TheThings We Teach by Our Actions

My mom had been feeling very tired, irritable, and stressed out for a while. She didn't think much of it though. As a mother of six kids and grandmother of fifteen, she was used to putting her needs on the back burner.

She started having other symptoms but put off seeing a doctor. She thought that she had an infection, so she used over the counter medication. She can be a bit stubborn, so she kept trying to treat the problem herself to no avail. A month later and she was still having symptoms of an infection. She finally decided to see her doctor.

The whole family was floored to find out that she had diabetes. None of us had ever heard that you could have symptoms similar to depression and also those of a yeast infection due to diabetes. We never linked either of our mother's infrequent complaints with anything as serious as diabetes.

My mother did fit some of the profile of a likely candidate for diabetes; she was slightly overweight and a smoker. Since her diagnosis she has struggled with the chore of keeping her life in balance with the diabetes.

She quit smoking, changed her diet, and uses medication to help keep her in good health. I am so glad that she went to the doctor finally, but I wish she would have went earlier. She could have saved herself so much grief and physical discomfort if she'd have gone when she first experienced symptoms.

I have learned by her experience though. I am addicted to refined sugars and sweets, and I have tried to limit my intake of them. I also have bigger eating issues and habits to deal with.

I still struggle with a lifetime of accumulated poor eating habits. I love pop; I think I honestly might be addicted to it. Some days I'll eat cookies, chips, a candy bar, and that's it. Aside from the pop, of course. I know it's bad for me, but it's hard to keep it in check with a hectic life.

I have to break not only my habit of poor eating choices, but also my sometimes bizarre eating habits. I guess I'm what you'd call a closet eater. If I am eating something bad for me, like fried cheese sticks, candy bars, or massive amounts of ice cream, I don't want anyone to be around. The habit has spread out into my normal meal times though.

Sometimes I am very uncomfortable eating in a social setting. Restaurants are usually okay, but situations like office parties or receptions sometimes make me panic. I become so self conscious about eating that I lose my appetite and can't make myself eat anything. By not eating I draw further attention to myself and the situation becomes more awkward still.

My biggest fear with my food habits is that my kids will pick up on them. I try to counter my habits by putting limits on how much pop and sweets they can have, but I see the desire in their little eyes when I have pop in front of them. I think setting a good example is probably the best thing I can do for them, but it is hard sometimes.

I hope when they are in their twenties they won't be writing an essay about how their mom developed diabetes and it really opened their eyes to their poor nutrition habits.