Health

I guess I've always taken Justin's health for granted. In the years we've been married he's been to the doctor because he was ill a whopping--ONCE--in ten years. It was some virus and he was over it two days later. I'd had some issues growing up and I've struggled with my back at times over the years, but not him.

Shortly after Christmas I went to buy a scale. Ours had died during my pregnancy (not because I weighed too much, just because, like most of our things, it was ten years old) and I hadn't bothered to replace it among the bi-weekly and then weekly weigh in's at the midwife's office. When Justin got on it, he told me he'd lost 40 pounds. At that point I woke a little from the sleepy haze I'd been living in since the arrival of our newest bundle and realized my husband HAD lost forty pounds, since the baby came, without reason.

We debated what to do. We're bright, educated people, so we knew that there were many possible explanations. They ranged from his metabolism being kick started by the soda and juice he had dropped from his diet to the ominous. Some where mixed in the middle of these opposite ends was diabetes. The most likely culprit, we knew.

Assuming he had type II diabetes, we started watching what he ate closely and his weight loss ceased, easing our minds of the worry of leukemia. We had scheduled him for a physical in a few weeks and we were pretty confident of the diagnosis and that we had it pretty well under control. At my mother's urging, we went ahead and bought a glucose meter. We were sure his levels would be slightly elevated, but not a concern. We were quite surprised at how high his glucose levels were at that first reading.

He moved his appointment up to the next day and it's been a whirlwind of a week ever after. Lots of learning, tests, and a slightly different diagnosis. We're dealing with Type I diabetes. That means injections and needles and a keeping track of insulin containers.

My measuring cups are getting a work out as I measure all of Justin's food now. I've learned that diabetics don't go on low carb diets--they go on equal carb diets. We just have to be sure of how much he gets at every meal to equalize it to the insulin he takes before he eats. I'm sure I have much more to learn and we have many decisions, from the big to the small, to make.

We, as in all things, trust that God will see us through this challenge. We are making our way through as best we can, with prayer, each other, and friends and family who care. We appreciate the prayers that are being lifted up for our family, and Justin in particular. And we are looking forward to the day when his body is healed, here on earth or in the kingdom of heaven, where he assures me his first stop will be at the dessert table at the wedding feast.