July 3, 2009
Diabetes; In the eye of the beholder
I’ve always, as long as I can remember, been overweight. I lost and gained here and there, but nothing major.
In June 2008, I found out I am diabetic. Wow. For a person who lived and breathed Mountain Dew and chocolate, that was devastating news. I immediately started drinking diet Mountain Dew and trying anything and everything ‘Sugar Free’. I’ve never been one to like diet or sugar free anything, so this was quite a change for me. I adjusted.
I was put on 1000 mg of Metformin twice a day. Then they added 5 mg of Glyburide twice a day.
Fast forward a year, I’ve lost over 60 pounds. I had it in my head that losing that much weight would make the diabetes disappear. I was mistaken. Apparently the diabetes wasn’t from my weight, but my body just stopped producing the needed insulin.
I’ve never been a person who was good about remembering to take medication. I hadn’t been to the doctor in a while, wasn’t checking my blood sugar, and wasn’t remembering to take my pills as prescribed.
I went to the doctor for what turned out to be a staph infection. He did some lab work, and when it came back, I was told my average blood sugar levels were 345 over a 3 month peroid. Oh my GOD! So ya know what the doctor did? He put me on insulin! I was taken off the Glyburide, I am still on the Metformin, and now an insulin shot every 24 hours.
The doctor told me being diabetic things such as the staph infection on my knee, could cause me to lose my leg. I’m 31 years old and I have three kids 8 years old and younger. That really scared me. It must have scared me into taking my medications like I’m supposed to, because I haven’t missed a dose since then. My sugar levels are not really as low as they need to be as of yet, but we’re working on getting them under control.
Diabetes is very scary. I’m sure it’s scary no matter your age, but I feel like I’m too young to let this disease distroy my life.
Ok, now for some complaining! LOL
Like I said, I’ve lost over 60 pounds since last June. If you’ve read any of my other blog posts, you know that my husband was out of work from last November until about one and a half months ago. We’re just now getting a little caught up on our bills, so I can’t afford to buy new clothes that FIT.
NONE of my clothes fit me anymore!!! I mean NONE. My shirts swallow me whole. My pants litteraly fall off when I walk. My underwear and bras are HUGE on me, my bathing suit straps fall off when I swim.
What’s a person to do? Don’t get me wrong, I love that I’ve lost weight. It’s awesome, and even though it didn’t make the diabetes go away, it sure it didn’t hurt me to lose weight. I just can’t afford to buy clothes that fit, and wearing the ones that are huge on me makes me look terrible, slob-ish even.
I was wearing size 24 jeans (yes, I know, I was HUGE!). I have a pair of size 18 jeans that I love that fall off. I haven’t worn size 18’s since I was 18 and they were skin tight on me then. I found a pair of 16 jeans in my closet that I had tried on before, and they wouldn’t even button up. When I tried them on today, they fit. But guess what?? They fall off too! I was vacuuming the bedroom floor and when I was done, my hiney was hanging out of my pants. My husband laughed at me, but I really don’t find it amusing. I get really upset because nothing fits.
Losing weight is a blessing, but it just sucks to not have clothes that fit 😦
I wish I could find someone who has gained weight that wanted to trade me her size 16’s & 18’s for my 22’s & 24’s. Any takers on that trade? lol
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