Last blog I mentioned having some health issues and that I was going to be looking into them further. Well, I did that.
A week ago I went to my doctor and had some blood drawn. It turns out I have Type 2 Diabetes. This explains a of the symptoms I've had, and some I didn't know I had. Unexplained weight loss for example. What a rip-off, I finally start losing the weight and it's because my blood has it in for me. Nice. Other symptoms include fatigue (I am always tired), and of course foot pain, which I had just attributed to being on my feet all day.
So it's all still pretty new to me and I'm in for one huge learning curve. At this point I am not having to shoot myself up with insulin. The doctor put me on three different pills. Two for diabetes and one for cholesterol, because why wouldn't that be messed up too? I am relieved that I don't have to give myself a shot (for now anyway).
The big change will, of course, be diet and the dreaded "portion control". As a person who loves rich, heavy foods this does not bode well. Don't get me wrong, I like vegetables. Love a nice salad. I don't mind eating lean meat, or "light" versions of food. It's not so much what I can or can't eat that bothers me, it's how little I can eat.
As I look through the literature provided me I am kind of stunned to discover what is considered appropriate per meal for a diabetic diet. Three ounces of meat? One half cup of rice? One slice of bacon? 1/4 of a bagel, are you kidding me? One cup of non starchy vegetables? None of this makes much sense.
Part of the problem I am having is that I have received a lot of hard data but not a lot of context to put this all in. I am supposed to have a goal number to base my meal planning around but I don't know what that number is or how to calculate it. There don't seem to be any hard fast rules for this stuff, it's all relative and different from person to person. Perhaps it's because I am a new diabetic that this seems so confusing, but honestly. I am trying to change the way I eat, I'm just afraid that I'm doing it wrong.
I am supposed to hear from a diabetes nutritionist/specialist soon who will answer all my questions (and I have a lot of them) but that phone call has yet to come. So for now I'm just guessing and hoping I'm correct. I also don't have a home testing kit. Not sure if I need one yet or how to properly use one, since I don't yet understand my numbers. Back to that again.
This is a lot to deal with. I want a cookie. Probably can't have it. Bummer.
Now, I must admit this isn't a total surprise. My mother had Type 1 Diabetes and died young. While her death was technically a heart attack, she did have some complications from the disease. Other family members have had diabetes as well. I have diabetic genes. That's a thing, I didn't make it up. Some family members have fared well with their disease, and some have not. I want to be in the former group.
Considering family history I'm surprised I don't know more about this disease. I feel like I should. I feel like it should all make some sort of sense to me but it doesn't. And the more research I do the more overwhelming it gets.
Bottom line is that I have a chronic disease that will be with me the rest of my life. I will do my best to manage it and control it. This will be a struggle, and it's already hard. But I have no choice.
And I still want a cookie.
