Just came home…..
Just returned from seeing my son and his two
children for the first time in 4 years. He was posted in
the middle East for the Can. Gov. and we didn’t want
to go there.<br
day and 4 times bladder catherization ( as a result
from neuropathy) it was a real undertaking to be in a
plane for 5 hours each way. The washrooms are like
little sigarboxes and so I cath. on the airport just
before leaving. Needles I have taken anywhere so that’s
no problem. I have noticed in restaurants people
never notice my moves in that respect, besides I do it
so fast even I don’t notice it. How about them
cookies???<br
nights. I love the little ones but not all the time.
Bought them both (2 and 4 yrs old) little bikes and I
believe the bikes went to bed with them that first day.
They are called Oma’s and Opa’s bikes, yes they
does!!<br
I had to be a magician to keep the diabetes plan
working. Lots’o testing, had a real low on the way back
and ended up having two lunches in the
plane.<br
that!!!! My own bed, own place, own chair, own coffee ect.
Have to go away to appreciate it all. Diabetes still
under control.<br
October 8th, 2004 at 5:00 am
Great to have you back john<br
middle east and managing diabetes in travel is hell. i
usually travel 3 times a year and going to the states
means gaining a day on the way in and losing on the way
out. as there is a time difference of 11 hrs. <br
just accept weird readings for a couple of days. and
then settling to a new routine. by then its time to
come back.<br
FIND INJECTIONS NO PROBLEM BUT THE FOOD QUANTITY IN
THE UNITED STATES IS HUGE IN RESTRAUNTS. <br
EAT OR WASTE…. EITHER WAY IS DIFFICULT.
October 9th, 2004 at 6:35 am
I don’t care what they put in front of me. I just pick out what I need and can
eat and the rest I send back. Don’t like to risk my health for a good
eat…….<br
October 10th, 2004 at 8:11 am
Hi All!<br
to cook so I usually either get deli from Safeway or
go to a restaurant. I have 8 great restaurants just
around the corner from my house.<br
out, I get the things I like, like Chicken Fried Steak
or Prime rib. But I always make sure to get veggies
with it too, and then I cut the meat in half and have
them wrap it for me to take away. I’ve found with a
little bit of planning I can eat just about anything I
used to eat, just not as much. So this way, I always
have leftovers for lunch or supper the next
day.<br
somewhere else and can’t take leftovers home, I just leave
it on the plate. <br
McDonalds: The McGrill chicken sandwich is great for a quick
meal out. The chicken cutlet is just about 4 oz., and
a little carb (the roll) is allowed. I just get it
without the mayo and substitute a little ketchup instead.
Instead of the fries and soda, just get a salad and diet
coke and you are set. I wouldn’t recommend it
everyday, but if you are out and about and need to eat
something it’s not really too bad.
October 11th, 2004 at 9:46 am
thank you Devlin<br
as iam the only diabetic in our family. I have to
allow for others taste and go out for meals especially
here in my city eating is the only form of
socializing. its tuesday today and until friday my lunches and
dinners are fully booked which means elabourate dinner
parties and huge buffets. even if i eat a bite of each i
end up with more than what’s good for me. the dessert
layout are killers there are atleast 2 eastern desserts
and 2 western treats and even the fruit has sprinkled
sugar I avoid the dessert part but sometimes its hard.
One solution i find is not eating much during the
week, but then my husband deosn’t like eating by
himself!! to top it off he deosn’t gain wt. and i only have
to look at food and its on my butt and waist!! if we
land in summer in orlando i will try leaving half
portions…..more easy to eat though!! I cook and love the taste of
all food. what a disease to end up with for somebody
like me. take care cheekired
October 13th, 2004 at 12:57 pm
Hi Cheekired,<br
your trouble in eating out often. Just load up on the
veggies when you eat out or go to someone’s home, and
just pick at the fattening stuff. Most people, if you
tell them you are Diabetic, don’t mind if you stay
away from the fattening and high caloric stuff.
Sometimes it is importnat though to tell them the reason
why you are avoiding certain foods, so they don’t
think you are avoiding it because you don’t like their
cooking!<br
later on is not a good idea. The whole idea behind
controlling diabetes is to maintain a rather constant level
in your blood sugars. What you are doing could
defeat the purpose of your efforts. I sometimes eat
lightly during the day, so I can splurge somewhat more
that evening, but I wouldn’t go super light for a few
days just to make up for an upcoming event. That could
really mess up your blood chemistry. It may even lead to
low blood sugar.<br
and it didn’t say much about you. Are you
Middle-Eastern, or are you a Westerner living in the Middle East?
I do know that people in the Middle East seem to
have a sweet tooth, don’t they! ;o)<br
do is try your best. If you cheat a little one day,
don’t give it all up, just start all over again the
next day. Taking it day-by-day is the best you
do.<br
October 15th, 2004 at 4:08 pm
thank you devlin<br
about 40 women the last lady showed up at 3:45 for a
1:30 party so lunch wasn’t announced till 3:30!! i
usually eat at 2pm so spent a good part of the time
thinking when to take my pre lunch…. this is a formal
affair. i can’t walk in to the kitchen and demand food
and definetly didn’t want to nibble on the fatty gunk
on the coffee table.<br
don’t know iam diabetic; its not the sort of thing i
can tell formal friends. I know i hear a lot of ohhs
and cries from the group but my own motherin law
asked my doctor if her son would catch it from me when
we got married!!!! or if i had caught it from my
hospital job!! so my parents never told anybody and i
defintly couldn’t do it since we all move in the same
circle ….. complicated…<br
usually very understanding but i don’t like creating a
fuss and becoming a party pooper using diabetes as an
excuse….there are better ways to attract attention. A alot of
people reading this i know will not understand why i
would keep diabetes a secret but that’s the way life
here is…. so you can imagine what a reflief having
this club is for me.<br
32 year old kindergarten manager/owner, i realy
enjoy my work all the staff working for me know iam a
diabetic and where i keep the emergency sweets!!! because
of social taboos a lot of parents of diabetic
children do put their children with me and i love these
special kids to bits they visit me even after moving on
to grade schools and call when they have
difficulties in coping with diabetes in their BIG SCHOOLS.
Though i have made enough mistakes myself i find it easy
to talk to kids.<br
girl we all speak read write english arabic and urdu
which is an indian language. we have also picked up a
lot of indonesian because of indonesian house help
here in saudi. Lastly my husband is english…..the
one with the nutty mother!! bye read you soon
October 19th, 2004 at 6:49 am
John V.:<br
upset about my disappearance that you were in deep
depression — and you’ve been on vacation!!!! Burst my
bubble! LOL<br
and his family; even with all the difficulties you
had to go through, I’m sure it was all worth
it.<br
October 20th, 2004 at 8:24 am
Cheekired:<br
aww. I know exactly how you feel about sharing your
diabetic condition with other people. For some strange
reason, there is a stigma to having diabetes.<br
back in the dating scene and have found that, when I
meet someone for the first time and tell them I am
diabetic, I never see them again. For some reason, they are
afraid I will go into an “attack” when I’m with them and
they won’t know what to do, or if we get “involved” I
will die on them and leave them miserable. And every
one of them had a Diabetic Horror Story to
tell!!!<br
“right” man, I will disclose it to him but until them
“mum’s the word.”<br
October 22nd, 2004 at 1:42 am
I feel your pain about the dating scene. It is
Why
hard for me too. I always tell people about it and it
always causes some kind of problems. Some of them even
think I’m a bedridden invalid at 22 years old. Others
always want to go out to eat and don’t understand why
its hard for me. Just the other day I was supposed to
go on a first date and when we were deciding what to
do, he suggested a restaurant. I said I really
shouldn’t eat that late and asked if we could do something
else. He said “@^&$ it!!” and we didn’t go out
can’t people be a bit more understanding? Ugh.
October 23rd, 2004 at 1:11 pm
Well, one good thing came out of that — you
wouldn’t have wanted to be with this man anyway with an
attitude like that. <br
when your own family tries to get you to eat things
you aren’t supposed to, after 22 years of knowing I’m
diabetic — you wonder if they are trying to kill you
off??<br
take your shot(s), and say things like, “Oh, you
remind me of a junkie shooting up!” Yep, that makes me
feel real good — NOT!!<br
October 24th, 2004 at 4:53 am
what a relief<br
carrying the diabetic stigma alone. i know i have nothing
to be sorry for, but it is there. iam glad people in
“developed” countries go through the same.actually 25% of
saudi population is diabetic now more and more type
ones but they don’t look after themselves so most
people see suffering middle aged diabteics making a and
living in a sugary mess.
October 25th, 2004 at 6:28 am
LOL love the junkie…that’s what i tell
strangers who stare when iam measuring my shot then ask
them not to tell anybody. guess how long that secret
stays!!<br
room while i was taking a shot in the thigh. I told
her i had just started drugs and she must not tell
her or my moms. poor girl she was in shock wouoldn’t
even stay alone with me in a room for long!!! i think
for all the patience and suffering we quietly endure
a bit of fun is well deserved. Now 13 years later
my same cousin is my closest ally.
October 27th, 2004 at 9:39 am
That was funny. The stories I am sure we all could tell!!
October 28th, 2004 at 11:15 am
Cheekired,<br
are doing with the children.<br
waiting 2 hours for someone to show at a formal affair.
It would be though incorteous to the ones on
time.<br
not need to know all your physical history. That is
why I love the puter, those on the list and groups
wish to talk and listen about diabetes. I have known
some dmers that that is all they talk about,
themselves and dm. There are other diseases of the
world.<br
October 29th, 2004 at 10:44 pm
Too bad we live SOOOOOO far away from each other
— sounds like we have the same kind of humor –
LOL. <br
shots, and really didn’t think I’d ever be able to do
them myself–I went to the doctor and had them give me
the shots every day!!! Then after about two weeks of
seeing me, they told me I was on my own. Well, both my
mother and my daughter said they would give me my shots
— yeah, right!!! We sat at the kitchen table for
over an hour because none of us wanted to do it!
Finally, I just said, “the heck with this”, went into the
bathroom and “shot up”. When I came out I ran right into
the both of them; they were standing at the door just
in case I fainted or something.<br
but back then it was terrifying.<br
deserve humor in our lives — lots of it.<br
(Breakit)
November 1st, 2004 at 5:37 pm
Hi JohnV<br
trip went well. Missed you around here :-)<br
good to see that you did the best you could with your
6 shots a day and bladder
catherization.<br
on trips, I have to make sure that I have extra pump
supplies. Packing all the extra stuff can be a pain in the
neck, but I feel so good knowing that I’m carrying
extra supplies.<br
all.<br
November 2nd, 2004 at 7:12 pm
Hi Cheekired,<br
food portions in the United States are huge. I feel
bad having to waste food. Sometimes the portions are
too much for me and at times I don’t put on the
proper insulin dosage for that particular meal. Some
times, I don’t seem to count the carbs correctly, so I
wind up correcting my mistake later.<br
when I go out to restaurants with my fiancé, I’m happy
that he’s understanding, Bobby always tells me that if
I can’t eat something not to worry about it, that
he understands. Lucky me :-)<br
all.<br
November 4th, 2004 at 10:23 pm
Hi Cheekired,<br
don’t tell everyone that you have diabetes. Some
people, even in this day and age, still don’t understand
what diabetes is all about. It’s crazy, but
true.<br
diabetes is contageous.<br
November 7th, 2004 at 1:34 am
Hiya Cheryl!<br
bad reactions to people finding out your have
Diabetes. I don’t live far from you and I have had
completely different responses. Everyone at work has been so
kind, and since I have been open about it, everyone
else in the firm who has it has come and told me about
it. We have so many diabetics here I am considering
starting a firm-wide Diabetes support group.<br
really don’t think there is a stigma to having a
disease. I am not ashamed of having it, and if the subject
comes up and someone is frightened off, I just figure
it was good to find out up-front rather than wasting
time on them.<br
doesn’t freak out over it. <br
November 9th, 2004 at 4:45 am
yeh gail <br
everyone focuses on what hits closes home. Yeh it is bad
manners but life goes on… to get serious you don’t even
need diseases to see pain just open the newspaper. at
least we have stable lives a lot to be thankful
for…take care yeh this group is great at least i can talk
about diabetes all day and not feel guilty!!
November 11th, 2004 at 5:50 pm
Devlin:<br
wasting time on someone who would freak out about the
diabetes; I just get so tired of the same reactions all the
time. I just moved to Maryland in September and I am
having a hard time meeting people who like to go out and
do things. Meeting people over the net (men, of
course) is really shattering to the self-esteem. First
they want to know “what you look like” –
specifically, how much do you weigh. And then, when I do meet
someone who doesn’t mind the weight and we seem to be
getting along well, I tell them about the diabetes and
poof they are either gone or act very nervous when
around me. Sometimes, I feel like a sub-human; sorry,
really I’m a very happy-go-lucky person — I am just
going through a spell right now.<br
kind words.<br