Sweetsnomo

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Paczki

Mmmm...Here I sit with my paczki (pronounced poonch-key). On fat Tuesday it is a given. For those who don't know it's a lot like a super-sized, jelly filled donut. In Poland, the paczki tradition was brought about when perishables such as lard and eggs had to be consumed before Lenten fasting.

This year I have a different relationship with my paczki. I know I really shouldn't eat it. My endo would say something like, "You know you shouldn't eat that!" Easy for her to say. She doesn't have diabetes. And it was interesting when I asked if she did. She gave me a shocked look with an emphatic "No!" like it would be a terrible thing.

Anywhere from 350 - 500 calories each and somewhere around 25 grams of fat. I don't know how many carbs. I don't know how this will affect my blood sugar. Last year I had four...FOUR! Let's see if I have restraint this year. Maybe a good polka after consumption and will help the blood sugar!

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Prevention

Call me crazy but I've stopped my subscription to Prevention magazine. I laugh when I think about it. Actually we are trying to save pennies here and there but it sounds better if I just say "It's too late. I've already got it." LOL

Saturday, February 25, 2006

The Diabetes I Knew

My first experience with diabetes was not my own. It was my Dad's illness. When I was little my Dad needed shots...I didn't know how many or how often. My parents didn't discuss it or make a big deal about it.

I remember my Dad having a foot problem. It started out with a blister on his heel from new shoes. It was more like a hole in the back of his foot. It wouldn't heal. I would help him by getting the Betadine and gauze. I remember the smell.

My Dad loved the lake. He couldn't go in it because of his foot. He got as close to it as he could by sailing and boating. Strong memories overcome me at times while pumping gas...the smell reminds me of the gas tanks on the boat.

At the age in life when I was trying to get as far away from my parents as possible (20) he left first. I came home and was told that Dad passed away at work. In a stairwell. I wonder how long he was there before he was found. Why was he taking the stairs since he was having leg troubles lately? He had been laid up with pains and was in bed for a couple of weeks. Not good for a man that can't sit still. I think he wanted to die at work. He loved what he did.

He was forty-four when he died. He died from a heart attack that was diabetes related. He was diagnosed at age eleven.

I feel guilty that I did not spend the last days, months, years getting to know him better. I was involved in my life and thought he would be around for a while longer. I thought I would have more time with him. I have many questions that I would have asked. What type of investments should I make? What's wrong with the water heater? How was your day?

These were the first thoughts when I was diagnosed. Foot problems, heart attack and early death. I was scared. It has been one year since I was diagnosed. I now realize that there are better ways of controlling diabetes. Better testing. Better medicine. Better...

My husband will be forty-four this year. My daughter will turn eleven. They are not sick but their ages make me remember my dad. Both ends of his disease spectrum.

I miss him.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Hi...new here. I was diagnosed in March, 2005 with diabetes. They started treating me as a type 2 diabetic. I was 39 and losing weight (down to 116#) which was not the typical type 2. After further testing they found I have the antibodies that show beta cell destruction...so I am type 1 (or LADA). I stopped the Glyburide since it was flogging my pancreas to create more insulin with what little ability it had left. Now on MDI of Novolog.

It's been close to one year and sometimes feels like an eternity. I started this post to just put my thoughts somewhere about this disease and me.