Living with a Diabetic

It never crossed my mind that diabetes would ever be a concern in our daily lives. My husband and I were totally unprepared when he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. Of course we know people with it, but we never considered it would ever affect us.

Looking back, I can remember that during all the years I have known him, he would get very irritable when he got hungry or when he to wait a lengthy time for food to be prepared. I was puzzled by that, but didn't comment on it. I just accepted it as being part of who he is.

But having a short temper is only one of the symptoms people have. They can also have excessive thirst, blurry vision, and frequent urination.

I later learned that having meals served on time and regular snacks at a certain time are very important to a diabetic. It helps them keep their blood sugar regulated. Five small meals a day is good or three regular meals and snacks in between. Their temper is very short when they are hungry.

Before he was diagnosed, he started feeling strange and was losing a lot of weight. No matter how much he ate, his body wasn't using the food. He finally went to the doctor. After tests were ran they told him he is a Type II Diabetic.

Diabetes can affect the heart, kidneys, eyes, feet, etc. The whole system can be affected. It is very important to be under a good doctor's care. It stuns you once you realize what it is and how serious it is if left untreated. We read all the information we could get about it, and then met with a dietician to educate ourselves about the disease in order to know how to deal with it. His lifestyle and diet did a complete turn around.

White refine sugar is no longer a part of our home. I had to learn a whole new way to prepare meals, and also what he could and could not eat. Since I was the one that cooked the meals, I felt like his life was in my hands! I was so worried and stressed out over the pressure that I was getting very frustrated and short tempered. Then I remembered that my younger brother also is a Type II Diabetic so I talked to him about my concerns. He told me that I am not responsible to make sure a grown man eats like he is supposed to, remembers to take his medication, and make sure he keeps a close check on his blood sugar readings. He said that my husband is the one with diabetes and it is HIS responsibility, not mine. He also said that no matter how worried I was, it didn't help one thing. So I basically "let go". And to my surprise, my husband actually does do all those things and takes very good care of himself. I do make sure he has the right foods to eat in the house, but I don't hover over him and try to keep him from eating anything he's not supposed to. He's an adult and has been told what to avoid and what to eat.

The strangest part of it all to me is the recipes that are supposed to be for diabetics. Most of the desserts call for white granulated sugar! Diabetics do not need that. It can even cause them to crave sweets. Also, starches turn into sugar on our system. Like potatoes, rice pasta, etc. So we learned to be careful with those.

There are sugar substitutes that can be used, but be careful of some of those. Do your research. The healthiest one I have found is a new one called "Xylo Sweet". It is made by Xlear Inc. It is used exactly like regular sugar and tastes like it. We can't tell the difference. Stevia is good for diabetics, but you have to learn how to use it. It's bitter if too much is used.

Usually when a diabetic's blood sugar drops too low (and it does) they get very shaky & sort of dizzy. The first time that happened to my husband, it scared us both. He had just got home when it started. He was shaking really bad. We had been warned on what to do, and that is to get sugar in him as quickly as possible. We kept cola, orange juice, and candy on hand. We even keep candy in both our vehicles. So that day, I poured him orange juice. He was shaking so bad he could hardly hold the glass, but he managed to get it down. It worked and pretty soon he was settled down and back to normal.

I remember seeing a friend of ours help a diabetic who had passed out by putting some sugar in a spoon under her tongue. He made sure her tongue didn't go to the back of her throat and choke her. It didn't take long for her to come around and then she was just fine.

The best advice I can give to make life easier when living with a diabetic is to do what you can to be sure the right food is prepared, but let them take responsibility for themselves for their own health.