Monday, November 14, 2011

First of all, I need more friends on Thredup, so please help a mama out and click HEREto visit my profile. If you have never heard of Thredup, it's a great place to trade your children's clothes, toys, books, games, etc. They provide you with the mailers and the postage for what you give, and if you choose something for yourself that another person has posted, then you pay postage for that item. I have so far given away lots of nice Princess items that were gently worn and outgrown. I earned enough credit (and even a little cash for certain items) to get well stocked up on the kind of baby bottles that I will need for Princess Ivana, with a total out of pocket expense of about $1.95. I truly wish that I had known about sites like this when the other Three Princesses were babies.

Princess Ivana only has about 10 more weeks before she makes her grand entrance into the king's palace. Setting aside the diabetes issue, which will forever be my issue whether pregnant or not, this has been the easiest of the Princesses to carry. I feel really blessed to have this experience, knowing that for health reasons, it will have to be the last. However, I know that there will always be children in our lives.

With that said, I saw on the Early Show this morning that today is Diabetes Day or something like that. That's pretty neat......I guess. Maybe someday, something will change for us, but for now, it's a lifestyle all it's own. The likelihood of one of the Princesses being diabetic at some point is pretty high, but maybe by the time that happens, there will be a cure. Until then, I hope to be a blessing to my family if they should ever need my help in this area. When the gavel pounded the final diagnoses for me, nearly a year ago, my very first thought was that I have nobody to turn to. After I got to where I could see through my tears, it became apparent that maybe someday I will be someone that somebody in the same situation can turn to.

Some people think and will say that all that one has to do to beat diabetes is to lose weight, and everything will be fine. Say that to a diabetic who is anorexic due to ketoacidosis. I've been on the path to weight loss. My doctor told me that if I lost ten percent of my weight, he could take me off of insulin. I did what I was told, as quickly as possible, and am on about triple the dosage of insulin that I was on before. The bonus is that I was finally able to lose some weight after years of struggling and failing, but it was not, nor will be the cure for a condition that runs in my family, regardless of weight or gender.

I want to leave my readers with something that is very important to me as the holidays roll around. Most, if not all of you, are planning a Thanksgiving feast in a couple of weeks. Do you really know the needs of the guests that are coming to eat the meal that you carefully prepare? Would it be so wrong to evaluate and revise your menu to make it healthier? After all, it won't hurt a healthy person to eat a healthier meal in any situation, but a diabetic or heart patient eating a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that is loaded with starch, fat and sugar might not live to see many more holidays. Baked goods can be made with Splenda. Add an extra vegetable dish to the table. Make your fruit salad with light Cool Whip (or none at all) instead of condensed milk and whipped cream. Let turkey and salad be the stars of the show instead of turkey and dressing. A big one that might hurt a lot of folks is to skip the alcohol. Those that insist on drinking, can drink elsewhere. It's really not a big deal. Above all, don't be afraid to ASK people that are coming over, if they have any dietary restrictions. Believe me, they will feel very blessed that you took the time to find out. I can testify to having been to many events that were centered around a meal that I could not eat safely, and it's a terrible, isolating feeling.

Please help keep your friends and relatives safe this Thanksgiving by being a part of the solution.

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