The Sweet, The Salty, & The Rogue Pancreas

I used to think that getting any disease that restricted the intake of certain foods would be the absolute end of the universe. I've always loved food(like 95% of the human race) & find it something to be enjoyed. Growing up, I lived on a farm(& thus was able to inhale vast quantities in keeping with my teenage metabolism). And then diabetes entered the picture & the first order of business was to get me to gain weight, a lot of weight, so they put me on a 2400 calorie a day diet & gain weight I did-52 lbs. (which took me out of the death camp look and into the solidly chubs look. Quite frankly, the insulins I was on did nothing to help me to lose any of that, it was "feed the insulin" pretty much 24/7. And then I went on a pump, and successfully lost 20 lbs (mostly just from not having to stuff my face so much) Weight stayed pretty stable, within 10 lbs for a number of years. Pregnancy (and turning 30) came, gained 45 lbs, lost 40 lbs pretty much 2-3 weeks post delivery. (Has stayed stable since) I'm happy with my weight, but I wish more of it were muscle.(being able to wrangle a screaming,kicking,psychotic 28 lb toddler up to bed hardly counts)

(Who doesn't love bacon? Even meatless bacon..if you're a vegetarian)

I love food, & I pretty much eat it whenever, wherever. Gluten rocks my universe, meat/cheese are must haves, and yes, I eat HFCS containing products, on occasion. (Anybody left reading this?)And I love my diet coke.( I think the only disease that I absolutely couldn't handle would be one where I couldn't have any soft drinks.) I'm aware that no one warns to give up gluten unless it is for valid health reasons, & my intent is NOT to make you hate me for waxing poetic about my love of gluten..this is just journaling thoughts from a person who has very little clue what a challenge staying GF must be. However, that being said, I know a lot of people lately who have had to go GF because of celiac disease and my knowledge on the subject has exponentially grown. There's still a lot of food that you can eat, and eating fresh fruits/veggies forces you to eat more healthy foods. (Fritos are GF. Win!!!!! I could live off that and homemade rice/Chinese-ish dishes the rest of my life, if need be.) Although I think I could accept celiac a lot more now (in my life, not affecting my loved ones) my screening test at Friends for Life was negative. I have other digestive issues...pseudo gallbladderitis (in June) which might be vaguely related to my stupid minuscule, disappearing pancreas. My Endo did some more antibody tests to further determine if my pancreas is still attacking itself(if so, at some point I will start having to take digestive enzymes because my pancreas will stop producing them. And glucagon will no longer be effective in a severe low.) If said pancreas disappears entirely, I will pretty solidly have diabetes(and any potential cure treatments that materialize I'd be ineligable for). Basically I might have diabetes for the rest of my life.(not that I was expecting one soon but eventually,yeah) The Artificial Pancreas would still be a major help in my life, though. (I don't mind doing the matinence stuff as long as the thing gives me a long, healthy life)

In the meantime, I'll drown my woes in bacon & diet coke.

 

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