Well, I said I'd been busy while hubby was at his parent's this week. I am having the best time! I purchased new suction hooks for the shower walls and hung all kinds of new lufa and scrub brushes up. Took the parafen foot bath and the foot spa into the bathroom and ran extension cords along the floor so I can sit on the corner of the tub and do my feet (ok...I'll probably electrocute myself, but I think I have it so I'll be ok! LOL!)
I decided to turn our master bathroom into a spa. How fun is that? I need to find a small padded chair to put in there and then I will be all set! I'm thinking one of those folding director's chairs that I can fold up and put out of the way.
Now, mind you, I'm doing this compeltely and totally for myself. But who knows....maybe he will decide to take better care of his feet if I start pampering myself?
I used to be so bored on Sunday nights. You know, when you were a kid, you saved all your homework for Sunday night and did it then because there was never anything going on. So as a young adult, I started a ritual of "Sunday night Spa night" and I would burn candles and soak in bubble bath and primp all night long.
Somewhere in the past 25 years, I quit doing that. I think it's time to start it up again. I think tonight will be the first of many "Spa nites".
Again...just doing something totally just for me!!! :o)
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Crashing all day long?
Well, I finally got us in to a diabetic counselor...in a couple of weeks! But she sure made an interesting observation when she was talking on the phone. She said it sounds like hubby is crashing all day long. Well, I sure had not thought of that. But what if....his sugar is low, so his body's normal reaction is to get angry, in order to produce adrenaline, in increase the sugar to get it back up....and he's exhausted, so he takes a nap and when he wakes up, he is low....and he's in this vicious, constant, never-ending cycle.
Pretty much his pattern most days. When he's awake, he's mad and yelling...and then he sleeps! He is needing more and more naps throughout the day, and most every day of the week.
She asked me to have him test his sugar level before each meal and before bed for the next 2 weeks. Well, he is out of town at the moment, but I did call and ask if he would do that.
So my next question. How do I/we know that he is writing down an honest test reading? Oh! You think he wouldn't lie about that? Why not? This is the man who is still in denial that he has a disease that is not going to go away. This is the man who went 5 months without putting on a pair of shoes. This is a man who will do anything to prove he is right, so yes, of course, he will write down any number that he thinks is good.
I'm sure that whatever the log shows, it will be near perfect. Problem is, it doesn't help at all because the counselor will not have accurate readings and she will be trying to figure out why he is having all these problems when his blood sugar is normal.
On the up side...I've had a wonderful week! I feel so rested! I've been getting 8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. No foot flopping on the bed. No sudden jerks and jumps from the other side of the bed! Getting so much done around the house. All my month end assignments are done and in the mail. Even visited with my sister for a couple of days. But how sad that hubby has to go away for me to feel this much relief. I can almost completely forget that our lives are so controlled by this disease when he is gone.
Oh....I had pizza rolls and chocolate brownies this week! How fun!!! But it will all be gone by tomorrow when he flies home! I have to go back to being "good"! LOLOL!
How many other spouses out there are just like me? The spouse with diabetes leaves and you RUN for sugar? LOLOL!!!!
And how many of you have separate bedrooms just so you can get a good nights sleep? I'm thinking I may be spending more and more time in the guest bedroom!
Ok, back to my chocolate! :o)
Pretty much his pattern most days. When he's awake, he's mad and yelling...and then he sleeps! He is needing more and more naps throughout the day, and most every day of the week.
She asked me to have him test his sugar level before each meal and before bed for the next 2 weeks. Well, he is out of town at the moment, but I did call and ask if he would do that.
So my next question. How do I/we know that he is writing down an honest test reading? Oh! You think he wouldn't lie about that? Why not? This is the man who is still in denial that he has a disease that is not going to go away. This is the man who went 5 months without putting on a pair of shoes. This is a man who will do anything to prove he is right, so yes, of course, he will write down any number that he thinks is good.
I'm sure that whatever the log shows, it will be near perfect. Problem is, it doesn't help at all because the counselor will not have accurate readings and she will be trying to figure out why he is having all these problems when his blood sugar is normal.
On the up side...I've had a wonderful week! I feel so rested! I've been getting 8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night. No foot flopping on the bed. No sudden jerks and jumps from the other side of the bed! Getting so much done around the house. All my month end assignments are done and in the mail. Even visited with my sister for a couple of days. But how sad that hubby has to go away for me to feel this much relief. I can almost completely forget that our lives are so controlled by this disease when he is gone.
Oh....I had pizza rolls and chocolate brownies this week! How fun!!! But it will all be gone by tomorrow when he flies home! I have to go back to being "good"! LOLOL!
How many other spouses out there are just like me? The spouse with diabetes leaves and you RUN for sugar? LOLOL!!!!
And how many of you have separate bedrooms just so you can get a good nights sleep? I'm thinking I may be spending more and more time in the guest bedroom!
Ok, back to my chocolate! :o)
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Part C: The wife, the sandwich and the spread
I've been doing research on what is called the "Sandwich Generation". That's us baby-boomers who feel we need to take care of our aging parents while we allow our adult children to move back home and we "take care" of them as well.
The definitions totally leave my husband out:
Traditional: aging parents and children of their own
Club sandwich: 50-60 with aging parents, adult children and grandchildren
or 30-40 with young children, aging parents and grandparents
Open faced: anyone else involved in elder care.
So, my husband is 50-60 with 75 year old aging parents, 90 - 93 year old aging grandparents, 31 -32 year old adult children and a 4 year old grandchild with another in the oven!!!
I don't think you can spread the man any thinner than that!
One website calls it "the cluttered nest". LOLOL! All I want in my life is my empty nest!!!
My view is just a tad different from my husband's. My grown children will not move in with us as they need to know that they have to live with the outcomes of the decisions that they make in their lives. My mom is living with my youngest sister right now and one thing for sure, I will never lie to my husband about what I do to help her out.
So my husband does not have my support in how he is dealing with his family. Partly because I think they are all using him. Partly because I think he is enabling each of them in some type of negative manner. But mostly because I know that the stress he is putting himself through, at his own choice, is not doing anything to improve his diabetes. Being a hero to everyone else does not make you a hero to yourself. He really needs to be a hero to himself and get his diabetes under control.
I asked him tonight who would be here to take care of everyone when he is gone. He did not answer me. Who will his daughter move in with? Who will buy his son an airplane ticket to go see mommy? Who will fly and drive his mom to the doctor? Who will take his grandmother wherever she wants to go?
Why is it I see the answer so clearly? Each of those individuals is going to have to come up with some means to take care of themselves when he is gone. Why can't they do it now? Why does he continue to enable them? Why does he put himself through all this stress (and yes, he admits it is extremely stressful). And where am I in all this? Spread completely out of the picture? Off the page? Nowhere in sight? Smothered in the layers of the cluttered nest?
Yes, I will call the counselor again tomorrow as they have not called back to schedule an appointment. In the meantime I'm wondering if I should just spread myself out of this sandwich as it may be to cluttered, too thick, too suffocating for me to survive.
On the other hand, he is flying out in the morning and will be gone for 6 days. While he is gone, his daughter will be moving into our basement. Maybe I will have a couple of days of sheer silence and can do a little bit of mending of my own spirit!!!
Here's to all of you caught in the middle of the sandwich that is one layer diabetes and another layer family! :o)
The definitions totally leave my husband out:
Traditional: aging parents and children of their own
Club sandwich: 50-60 with aging parents, adult children and grandchildren
or 30-40 with young children, aging parents and grandparents
Open faced: anyone else involved in elder care.
So, my husband is 50-60 with 75 year old aging parents, 90 - 93 year old aging grandparents, 31 -32 year old adult children and a 4 year old grandchild with another in the oven!!!
I don't think you can spread the man any thinner than that!
One website calls it "the cluttered nest". LOLOL! All I want in my life is my empty nest!!!
My view is just a tad different from my husband's. My grown children will not move in with us as they need to know that they have to live with the outcomes of the decisions that they make in their lives. My mom is living with my youngest sister right now and one thing for sure, I will never lie to my husband about what I do to help her out.
So my husband does not have my support in how he is dealing with his family. Partly because I think they are all using him. Partly because I think he is enabling each of them in some type of negative manner. But mostly because I know that the stress he is putting himself through, at his own choice, is not doing anything to improve his diabetes. Being a hero to everyone else does not make you a hero to yourself. He really needs to be a hero to himself and get his diabetes under control.
I asked him tonight who would be here to take care of everyone when he is gone. He did not answer me. Who will his daughter move in with? Who will buy his son an airplane ticket to go see mommy? Who will fly and drive his mom to the doctor? Who will take his grandmother wherever she wants to go?
Why is it I see the answer so clearly? Each of those individuals is going to have to come up with some means to take care of themselves when he is gone. Why can't they do it now? Why does he continue to enable them? Why does he put himself through all this stress (and yes, he admits it is extremely stressful). And where am I in all this? Spread completely out of the picture? Off the page? Nowhere in sight? Smothered in the layers of the cluttered nest?
Yes, I will call the counselor again tomorrow as they have not called back to schedule an appointment. In the meantime I'm wondering if I should just spread myself out of this sandwich as it may be to cluttered, too thick, too suffocating for me to survive.
On the other hand, he is flying out in the morning and will be gone for 6 days. While he is gone, his daughter will be moving into our basement. Maybe I will have a couple of days of sheer silence and can do a little bit of mending of my own spirit!!!
Here's to all of you caught in the middle of the sandwich that is one layer diabetes and another layer family! :o)
Part B, the aging parents
My husband's parents are in their late 70s and live a 15 hour drive from us. The live with his 90 something year old grand mother. "Mom" has been a very bad girl and has racked up about $70K worth of credit card bills. And she calls my husband crying, wanting money. In the past year, he has refinanced our home and given her several thousand dollars. All in secrecy. We are not allowed to tell "Dad" as he will have a stroke if he finds out about this. We are not allowed to tell "Grandma" as she is another source of income for "Mom" and if she finds out, she will cut "mom" off.
So, in this whole tangled web of deceipt and lies, "Mom" came down with the shingles. Now, at her age, shingles are most commonly caused by stress. They lasted for 3 weeks and I have no doubt that she was miserable. They developed into trigeminal neuralaga in her face (which incidentally, is brought on by stress). My theory is that the woman will not get well as long as she is caught up in this web of deceipt and lies. My goodness....if I were $70K in credit card debt I'd be a bundle of nerves and stress myself!!!
The pain in "mom's" face will not go away. So, hubby flew down to take her to the doctor to have an injection done. That's the story I got. He flew 1 1/2 hours, rented a car, drove 1 1/2 hours, picked her up, drove 1 1/2 hours back to town to the doctor. Then drove her 1 1/2 hours home, drove 1 1/2 hours back to the airport for his 1 1/2 hour flight home.
Two weeks later he tells me he needs to make the flight/drive again to take her to the doctor for the injection. At that point I flipped out! Come to find out, truth be told, the first trip was just for a consultation. Hmmmm. Why could he not tell me that? Because he thought I would get mad at him spending the money just to drive his mom for a consultation. Duh!!!
Now, 6 weeks later, he is making the trip again. The daughter who up and quit her job said she would go with him, so he bought her a RT ticket. Of course, she got the new job at the cosmetics counter, so he is out that ticket. He is flying down early tomorrow morning. On our way back from his son's house tonight, his dad called to confirm that he is still coming down tomorrow. He said that he was, but that his daughter was not going to make the trip. "Dad" was quite upset and said that his mother-in-law who lives 3 hours from them had wanted to come up for a visit and to see my husband's daughter. My husband said to his dad, "I can drive down and get her". When he hung up the phone he sighed heavily and said, "family".
I said, "you do have the option of saying "no". He said, "no I don't." I said, "of course you do". He said, "you and I were raise differently, we have different feelings about our families, I do not have the option of saying no". I said, "it is just a word, and all of us always have the option of saying the word no".
I just wanted to smack him. Is this the HERO thing again? He is going to save his parents? From what? From themselves? Their debt? Their old age?
And I really wanted to scream at him that this has absolutely nothing to do with how either of us was raised. My goodness! I was raised a Baptist and went out on the street corners and handed out religious pamphlets every Saturday morning. I sure don't do that now! I was raised that it was a sin to drink, dance, gamble......and I sure don't believe that these days. I grew up going to church on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (lots of teen meetings and such). I don't do that today. I was raised eating meet and potatoes, everything smothered in gravy and all my veggies were in cream. I sure don't eat like that today. As an over age 50 adult, I believe that what I believe today is in part to how I was raised, but in a greater part to the decision that I have made to be what/who I am today.
And he thinks I'm going to "buy" into the concept that he has to tell his family "yes" because he was raised that way?
Should I call him a schmuck?
I suppose it is no sweat off my back if he wants to add another 3 hour drive to pick up his other grandmother. OK, make that 6 hours as it's 3 hours each way. But why? His parents will only complain....and who will take her back home?
The "sweat off my back" comes from the wear and tear on my husband that his parents are putting on him. If he had "terminal cancer" no one would be asking him to do the things they are asking. The wouldn't dare. I know they have absolutely no idea how incredibly sick this man is. He can barely move today because his back is in such bad shape. Yet he is going to get on that flight tomorrow morning and go be a hero to his parents and his grandparents.
So, could part C be any worse?
So, in this whole tangled web of deceipt and lies, "Mom" came down with the shingles. Now, at her age, shingles are most commonly caused by stress. They lasted for 3 weeks and I have no doubt that she was miserable. They developed into trigeminal neuralaga in her face (which incidentally, is brought on by stress). My theory is that the woman will not get well as long as she is caught up in this web of deceipt and lies. My goodness....if I were $70K in credit card debt I'd be a bundle of nerves and stress myself!!!
The pain in "mom's" face will not go away. So, hubby flew down to take her to the doctor to have an injection done. That's the story I got. He flew 1 1/2 hours, rented a car, drove 1 1/2 hours, picked her up, drove 1 1/2 hours back to town to the doctor. Then drove her 1 1/2 hours home, drove 1 1/2 hours back to the airport for his 1 1/2 hour flight home.
Two weeks later he tells me he needs to make the flight/drive again to take her to the doctor for the injection. At that point I flipped out! Come to find out, truth be told, the first trip was just for a consultation. Hmmmm. Why could he not tell me that? Because he thought I would get mad at him spending the money just to drive his mom for a consultation. Duh!!!
Now, 6 weeks later, he is making the trip again. The daughter who up and quit her job said she would go with him, so he bought her a RT ticket. Of course, she got the new job at the cosmetics counter, so he is out that ticket. He is flying down early tomorrow morning. On our way back from his son's house tonight, his dad called to confirm that he is still coming down tomorrow. He said that he was, but that his daughter was not going to make the trip. "Dad" was quite upset and said that his mother-in-law who lives 3 hours from them had wanted to come up for a visit and to see my husband's daughter. My husband said to his dad, "I can drive down and get her". When he hung up the phone he sighed heavily and said, "family".
I said, "you do have the option of saying "no". He said, "no I don't." I said, "of course you do". He said, "you and I were raise differently, we have different feelings about our families, I do not have the option of saying no". I said, "it is just a word, and all of us always have the option of saying the word no".
I just wanted to smack him. Is this the HERO thing again? He is going to save his parents? From what? From themselves? Their debt? Their old age?
And I really wanted to scream at him that this has absolutely nothing to do with how either of us was raised. My goodness! I was raised a Baptist and went out on the street corners and handed out religious pamphlets every Saturday morning. I sure don't do that now! I was raised that it was a sin to drink, dance, gamble......and I sure don't believe that these days. I grew up going to church on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (lots of teen meetings and such). I don't do that today. I was raised eating meet and potatoes, everything smothered in gravy and all my veggies were in cream. I sure don't eat like that today. As an over age 50 adult, I believe that what I believe today is in part to how I was raised, but in a greater part to the decision that I have made to be what/who I am today.
And he thinks I'm going to "buy" into the concept that he has to tell his family "yes" because he was raised that way?
Should I call him a schmuck?
I suppose it is no sweat off my back if he wants to add another 3 hour drive to pick up his other grandmother. OK, make that 6 hours as it's 3 hours each way. But why? His parents will only complain....and who will take her back home?
The "sweat off my back" comes from the wear and tear on my husband that his parents are putting on him. If he had "terminal cancer" no one would be asking him to do the things they are asking. The wouldn't dare. I know they have absolutely no idea how incredibly sick this man is. He can barely move today because his back is in such bad shape. Yet he is going to get on that flight tomorrow morning and go be a hero to his parents and his grandparents.
So, could part C be any worse?
Part A, the adult children......When the "hero" dies, what happens to those he is busy rescuing?
My poor husband wants to be the hero so bad! He wants to fix everything for everyone....except himself. And it is he who needs to be fixed the most.
Why is that? I've read all the Mars/Venus books and understand that men want to fix all the problems so they will go away. But why can't they fix their own (diabetes) problems. And why do they think they have to be the "hero" for everyone else? I think I'd best break this blog down into 3 parts.
A. The adult children
B. The aging parents
C. The wife, the sandwich and the spread!
So, this is part A. Let's discuss what's going on with his grown children...just this week alone!
1. His 31 year old daughter up and quit her $50K per year job and took a job at a cosmetic's counter. So she calls daddy and says that she needs to move in with us until she gets back on her feet. He makes the announcement to me and of course.....well, I won't continue that sentence! I ask if he is just "telling" me, or if we are going to discuss this. We have a disucssion and agree we need to sit down with her and let her know the rules of the house. That happened last night. It went well. She is only going to move in for one month and will reside in our unfinished basement. She has a list of rules (mostly relating to keeping the house clean, no guests and no smoking). Simple things in my book. Suddenly, I have been assigned the task of "enforcing" the rules as dad knows he won't tell her what's wrong. No problem! I will be happy to help her follow the rules...most of which is that she move out by August 31.
Question? Is he enabling her by allowing her to move in even for 30 days? She has to move a bed and a dresser to the basement as it is totally empty at the moment (nice basement, house is only 10 years old). She quit on her own accord without any preparation for her future, other than she knows she can fall back on daddy.
Question? Is this fair to our marriage to allow a 31 year old adult daughter to move in even for a month?
Does he think she will love him more if he does things like this for her? Does he think he will be her hero?
Does he think this will make him better? physically? improve his diabetes? his stress?
2. His 32 year old son who has a PHD (and should have some brains) confessed this week to having had an affair. We went to visit the son tonight. We sat outside their home for 30 minutes. The pregnant daughter-in-law and granddaughter were inside, upstairs. She did not want to see us. I don't blame her, I know she is mortified. She is a wonderful young woman and I am sure this has devastated her. I adore this young woman and have so much respect for her!! I asked my husband if I could slap his son up the side of his head, call him a schmuck and ram my knee into his balls. Husband said, "no, you cannot do that". I said, "well, at least you know what I would like to do to your son at the moment!"
In case you didn't read that right, I am so ANGRY with my husband's son. What a stupid idiot! WHAT was he thinking? And WHY is this young man acting so upset? He is the guilty party in all this. No one else. But if he can't hold his marriage together through all this, my poor husband will suffer as he adores his granddaughter and is so excited about the baby on it's way.
Son takes dad aside and asks dad to buy him an airline ticket to go see his mother (my husband's ex wife) who lives several hundred miles away.
WHAT???????? This grown man wants daddy to buy him a ticket to go see mommy because he was a bad boy and had an affair and wants mommy to give him a hug and tell him he is ok??? Has he lost all of his marbles? Does he not understand that his dad is DIVORCED from his mom???
Why doesn't he just talk to his dad? And WHY did dad (my husband) agree to buy the ticket? Because his son asked for his help and once again he is in the role of being a hero to the kid?
Why does my husband not "get" this? Why does he not see that his son is just using him? And why does he not see that he is literally rewarding his son for having had an affair by buying him a ticket to go visit his mom?
Does anyone else read this the way I read this? Totally disfunctional parent/child relationship going on here? Oh....wait for part 2 and 3...it just gets better!!!
Why is that? I've read all the Mars/Venus books and understand that men want to fix all the problems so they will go away. But why can't they fix their own (diabetes) problems. And why do they think they have to be the "hero" for everyone else? I think I'd best break this blog down into 3 parts.
A. The adult children
B. The aging parents
C. The wife, the sandwich and the spread!
So, this is part A. Let's discuss what's going on with his grown children...just this week alone!
1. His 31 year old daughter up and quit her $50K per year job and took a job at a cosmetic's counter. So she calls daddy and says that she needs to move in with us until she gets back on her feet. He makes the announcement to me and of course.....well, I won't continue that sentence! I ask if he is just "telling" me, or if we are going to discuss this. We have a disucssion and agree we need to sit down with her and let her know the rules of the house. That happened last night. It went well. She is only going to move in for one month and will reside in our unfinished basement. She has a list of rules (mostly relating to keeping the house clean, no guests and no smoking). Simple things in my book. Suddenly, I have been assigned the task of "enforcing" the rules as dad knows he won't tell her what's wrong. No problem! I will be happy to help her follow the rules...most of which is that she move out by August 31.
Question? Is he enabling her by allowing her to move in even for 30 days? She has to move a bed and a dresser to the basement as it is totally empty at the moment (nice basement, house is only 10 years old). She quit on her own accord without any preparation for her future, other than she knows she can fall back on daddy.
Question? Is this fair to our marriage to allow a 31 year old adult daughter to move in even for a month?
Does he think she will love him more if he does things like this for her? Does he think he will be her hero?
Does he think this will make him better? physically? improve his diabetes? his stress?
2. His 32 year old son who has a PHD (and should have some brains) confessed this week to having had an affair. We went to visit the son tonight. We sat outside their home for 30 minutes. The pregnant daughter-in-law and granddaughter were inside, upstairs. She did not want to see us. I don't blame her, I know she is mortified. She is a wonderful young woman and I am sure this has devastated her. I adore this young woman and have so much respect for her!! I asked my husband if I could slap his son up the side of his head, call him a schmuck and ram my knee into his balls. Husband said, "no, you cannot do that". I said, "well, at least you know what I would like to do to your son at the moment!"
In case you didn't read that right, I am so ANGRY with my husband's son. What a stupid idiot! WHAT was he thinking? And WHY is this young man acting so upset? He is the guilty party in all this. No one else. But if he can't hold his marriage together through all this, my poor husband will suffer as he adores his granddaughter and is so excited about the baby on it's way.
Son takes dad aside and asks dad to buy him an airline ticket to go see his mother (my husband's ex wife) who lives several hundred miles away.
WHAT???????? This grown man wants daddy to buy him a ticket to go see mommy because he was a bad boy and had an affair and wants mommy to give him a hug and tell him he is ok??? Has he lost all of his marbles? Does he not understand that his dad is DIVORCED from his mom???
Why doesn't he just talk to his dad? And WHY did dad (my husband) agree to buy the ticket? Because his son asked for his help and once again he is in the role of being a hero to the kid?
Why does my husband not "get" this? Why does he not see that his son is just using him? And why does he not see that he is literally rewarding his son for having had an affair by buying him a ticket to go visit his mom?
Does anyone else read this the way I read this? Totally disfunctional parent/child relationship going on here? Oh....wait for part 2 and 3...it just gets better!!!
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Moment by moment changes in blood sugar
OK, I am NOT a pro at this disease...I live with my husband who has it. But I seem to be able to track it way better than he can!!! Yesterday, he nearly "bit my head off" and it really was funny, although he did not see the humor in it at all. We had been to Subway for lunch and he had got "3 cookies for $1.00" and ate 2 of them. We stopped and got groceries and came home just in time for my sister, her husband, and their 2 grandsons to arrive. Nice time together. We had had a really late lunch, about 2:30 pm, so I thought 7 pm for dinner would be just fine. About 6:45, my husband asks me where the cookie is. I said, I set it right in the pantry. Continued chatting with my sister out on the back deck. He comes back out and yells at me in a horribly angry voice, "WHERE DID YOU PUT THE COOKIE?" Still not realizing he is crashing, I said, "it's right inside the pantry" and he screams at me, "IT'S NOT THERE, WHY CAN'T YOU REMEMBER WHERE YOU PUT THINGS?"
So I get up, go inside the house, walk to the pantry and pull the cookie right off the shelf, right at eye level, right in front of him and all he says is, "oh".
Really. Honesly. Seriously. It was on the shelf, right at his eye level, the first thing any normal, sane, sugar-balanced person would see when they looked inside the pantry. But not him! He was crashing big time and could not function to save his soul. So, I immediately started dinner and in 2 hours, he was just fine. To his credit, he did apologize to me later on in the privacy of our bedroom, but he never apologized to my family who were visiting.
Which brings me to tonight's topic. Moment by moment changes in blood sugar. It's a theory that I have. And if you have experiences with this, please post!
There's this term called "fight or flight". Has nothing to do with diabetes. When something happens that scares us, or shocks us, or frightens us, or upsets us, our natural first instinct is either to fight it, or run from it. A bear attacks your tent while you are camping, you are either going to grab a gun and shoot it (fight) or run and jump inside the truck (flight). OK, a bit of an extreme example, huh? But I think you get the point. If you smash your thumb with a hammer, you scream, you jump up and down, you shout out in pain....and the adrenaline in your system rockets up. In an earthquake...or a car wreck, your body goes on automatic pilot and your adrenaline increases. That has an impact on insulin. I know it does, I've read the research. But those are huge increases in adrenaline.
I think, (again, my personal theory) is that when little tiny things happen, there are changes in adrenaline, and changes in insulin, all day long. Your boss yells at you. Your kids don't call. Your wife is mad at you, the dog pees on the carpet. All the tiny little insignificant things that normal people can handle, can and sometimes do cause shifts in the adrenaline/insulin/body sugar levels of a diabetic. The more tiny little insignificant things that happen at the same time, the more the shift in the blood sugar, and the more it all "piles up".
I also think there must be some kind of "lag time" in events and in insulin production or lack of it. Sort of like the traffic that ques up, you slam on the breaks, you speed up again, but you never come upon the event that actually made that first car slam on the breaks! We have a tunnel on our freeway and I can guaraantee you that every time you approach it, everyone slams on their brakes. But there is never any indication why....and I don't think normal people slam on their brakes just to go through a tunnel on a 4-lane highway! My husband takes his blood sugar and it's within normal levels.....but I KNOW it's really not because of the way he is acting!!!
My personal opinion is that adrenaline has a huge impact on the body's blood sugar levels. The calmer I can keep my husband, the less outbursts we seem to have. But every day life tends to prevent calmness around here! He doesn't handle company all that well, let alone 2 little boys aged 9 and 11 who wanted nothing more than to play with our little puppies. So, 2 bouncing, yipping puppies, 2 little boys, 2 adult relatives...yep, that fight or flight instinct probably was in full gear!! After all, I couldn't seem to put the cookie in the right place!!! :o)
So I get up, go inside the house, walk to the pantry and pull the cookie right off the shelf, right at eye level, right in front of him and all he says is, "oh".
Really. Honesly. Seriously. It was on the shelf, right at his eye level, the first thing any normal, sane, sugar-balanced person would see when they looked inside the pantry. But not him! He was crashing big time and could not function to save his soul. So, I immediately started dinner and in 2 hours, he was just fine. To his credit, he did apologize to me later on in the privacy of our bedroom, but he never apologized to my family who were visiting.
Which brings me to tonight's topic. Moment by moment changes in blood sugar. It's a theory that I have. And if you have experiences with this, please post!
There's this term called "fight or flight". Has nothing to do with diabetes. When something happens that scares us, or shocks us, or frightens us, or upsets us, our natural first instinct is either to fight it, or run from it. A bear attacks your tent while you are camping, you are either going to grab a gun and shoot it (fight) or run and jump inside the truck (flight). OK, a bit of an extreme example, huh? But I think you get the point. If you smash your thumb with a hammer, you scream, you jump up and down, you shout out in pain....and the adrenaline in your system rockets up. In an earthquake...or a car wreck, your body goes on automatic pilot and your adrenaline increases. That has an impact on insulin. I know it does, I've read the research. But those are huge increases in adrenaline.
I think, (again, my personal theory) is that when little tiny things happen, there are changes in adrenaline, and changes in insulin, all day long. Your boss yells at you. Your kids don't call. Your wife is mad at you, the dog pees on the carpet. All the tiny little insignificant things that normal people can handle, can and sometimes do cause shifts in the adrenaline/insulin/body sugar levels of a diabetic. The more tiny little insignificant things that happen at the same time, the more the shift in the blood sugar, and the more it all "piles up".
I also think there must be some kind of "lag time" in events and in insulin production or lack of it. Sort of like the traffic that ques up, you slam on the breaks, you speed up again, but you never come upon the event that actually made that first car slam on the breaks! We have a tunnel on our freeway and I can guaraantee you that every time you approach it, everyone slams on their brakes. But there is never any indication why....and I don't think normal people slam on their brakes just to go through a tunnel on a 4-lane highway! My husband takes his blood sugar and it's within normal levels.....but I KNOW it's really not because of the way he is acting!!!
My personal opinion is that adrenaline has a huge impact on the body's blood sugar levels. The calmer I can keep my husband, the less outbursts we seem to have. But every day life tends to prevent calmness around here! He doesn't handle company all that well, let alone 2 little boys aged 9 and 11 who wanted nothing more than to play with our little puppies. So, 2 bouncing, yipping puppies, 2 little boys, 2 adult relatives...yep, that fight or flight instinct probably was in full gear!! After all, I couldn't seem to put the cookie in the right place!!! :o)
Monday, July 17, 2006
Counseling for partners
My whole blog first started because I'm in counseling because my husband has diabetes.
My counselor told me that I needed to get a "life of my own" and I posted about that. I guess I assumed that when someone posted a comment to a single blog, they had read all my previous blogs. Not so, I guess! LOL! So, today, I'm going to respond to a comment that was made to my last blog. Just because it brought up some good issues to think about.
I'm going to assume that the poster is someone who has type 1 diabetes. My husband has type 2, but has progressed to where he needs 2 shots in the morning and 2 shots in the evening. Oh, and don't forget, I have a complete, total needle phobia! :o)
I am over 50 years old and have had a very full life. I've also had a lot of grief and have received counseling over the years in how to deal with it. I know that each time there is a loss in our life, you must go through each step of the grief process. If we become stuck in any one step of the process....that is when the problems set in and your life cannot move forward.
What I do not understand is why some diabetics do not understand that this disease presents a serious of "losses" to them. They lose the ability to do certain things, to have control over what they eat, they need to take insulin, they need to regulate their lives. Each step of the disease, each progression, is a loss that needs to be dealt with.
If anger is a natural step in the grief process (and we know it is) then it is only normal to go through a phase of anger at each loss brought on by this disease. It is natural to go through a period of denial. A period of confusion. A period of tyring to put it all back together again. And then it is natural to go through acceptance...and the goal is to get to where you can help others who are suffering with this disease.
If you do not get past denial and get stuck in that phase....or any phase of the grief process....that's where the problems set in.
My husband is obviously still stuck in denial....and on so many levels...with so many areas of loss in his life.
Diabetics and counselors do not seem to fully understand that each time my partner has a loss in bodily function, the ability to do a shared activity that we used to enjoy, the non-diabetic partner (me/you) has to go through the grief process as well. And they have to go through each step of that process. So it's perfectly normal that I should have my own anger, my own resentment, my own denial. Over each and every loss. And when either of us get's stuck in any single phase....on any single loss, let's face it, we are going to have problems.
Now what loss could I possibly have since this is not my disease? Well....my eating and cooking habits have been forced to change against my will simply because my partner will not eat properly if I don't. We sold our Wave Runner and have not been back to the lake. We used to go almost every weekend. We don't go now because a) the temperature there is 107 degrees and has an impact on insulin, 2) his hands can no longer grip the clutches on the waverunner, 3) he doesn't "feel" like going any more and 4) he is in too much pain to go. This was an activity that I/we used to absolutely love to do together and looked forward to doing all summer long. Just one of scores of things that have changed in our lives as this disease has progressed. And yes, probably because he does not have any desire to control the progression of his disease.
The counselor said that "you need to create a life of your own". Well, trust me, I do have a life of my own. I travel quite a bit and although I am a freelance person, I still have deadlines with more projects than I will get done this summer! But I would argue that "this" is my life. "HE" is my life. Now, I do understand that I cannot make him make the correct decisions. And I do have activities of my own and things that I do without him. I'm not sitting home, in fact, I'm rarely home! Note my 3 month absence from blogging....just not here.
Another example. I'm pretty sure he is suffering right now from diabetic diahrrea. I'm home. He wants me to do the laundry for him. I suggested that he strip the bed this morning. He pulled the top sheet up and is laying on top of the bedspread. Has he stripped the bed yet? No....he doesn't feel like it. Is he waiting for me to go do it? Of course! Am I going to do it? Not likely. This is HIS disease, not mine....and the last thing I want to do is this type of laundry!!! But will he do it? I doubt it. He will lay there working from his laptop all day long and he will sleep on top of the bedspread tonight tossing a throw over himself.
Will he call the doctor? no. Will he do anything other than take imodium for the diarhhea? I doubt it. Yes, this is his disease, it is not mine. HOWEVER.....the consequences of "his" disease have a severe impact on my life! If you didn't get a graphic enough picture with the diahrrea example...just consider the smell!
A comment was made that this disease presents the same issues as cancer. I totally disagree. The word "cancer" and the word "diabetes" do NOT get the same reaction when spoken to someone else. Although, sadly, they should, they just do not. My husband's own children do not understand that their father is going to die from this disease as he is not taking care of himself. They serve him birthday cake. They serve him fried hamburgers and french fries. They do not have a clue. If he had cancer....I think they would be treating him a whole lot differently.
Counseling for a partner is a very good, necessary thing. The "concept" behind moving ahead with your life is a good one. But counselors need to grasp that this is MY life and I am married to HIM! So we are still a partnership and each of us must grieve our losses that are brought on by this disease. Neither one of us can move forward together or separately if we do not do this. Because I so clearly understand the grief process....I can do this....on a good day....when I'm thinking clearly.....and he is not yelling and screaming at me!!!
If I could say just one single thing to a diabetic out there, it would be that this is not just YOUR disease. Every single aspect of it has a profound impact on your partner!!! I did not ask for this disease. I do not have this disease. But it has changed my life more than anything else. I hate it more than anything else. And my husband, the diabetic, just does not get that.
oh, and do your own sheets! :o)
We did have a good weekend. He laid in bed most of the time or sat in his chair watching movies. I rearranged furniture and did a bit of organizing, something I enjoy doing. We went to a show, out to dinner and got groceries. He started getting sick about noon yesterday and it's pretty much been downhill since then. He has an infection in his right wrist and the area the size of a baseball is swollen and beet red. He can barely move it. The diarrhea started about 6 pm last night and kept him awake most of the night. He can barely move this morning. I asked him if he would please call his doctor and he said no.
Yep...it's his disease, not mine....and I'm the one in counseling!
There is a bit of humor in that after all!!! :o)
My counselor told me that I needed to get a "life of my own" and I posted about that. I guess I assumed that when someone posted a comment to a single blog, they had read all my previous blogs. Not so, I guess! LOL! So, today, I'm going to respond to a comment that was made to my last blog. Just because it brought up some good issues to think about.
I'm going to assume that the poster is someone who has type 1 diabetes. My husband has type 2, but has progressed to where he needs 2 shots in the morning and 2 shots in the evening. Oh, and don't forget, I have a complete, total needle phobia! :o)
I am over 50 years old and have had a very full life. I've also had a lot of grief and have received counseling over the years in how to deal with it. I know that each time there is a loss in our life, you must go through each step of the grief process. If we become stuck in any one step of the process....that is when the problems set in and your life cannot move forward.
What I do not understand is why some diabetics do not understand that this disease presents a serious of "losses" to them. They lose the ability to do certain things, to have control over what they eat, they need to take insulin, they need to regulate their lives. Each step of the disease, each progression, is a loss that needs to be dealt with.
If anger is a natural step in the grief process (and we know it is) then it is only normal to go through a phase of anger at each loss brought on by this disease. It is natural to go through a period of denial. A period of confusion. A period of tyring to put it all back together again. And then it is natural to go through acceptance...and the goal is to get to where you can help others who are suffering with this disease.
If you do not get past denial and get stuck in that phase....or any phase of the grief process....that's where the problems set in.
My husband is obviously still stuck in denial....and on so many levels...with so many areas of loss in his life.
Diabetics and counselors do not seem to fully understand that each time my partner has a loss in bodily function, the ability to do a shared activity that we used to enjoy, the non-diabetic partner (me/you) has to go through the grief process as well. And they have to go through each step of that process. So it's perfectly normal that I should have my own anger, my own resentment, my own denial. Over each and every loss. And when either of us get's stuck in any single phase....on any single loss, let's face it, we are going to have problems.
Now what loss could I possibly have since this is not my disease? Well....my eating and cooking habits have been forced to change against my will simply because my partner will not eat properly if I don't. We sold our Wave Runner and have not been back to the lake. We used to go almost every weekend. We don't go now because a) the temperature there is 107 degrees and has an impact on insulin, 2) his hands can no longer grip the clutches on the waverunner, 3) he doesn't "feel" like going any more and 4) he is in too much pain to go. This was an activity that I/we used to absolutely love to do together and looked forward to doing all summer long. Just one of scores of things that have changed in our lives as this disease has progressed. And yes, probably because he does not have any desire to control the progression of his disease.
The counselor said that "you need to create a life of your own". Well, trust me, I do have a life of my own. I travel quite a bit and although I am a freelance person, I still have deadlines with more projects than I will get done this summer! But I would argue that "this" is my life. "HE" is my life. Now, I do understand that I cannot make him make the correct decisions. And I do have activities of my own and things that I do without him. I'm not sitting home, in fact, I'm rarely home! Note my 3 month absence from blogging....just not here.
Another example. I'm pretty sure he is suffering right now from diabetic diahrrea. I'm home. He wants me to do the laundry for him. I suggested that he strip the bed this morning. He pulled the top sheet up and is laying on top of the bedspread. Has he stripped the bed yet? No....he doesn't feel like it. Is he waiting for me to go do it? Of course! Am I going to do it? Not likely. This is HIS disease, not mine....and the last thing I want to do is this type of laundry!!! But will he do it? I doubt it. He will lay there working from his laptop all day long and he will sleep on top of the bedspread tonight tossing a throw over himself.
Will he call the doctor? no. Will he do anything other than take imodium for the diarhhea? I doubt it. Yes, this is his disease, it is not mine. HOWEVER.....the consequences of "his" disease have a severe impact on my life! If you didn't get a graphic enough picture with the diahrrea example...just consider the smell!
A comment was made that this disease presents the same issues as cancer. I totally disagree. The word "cancer" and the word "diabetes" do NOT get the same reaction when spoken to someone else. Although, sadly, they should, they just do not. My husband's own children do not understand that their father is going to die from this disease as he is not taking care of himself. They serve him birthday cake. They serve him fried hamburgers and french fries. They do not have a clue. If he had cancer....I think they would be treating him a whole lot differently.
Counseling for a partner is a very good, necessary thing. The "concept" behind moving ahead with your life is a good one. But counselors need to grasp that this is MY life and I am married to HIM! So we are still a partnership and each of us must grieve our losses that are brought on by this disease. Neither one of us can move forward together or separately if we do not do this. Because I so clearly understand the grief process....I can do this....on a good day....when I'm thinking clearly.....and he is not yelling and screaming at me!!!
If I could say just one single thing to a diabetic out there, it would be that this is not just YOUR disease. Every single aspect of it has a profound impact on your partner!!! I did not ask for this disease. I do not have this disease. But it has changed my life more than anything else. I hate it more than anything else. And my husband, the diabetic, just does not get that.
oh, and do your own sheets! :o)
We did have a good weekend. He laid in bed most of the time or sat in his chair watching movies. I rearranged furniture and did a bit of organizing, something I enjoy doing. We went to a show, out to dinner and got groceries. He started getting sick about noon yesterday and it's pretty much been downhill since then. He has an infection in his right wrist and the area the size of a baseball is swollen and beet red. He can barely move it. The diarrhea started about 6 pm last night and kept him awake most of the night. He can barely move this morning. I asked him if he would please call his doctor and he said no.
Yep...it's his disease, not mine....and I'm the one in counseling!
There is a bit of humor in that after all!!! :o)
Friday, July 14, 2006
Friday nite...date nite.
Well, we used to do that. Not much anymore. But we should! Here we are sitting in the living room...me searching family trees online and him...sitting in his recliner, watching TV. The story of my life!
He is not type1, but type2 who is now taking 2 shots per day. He developed type 2 over 30 years ago. And he is STILL in denial.
From the comments made on my last blog. Yes, we do need marital counseling. But you see, the problem with a diabetic who is in denial over their disease....is also in denial over any type of marital problems.
Unfortunately for my husband, he has had some very bad doctors....and probably currently as well. They tell him things like....
1. You can eat anything you like, the meds will control your insulin.
2. As long as your A1c is within a normal range, you are doing great.
3. As long as your A1c is within a normal range, you are not having any problems.
4. There is no daily fluxuations in your sugar levels
5. Your sugar goes up after you wake up....even after you take your morning shot
6. Your anger is not related to your diabetes
7. You just have gnarly feet...due to your Scottish ancestry
and on and on the list goes.
Of course, he thinks his doctors are gods because they tell him what he wants to hear.
He seriously does not believe that there is anything wrong with him, with our marriage...and that if there is, it has nothing to do with his diabetes.
And he will deny to his death that he is depressed.
So, short of tying him up and dragging (kidnapping) this 6', 250 pound man....not sure I can get him to thearpy. But he did agree to go and I have put the call in, so I will push like I've never pushed for anything in my life!
About his daughter. She was supposed to come over tonight for dinner. I wrote out 3 pages of terms and conditions for her to agree to in order to stay here for the next 90 days. She called at 4:45 pm and said she had a job interview tonight. I almost had to burst out laughing. I have been a manager for a number of years and I cannot imagine anyone conducting an interview at 4:45 pm on Friday night! Well...unless the "job" is for something other than what I'd want to do for a living! LOL! I'm positive she has a date tonight. NOT a job interview! But what do you do? Tell this over 30 year old woman that she HAS to come discuss her request to move in? She said she would try to make it over here on Sunday. That's fine. I plan to hand the letter to my husband and have him read it before she arrives. I have more than enough on my hands without adding his unemployed daughter to the mix!
Finding friends. Well, I sort of have the opinion that we all have our own issues. Mine are my husband's diabetes. But another woman might have a serious weight problem. Another woman might have a child who is difficult or causing problesm. Another might have a spouse who beats her or verbally abuses her. I guess I don't think that the other person has to have lived with a diabetic to really understand what I'm going through. I do believe that you can transfer issues and become great friends and support each other through your troubles. The friends that I called in my last blog live several states away from me. Do I believe that you can form friendships even over the internet, call each other on the phone, and be there to support each other.
The other half of that is just explaining what you are going through. My sisters have never understood my problems with diabetes....until I sat down and literally walked them through a day in my life. OK, so I picked a really bad day. But after doing that a few times, they started to understand. After calling them and telling them that once again, he blew up and told me to get out....they actually started creating rooms in their homes....in case I really do need to leave. One of my sisters has actually told me that I should leave him...but I am not ready to do that.
I love him with all my heart. When he is normal. We have the best time together. And we are happy.
I do not like who he becomes when his sugar is out of whack. But I think I am starting to learn to recognize the difference between the 2 men. I hope I am. I do not like him at all at that time. But as long as I can recognize the "other" him....and realize it is not who he really is....I hope and pray I can handle all of this.
Should I let him read my blog? Not yet. Maybe never. I need a place that is "safe" where I can totally dump and get this all off my chest. Some of what I write would hurt him terribly. He is such a sensitive man at times. Yes, he may "need" to read this, but I "need" to know that it is just for me....even more right now. I hope that makes sense.
We used to get all gussied up on Friday night and go out to dinner. Sometimes we would go to the theater or to a dinner theater, take in a local play. It was so much fun. But now he just hurts too much. I asked him if he wanted to at least go to a movie tonight after his daughter called and said she wasn't coming over. He said no. He just wants to sit here.
Which leads me to my next question. We are both over 50. I consider myself to be right in the middle of my life. I plan to live at least another good 50 years. I certainly do not want to "sit here" for the next 50 years!!! And I'm starting to wonder if he can do much else other than just "sit here" until he dies. When do you make the decision to leave your spouse's side and let him just "sit here" and go off and do the things that you want to do, but do them alone? I know that I understand that he is dieing and I am not....but I do love him and would love to do things with him, but he does not feel like doing anything....or he is in too much pain...or too tired....there is always an excuse. I know that I can get up and go to the movie alone...but that is not why I am married! I am in this relationship to have a partner, someone to go places with, someone to share life with.
And perhaps I'm just rambling in a circle of thoughts tonight....but by putting them down on "paper" via this blog, perhaps some sense will come of this.
Thank you for your comments. It really is nice to know that I am not alone in this world of diabetes. I have done so much research and looked for support for spouses....there really isn't much out there. I did read that the divorce rate for this disease is 67% and to be quite honest...I was suprised it was that low!!!
In my next blog, I want to talk about the lack of communication from diabetics. Does it exist?
He is not type1, but type2 who is now taking 2 shots per day. He developed type 2 over 30 years ago. And he is STILL in denial.
From the comments made on my last blog. Yes, we do need marital counseling. But you see, the problem with a diabetic who is in denial over their disease....is also in denial over any type of marital problems.
Unfortunately for my husband, he has had some very bad doctors....and probably currently as well. They tell him things like....
1. You can eat anything you like, the meds will control your insulin.
2. As long as your A1c is within a normal range, you are doing great.
3. As long as your A1c is within a normal range, you are not having any problems.
4. There is no daily fluxuations in your sugar levels
5. Your sugar goes up after you wake up....even after you take your morning shot
6. Your anger is not related to your diabetes
7. You just have gnarly feet...due to your Scottish ancestry
and on and on the list goes.
Of course, he thinks his doctors are gods because they tell him what he wants to hear.
He seriously does not believe that there is anything wrong with him, with our marriage...and that if there is, it has nothing to do with his diabetes.
And he will deny to his death that he is depressed.
So, short of tying him up and dragging (kidnapping) this 6', 250 pound man....not sure I can get him to thearpy. But he did agree to go and I have put the call in, so I will push like I've never pushed for anything in my life!
About his daughter. She was supposed to come over tonight for dinner. I wrote out 3 pages of terms and conditions for her to agree to in order to stay here for the next 90 days. She called at 4:45 pm and said she had a job interview tonight. I almost had to burst out laughing. I have been a manager for a number of years and I cannot imagine anyone conducting an interview at 4:45 pm on Friday night! Well...unless the "job" is for something other than what I'd want to do for a living! LOL! I'm positive she has a date tonight. NOT a job interview! But what do you do? Tell this over 30 year old woman that she HAS to come discuss her request to move in? She said she would try to make it over here on Sunday. That's fine. I plan to hand the letter to my husband and have him read it before she arrives. I have more than enough on my hands without adding his unemployed daughter to the mix!
Finding friends. Well, I sort of have the opinion that we all have our own issues. Mine are my husband's diabetes. But another woman might have a serious weight problem. Another woman might have a child who is difficult or causing problesm. Another might have a spouse who beats her or verbally abuses her. I guess I don't think that the other person has to have lived with a diabetic to really understand what I'm going through. I do believe that you can transfer issues and become great friends and support each other through your troubles. The friends that I called in my last blog live several states away from me. Do I believe that you can form friendships even over the internet, call each other on the phone, and be there to support each other.
The other half of that is just explaining what you are going through. My sisters have never understood my problems with diabetes....until I sat down and literally walked them through a day in my life. OK, so I picked a really bad day. But after doing that a few times, they started to understand. After calling them and telling them that once again, he blew up and told me to get out....they actually started creating rooms in their homes....in case I really do need to leave. One of my sisters has actually told me that I should leave him...but I am not ready to do that.
I love him with all my heart. When he is normal. We have the best time together. And we are happy.
I do not like who he becomes when his sugar is out of whack. But I think I am starting to learn to recognize the difference between the 2 men. I hope I am. I do not like him at all at that time. But as long as I can recognize the "other" him....and realize it is not who he really is....I hope and pray I can handle all of this.
Should I let him read my blog? Not yet. Maybe never. I need a place that is "safe" where I can totally dump and get this all off my chest. Some of what I write would hurt him terribly. He is such a sensitive man at times. Yes, he may "need" to read this, but I "need" to know that it is just for me....even more right now. I hope that makes sense.
We used to get all gussied up on Friday night and go out to dinner. Sometimes we would go to the theater or to a dinner theater, take in a local play. It was so much fun. But now he just hurts too much. I asked him if he wanted to at least go to a movie tonight after his daughter called and said she wasn't coming over. He said no. He just wants to sit here.
Which leads me to my next question. We are both over 50. I consider myself to be right in the middle of my life. I plan to live at least another good 50 years. I certainly do not want to "sit here" for the next 50 years!!! And I'm starting to wonder if he can do much else other than just "sit here" until he dies. When do you make the decision to leave your spouse's side and let him just "sit here" and go off and do the things that you want to do, but do them alone? I know that I understand that he is dieing and I am not....but I do love him and would love to do things with him, but he does not feel like doing anything....or he is in too much pain...or too tired....there is always an excuse. I know that I can get up and go to the movie alone...but that is not why I am married! I am in this relationship to have a partner, someone to go places with, someone to share life with.
And perhaps I'm just rambling in a circle of thoughts tonight....but by putting them down on "paper" via this blog, perhaps some sense will come of this.
Thank you for your comments. It really is nice to know that I am not alone in this world of diabetes. I have done so much research and looked for support for spouses....there really isn't much out there. I did read that the divorce rate for this disease is 67% and to be quite honest...I was suprised it was that low!!!
In my next blog, I want to talk about the lack of communication from diabetics. Does it exist?
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
A network of friends...a life line
There are moments when I think life cannot get any worse...and then it does! My husband's 32 year old daughter quit her $50K a year job because she didn't like her boss. Geez! And tonight he announced that she was moving in with us the end of the month.
At first I thought I would scream. I quietly got up and took a walk around the lake, calling my sister, and then my 2 best friends. Just talking and listening. Wondering what I would do. Absolutely certain that if I told him she couldn't move in, he would go ballistic on me.
Background. She lived with us a few years ago and life was horrible then. She is a primadonna spoiled drama queen, to say the least. I do like her as a person, but I do not like her living habits. You know, wet laundry in the washing machine for 4 days, dirty laundry all over the guest bathroom floor....blobs of hair color on the carpet that we still have not replaced.
So I walked and talked to my friends for an hour. Talked out all the options. Came back to the house and asked him if we could talk. Completely and totally ready for him to blow up and start screaming at me again.
But he didn't. He actually turned off the TV and sat and listened to me. And I do think I was more desparately open than I have ever been with him. After I got out everything, he said, "well, let's call her and have her come over and we will sit down and tell her all this".
WOW!
My conditions will be that she move into the basement for a maximum of 90 days and that she must work 40 hours a week looking for a job and that on weekends and evenings, she helps cook, clean, and do yardwork. She will not be a guest, she will be an adult member of this household and pull her own weight around here. I just can't imagine that she will agree to any of this and think she will come up with an alternative living arrangement. Which is fine.
He also agreed to go to marriage counseling. I'm calling first thing tomorrow to set up an appointment! I'm going to start with the diabetes nutritionist that I've been seeing.
I am so grateful for my friends, that they listen to me and that even though they do not live with diabetes or fully understand it, they are here for me at all times!!!
If you live with a diabetic....find yourself a lifeline...build a network of friends. And then call them when you need them!
At first I thought I would scream. I quietly got up and took a walk around the lake, calling my sister, and then my 2 best friends. Just talking and listening. Wondering what I would do. Absolutely certain that if I told him she couldn't move in, he would go ballistic on me.
Background. She lived with us a few years ago and life was horrible then. She is a primadonna spoiled drama queen, to say the least. I do like her as a person, but I do not like her living habits. You know, wet laundry in the washing machine for 4 days, dirty laundry all over the guest bathroom floor....blobs of hair color on the carpet that we still have not replaced.
So I walked and talked to my friends for an hour. Talked out all the options. Came back to the house and asked him if we could talk. Completely and totally ready for him to blow up and start screaming at me again.
But he didn't. He actually turned off the TV and sat and listened to me. And I do think I was more desparately open than I have ever been with him. After I got out everything, he said, "well, let's call her and have her come over and we will sit down and tell her all this".
WOW!
My conditions will be that she move into the basement for a maximum of 90 days and that she must work 40 hours a week looking for a job and that on weekends and evenings, she helps cook, clean, and do yardwork. She will not be a guest, she will be an adult member of this household and pull her own weight around here. I just can't imagine that she will agree to any of this and think she will come up with an alternative living arrangement. Which is fine.
He also agreed to go to marriage counseling. I'm calling first thing tomorrow to set up an appointment! I'm going to start with the diabetes nutritionist that I've been seeing.
I am so grateful for my friends, that they listen to me and that even though they do not live with diabetes or fully understand it, they are here for me at all times!!!
If you live with a diabetic....find yourself a lifeline...build a network of friends. And then call them when you need them!
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
It's 2 o'clock in the morning....
and who is there to listen to me? The house is not quiet as I can hear the roar of his snoring. I know he is in terrible pain tonight as I woke up to him flopping his feet on the bed. I'm fully aware that he is clueless as he is sound asleep. But how can I sleep with the bed literally jumping every few seconds? He will lift a foot and flop it back down on the bed. It must be some natural instinct to find a comfortable position?
So I get up and come downstairs thinking I will sleep on the sofa, but I can't sleep. I did look at his feet last night and they are worse than ever. Huge orange gnarles on them that have white tips. Carbunkles the size of an egg coming off his heels. Lumps and bumps everywhere. I really do not know how he walks.
He is going to die. And I think I have finally realized that. The problem is that I am not going to die. Well, at least not from diabetes. He even said to me this weekend, "If I am going to die, I am going to live the way I want". And in two days, he ate a bag of potato chips, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, and a chocolate ice cream sundae. Does he know from his feet that he is going to die? Is that what is going on? I feel like I'm sitting here just waiting for "it" to happen. That my own life cannot progress until his ends.
Yep, it's 2:00 am and I must be rambling...I'm so tired, so exhausted....and I can't sleep because I can't be in my own bed with him due to all the flopping about!
Maybe I will sleep tomorrow! :o)
So I get up and come downstairs thinking I will sleep on the sofa, but I can't sleep. I did look at his feet last night and they are worse than ever. Huge orange gnarles on them that have white tips. Carbunkles the size of an egg coming off his heels. Lumps and bumps everywhere. I really do not know how he walks.
He is going to die. And I think I have finally realized that. The problem is that I am not going to die. Well, at least not from diabetes. He even said to me this weekend, "If I am going to die, I am going to live the way I want". And in two days, he ate a bag of potato chips, a bag of chocolate chip cookies, and a chocolate ice cream sundae. Does he know from his feet that he is going to die? Is that what is going on? I feel like I'm sitting here just waiting for "it" to happen. That my own life cannot progress until his ends.
Yep, it's 2:00 am and I must be rambling...I'm so tired, so exhausted....and I can't sleep because I can't be in my own bed with him due to all the flopping about!
Maybe I will sleep tomorrow! :o)
Monday, June 26, 2006
Tme heals nothing
It's been about 3 months since I posted here. Mostly because my laptop crashed and I lost the link. But also because I've been traveling and he's been gone as well. Life has been good. Then I returned from San Deigo to a house smelling of dog urine and all "hell" broke loose!
So, I understand that he doesn't feel well. I understand that he has the flu. I don't understand not changing the pads for the dogs. I don't understand not letting them go outside. I feel certain that he just sat in his chair watching TV the whole time I was gone.
And I had no plans of saying a word. Just going to clean up all the messes. But he wanted to know what was wrong. THREE times I told him nothing. Then after he kept asking, I said, "do you really want to know?" and he said "Yes".
My mistake. I should have known that he was out of balance. Completely, totally, insanely out of whack! And the end result was a tirade of accusations towards me, another screaming match, him yelling at me to move out, just get out, just leave!!! The verbal abuse that flowed from his mouth is something I've not heard to date, so I know he is getting worse. I sat on the corner of the bed and did not cry this time. I listened and listened and then told him that he is the only person who can make himself happy, that I do not have any control over what he is feeling.
Yes...duh! That only made him angrier. I've written down everything he said in a word document because it's just too personal to put here. But I see a pattern. He is getting sicker. He is not taking care of himself. He is having major bouts of pain. And he is doing nothing to manage any of it.
As I was driving home from my last trip, it hit me, in the middle of the road, that he IS dieing. And I am NOT. That is the difference between us. With his kidney function down to 30%, and his complete denial (he still thinks insulin shots alone will cure him) he has done nothing to change the path he is on. I cannot change it for him. So he is dieing. And I am not. And that is the division between the 2 of us. Oh, I do realize that I could die long before he does! LOL! But my body is taking the normal aging route where his is expedited due to this disease and he unwillingness to manage it.
The rest of the weekend was spent with him sitting in front of his TV, watching movies because he is literally unable to do anything else. I walked 3 miles each day. Did a bit of yard work. Have decided to quit all soda (yeah!) quit all sugar (yeah!) and eat healthy (Weight Watchers for me.) At least in doing something I consider positive, I hope to put his latest outburst behind me and move forward.
I do believe that with this disease, if the person who has it is not willing to work to heal themselves, time does nothing but make it worse. My question is, how many more times will I have to endure his outbursts? I survive by knowing it is the disease, not the loving man I once married, that is being so verbally abusive towards me. I am just the vehicle that his anger gets dumped into. But how long this vehicle remains I cannot say. After all, I am human, too.
So, I understand that he doesn't feel well. I understand that he has the flu. I don't understand not changing the pads for the dogs. I don't understand not letting them go outside. I feel certain that he just sat in his chair watching TV the whole time I was gone.
And I had no plans of saying a word. Just going to clean up all the messes. But he wanted to know what was wrong. THREE times I told him nothing. Then after he kept asking, I said, "do you really want to know?" and he said "Yes".
My mistake. I should have known that he was out of balance. Completely, totally, insanely out of whack! And the end result was a tirade of accusations towards me, another screaming match, him yelling at me to move out, just get out, just leave!!! The verbal abuse that flowed from his mouth is something I've not heard to date, so I know he is getting worse. I sat on the corner of the bed and did not cry this time. I listened and listened and then told him that he is the only person who can make himself happy, that I do not have any control over what he is feeling.
Yes...duh! That only made him angrier. I've written down everything he said in a word document because it's just too personal to put here. But I see a pattern. He is getting sicker. He is not taking care of himself. He is having major bouts of pain. And he is doing nothing to manage any of it.
As I was driving home from my last trip, it hit me, in the middle of the road, that he IS dieing. And I am NOT. That is the difference between us. With his kidney function down to 30%, and his complete denial (he still thinks insulin shots alone will cure him) he has done nothing to change the path he is on. I cannot change it for him. So he is dieing. And I am not. And that is the division between the 2 of us. Oh, I do realize that I could die long before he does! LOL! But my body is taking the normal aging route where his is expedited due to this disease and he unwillingness to manage it.
The rest of the weekend was spent with him sitting in front of his TV, watching movies because he is literally unable to do anything else. I walked 3 miles each day. Did a bit of yard work. Have decided to quit all soda (yeah!) quit all sugar (yeah!) and eat healthy (Weight Watchers for me.) At least in doing something I consider positive, I hope to put his latest outburst behind me and move forward.
I do believe that with this disease, if the person who has it is not willing to work to heal themselves, time does nothing but make it worse. My question is, how many more times will I have to endure his outbursts? I survive by knowing it is the disease, not the loving man I once married, that is being so verbally abusive towards me. I am just the vehicle that his anger gets dumped into. But how long this vehicle remains I cannot say. After all, I am human, too.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
How do you quit reacting...
to what he says, to what he does? When do you learn to recognize that it's not "him", it's what the disease is doing to him? Tonight he asked me if there was something wrong and I said, "I'm just tired from cleaning". He said, "well, then, don't clean". I said, "I have too, I really don't want to live in a pig stye".
And that completely set him off! He took it to mean that he was creating a pigstye for me to live in. Now, any sane woman knows that if you don't clean your house, it doesn't take much for it to get filthy....and it doesn't mean that anyone else is forcing it to be dirty, it just happens.
So, he commenced to yell and scream at me and told me to get out of the house if it was such a horrible, filthy place to live!
I probably should have started to laugh, but then I think he might have killed me. So instead, I sat there and cried. Some of his comments were just like a 10 year old who doesn't get his way. I should have known his blood sugar was dropping. And I think maybe I did, but I didn't want to say anything because it would just make him angrier.
Is it possible that when the sugar starts to drop, that if the diabetic allows himself to get angry, the adreneline pumps up and insulin is created so the blood sugar rises again? Is anger at low sugar the body's natural way of creating more sugar?
It's like when we get scared, or physically hurt...there is a rush that comes over us and we have a sudden burst of energy. Is the same thing going on with him and that his why he gets so off-the-charts pissed off?
He said to me tonight that I am a changed person. That I am never happy. I wonder if he is stating to me what he feels in himself? Because I don't think I have changed a bit and I really think that when I'm not around him in his dark mood, I'm pretty happy. At least I feel like I am! So I'm sitting here tonight wondering why he thinks I've changed and when/why did I change? I tried to explain to him that I am just being exceptionally quiet around him because I don't want to do or say anything that might upset him.
He did tell me that he wants me to tell him to take his blood sugar when he gets so angry with me. I just sat there and bawled. He asked what was wrong? I said, well, if you had any idea how many times I have asked you to go take your blood sugar and you absolutely refuse to do so....and then you don't even remember that I asked you to take it. But every time I ask, you get so mad at me and tell me it's just normal and you refuse to take it.
So I guess that's my quandry. I know when he is normal, he has a good heart and he wants to do the right thing. But when it's not normal, he just gets so mad, and refused to do anything I suggest, no matter how I suggest it.
This is going to be a long, slow process. He has said so many things to me that just cut me to the quick. Four times in the past 4 weeks, he has told me to leave. Each time I know it's not "him", but each time, I think he takes away a little something from who I am, from how I love him. I even wonder if he is trying to force me to leave him so then he won't have to face the day-to-day dealings of this disease. If I'm not here, who will care if he can't wear shoes???
Diabetes is just a horrible awful disease. I cannot imagine the pain he must be in. I can't begin to fathom the highs and lows and the impact it has on his ability to function. And the mere thought that his kidney function is down to somewhere between 30 & 40%....so I understand his denial, I understand his grief....I am sharing it with him. But we are sharing all this in separate worlds at the moment. I would like to bring our worlds back together again. I believe it can happen. I know it will take a long time.
Unfortunately, I do still love him to pieces. Even more unfortunate, he does not realize that.
And that completely set him off! He took it to mean that he was creating a pigstye for me to live in. Now, any sane woman knows that if you don't clean your house, it doesn't take much for it to get filthy....and it doesn't mean that anyone else is forcing it to be dirty, it just happens.
So, he commenced to yell and scream at me and told me to get out of the house if it was such a horrible, filthy place to live!
I probably should have started to laugh, but then I think he might have killed me. So instead, I sat there and cried. Some of his comments were just like a 10 year old who doesn't get his way. I should have known his blood sugar was dropping. And I think maybe I did, but I didn't want to say anything because it would just make him angrier.
Is it possible that when the sugar starts to drop, that if the diabetic allows himself to get angry, the adreneline pumps up and insulin is created so the blood sugar rises again? Is anger at low sugar the body's natural way of creating more sugar?
It's like when we get scared, or physically hurt...there is a rush that comes over us and we have a sudden burst of energy. Is the same thing going on with him and that his why he gets so off-the-charts pissed off?
He said to me tonight that I am a changed person. That I am never happy. I wonder if he is stating to me what he feels in himself? Because I don't think I have changed a bit and I really think that when I'm not around him in his dark mood, I'm pretty happy. At least I feel like I am! So I'm sitting here tonight wondering why he thinks I've changed and when/why did I change? I tried to explain to him that I am just being exceptionally quiet around him because I don't want to do or say anything that might upset him.
He did tell me that he wants me to tell him to take his blood sugar when he gets so angry with me. I just sat there and bawled. He asked what was wrong? I said, well, if you had any idea how many times I have asked you to go take your blood sugar and you absolutely refuse to do so....and then you don't even remember that I asked you to take it. But every time I ask, you get so mad at me and tell me it's just normal and you refuse to take it.
So I guess that's my quandry. I know when he is normal, he has a good heart and he wants to do the right thing. But when it's not normal, he just gets so mad, and refused to do anything I suggest, no matter how I suggest it.
This is going to be a long, slow process. He has said so many things to me that just cut me to the quick. Four times in the past 4 weeks, he has told me to leave. Each time I know it's not "him", but each time, I think he takes away a little something from who I am, from how I love him. I even wonder if he is trying to force me to leave him so then he won't have to face the day-to-day dealings of this disease. If I'm not here, who will care if he can't wear shoes???
Diabetes is just a horrible awful disease. I cannot imagine the pain he must be in. I can't begin to fathom the highs and lows and the impact it has on his ability to function. And the mere thought that his kidney function is down to somewhere between 30 & 40%....so I understand his denial, I understand his grief....I am sharing it with him. But we are sharing all this in separate worlds at the moment. I would like to bring our worlds back together again. I believe it can happen. I know it will take a long time.
Unfortunately, I do still love him to pieces. Even more unfortunate, he does not realize that.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
READ THE LABEL!!!!
Well, that's what I'm screaming in my head! I took a class yesterday and when I got home, there were "low sugar" brownies and chocolate angel food cake on the counter. I could see the brownies were sugar coated so I picked up the box and started to read the nutrition label. 28 grams of carbohydrates and 21 grams of sugar. When I quietly asked him if he was supposed to have that much carbs/sugars, he said it was for the entire container. I did a double-take and the label says it's for 4 pieces! There must be 100 pieces in the box!
The nutrition content for the chocolate angel food cake is the same. So, I asked him about that and once again, he said it was for the entire cake. I re-read the label...it is for 1/8 of the cake.
When I explained that to him, all he said was "oh!"
I know! I know! This IS HIS DISEASE! I guess I need to find the label on him and read it!
The nutrition content for the chocolate angel food cake is the same. So, I asked him about that and once again, he said it was for the entire cake. I re-read the label...it is for 1/8 of the cake.
When I explained that to him, all he said was "oh!"
I know! I know! This IS HIS DISEASE! I guess I need to find the label on him and read it!
He said, I said
We were at the paint store, waiting for paint to be mixed. I was looking at stencils. He says, "why are you looking at those?" I said, "because I'm going to paint words on the walls". He said, "no, you're not. I do not want words painted on the walls". I said, "but I told you that's what I want to do after I paint the walls. I want to put words on them and put a painting on the wall in my work area". He said, "you may have said that to all of your friends and to the entire world, but you never said that to me." I looked right at him and I said, "I told you that last Sunday when we were talking about all this". He said, "well, I really do not want words on the walls. It looks like a child's room". I said, "Can't you just trust me? It will look professional". He said, "Does it matter? You will do what you want anyway."
And then we went to the grocery store on our way home and he didn't want a thing. I asked what he wanted to eat all week and he said, "I will figure it out".
And that's all that he has said in the past 90 minutes.
I'm going to change clothes and start painting.
In defense of him, it must be so frustrating to have periods of sugar highs and lows, To not remember an entire conversation with someone else. To be so angry at the world you cannot function.
In defense of me, I did tell him I wanted to paint words on the walls. But I'm sure it was like a thousand other conversations with him....I talk, he is in a sugar low, doesn't respond and doesn't remember.
So, how do I know when he is in a sugar low and not going to remember? I think the nutritionist would say "that's not your job!"
:o)
And then we went to the grocery store on our way home and he didn't want a thing. I asked what he wanted to eat all week and he said, "I will figure it out".
And that's all that he has said in the past 90 minutes.
I'm going to change clothes and start painting.
In defense of him, it must be so frustrating to have periods of sugar highs and lows, To not remember an entire conversation with someone else. To be so angry at the world you cannot function.
In defense of me, I did tell him I wanted to paint words on the walls. But I'm sure it was like a thousand other conversations with him....I talk, he is in a sugar low, doesn't respond and doesn't remember.
So, how do I know when he is in a sugar low and not going to remember? I think the nutritionist would say "that's not your job!"
:o)
Saturday, March 25, 2006
The difference a week makes.....
or is it just my new attitude? DH came home from his trip and he was so quiet and I stayed quiet, thinking we were in for another hellacious weekend around here. But the tables turned. He decided we would go to a movie. Our usual...he goes to se some horror flick and I see a chick flick When we met after the movies, I asked how his was and he said it was awful. I said "you should have gone with me" and just started in telling him all about it. Actually, one of the funniest movies I've seen in ages "Failure to Launch". The critics panned it, but as a mom with a 27 and 22 year old sons who always are asking if they can move back home....I got it! We went to dinner where I continued to babble on about the movie and actually had DH laughing.
This morning has been rather nice around here. We seem to be back to civil conversation. I signed up for a class this afteroon, it's an hour away. His son called and wanted to meet us for dinner tonight and I told him I had a class. Hmmm....all of a sudden there is something going on? I'm not available for everyone? I sort of like this! :o) I assured them they could all go out without me, but they opted to call back next week. Shall I just sign up for a class every Saturday? LOL!
On the other hand....I know in the past we have had these incredibly wondeful moments and then it all goes down the tube so dang fast. I know it's why I stay with the man, it's for these moments. It's for the half hour when the sugar is normal and life is good. It's for the single sentence that is positive, rather than something angry and cutting. It is for the pure joy of seeing him the way I know he is, when his body is normal.
And it's usually in the morning before there's been a meal. But maybe, just maybe, this spark of hope has a little something to do with my visit to the nutritionist this week! Ah! There is always hope....there is always a week in the life of a diabetic....there is always hope that this can be the week there is a difference!
Now, don't you go burst my bubble just yet! :o)
This morning has been rather nice around here. We seem to be back to civil conversation. I signed up for a class this afteroon, it's an hour away. His son called and wanted to meet us for dinner tonight and I told him I had a class. Hmmm....all of a sudden there is something going on? I'm not available for everyone? I sort of like this! :o) I assured them they could all go out without me, but they opted to call back next week. Shall I just sign up for a class every Saturday? LOL!
On the other hand....I know in the past we have had these incredibly wondeful moments and then it all goes down the tube so dang fast. I know it's why I stay with the man, it's for these moments. It's for the half hour when the sugar is normal and life is good. It's for the single sentence that is positive, rather than something angry and cutting. It is for the pure joy of seeing him the way I know he is, when his body is normal.
And it's usually in the morning before there's been a meal. But maybe, just maybe, this spark of hope has a little something to do with my visit to the nutritionist this week! Ah! There is always hope....there is always a week in the life of a diabetic....there is always hope that this can be the week there is a difference!
Now, don't you go burst my bubble just yet! :o)
Thursday, March 23, 2006
A life of my own
One of the things that the counselor said to me is that I need to get a life of my own. She said that I should go to work (I'm retired), volunteer, get out of the house when he is home, do something that creates a life of my own. How does one go about doing that at my age? In 6 months I will turn 55. Now, that should put me into my own depression! LOL! But at this age, what do I do?
I often think that if I were to live another 40 years...and that's not outside the realm of possibility...what do I want to do with my life? Do I go back to school? I already have a graduate degree. Do I start my own business? Not sure I want to work 20 hours a day for the next 5 years just to get a business up and running! Do I volunteer? Perhaps...but doing what? Is it my time to give back to my community?
One of the things I want to do is paint my house! No...it's not going to be red! :o) I want to paint color in the inside of my house. It's a fairly new house and all the walls are white or cream. DH has always said that he only wants white walls. No wallpaper. No color. No antiques. Just a sterile look! And that's not me! So I have decided to paint color on the walls. Now, some of our rooms have 22' tall ceilings and I'm terrified of heights. Oh! Won't this be interesting? Me...up on a ladder...at my age...with a bucket and a paintbrush? I'm sure we will have to put in all new floors as well!
There are sayings and quotes that I want to paint on my colored walls. Things that motivate me. Words that inspire me. Thoughts that give me hope. Do I think this will help me survive the daily pain of living with a spouse who has diabetes? Maybe. The mere fact of painting all of this space will be a full time job for about 2 years. I'm not all that fast! Can I emerse myself in painting and still have him in the house, yet have a life of my own up on the ladder? Perhaps! Can I hope that he will develop and interest and join me in my persuit of color? Oh! I can pray and dream!!!
We live in a 2 story house with a full basement and I know the day is fast approaching when he will not be able to climb the stairs. We will need to sell and move to a one level place. My luck...I will get the place painted and looking exactly like I want and we will put it on the market! We also have over 2/3 acre here and the burden of yardwork has fallen on me the past 4 years. There is still more that I want to do, maybe this spring I will get a good start on finishing up the landscaping. Major things like moving paths, creating new gardens. So will painting and gardening become "a life of my own"? I think my counselor might agree! At least it will give me goals to work towards while I live with this disease.
And then again, maybe I will take a class and learn to paint on paper! :o)
I often think that if I were to live another 40 years...and that's not outside the realm of possibility...what do I want to do with my life? Do I go back to school? I already have a graduate degree. Do I start my own business? Not sure I want to work 20 hours a day for the next 5 years just to get a business up and running! Do I volunteer? Perhaps...but doing what? Is it my time to give back to my community?
One of the things I want to do is paint my house! No...it's not going to be red! :o) I want to paint color in the inside of my house. It's a fairly new house and all the walls are white or cream. DH has always said that he only wants white walls. No wallpaper. No color. No antiques. Just a sterile look! And that's not me! So I have decided to paint color on the walls. Now, some of our rooms have 22' tall ceilings and I'm terrified of heights. Oh! Won't this be interesting? Me...up on a ladder...at my age...with a bucket and a paintbrush? I'm sure we will have to put in all new floors as well!
There are sayings and quotes that I want to paint on my colored walls. Things that motivate me. Words that inspire me. Thoughts that give me hope. Do I think this will help me survive the daily pain of living with a spouse who has diabetes? Maybe. The mere fact of painting all of this space will be a full time job for about 2 years. I'm not all that fast! Can I emerse myself in painting and still have him in the house, yet have a life of my own up on the ladder? Perhaps! Can I hope that he will develop and interest and join me in my persuit of color? Oh! I can pray and dream!!!
We live in a 2 story house with a full basement and I know the day is fast approaching when he will not be able to climb the stairs. We will need to sell and move to a one level place. My luck...I will get the place painted and looking exactly like I want and we will put it on the market! We also have over 2/3 acre here and the burden of yardwork has fallen on me the past 4 years. There is still more that I want to do, maybe this spring I will get a good start on finishing up the landscaping. Major things like moving paths, creating new gardens. So will painting and gardening become "a life of my own"? I think my counselor might agree! At least it will give me goals to work towards while I live with this disease.
And then again, maybe I will take a class and learn to paint on paper! :o)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Life without shoes - diabetes
Life without shoes. Yes...for FIVE months last summer, DH could not wear shoes. He wore sandals. Loose ones. His feet had horrible sores on them. He sat in his chair and watched movies all the time. Loud, booming, vibrating movies....so loud that the walls in the house shook! Denial? I'm sure! It was about the time he was moving from pills to shots and his sugar levels were up way over 300 most days. I think one day they were at 510.
His feet are so gnarly anyway, and then there are little white mounds that pop up, almost look like a staff infection...and if he pops them...they just drain endlessley. He says it's not from diabetes. One of his doctors told him it was his "Scottish ancestry" and that he was just a gnarly old man.
WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH DOCTORS??????
I told him he probably needed to find a new doctor! OK...that went over like a lead balloon! I had visions that he would never walk again...that I'd be pushing behind the wheelchair wherever we went. But perhaps my greates pity party was the realization that we could not take another backpack trip through Europe. That the days of our "youth" were totally gone. That my ability to explore the world with him had come to a halt.
Life without shoes. Just not the easiest thing on earth! He works for a huge corporation and tried to hide wearing sandals with socks by wearing really long trousers! Now...that just doesn't work! And seeing him in a business suit with sandals....that doesn't work either!
The whole thing is that when your feet hurt so bad you can't stand on them, of course, you can't exercise. You can't do anything but sit in your chair and watch TV. And what kind of life is that for anyone around you?
Of course the whole thing of booming, blaring, trumpeting volume....is that another form of denial? Is that a way to immerse oneself deep into the movie to block out anything in real life?
I have grown to absolutely hate TV in the past few months.
This week....I started sleeping on the sofa downstairs. When he asked why, I told him the volume had started to give me headaches. Yes....that made him mad. But 2 nights later, he offered to start wearing headsets. Ah! I have slept in my own bed in peace and quiet for the first time in years! I love headsets! Wireless ones at that!
Sleep. Yes...I know I am sleep deprived. I have huge black circles under my eyes to prove it. I'm hoping in a few months they will go away!
Life without shoes....trickeled down to me getting black circles under my eyes from lack of sleep due to the volume of the TV because there was nothing else he could do. Is this the circle of life in a diabetic family? Today....I want out of that circle!
His feet are so gnarly anyway, and then there are little white mounds that pop up, almost look like a staff infection...and if he pops them...they just drain endlessley. He says it's not from diabetes. One of his doctors told him it was his "Scottish ancestry" and that he was just a gnarly old man.
WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH DOCTORS??????
I told him he probably needed to find a new doctor! OK...that went over like a lead balloon! I had visions that he would never walk again...that I'd be pushing behind the wheelchair wherever we went. But perhaps my greates pity party was the realization that we could not take another backpack trip through Europe. That the days of our "youth" were totally gone. That my ability to explore the world with him had come to a halt.
Life without shoes. Just not the easiest thing on earth! He works for a huge corporation and tried to hide wearing sandals with socks by wearing really long trousers! Now...that just doesn't work! And seeing him in a business suit with sandals....that doesn't work either!
The whole thing is that when your feet hurt so bad you can't stand on them, of course, you can't exercise. You can't do anything but sit in your chair and watch TV. And what kind of life is that for anyone around you?
Of course the whole thing of booming, blaring, trumpeting volume....is that another form of denial? Is that a way to immerse oneself deep into the movie to block out anything in real life?
I have grown to absolutely hate TV in the past few months.
This week....I started sleeping on the sofa downstairs. When he asked why, I told him the volume had started to give me headaches. Yes....that made him mad. But 2 nights later, he offered to start wearing headsets. Ah! I have slept in my own bed in peace and quiet for the first time in years! I love headsets! Wireless ones at that!
Sleep. Yes...I know I am sleep deprived. I have huge black circles under my eyes to prove it. I'm hoping in a few months they will go away!
Life without shoes....trickeled down to me getting black circles under my eyes from lack of sleep due to the volume of the TV because there was nothing else he could do. Is this the circle of life in a diabetic family? Today....I want out of that circle!
Memory Loss in diabetes
Memory Loss.
Have you ever seen the movie "gaslight"? I think that's the title. It's an old one. The husband tries to make the wife think she's lost her mind. Well....that's about where I am with all of this!
My DH does not remember anything I tell him when his sugar is low. Yes, it has gone so low that he has passed out. He has also had moments where he knows he's going to pass out. Scares the crap out of me...the very thought of me being a passenger in the car he is driving!
Problem is, he doesn't remember anything I say when he is getting "near low". So, later on, when I remind him of something that he agreed to do, he says that I never told him that. Lately, he has turned this on me and now declares that I never told him, I can't remember what I did tell him, and therefore, I am suffering from memory loss!
So I just wanted to remind myself to post here all those things that I have forgotten so that I will know it's not MY memory loss...it's his sugar lows that have gotten us to this point in our relationship! LOLOL!
How on earth does anyone out there stay married to someone with diabetes? I know that I love the man dearly...but is love enough to get you through all of this?
Thank goodness the diabetes counselor confirmed that I do not have any memory loss....but that this is standard protocol when his sugar is low. And it's his survival mechanism....to blame me, to say that I'm the one with a memory loss....rather than face what is happening to him!
Whew!
Have you ever seen the movie "gaslight"? I think that's the title. It's an old one. The husband tries to make the wife think she's lost her mind. Well....that's about where I am with all of this!
My DH does not remember anything I tell him when his sugar is low. Yes, it has gone so low that he has passed out. He has also had moments where he knows he's going to pass out. Scares the crap out of me...the very thought of me being a passenger in the car he is driving!
Problem is, he doesn't remember anything I say when he is getting "near low". So, later on, when I remind him of something that he agreed to do, he says that I never told him that. Lately, he has turned this on me and now declares that I never told him, I can't remember what I did tell him, and therefore, I am suffering from memory loss!
So I just wanted to remind myself to post here all those things that I have forgotten so that I will know it's not MY memory loss...it's his sugar lows that have gotten us to this point in our relationship! LOLOL!
How on earth does anyone out there stay married to someone with diabetes? I know that I love the man dearly...but is love enough to get you through all of this?
Thank goodness the diabetes counselor confirmed that I do not have any memory loss....but that this is standard protocol when his sugar is low. And it's his survival mechanism....to blame me, to say that I'm the one with a memory loss....rather than face what is happening to him!
Whew!
Living with diabetes
Well, I've done it! I've started a blog about living with this horrible disease! I just feel like I need a place to write down all my thoughts, especially the things I forget because I do tend to block all the bad stuff from my thoughts. I suppose that is a survival technique...it just happens to be one I'm a pro at.
My husband is a diabetic. And it is out of control. Yesterday, I met with a diabetic nutritionist. She honestly thought I was there to talk about my diabetes! Surprise! No...I went to ask for help in dealing with his. I did like this gal. She was bright, energetic, fun....what I would like to be. But we have a journey to get there, that's for sure!
DH has had type 2 diabetis for at least 25 years. It was always "controlled" with pills. However, his doctor told him that he could eat whatever he wanted as long as he took his pills. Then his company forced him to switch insurance companies. The new health care plan forced him to undergo a battery of tests and told him his kidney function was down to 40% and that he had to start with insulin shots.
Well...that's the first problem. Why didn't anyone tell him his kidney function was at 90%, or 80% or 50%? Or did they tell him and he just never bothered to share that information with me?
We have been through denial....and progressed to anger which is where he is stuck. I know that I cannot change him. I cannot help him move forward. I have gutted the house of any "bad" food. I refuse to buy anything other than what he should eat. I refuse to be his enabler. So, of course, he is always angry that there is "nothing to eat" around here. He travels almost every week and eats out every meal...4 or 5 days a week. I cannot control what he does on the road. I know that. But when he comes home, weekends are pure hell around here. He is mad at me, mad at the dogs, mad at the pavement in the driveway...just angry at the entire world.
He will sit in front of his TV the entire weekend. The only time he moves is to find something to eat (ok, a Snicker's bar!) and because it's not here...he gets mad.
Last weekend, we had a 6 hour discussion. Tears everywhere. The only good that came from it was my statement to him that I did not want to hear another angry word out of him. To which he replied, "ok, then I will only speak to you in a monotone voice". I nearly laughed outloud at his 10 year old childish comments...but I took him to task and the very next time he was angry, I looked right at him and said, "quite the lovely monotone in your voice there" and he backed off immediately.
The diabetes counselor suggested that I try to get him in for joint counseling. He is gone til Friday night and my plans are to ask him to join me and I'll call for an appointment.
I know that his sugar levels are out of whack. He says he needs a snickers bar at 8:30 am because his sugar is "low". At noon he wants another one. If I remind him of the one he had in the morning, he denies that he had one. If I show him the empty wrapper, he says that I ate it. So I know that he does not remember what he does/says when his sugar is low. And when his sugar is high, he is just plain pissed off at the world!
The more highs and lows that he goes through in a day, the more anger I see. And the more exhausted and tired he is...to the extent that he will let the dogs pee in the house rather than get up and let them outside when I am not here. I just spent 5 hours shampooing carpets last weekend....you can imagine my anger! LOL!
I think writing is good. It will allow me to vent my frustration, knowing that no one out there needs to read any of this. And it's a place for me to re-read my thoughts and my notes.
Maybe one day soon there will be a cure for this disease. Oh dear...is that MY denial??? :o)
My husband is a diabetic. And it is out of control. Yesterday, I met with a diabetic nutritionist. She honestly thought I was there to talk about my diabetes! Surprise! No...I went to ask for help in dealing with his. I did like this gal. She was bright, energetic, fun....what I would like to be. But we have a journey to get there, that's for sure!
DH has had type 2 diabetis for at least 25 years. It was always "controlled" with pills. However, his doctor told him that he could eat whatever he wanted as long as he took his pills. Then his company forced him to switch insurance companies. The new health care plan forced him to undergo a battery of tests and told him his kidney function was down to 40% and that he had to start with insulin shots.
Well...that's the first problem. Why didn't anyone tell him his kidney function was at 90%, or 80% or 50%? Or did they tell him and he just never bothered to share that information with me?
We have been through denial....and progressed to anger which is where he is stuck. I know that I cannot change him. I cannot help him move forward. I have gutted the house of any "bad" food. I refuse to buy anything other than what he should eat. I refuse to be his enabler. So, of course, he is always angry that there is "nothing to eat" around here. He travels almost every week and eats out every meal...4 or 5 days a week. I cannot control what he does on the road. I know that. But when he comes home, weekends are pure hell around here. He is mad at me, mad at the dogs, mad at the pavement in the driveway...just angry at the entire world.
He will sit in front of his TV the entire weekend. The only time he moves is to find something to eat (ok, a Snicker's bar!) and because it's not here...he gets mad.
Last weekend, we had a 6 hour discussion. Tears everywhere. The only good that came from it was my statement to him that I did not want to hear another angry word out of him. To which he replied, "ok, then I will only speak to you in a monotone voice". I nearly laughed outloud at his 10 year old childish comments...but I took him to task and the very next time he was angry, I looked right at him and said, "quite the lovely monotone in your voice there" and he backed off immediately.
The diabetes counselor suggested that I try to get him in for joint counseling. He is gone til Friday night and my plans are to ask him to join me and I'll call for an appointment.
I know that his sugar levels are out of whack. He says he needs a snickers bar at 8:30 am because his sugar is "low". At noon he wants another one. If I remind him of the one he had in the morning, he denies that he had one. If I show him the empty wrapper, he says that I ate it. So I know that he does not remember what he does/says when his sugar is low. And when his sugar is high, he is just plain pissed off at the world!
The more highs and lows that he goes through in a day, the more anger I see. And the more exhausted and tired he is...to the extent that he will let the dogs pee in the house rather than get up and let them outside when I am not here. I just spent 5 hours shampooing carpets last weekend....you can imagine my anger! LOL!
I think writing is good. It will allow me to vent my frustration, knowing that no one out there needs to read any of this. And it's a place for me to re-read my thoughts and my notes.
Maybe one day soon there will be a cure for this disease. Oh dear...is that MY denial??? :o)
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