Living in fear...

I can certainly understand where you are coming from honey. It is an awful feeling knowing that thisis in fact incurable and you can only really learn to live with it. But the fact is, it is treatable. It can be kept in check and maintained. I have known many people with diabetes that have lived full lives. There are always new technologies out there and new advances in medicine so you never know. Don't be so quick to grieve my dear or you will make yourself sick and I am pretty sure you don't want that. Live for those wonderful moments that can still be had. Ya know I read somewhere in a medical journal that some people had that stomach bypass surgery I think it was and they miraculously no longer had diabetic problems again. You might want to look into that. It might help but then again it might not. I am not a professional. I can only tell you what I read. Again, the most important thing is not to worry so much. By all means be free to worry but not to the extent that you live your life in fear. Fear is a mind killer my dear. Live for the now and just be there for him as he goes through this when you can. That is what he needs the most. I wish you the best of luck and you are in my prayers. *hugs* Livy J

I have diabetes, well they call it borderline diabetes and that means that it can be controlled by a pill in the morning plus exercise and watching what you eat, but there is a bit of leeway in that I can cheat like on birthdays, etc. and get my sugar back down. The trouble is with diabetes that they tell you the worse that can happen. For instance, you will lose all feeling in your foot, you will suddenly go blind, your kidneys will fail, you cannot eat hardly anything, etc. and that makes one more scared then normal. So I think that it is the scare tactics that make it sound worse and also it is that years ago, if you were diabetic, you could hardly eat anything. Now there are so many foods that one can eat, that it is not as bad as it used to be. So does your father have to take insulin or is he on pills?

I understand you fear b/c not only do I have it but so does my Mom. I have had it for about 13 years and still haven't had to start on medications...I control mine by how and what I eat. My Mom is probably closer to needing medications but I try to help her as much as I can. Having diabetes isn't the end of the world but it does require different habits in your daily life. [b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~ **STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]

As long as your father takes all the medical advice he is given he will be okay diabetes is manageable mgraham126

Don't worry so much. Diabetes is common in the medical circle nowadays and is manageable in many ways. People really grow up after experiencing pains. Facecd with the condition of your father, fear is unavoidable. But except for fear, maybe you coud also learn something. Learn to cherish. Whether our parents are healthy or not or how long life they could live, they will leave us someday. Being able to with them is a kind of great happiness. Cherish the happiness you own now, which orphans never could savour and those've already lost. Learn to shoulder. Realizing your loved dad is no longer the strong head who always bounces back, you should try to shoulder the responsiblity of taking care of him instead of mere fear. Make him feel your love and support. Learn to be a real daughter, who has grown up!

My father has diabetes as well. He got very sick when he first came down with it. My father was a very big man and now he is about half that size. I do not know how the diabetes caused him to lose that much weight but now that his diabetes is under control he is not losing any more weight.

Wow! I could have written this. My father was the same way. He was the strength of our family and a great role model. He knew how to save money, he knew when to draw the line. Everything in moderation was his motto. The man walked to work every day for 45 years! He only ate dessert if it was a special occasion, never drank more than two drinks. He felt if something was going to harm him he didn't need it. Both his sisters were terribly obese and developed diabetes, as did his brother, his father, some uncles. It was in the family but my father took good care of himself and didn't deserve to get it. I was devestated. However, he was almost 80 years old when he got it. He had a very mild case in that he only had to take a pill. I decided then that if it was so prevalent in our family that I might get it, I would rather get it at 80 than 40 so I started cutting back on sugar and exercising regularly - not easy to do when I have fibromyalgia. But now, last year, at the age of 45, I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia - a precursor to diabetes. So, yeah I am afraid. I'm also not as strong as my dad and can't give up all those sugars. I have such a sweet tooth. But I also have Irritable Bowel Syndrome so I have trouble finding things to eat pretty much all the time. My doctor told me I was made up of two people - my father and my mother. The odds of me getting diabetes are significantly lower than they were for my father where the disease was rampant in his family. It did cut my father's life short too. We just didn't expect him to die quite that soon (3 years ago at the age of 82). I will just continue to do my best to ward off this illness. I test my blood semi-regularly and seem to have my blood sugar under control with diet. My mother is now 84. Her mother lived to the ripe old age of 98 and her sister will be 96 this month. I think it is safe to say she will be around for at least another 10 years.

I can understand what you've been through. My mother has diagnosed with diabetes too, and it's about 15 years now and she still okay now. She managed the food she's eating and stay in a stable condition. I think we should not living in fear like that. All people will die at last, even if it come I don't know how I feel too but right now, I just give all my best love and care to them (my parents) while they're still alive and not fear too much. You know, my father just diagnosed with hepatitis B, so I just pray for them and keep giving them my best love. I hope it helps you, God bless.

I can understand you are going through hard time it is almost too unexpected to believe that your own will be going and you are helpless. But time is the best healer. I know my words are not so conforting but I can always pray for you. And I will. Be brave. We are 4 sisters and when something happen to our parents we are sometimes vulnerable. Then as being the smallest the elders always take care of me.