Weight Watchers may not be the diet of choice for a diabetic, but it is the diet that hubby said he thought he could do. Only time will tell. This is the end of day 3 and he has stuck with it. He is starting to comprehend the concept of choices. He is asking me how many points items have. And I'm gently reminding him that he can eat anything he wants, but he has to count it.
So he has now been 3 whole days and has opted not to eat potato chips. That's a minor miracle!
I showed him that baked tortilla chips are less points than regular chips. He is catching on that whole wheat bread has less points than white bread and he is picking whole wheat tortillas over white bread.
He is still not checking his blood sugars. And he is sitting on a heating pad almost all day long because of his sciatic nerve.
He's gone 3 days with no soda. He's only had 1 chocolate bar that I know of and when I charged him 5 points for it and explained the glucose tablets would be 1 pt each - he totally got that!
He currently weighs 250 # and according to WW, he could lose up to 12 pounds the first week. I think that would motivate him completely. 4 more days and he can weigh himself. He just has to get the weight off. And so do I. He needs to lose 50# and I need to take off 30, so I estimate it will take us 6 months at a minimum. A full year at best.
Anyone else try WW as a diabetic? I'd be curious to know what the results are.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
back pain and things to give up.
He went to the doc fo rhis back and was told that it is his sciatic nerve and he needs to stay off his feet until it heals.
So I decided to do some research. Sciatic NERVE = any nerve = nerve ending damage as in neuropathy?
Sure enough. I think this is going to be an ongoing problem with him. Neuropathy in his sciatic nerve. It even has a name: Sciatica. So from past research on nerve ending damage - he should have severe pain for the next 2 years and then the feelings will die and he won't have the pain. Wonder if it works the same with the sciatic nerve? Will he lose all sense of felling as in his feet?
Time to look into getting a wheelchair?
I do believe he is starting to see the end results of this disease. When we were on the cruise, he had his first ever pedicure and loved it. So I talked him into signing up for a seaweed wrap and flotation massage. It was highly recommended for people with arthritis and I just thought it might make him feel better.
When he got to the SPA and they did their questionnaire with him, they told him he could not get the treatment. There was a risk of the lotions they use getting into a needle injection spot and causing an infection. A few hours later, he actually admitted being very depressed over everything that he can't do because he has diabetes.
So we had a good talk at that point. I simply reminded him that he has 2 choices. He can continue to ignore his sugar levels and endure the progression of this disease and give up more and more.....or he can try to maintain his current status by watching his sugar levels, dieting, and exercising. That's when he agreed to diet and watch his sugar levels.
The sad thing is that was a week ago and although he has been on our diet for 2 days now, he is just not willing to test his sugar even once a day.
So, yesterday, while at the grocery store, he had a low. He grabbed a bottle of fruit juice and downed that, then a hershey's chocolate bar and I was starting to wonder if he was going to make it out the door or not. He had taken his morning insulin and had not had a single thing to eat. So I asked him about that. Why would he not eat? And he said he just didn't feel like it. Once again I simply reminded him that if he doesn't take care of himself, all I can do is call 911 when he passes out.
Why doesn't he carry glucose tabs with him? And don't tell me to carry them for him - it's not my disease!!!!!
He said to me last night, "You should just leave me" and for the first time ever, I replied, "Well, I know it's an option that I have, but I'm not leaving yet."
He did not reply. I think I shocked him! I'm hoping he will think about what I said. I truly am not even considering leaving him, but knowing that it is an option is good mental health insurance for me.
DW
So I decided to do some research. Sciatic NERVE = any nerve = nerve ending damage as in neuropathy?
Sure enough. I think this is going to be an ongoing problem with him. Neuropathy in his sciatic nerve. It even has a name: Sciatica. So from past research on nerve ending damage - he should have severe pain for the next 2 years and then the feelings will die and he won't have the pain. Wonder if it works the same with the sciatic nerve? Will he lose all sense of felling as in his feet?
Time to look into getting a wheelchair?
I do believe he is starting to see the end results of this disease. When we were on the cruise, he had his first ever pedicure and loved it. So I talked him into signing up for a seaweed wrap and flotation massage. It was highly recommended for people with arthritis and I just thought it might make him feel better.
When he got to the SPA and they did their questionnaire with him, they told him he could not get the treatment. There was a risk of the lotions they use getting into a needle injection spot and causing an infection. A few hours later, he actually admitted being very depressed over everything that he can't do because he has diabetes.
So we had a good talk at that point. I simply reminded him that he has 2 choices. He can continue to ignore his sugar levels and endure the progression of this disease and give up more and more.....or he can try to maintain his current status by watching his sugar levels, dieting, and exercising. That's when he agreed to diet and watch his sugar levels.
The sad thing is that was a week ago and although he has been on our diet for 2 days now, he is just not willing to test his sugar even once a day.
So, yesterday, while at the grocery store, he had a low. He grabbed a bottle of fruit juice and downed that, then a hershey's chocolate bar and I was starting to wonder if he was going to make it out the door or not. He had taken his morning insulin and had not had a single thing to eat. So I asked him about that. Why would he not eat? And he said he just didn't feel like it. Once again I simply reminded him that if he doesn't take care of himself, all I can do is call 911 when he passes out.
Why doesn't he carry glucose tabs with him? And don't tell me to carry them for him - it's not my disease!!!!!
He said to me last night, "You should just leave me" and for the first time ever, I replied, "Well, I know it's an option that I have, but I'm not leaving yet."
He did not reply. I think I shocked him! I'm hoping he will think about what I said. I truly am not even considering leaving him, but knowing that it is an option is good mental health insurance for me.
DW
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Doing well
Just keeping my blog up to date here. We just got home from a 10 day vacation and it was nearly perfect. About 3 days ago, his back started hurting him extremely bad and he has a call in to the doctor today. And on the first day of our trip, I messed up. I totally missed a sugar low. He was trying to put a luggage strap on his suitcase and could not get it to fasten. I was so upset with him and couldn't understand why on earth he couldn't do such a simple task. And then it hit me he was having a low. Got him breakfast and he was fine.
Amazing to me when things are going smooth and I don't think about diabetes every second of my life, then when he does have a low, I don't recognize it. And I know he didn't even know it was happening.
He has agreed to diet. Starts tomorrow. I just pray he can stick to it. He's gained 30 pounds this past year. He can't really walk, but he can do the stationary bike and that's a place to start.
DW
Amazing to me when things are going smooth and I don't think about diabetes every second of my life, then when he does have a low, I don't recognize it. And I know he didn't even know it was happening.
He has agreed to diet. Starts tomorrow. I just pray he can stick to it. He's gained 30 pounds this past year. He can't really walk, but he can do the stationary bike and that's a place to start.
DW
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