Hello, My name is Doris and I am a diabetic.....

Hello Doris!

After swimming in the rive Da Nile yesterday, I got to the bank, warmed myself in the sun and dined on not one but 2 luscious grilled cheese sandwiches, on white bread with jalapenos and dipped in salsa. My favorite comfort food. It was an over cast day in the real world and that just makes me crave certain foods. Yesterday it was grilled cheese. Towanda, my inner Cave Woman was no where to be found, I suspected she wouldn't approve but I did it anyway. My before reading was somewhat decent so I indulged. What did we learn?

1. For me, this seems to be a disease of indulgence and the cure is going to have to be self control.

2. Learning to control it is not far from learning how to fly. When you are first learning to fly, before you can solo, you have to master emergency situations like stalls. You have power on stalls that simulate stalls that can occur while taking off and you have power off stalls that simulate stalls that can occur while coming in for a landing. Stalls happen when the angle of the wing is at such an angle that the wind can not create it's lift. Make a paper airplane and throw it. If it doesn't go straight the whole flight but pitches up then sharply down, this is a stall. Learning to eat as my body needs is much like this. Grill Cheese sandwiches, for me caused an power on stall and my blood sugar soared to 262. The consequences were miserable and I had to sleep it off.

3. As in any loss or change, there is a certain level of grieving. It goes in stages, 2 of those stages are denial and bargaining. I spent a good amount of time in both yesterday. And that brings me to this blog.

Hello, My name is Doris and I am a diabetic.

Step One: Admitted we were powerless over diabetes and that our blood sugar had become unmanageable.

Step Two: Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves or medication could return the glucose readings to normal.

Step Three: Made the decision to turn our will and our diets over to the care of a health care team such as endocrinologist, diabetes educator, etc.

Step Four: Made a searching and fearless inventory of our pantries and began a food log and regular glucose testing.

Step Five:...........................you get the picture.

A grilled cheese sandwich! Something as benign as a grilled cheese sandwich made poison in my body! It was certainly a wake up call.....OK, it put me to sleep really but when I woke up, I knew. I knew that there was going to be no more bargaining, no more dips in Da Nile, the meter is not wrong, this is for real, the real deal, I am a diabetic. Wishing it away is not going to get me anywhere.

Now what?