Our story

Shortly before our first anniversary, we were changing health insurance providers, so we set up an appointment for physicals with a new doctor. Charles went first while I waited. When the doctor came in, he said, "Hi. I'm Dr. ****. Your husband's a diabetic."
I felt like I was waiting for a punchline, even though I knew there wouldn't be.
Thus began an entirely new life for us.
There were several signs that we didn't recognize- but things we'd noted to ask the doctor about- that were pretty much dead giveaways for a diagnosis of diabetes. Of course, the clincher was a fasting blood glucose level over 200. Charles had lost a good bit of weight the previous year, mostly intentionally. I remember standing in the kitchen, though, griping about how easily he was losing weight and still eating whatever he wanted (as he was eating a cookie, even!). He'd been having trouble with leg cramps at night. We had no idea they would be caused by diabetes.
We spent the day reeling a bit from the news, talking about how our lives would change, whether it would change our decisions and goals. We had planned to embark on the journey to parenthood, so we had to talk about how Charles' news might affect our children. We don't know his personal health history, but since we'd already planned to have children knowing that diabetes was in my family, we decided to stay with our previous dreams of having a family.
Later, we visited the diabetes educator and learned about carb choices, acceptable blood glucose levels, and the benefits of exercise for maintaining healthy glucose levels. I started looking for diabetes cookbooks (they're everywhere!) and trying to figure out how to adjust favorite recipes to fit new requirements. And I had to say farewell (mostly) to a favorite hobby- I love to bake. It's not just something I enjoy, it's part of me. It was like losing a body part.
I've altered and adjusted and modified, trying to make the best of it. I've had some great successes (the ones no one realizes are diabetic-friendly) and discovered lots of new treats and tricks. That's the purpose of this blog: to share things we've discovered over the last few years. (And hopefully to get us back on the right track!)