NEVER TO OLD TO LEARN

I went to see my dietician this morning. It’s way cool to have a one on one with someone who can help me get a handle on what to eat and what not to eat. I like that guy who wrote all the books on “Eat This Not That,” but I can’t remember any of that when I’m shopping. I am trying to get better principles stuck in my head, permanently.

I am on a limited salt diet now and all my friends said, “Why don’t you try sea salt, It’s different than real salt.” Ahah! They’re wrong. After today’s meeting all I can say is baloney. They are the same. Sea Salt is just trendy and highly promoted. Sodium is sodium. Sea sale granules are just bigger. There goes that recommendation. Foiled again by people who I call friends.

She gave me a sheet that lists spices that can be paired with various meets. I love that. Now I can add something other than salt and pepper. I like to add a little flavor to my food and this gives me great direction. I have never known what spices work with what foods, and because I don’t want to waste food, I don’t experiment too often. .That has limited me to about a half dozen spices. I can hardly wait to begin the experiments. I don’t know why the hospital or my doctor didn’t help me with this, but I got what I need now. Yeah!

I am a very trusting person. That’s good and bad. I don’t always ask the questions I should. She is in disagreement with my doctor on the number range that should concern me with my sugar count. I have been with three other doctors since I have had diabetes. They all agree with her guidelines. The problem is that when my tests two-hours after supper are under 110, I know they will be between 40 and 70 in the morning or I will be woke in the middle of the night with those low number. If you don’t know, when it gets that low I am dizzy with black spots in front of me. In other words I am getting near to passing out. Whoa! That brought me up short. I always assumed I was doing something wrong. Of course, when I eat after the evening test it is to raise my numbers. I am counteracting any weight lose. That explains a lot.

I am so dumb. I should have dealt with this a long time ago. Maybe my dad was right. “It had better be really serious to go to a doctor. They are just too expensive”. When I was ten or eleven I was cutting the outline of a six shooter (cowboys were big when I was a kid – Roy Roger, Gene Autry, Hop-a-long Cassidy). My parents were not going to buy me a toy gun, but dad was letting me cut one out on the gig-saw and than I was going to shape it with files. My hand slipped and my right thumb hit the blade and bounced off when it got to the bone. Blood was gushing and dad wrapped a rag around it. When the bleeding slowed down he took me inside and cleaned the wound and wrapped it up good. “You’ll be fine.” He was right about that. It healed and I had a cool scare to show my friends. My dad n ever seemed to care whether there were scares as long as I was going to live. He didn’t treat me any different than himself, but I swear he handled pain better than anyone I ever knew. He would dig splinters out with his pocketknife – fortunately, only on himself.

They even took me to a family dentist who did not use anything to deaden pain. He didn’t believe in it. I didn’t know any better. You just gripped the arms and hung on for dear life. I didn’t know there was Novocain until I was married and needed a dentist on my own. Of course, I still hold on for dear life even though there is no pain. Its just habit! But I come out with strained hands and arms from squeezing till I leave handprints in the hard plastic. Those were what old people call “The good old days.” I at least laught about it — now!

It’s amazing what we learn from our youth that hangs on through out life. Some of out habits are pretty strange.