Today I went back to the gym. I felt confident enough in my knee's recovery to get back on the bike. If there was a problem at least I don't have to work tomorrow so I have some time to recover. No need though, I'm fine. Anyway afterwards I went to rehearsal for our latest opera and did a quick dash to the mall. Then, at home, we had a birthday celebration for my daughter, Katie. Amanda, my other daughter made a beautiful rainbow birthday cake.
It looked so wonderful and yummy that I decided to have a small piece. It did taste delicious but after not having that amount of sugar in over 18 months it had a surprising effect on me. I was extremely thirsty and drank a glass of milk. Then I started yawning uncontrollably. I had no reason to be very tired at 6 pm but I could barely hold my head up. I went up to my bed and took a little nap. For about two hours!
Dr. Jarrett likes to remind me that even though I have not needed insulin injections since my bariatric surgery I am and always will be a diabetic. People claim that weight loss surgery is a cure for diabetes but strictly speaking that is not true. A type II diabetic has a pancreas that produces insulin but not enough. In addition there is a tendency of insulin resistance which basically means that the insulin doesn't work as well at controlling the glucose level.
My gastric bypass limits the amount of food I can ingest and also the amount of nutrients I absorb. An overdose of sugar-laden foods can cause a reaction called dumping syndrome. The fear of the dumps made me cautious about eating sugar during the past 18 months. I've never dumped yet and I don't want to. I probably should have checked my blood sugar but the battery on my glucose meter is probably dead anyway. It's been a long time since I tested. I did not like the way I felt after eating that cake. The reaction wasn't worth the pleasure of having it.
I like to say that whenever things go wrong if you learn something from the experience then it isn't a waste. So today's little reaction to sugar was not the same as a diabetic coma (or any other type of coma for that matter). It was, however, a little kick in the ass to remind me that I feel better when I eat healthy.
Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan
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