Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Diabetes rocked our world

It was always something we took for granted, all of us being able to eat whatever we wanted. It wasn't something we thought about. We planned our meals from the many cook books I own and ate accordingly. Happy happy joy joy then wham!!! Mr Faulk you are diabetic!!! Delivered just like the death sentance we believed the words to be. 
We had heard of diabetes and I knew someone who had diabetes and couldn't eat chocolate. Where do we go from here? 
Our doctor is a specialist in diabetes. He told us to fill the prescription meds and blood sugar monitor and attend the diabetic class's when the hospital representative called to schedule them. He told us with proper exercise and diet modification that Doug could possibly return to regular blood sugar levels. 
What does that mean??? We googled diabetes and became more terrified as we tried to plow through the very large volume of information about diabetes. Friends who knew someone with diabetes tried giving advice, and we did appreciate it, but really we just needed to figure out what we had to do. What changes did we need to make?? 
We didn't make any. Seriously. The results weren't too amazing either. Doug slipped into bed because he couldn't eat like we had been, and the high blood sugar made him irritable and sleepy, combined with his narcolepsy and sleep apnea and he was exhausted ! His restrictive lung disease causes his lungs to function similar to an 80 year old man, and so any exercise left him so out of breath it made him miserable. He remained in bed almost three weeks. He gained weight. Very very bad facts for any diabetic. 
I remembered his cousin telling us about the Daniel fast , so I looked it up! I bought two books about it without Doug's knowledge and then just came into our room and woke him up!! I read the idea of the Daniel fast and several testimonials. He agreed to try it .. After all... We were desperate!! 
He basically could only have fruit and vegetables for 21days. Sounds simple but oh it was not!!! We researched recipes to complement the Daniel fast And little by little ... He began to shed inches in the belly and face. He began exercising 30 minutes on our elliptical. Five minutes at a time spread out during the day! It worked for us!!! 
We did attend the diabetic classes, he had two weeks remaining on the Daniel fast. We learned a lot, and Doug decided to finish the 21 days then combine the Daniel fast menu and the diabetic menus to form his own modified diet. Praise The Lord!!! It is working!! His bible reading and prayer life has at least doubled and his pounds are shrinking off at a very steady and safe pace!!! 
We give God the praise because we know that all the knowledge for the proper way to diet came from Him, and I am so thankful He directs our lives so perfectly!!! 

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