Followers

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Feed Me, Seymour

Ugh! I am full, I ate too much. I thought my stomach was hurting before. LOL, I was wrong. There are more pain levels. It still beats being hungry though. I have been there, hungry. I have never been starving. I say that I have at times, it is an expression, but no. It's a BIG difference.

When I was a kid, we had a day called "fast Sunday" aargh. Once a month, it started on Saturday night with no dinner and went on till Sunday evening. No food, no water or beverages, nothing. For me and my siblings it was torture. I could sometimes plan ahead and have something stashed. I usually forgot, and would try to sneak stuff. Sometimes I would get busted and sometimes I wouldn't. I drank water too, once I was old enough and  decided that it was just stupid and not a "sin". It almost killed my oldest brother, he is hypoglycemic. My other brother, sister, mom, and dad have all developed Type 2 diabetes. I have quite a few aunts, uncles, cousins with this problem too. Some have died from it or had major complications. It is a crappy, (insert swear words here), horrible disease.

 So far, I have only had gestional diabetes. It was when I was pregnant with my son, Max. I had a very severe case of it. I ended up being on insulin injections 3x a day and had to test my sugars, every couple hours or so. I had a dietician on call, I talked to her at least 5 or more times a day and saw her once a week. I was on a very strict diet, and was always hungry. I also threw up if I went "over". When I say over, lol..one snack was so many carbs, proteins and fats.. You know those little boxes of cereal, single portion fun ones? I had one of those, Rice Krispies with a 1/2 cup of skim milk. I got really sick, found out the carbs was enough for almost 2 servings. Wow!

I managed to keep my blood sugars under control working 30-40 hours a week, in a 24 hour restaurant. It was a major accomplishment. Max was born alive within normal weights and a normal size fully-functioning  pancreas. I had learned a lot about food, and diet. I also respect anyone who can adhere to a true diabetic diet for any amount of time. They are supposed to do it their whole lives. The saddest part is even with your sugars under control, it doesn't give you any guarantee that you won't develop any of the major complications. Early death, amputation, blindness..it is a long list.

There was a time in college, once at Utah Tech where I had no money for a week and all I had in the fridge was miracle whip, rice and ketchup..blch. None of my friends had money either, though somehow we had booze and cigarettes. Later in life, attending DeVry I remember shoplifting vienna sausages in a store, more than a few times. I had a few bucks, but that was for the bar. I had to buy at least one drink and tip well, the rest I would mooch from girlfriends and guys. Some I knew and some I didn't. I learned to keep a bottle of booze in my car. Apricot schnapps or brandy, in an Illinois winter, it was ice-cold and went down smooth. I had other tricks by that time to be high or drunk or a combo of both at almost all times. I worked two jobs and went to school full-time, ate like a pig, and was at the thinnest I was ever at in my life. I was a size 7-9 and still bigger than almost all the girls I knew. I was always broke.

I am trying to decide if I am going to keep talking about food or what. I did do a diet after Utah Tech where I only ate 500 calories a day. I think I mentioned this before. I lost over 30 lbs and then was sicker than sick for the next 2 years of my life. I worked in a lot of restaurants. One lady was a busser/disher and would save the food from customer's plates and bring it home to her family. I think she had at least 4 or 5 adults and at least 10-12 kids in various ages. They were all probably living in a 2 bedroom apartment at most with very little heat or hot water, usually no electricity either and everybody hustled to get a job. They were all illegals. What money they had went to the car to get everybody to work, and to pay off the extortionists that got them here.

My no pain diet, I eliminated booze 1st. That helped a lot. Then dairy, mostly..this was harder. I tried that no carb all protein diet for a bit and OMG, ugh. I eliminated anything deep-fried,wow yeah. I got to the point that I ate very little meat, lots of fresh and cooked veggies, rice and plain sweet potatoes, and eggs. The only bread I could tolerate was french or italian..found out later that this was all the stuff that doesn't irritate your bowels. Fats just were bad..more and more stuff kept getting added to my "no pain" diet. No soda, juice of any kind or tea, and black coffee only. Water was okay, but I had a hard time with it. I lost 85 lbs in 2 years. I also waitressed and rode my bike to my kids school 7 blocks away, 6 times a day. I would still end up in pain.

I am now healing from my 3rd surgery, a spigelian tumor..very rare. I think it has failed already, but I haven't told that to anyone yet. I am having partial bowel obstruction and pain again. I want to crawl under a rock and just die. *sigh, no really. I am tired of pain, physical and emotional, but I am so not ready to kick it yet. I have so many FB friends whine about getting old. I am older than I was, thank God.  I am not "old" until everyone I know is younger than me. Hah! Some of this I have mentioned before. I repeat myself on occasion, once or twice.

One of my friends, who I bug quite a bit is having his spouse face major surgery. I have been where she is at and where he is also. Neither place is fun, I send them prayers, love and healing thoughts because that is the only thing I can do. Crapola. I wish he had told me sooner as I have been a major pest, a big kind of cry-baby. Aaargh, I now feel like a schmuck, but I will get over it. I have another friend who has been a life-line for me. I am not sure what to call it. Faith, perhaps..and friendship. I have so many lady friends who I could list, each one faces so much in their own ways and slays their dragons with humor and grace. I am always so honored to be a part of their stories and try to encourage them however I can. LOL, I enjoy this part a lot as I get to be outrageous. I laugh. I love being naughty and enjoying a smile, chuckle or laugh, whether it is just joking fun or perverted humor, or even just silly. I can even manage to be serious, too.

 They and others have taught me more about music, art and food. Yum! I envy the ones who travel even as they complain about it. I want to go too..Rome, Japan, Texas..lol. etc.

My hubby goes back to Utah, next week. He did negotiate only a month and plane rides instead of driving. That part is good, the rest of me is not. I pray for strength, patience and help. This next month is going to be a challenge. One day at a time, one step at a time and its ok to be scared. I just keep moving. My family needs help. I have to reconnect with my kids and be a parent and the grown-up. I am still smoke-free. Hallelujah! Whew, time to take a deep breath. I got my levels cut out for me..I am sure you are all facing a few of your own. Thanks for listening as always. TTYL, I am going to try for a couple of hours. My quote for the day:


In times like these, it's helpful to remember that there have always been times like these. Paul Harvey


The title is from "THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS" I own no rights to this video or song or any part of it..










No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Powered By Blogger