount of drugs, herbs, or supplements you take can make a great improvement on your diet. Click Here!

If you have high blood sugar levels and diabetes is inevitable in your life, then you need to change your diet. First of all, you have to change your diet. Get rid of sugar! Eat less carbohydrates and spread them out throughout all the meals you eat in a day! Stop eating fried foods! Eat more fruits and vegetables! Click Here!

It is a proven fact! A healthy diet greatly improves your blood sugar levels! It can get you on the right path to improved health. If anything will prevent your developing diabetes, then this will do it. If you add regular exercise into the mix, then it will be even better for you blood sugar levels. Proper diet and regular exercise is an awesome combination for improving your general health and your blood sugar levels.

A good healthy diet is one where you do the following; Click Here!

Eat a variety of fruit and vegetables.
Eat fresh fruits and vegetables if possible.
Eat whole wheat or whole grain breads, cereals, brown rice, etc.
Eat legumes (beans and peas) often. Add them to your soups and salads.
Include low fat milk, yogurt or cheese in your daily diet as well.

Many of the supplements on the market today do claim to solve many health concerns for people who have diabetes and many diabetics take them. Many supplements claim to lower blood sugar levels and lots of people with diabetes swear by them. Health care providers are divided on the issue of the value of the supplements. It has not been proven either way. Many diabetics swear they help them manage their blood sugar levels which is a critical part of managing diabetes.

Supplements have not been thoroughly tested as have most medications, but I have included a list of the most popular ones and the value they provide to someone with diabetes. Click Here!

1. Chromium is recommended as the essential trace mineral to lower blood sugar levels. It is noted as the supplement that enhances the body's sensitivity to insulin for sugar and fat metabolism and facilitates insulin's ability to get glucose into the cells.
2. Vanadium is an essential trace mineral touted by some as the single most effective weapon to lower blood sugar levels for those with diabetes.
3. Magnesium is a mineral recommended for those with low levels of magnesium. Low levels of magnesium is associated with higher blood sugar levels.

These are three of the supplements recommended for those with diabetes who have difficulty maintaining low blood sugar levels. As always, I would suggest anyone who is considering taking supplements as an aid to improving control of their diabetes, check with their physician first. If you are on prescribed medications, it is imperative you check with your physician first! Any supplement can interact with your prescribed medications, as well as, other supplements. Click Here!

Diabetes affects some 24 million Americans and there are many more who go undiagnosed. Get on a healthy diet and regular exercise program and begin your fight to keep diabetes out of your life.

Take care until next time. Eat well, exercise and stay healthy!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

What Causes Diabetes? Will You Be A Victim?

Ask any doctor. No one seems to know what causes diabetes. They know why you have it, but not what causes it.
Click Here!

They know your pancreas has either stopped producing insulin or your body does not use the insulin properly. However, they do not know why this has happened to you. Why did your pancreas stop producing insulin? No one knows. Why is your body not using the insulin properly? No one knows.

Everyone can guess at the answer to these questions, but they do not really know. In the end it does not matter. What matters is you have diabetes if your body quits producing insulin or it does not properly use the insulin that is produced.
Click Here!

Type I diabetes is the kind a person has if they are born and their pancreas fails to work. No one knows why that happens either, but that is another story.

One thing for certain if this happens to you, you will be diagnosed as a diabetic if you cannot do something to make your body use what insulin it is producing. If the pancreas is not producing any insulin, then you have to take medications or shots that give you the insulin you need.
Click Here!

Glucose furnishes energy to our cells. Insulin in the blood helps the glucose get into the cells. When you eat, the body transforms all sugars and starches into glucose. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use glucose for energy. When you eat food, the body breaks down all of the sugars and starches into glucose. If the glucose does not get to the cells it builds up in the blood and urine. Your cells become starved for energy and your blood sugar levels become elevated. Thus, you have Type II diabetes.

Could this be happening to you? No doubt about it! It can happen to anyone if the pancreas stops producing insulin or the body stops utilizing the insulin efficiently. You could be the next victim!
Click Here!

What can you do so you will not be the next victim? Do you have a family history of diabetes? If so you are already at a higher risk of developing the disease. You cannot do anything about your family history. You can, however, do something about the other factors that cause it. Here is a list of those factors…
Click Here!

If you are overweight, lose weight.
Exercise regularly.
Change your diet.
Eat healthy foods.
Stop eating sugar and sugary foods.
Stop smoking.
See a doctor. Have tests done to determine whether you are diabetic or not.
Keep a check on your blood sugar levels.


You can change the odds on some of the risk factors for diabetes. If you make lifestyle changes now, before you get it, then you can change your odds of getting it. If you already have it, then making these lifestyle changes, can help you control your blood sugar levels and that helps prevent you from suffering the complications of the disease.

Find out now if you have diabetes or if you are a prime candidate to develop it. Talk to your doctor, have tests run and check your blood levels. Do whatever you can now to stop diabetes and its complications in your body.
Click Here!

Do not become another victim of diabetes. It is a lifetime sentence and it can greatly affect your quality of life.

Take care and stay away from diabetes!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What Can a Diabetic Eat?


Diabetes is a disease in which the body cannot regulate the amount of glucose in the blood. People who have diabetes either cannot produce insulin or their body cannot properly use the insulin. Click Here! If your body does not produce insulin and if your body cannot properly use the insulin, the cells in your body are harmed.

Cells need the sugar for fuel and insulin helps the cells to use the sugar more efficiently to convert the sugar to energy. If the sugar is not properly processed by the cells, it stays in the bloodstream and the high blood sugar levels causes problems for the major organs. Diabetic Diet

In most cases the high blood sugar levels can be controlled by two (2) things: (1) a strict diet, following a regular schedule and (2) exercise. Click Here!

Are you willing to eat the foods you should eat and avoid the ones you should not eat? Diabetic Diet

Are you willing to exercise regularly? Those are the two questions you must consider and those are the two things you must change in your life if you want to control your diabetes without medications and insulin shots.Click Here!

You must give up white sugar, white flour, processed foods, and junk food. You must avoid any food with sugar in it, starchy vegetables, soft drinks, cream and fried foods. Any food that contains harmful preservatives and a lot of salt should be avoided. Earliest Sign of Diabetes

Avoiding sugar means you need to avoid eating cake, pie, cobblers, ice-creams and chocolates, including the sugar-free ones. If it has sugar in it, you must avoid it. Even sugar free foods have a lot of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates turn into sugar in the body and sugar cannot be processed properly in your body because of the diabetes. This will cause your blood sugar to rise within 30 minutes after eating it. Click Here!

Besides watching what you eat, you must increase your physical activity daily. It is essential to your health to start a regular exercise program. Exercise will help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight as well to reduce the risk of the complications of diabetes. Diabetic Diet

Remember also that alcohol can cause blood sugar levels to spike. It should be drank in moderation. Too much alcohol can increase triglyceride levels as well as increase blood sugar levels. Click Here!

Another product you have to watch is cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes or using other forms of tobacco can have an adverse effect on your body and raise the risks of your having complications from diabetes. Smoking damages blood vessels and definitely makes your risk for heart disease, stroke and circulation problems greater.Earliest Sign of Diabetes

Complications from diabetes can be severe. If blood sugar levels remain high and are not controlled by diet, exercise and/or medications you could be faced with heart disease, circulation and cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, eye disease, stroke, amputation and even death. Click Here!

It is in your best interest to control your diabetes and keep your blood sugar levels low. Do not become a victim of diabetes. Fight back and beat this terrible disease. Stop it so you can live a long healthy life! Diabetic Diet

Take care until next time.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Diabetes is Unique with Each Person!

Diabetes is an individual disease. Some diabetics with type 2 diabetes can control their condition with diet and exercise and yet others require medication as well as diet and exercise. There are other diabetics who require diet, exercise and insulin shots to control their blood sugar levels. Click Here!

The one thing that is most important is that when you are told you have diabetes, it is imperative you take charge of your diabetes and stop it from developing further. That is the thing most diabetics fail to do. They do not believe they have diabetes. They are in a state of denial and therefore they take no action at all. They have no symptoms of diabetes. They feel fine and so they do not believe the medical results! Click Here!

When the medical expert states you have diabetes, you must believe it and you must act! Even though you have no symptoms, believe the results of the tests! Uncontrolled blood sugar levels go undetected for years. Most of the time there are no symptoms, but unbeknownst to the person, the uncontrolled blood sugar levels are causing all kinds of complications on their major organs. Click Here!

The medical tests required to determine if a person has diabetes, are not given to a patient unless there is cause to do so. Routine blood tests may be given to determine if blood sugar levels are high, but they fluctuate so much they are not reliable. It takes fasting tests to determine if a person has diabetes. Click Here!

The diagnosis is not a death sentence! The complications of it can be prevented if caught in time. The disease itself can be stopped or slowed down. It is possible to lead a long healthy life with diabetes. The key to it all is to take control when you are diagnosed with it. You must change your lifestyle if you have not already done so. Change your diet and start moving! If you have been eating unhealthy foods and spending your days sitting, then change that! Click Here!

Get up start moving! Get on a new healthy diet! You are what you eat! Click Here!

Blindness, kidney disease, heart disease, heart failure, stroke, neuropathy, and amputation are often the results of this serious disease. People who take an aggressive role in managing their diabetes are less likely to suffer from these potentially devastating complications. Click Here!

There are a wide variety of diabetic nutritional supplements on the market today. They contain ingredients that help lower blood sugar and improve insulin absorption. For example, many natural plant extracts have been used for years to control high blood sugar and related symptoms. Bitter Melon Extract, Cinnamon Bark, Huckleberry, and Banaba Leaf Extract are just a few. Click Here!

There are also nutrients, also used for centuries, that promote overall good health. These can include enzymes, antioxidants, and fat burning nutrients. These have proved beneficial for years and may be worth your trying them.Click Here!

How would you know if a supplement works? One way you can tell is to keep a record of your blood sugar levels to see if the readings are lower and more consistent. Having more energy, losing weight, and feeling better overall would also be signs. Just like with anything else, it will take time to see and feel the results. It would also be a good idea to check with your medical expert and get their approval before making any drastic changes.

Work with your medical expert, follow a nutritious diet, start a regular exercise program, try the nutrients and supplements, if you want, but be proactive and do what you can to stop this disease! Do not do like my mother did. She refused to accept she had diabetes and ended up with poor circulation and it cost her one of her legs. Click Here!

My husband has also been fighting diabetes for 20 years and it is slowly taking his toll on him. He now has circulation and heart problems and takes many different medications to make his life more comfortable. Do not wait around. Start your against diabetes today, while you still can! Click Here!

Have a great day!

Until next time…

Monday, July 6, 2009

Insulin Resistance- What is That? If I Have It So What?


So the doctor wants you to take some more tests. Diabetes runs in your family and he thinks you might have insulin resistance.
Click Here!


You have never heard of this. What does insulin resistance mean? What can you do to keep insulin resistance from developing into full blown diabetes?
Click Here!

So you check it out on the internet and discover insulin resistance is a condition whereby the body produces insulin but does not use it properly. How does this happen? Read this scenario and you will understand the process better. Click Here!

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas and it helps the body use glucose for energy. The digestive system breaks food down into glucose, which travels in the bloodstream to the cells. Glucose is also called blood glucose or blood sugar. After eating, the blood glucose level rises and the pancreas releases insulin to help cells absorb the glucose. Click Here!

When people are insulin resistant, their muscle, fat, and liver cells do not respond properly to insulin. Therefore, their bodies need more and more insulin to help the glucose enter the cells. The pancreas tries to keep up with this increased demand for insulin by producing more. The pancreas is called upon to produce more and more insulin and eventually the pancreas cannot produce all the insulin the body needs. Thus, excess glucose builds up in the blood and sets up the right environment for diabetes. As a matter of fact, most people with insulin resistance have both excess glucose and insulin in their bloodstream. Click Here!

Being insulin resistant increases a person's chance of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Being aware of insulin resistance, what it is and how you can prevent it from developing into diabetes is a step in the right direction. Once you find out what is necessary to stop the progression from insulin resistance to diabetes, then you can make the changes necessary to prevent insulin resistance from becoming diabetes. Click Here!

Scientists know there are specific genes that make people more likely to develop insulin resistance and diabetes. Being overweight and inactive are big contributors to insulin resistance.

Why is it a big deal if you have insulin resistance? Why worry about it? Click Here!

It is a big deal because many people with insulin resistance and high blood sugar levels have other conditions that increase their risk of getting full blown diabetes. So it is important you stop insulin resistance from developing into diabetes. If you do not know it, diabetes is a serious disease with severe complications. Insulin Resistance mean you are setting yourself up to develop full blown diabetes. It is in your best interest to stop this from happening while you can! Click Here!

Other conditions that increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes is excess weight around the waist, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and triglycerides. If you have insulin resistance and some of these other conditions, then you are at greater risk to get metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. So if you let it go you will find yourself living with diabetes! Click Here!

What are the symptoms of insulin resistance? There are none! You probably will not even know you have insulin resistance and that you are on the verge of developing type 2 diabetes. You may have it for several years without knowing it. The doctor needs to order either a glucose tolerance test or a fasting glucose tolerance test to determine if it is insulin resistance, pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.

Can developing diabetes be prevented? Yes it can. Increase your exercise program and if overweight, lose weight. This will help the body use the insulin it produces more efficiently and stop the development of pre-diabetes into full blown diabetes. Click Here!

So get off that couch and start moving! Exercise! Exercise! Exercise! Click Here!

Take care. Eat less and start those feet to moving!

Until next time…

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Who Wants A Smooth Road Anyway?

Life is one catastrophe after another or so it seems anyway! If the going were too smooth, we would fall asleep at the wheel. There has to be some bumps in the road to keep us on our toes. I can vouch for this everyday because in our house everything is a catastrophe! Click Here!

You know, I wish I had known my husband was insulin resistant in the years preceding his diagnosis with diabetes. If I had known perhaps I could have helped him prevent getting full blown diabetes. There are things you can do to prevent insulin resistance from developing into diabetes. However, we did not know and now it is too late!

Insulin resistance or pre-diabetes develops years before it is detected and according to a recent study, is irreversible. These findings were presented by the American Diabetes Association during the 69th Scientific Sessions in New Orleans earlier this year. Click Here!

Therefore the best safeguard against this condition is prevention. If I had known, if I had been aware that my husband's insulin was not working effectively then I would have done everything I could to make sure my husband stopped this catastrophe from happening. If we had known his blood sugar levels were slowly rising to catastrophe level and he would end up with type 2 diabetes, then he would not have become a catastrophe. He would not have become another member of the world wide adult population affected by insulin resistance, pre-diabetes and then full blown diabetes! We could have stopped it from happening! Click Here!

Do you want to know how to stop it from happening? The best way to stop it is to recognize the symptoms and change your lifestyle before it progresses. An early sign of high blood sugar is extreme fatigue. If you feel tired all the time and cannot pin point a reason for your being so exhausted, it could be a sign of high blood sugar. It is really important for you to see your doctor, let him gather information from you, organize fasting blood tests and give you information about insulin resistance and/or pre-diabetes. Click Here!

Make sure you find out before the disease becomes irreversible. That would be a major catastrophe and it can be prevented before it gets to that point. Just stop it! Do not let it happen! Click Here!

Take care. Avoid the Catastrophes! It is o.k. to have a few bumps along the way, but catastrophes need to be stopped! So put the brakes on! Click Here!

Take care!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

What is a diabetic to eat? Why can't he feed himself?

Do you have to fix the meals for a diabetic? Well I do too! Some days it seems o.k. but some days I do not want to face cooking one more meal for him. Him is my husband, Bud, you know! Click Here!

No matter what I fix, he wants something else. He is always looking for some pie, cake or dessert of some kind! If I fix a salad, fish, and broccoli, he wants a salad, baked potato, corn on the cob and a piece of coconut pie! Click Here!

I explain to him over and over the eating rules, but he does not care! He wants what he wants and he wants it now! So in frustration, I tell him to fix his own and I end up letting him do what he wants. I cannot control him. He is an adult and I cannot make the choices for him. It does not work when I try! He will not eat it anyway. Click Here!

I just want him to eat the way the nutritionist advised him to eat, but he will not! All I can do is cook the healthy food, set it on the table and hope he eats it.

Here lately I am trying to prepare food from the low-glycemic index. The glycemic index ranks foods, mainly carbohydrates, by how quickly they raise levels of blood sugar and insulin in the body. There are 3 categories, low, moderate and high glycemic foods. Proponents of this plan claim eating foods mostly from the low group helps people maintain a healthy weight and prevent developing heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. Click Here!

What this means is carbohydrates are divided into two categories: white foods like white bread that affects blood sugar dramatically and foods rich in wheat and oats which do not affect blood sugar so rapidly. I buy wheat and whole oats products and basically that is what we eat. Click Here!

This low glycemic diet plan can be helpful in preventing type 2 diabetes. Of course I am very interested in doing that since both my husband and my mother are affected by diabetes. It has been shown that replacing foods in the high foods with ones in the low foods will help people who have diabetes better manage their blood sugar levels! Click Here!

If you can substitute foods in the high group with ones in the low group, your husband will probably never know you did that. They taste great and they are so much healthier for you! In the long run it will help you better manage your blood sugar levels.

My goal is to try and make the foods taste good without having all those carbohydrates and calories. I am trying to keep my husband healthy and free from the complications of diabetes. Sometimes I wonder why I bother! Click Here!

But, I have lived with him some 25 years and I would be lost without him. So I keep on trying.

See you at the dinner table!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Am I My Husband's Keeper? Does a Diabetic Need a Keeper?

My husband is a diabetic, but you know that because I have told you that before. Bud was diagnosed with diabetes 23 years ago. There have been good days and there have been bad days. Click Here!

Probably the worst days we have ever had were when he was first diagnosed with the disease. It is like everyone, the medical staff, the doctors, the dietician, and my husband all expected me to be Bud's caretaker.

It is true I do prepare most of his meals when I am home. However, when he was first diagnosed I worked out of town 5 days per week. He had to fix his own meals, check his blood sugar and keep records of his blood sugar levels on his own. It was up to him to do what he had to do to maintain blood sugar levels. Click Here!

He was perfectly capable of doing all of this by himself. As the years went by and bud grew older, it has become increasingly harder for him to keep tabs all by himself. It has become a family affair. That, however, does not give me the right to boss him around.

I wanted to! I wanted to tell him what to eat and when to eat. I thought being the caretaker gave me the right to bawl him out when he ate something he should not have eaten. I found myself screaming at him for doing things he should not have done! He knew better!

Bud would eat a whole apple pie n 2 days. Every time he went to the store, he would go straight to the desserts. He was constantly looking for something sweet to take home and eat! It was like he was addicted to sweets. Nothing I said made any difference.

Our home became a battle zone! It was an all out war. He wanted sweets and I got mad ever time he ate them. Click Here!

When we went to see his doctor or his dietician, and they quizzed him about his blood sugar levels, and why they were high, or why they were out of control, or how much insulin he took, they would look at me for an answer as to why he could not follow their directions. They acted like they expected me to make Bud do what he should do to take care of himself. Click Here!

Finally, I informed them that I could cook the healthy meals for him to eat, but I could not make him eat them!

For example, every time Bud had to go to the doctor or the dentist early in the morning, he would take his insulin before he went, even if he could not eat before seeing them. By the time we got through at the doctor or the dentist office, he would have an insulin reaction from not having eaten.

Have you ever seen a diabetic have an insulin reaction? They start sweating profusely. They get very weak, and they can pass out. It would make Bud sick every time. Well, I got wise and I told Bud if you do not eat, you do not take our insulin shot! He would still do it. He said that he could not remember to take his shot unless he did it at the same time everyday! So I started carrying peanut butter and crackers with me. If I saw the sweat break out on his forehead, I made him eat the peanut butter and crackers and it would stop the reaction.
Click Here!

Even though they are adults, they hate being forced to abide by rules they have no control over. They hate being told what they can and cannot eat. They love certain foods and they do not want to give them up.

Bud loves to quote the old saying "man cannot live by bread alone."
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I always counter with "Man can live without any bread."

Find a happy medium. The important fact here is do what has to be done to live as normal a life as possible even though you have diabetes.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Taking Control of Your Life and Your Diabetes!

Most adults who have been diagnosed with diabetes have what is known as Type II diabetes. Type II is the kind my husband, Bud, has. It simply means the body does not produce enough insulin or the body does not use it properly. When that happens, you end up having too much sugar in your body which causes all kinds of trouble. Click Here!

When you are diagnosed with Type II, it is up to you to take control of your diabetes. What do I mean by taking control? Let me tell you like I told Bud.

Establish a routine. This will help you remember when to do what and put you in control. It's like I tell Bud, take control of the disease or it will take control of you!Click Here!

I know he gets tired of hearing all the do's and the don'ts but it's important to keep in mind what keeps your blood sugar levels under control. Here is the list:

Eat small regular low calorie, low carb meals.
Eat at the same time everyday.
Eat snacks of fruit or veggies.
Take your medications at same time everyday.
Be sure and do what the doctor prescribes.
Exercise at least three times per week.
Lose weight if you are overweight.

Know the signs for those who are at risk of developing diabetes: Click Here!

Is there a family history of diabetes?
Are you overweight?
Does your diet consist mostly of carbohydrates, both simple and complex?
Do you feast on fast food?
Do you do everything you can to avoid exercise?
Are you African-American, Latino, or Native American? These ethnic groups are more prone to the disease.

Take control of your disease. If you have any of the risk factors, do what you have to do to prevent it developing into the next step which is pre-diabetic or metabolic syndrome. From pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome, you are headed straight for Type II diabetes. Click Here!

Don't be a statistic. Take control before diabetes gets hold of you like it did Bud! Stop it in its tracks!

Don't leave it up to your spouse to "harp" on the do's of diabetes. You should be in control of your own destiny!

So until next time just remember to keep the reins in your hands!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Tomorrow Will be a Better Day But Today is O.K.

Today has been a hard day to take. Click Here!My husband, Bud has not been feeling well and he is grumpy. I do not blame him for that because when I do not feel good, I am also out of sorts. There should be a cure for diabetes. As intelligent as medical professionals in America are, someone in research should have found that cure. I mean the number of Americans with this awful disease is huge and growing in number everyday! Click Here!

We are a nation of fast food restaurants and families where everyone in the family has to work to exist. We do not have mom at home all day. She works also and hurries home after work to fix dinner. In many households, Mom works at night and is not home to fix diner. Dinner in many homes is fast food or none! Click Here!

We eat on the run! We no longer have the society where mom is home all day, baking cookies when the kids get home from school, and having dinner ready when dad gets home from work! It's a nice picture but not reality any more!

We know we should eat low fat, low carb, fuits and veggies. We should lay off the sweet stuff, stop drinking colas and carbohydrates and get our blood pressures, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar levels under control! We need to lose weight, exercise lots more and enjoy life more. Click Here!

Don't you think we all want to be thin and healthy? I do. Click Here!
But I do not want to have lap band surgery to get thin. I am on a diet and I will work on getting thinner, but like Bud said today," I know I don't need that piece of lemon pie and that chicken fried steak, but you know what, if I have to live the rest of my life and never eat another chicken fried steak or a piece of lemon pie, I just as soon die!"

Well, I want to keep him here with me. So, tomorrow will be a better day!

Keep calm! God Bless!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

This Time It is a Mountain!


One bump after another is o.k. When you live with a diabetic you learn to expect that! Click Here!But somedays are mountains! You know you start off taking care of business and it seems everything that can go wrong does. When it does go wrong the diabetic person gets all bent out of shape and moody. They usually do not handle stress as well as non diabetics and that is understandable. When they are under stress, their blood sugar is out of whack. When that happens, they have mood swings and they need to get their blood sugar down so they can handle it better. Click Here!
Can you imagine how you would feel if problems are going on all around you and you cannot focus? It is not your fault. You need to rest, take a deep breath, check your blood sugar and then think! Click Here!

All morning long my husband, Bud had to deal with issues. The air conditioner on the travel trailer would not work and we were leaving on vacation. How could we sleep as hot as it is? The generator would not start and we needed the generator so we would have electricity if the air conditioner would work. Bud had groceries in the freezer and could not remember how to turn the refrigerator to butane. One major crisis after another! How could a normal person deal with these?

Bud's whole morning was like this and then he headed out of town. When he got to the R.V. park the guys worked all day long and could not get the air conditioner to work. It was 91 degrees outside. No sleeping at all that night as he saw it!

However, someone came with an air conditioner he could use and installed it and all was fine. Bud was set for the night. The mountain vanished. Click Here!Sometimes when the diabetic has issue after issue, it's time to take a break and eat a snack and think the problem through. Blood sugar levels can get in the way! Sometimes, Bud works and works and forgets to eat, take a break or anything and he cannot function well when he does that. I try to remind him to not forget but I am not always there to remind him.

If you see this happening to your diabetic spouse, remind him or her to eat, take a break, check their blood sugar, or do all three. Problems always look smaller when you think them through. The mountain will become a bump again and you can drive right over it! Click Here!

Diabetes not only affects all the major organs in your body, it can also affect their thinking. It is just another page in the life of a diabetic and you may have to help him drive over that mountain or to shrink it to a bump!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Here Comes Another Bump!


Life would be dull if there were no bumps in the road. Open mouth insert foot is what I always say. When you get out of bed, you are asking for it. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I mean, after all, it is just another day!

Some bumps may be bigger than others, so what? The bumps are what you make them. No use making a mountain out of a mole hill, right? First bump, get Bud to check his blood sugar levels, take his insulin, while I fix breakfast. Click Here!
Even though I have to tell him each morning to do his part and he never has it done when breakfast is ready, there is no use making a mountain out of a minor bump. So what if his breakfast gets cold?

Today is the day he fills his medicine organizer for the week. wwwblogwithlucy.blogspot.comI have explained over and over to him that he give me the bottles that are getting low on pills so I can order refills. He never does it! He waits til the bottles are empty. It takes 10 to 14 days to get refills. so what if he runs out? He can claim he doesn't remember all he wants. How can he not remember? I tell him every week. This bump is getting bigger!

Bump number 3 has become a mountain! Everyday I have to tell him to take his noon pills and do his insulin so he can eat lunch! How can he forget? He does it everyday! I am not telling him today. I just won't fix lunch. We'll see how long before he remembers! Wait, no sense making a mountain out of a mole hill, so I tell him and I fix him some lunch. I don't want his blood sugar levels to get all messed up! Click Here!

All day long it is one bump after another. He plays the television on very LOUD He goes in and out all day and leaves the t.v. on. He takes a nap and it is so quiet! I love the quiet. Even if the road is bumpy I love him. We take care of each other and the road is smooth once more. We coast to dinner and bedtime. We make it through another round of checking blood sugar levels and insulin shots, dinner and loud t.v. shows. Another day in the life of a diabetic who has become a senior citizen. Click Here!

He goes to bed and all is quiet. Now it is my time. We made it over all the bumps today! Have a good night.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Living with a Diabetic


Some days are perfectly normal. You get up, have coffee, watch the news, and have breakfast. All is serene and happy. Then you realize he did not take his blood sugar levels prior to eating breakfast. He is suppose to do tha before each meal. He has been doing this everyday for 23 years. You would think he would know by now. Click Here!

The "He" I speak of is my husband, Bud. He blames everything he forgets on "I can't remember." "I don't remember." "I forgot," "How can I remember." Those are the words out of his mouth if you ask him any question! You can find some pertinent information if you look here. Click Here!

He has the doctor convinced he can't remember. She looks at me and wants to know what he had for lunch, when he took hiw blood sugar levels, how much insulin he took before each meal, and how much insulin he took right before bedtime. He convinced her that I keep up with all that!

I told the doctor I work and that I am away from home 3 or 4 days per week. I have no idea what he eats, when he eats, or if he even eats! She looks at me, clucks her tongue, and thinks what a poor wife I am. well, I have thought that also. What a poor wife I am! If I were not poor I could afford a nursemaid for him!

I also told the doctor I leave all kinds of prepared food for him to eat, but when asked why he did not eat what I left for him to eat, he merely says "I could not find it." That same sentence is repeated in answer to why he did not eat some fruit. "I could not find it," he replies. He now has 2 sentences "I could not find it" and "I forgot", which he uses conveniently in answer to whatever question you ask him.More information about diabetics can be found here.Click Here!

I have thought about shooting him. Thsi is why I chose this cartoon for this story. In all honesty, diabetes is like living with 2 or 3 different men. At times he is calm. Other times he is moody and cranky and irritable. Diabetes erupts with all those phases when his blood sugar levels are out of control! .Click Here!


Because blood sugar levels affect mood, as well as health, vitality, longevity, and general well being, it is in the interest of both husband and wife to keep the levels within the desired range, which is below 120, and preferably below 100. This is much easier said than done!

To keep blood sugar levels within that range, you must control diet, check blood sugar levels constantly, administer insulin as needed, drink ample amounts of water, and get plenty of rest. You must do this religiously, as if his life depended on it! Because it does!

This blog exists to help others through things I have already gone through with my husband as he has fought diabetes for the last 23 years. You have to laugh to survive and you must survive or die! More information available here. Click Here!

God bless you on your journey.