My husband has always been one of those guys who could eat just about everything and never worry about gaining an ounce. Friends would watch in awe as he loaded his dinner plate with mounds of food and then eagerly return for seconds and maybe even thirds. He was just one of the lucky guys with a fast metabolism. Or so we thought.
A few weeks ago, my husband developed several strange symptoms — he began losing weight, was constantly thirsty, needed to urinate frequently and his vision got blurry. To make a scary story much shorter, he paid a visit the doctor and was a diagnosed with uncontrolled high blood sugar, which, once controlled, would just be Diabetes. Apparently, my lucky husband’s sugar levels had been so high that his body was feeding off of itself. So much for a fast metabolism!
The nourishing lunches and dinners I had lovingly prepared over the years for my ravenous husband were evidently poisoning him. With this unexpected news, I faced the greatest, life altering challenge I’d ever faced as a home cook. It certainly surpassed the daily challenge of feeding my family, or the time Suzy and I saw how far we could stretch two roasters in the Chicken Challenge.
Simply put, my life and our life as a family drastically changed from one day to the next. As a responsible wife and mother, I have no choice but to rise to the occasion and make sure my husband sticks around as long as the rest of us.
To help me through this crisis, I’m going to do a handful of things. First, I’ll take a crash course in nutrition and learn how it affects people with Diabetes. I’ll also visit with my husband’s new nutritionist to understand what foods he can eat, what he can’t, and why. Finally, I’ll turn to my community and ask for help in finding a friend (probably a new one) who has been put to the same test.
Here’s my personal cooking ad:
MMWDH (Married Mom with Diabetic Husband) seeking a friend with a diabetic family to cook with. I am looking for support and guidance, a companion to help me succeed in the greatest cooking challenge of my life.
In all seriousness, if you know anyone, please send them my way!
Hi. I am a parent of a child with type 1. You will be blown away by the strength and support of the diabetes online community. I suggest starting with diabetesmine.com and sixuntilme.com and jump off their blogrolls. You might ask the authors to post your ad. This is a rollercoaster life, but manageable. One tip, when we were first diagnosed, we took our favorite snacks and divided them into 15 carb baggies. I refused to be the food nazi, counting out goldfish in front of a hungry child. I am sorry this happened to your family.