Rambling thoughts.

Let me preface this by saying....I decided to edit my notes! LOL! Hubby made a comment the other day that hit me as so totally strange. He has type 2 diabetes. He was on pills for 30 years and then switched to insulin shots when I started blogging in early 2006.

He said that "his" diabetes is a disease of "his" pancreas, not of his kidneys. He said diabetes means you have an non-working pancreas, one that does not produce insulin.

When I did some online research, I find that Type 1 diabetes is where the pancreas does not produce insulin. Type 2 is where the pancreas produces insulin, but it's either not enough, or the body does not process the insulin correctly.

He has had this disease since he was in his twenties. I can't figure out why he made the comment that his diabetes (type 2) is caused because his pancreas does not produce insulin. That's my rambling thought tonight.

Regardless of that, his kidney function is at 30%. I know that people can live without a pancreas. I know that you can live without one of your kidneys, but if you lose both of them you need dialysis. I think what I'm trying to figure out here is why he would say this is all about the pancreas when it's the kidney function that he should be focusing on. OK, I still can't word that they way I want to word it. He thinks that his problem is with his pancreas, NOT his kidneys. I have to wonder if this is another way that he is denying the seriousness of his disease. As long as he tells himself it's his pancreas that's the problem, does that justify eating whole bags of potato chips every night?

I fully understand that he absolutely needs to change his diet and exercise....but he does not agree with me. He says that as long as he takes his meds, he can eat whatever he wants. He claims that is what his doctors have told him. Yet when he went with me to the diabetic nutritionist, she disagreed. But of course, she is not a doctor and he will not listen to her. I have to wonder if he does not understand that by continuing to eat the way he does, he will tax his kidneys and be on dialysis sooner than necessary.

This man is absolutely beyond belief brilliant when it comes to some aspects of life. But when it comes to nutrition, I just can't figure out where he is coming from. But one thing I am learning. The less he cares about himself, what goes into his body, and the physical problems he is having.....the more I am learning about nutrition, my own physical health, and the impact of what I eat. So there is positive growth in this for me. Yeah!

OK, I hope I've rewritten this just to clarify my thoughts.

DW