Introductions

I am a wife and mother. While I am not diabetic my husband, Stephen a.k.a. Steve, is and it is just as much my battle. Before we married I knew I had to endure times of struggle with this disease and although Steve warned me of things to come, nothing could have fully prepared me for the road ahead.

Stephen has Type 1 Diabetes and depends on two different kinds of insulin, Novolog and Lantus. I must admit this excited me in the beginning as much as it frightened me. It was something new and different and to me it set my husband apart. I was eager to learn how to use the sliding scale to determine how much insulin to administer and just as eager to administer it. This curiosity proved to aid in the absorption of information thrown my way. I soaked it up like a sponge. It is a knowledge that will never leave me.

I knew from the beginning that it was to be my duty to watch him and remind him to eat, to check his sugar and to remind him to take his other medication as well. What I didn't realize is his reaction, at times, to this nagging. You see, diabetes not only affects the physical well being but the mental also. Diabetics are prone to mood swings, depression and at times perhaps self loathing. So of course when put in this situation one is forced to prioritize their own feelings for the well being of another, every time I remind him I take the risk of making him mad but it's a risk that has to be taken.

Along with diabetes my husband suffers from Diabetic Neuropathy which is nerve damage caused by diabetes. He's in pain every day. He says his toes feel broke, his legs burn and worse of all the nerve damage is in his stomach as well which affects how and when his stomach digests. Many of the things he's not supposed to eat he couldn't if he wanted to, an example would be rice. His body refuses to digest rice so when eaten it comes back up. This is heartbreaking for someone who loves rice dishes as much as I do but it's another small sacrifice that has to be taken. I still have my stir fry and so on from time to time, I just make mashed potatoes for him instead.

As I go further into my blog I will take you on an emotional experience. If nothing happens for that day I will relive an episode in the past. And there have been a few ambulance calls and hospital stays already. You will soon know what it is like to be married to a diabetic, to draw blood and stick a needle in your husband's arm and live nearly every moment wondering when it will be your last together. This is my journal and I am sharing it with you.