Today marks 250 days since my son has had to inject insulin – more than two thirds of a year!!! Hip hip hooray!!
Not ones to give in or give up without a fight, by the beginning of May we made the decision to completely overhaul our diet and committed to daily exercise. And that meant the whole family, not just my son, as we were in it together as far as I was concerned. After lots and lots of reading and research, we knew that this would give us our best shot to keep my son’s blood sugar levels as stable as possible.
Our radical changes were to eliminate as much sugar as possible (we follow the Sarah Wilson “I Quit Sugar” program), still eat carbs but count our portions, eat organic/free-range meat, eggs and vegetables where possible, and cut back majorly on diet soft drinks and chemicals… ie. Readymade ‘things’ in packets/jars.
Within a couple of weeks, he felt the need to also stop insulin injections completely. He needed to, as his blood sugar levels were beginning to always border on the low side, which was great as meant he could eat more of the ‘good stuff’ to keep his levels where they should be.
Eight months on, we remain committed and dedicated to our new lifestyle – it’s terrific for all of us and the benefits are great. But of course the big hero is my fantastic son. His dedication to maintaining his health and well being is nothing short of amazing. He still tests several times daily, but has not had to give himself a needle now for 250 days!
Is what he is achieving ‘normal’? Apparently not.
Even though he is a Type 1 Diabetic, can he go on like this forever? We’d like to think ‘Yes!’ and this is now our on-going challenge!
Each time we conquer a goal we set the next one, so we are now focused on reaching 300 days insulin free and then a full year. We’re definitely going to give it our best shot!!
So fingers crossed and watch this space…. our journey continues!