Finally Moving On

Well, considering how depressed I've been the past few days, I'm feeling better now. I've come to terms with the fact that I have diabetes. It is indeed a hard pill to swallow, especially when the book I'm reading, Diabetics for Dummies, says that over half of the people diagnosed die of heart attacks. A lot also die from kidney failure. The book doesn't mention if this is *untreated* diabetics, or merely diabetics in general. It covers what happens to your body if you leave your diabetes untreated, so I can only assume the "over half" he was talking about were those who don't eat the special diet or take any medication to regulate the blood sugar.

My numbers are doing pretty well, all things considering. The dietitian told me they don't like to see anyone over 140 two hours after eating. I've been testing one hour after eating, because that's what my OB told me to do, and it's only been a handful of times I've gone over. Of course, if I tested two hours after, it might be a different story.

I'm going to see someone called an "internist", and I believe that's their title, rather than, "Hi, I'm an intern" like you see on Grey's Anatomy or what have you. I currently check my blood four times a day. The dietitian told me I probably can get away with only two times a day, since my numbers look good, but of course, I need to wait and let the doctor tell me what to do. I have an appointment to see him next Tuesday, the 12th.

Aside from all of this upheaval, I've lost something like 8 pounds so far! Mostly due to the way I'm eating, I'm sure. However, I just changed the batteries in our exercise bike, so I'm hoping to use that a little more, as exercise controls blood sugar as well, and I know darn good and well I'm not going to go out and walk somewhere. LOL (The bike takes batteries to regulate the resistance on the pedals, in case you were wondering. :P I could ride it without the batteries, but then, I wouldn't have any resistance, like you were going up a hill or what have you.)

My pants are fitting better. I can get myself into my "tight" pants (hehe) and my other pants that were usually a little tight after coming out of the dryer now fit "just right". I'm looking forward to losing more weight as time goes on, because that also controls diabetes, since being overweight can complicate things.

So all in all, things are going good. I don't feel hungry at all because I'm eating 6 times a day, three meals and three snacks. My dietitian isn't militant about always eating "by the book" either. She says if you want to splurge once a week, go for it. She told me the people who do the best on this life-long diet are those who don't deprive themselves of goodies every now and again (obviously not every day, but about once a week), because then, you're not depressed about what you're eating, and you're less likely to binge if the mood strikes.

My mother, who is also a diabetic, treats herself to ice cream once a week. What she does is she puts a small scoop on an ice cream cone, that way, it takes a longer time to eat it than just in a bowl, and you feel more satisfied when you finish it off. I don't know if I'm going to start doing that, but it sure sounds good!

I'm still a little blah about everything, but it's getting better. Except for when I read things like "over half the people diagnosed with diabetes dies of a heart attack". GACK! I do NOT need to hear that right now! But on the other hand, it's good to know what I'm dealing with, and what I may or may not have to look forward to. It's still kinda scary, though. But I'm doing well, and we'll see what the doctor says on Tuesday when he takes a look at my numbers.

~~Becka
http://www.RebeccaGoings.com