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!

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!

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!

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.

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.