Diabetic Hubby
 

My husband and I went to get his yearly blood work back, and The news we got scared the crap out of me. His blood pressure is through the roof, his kidney's aren't working properly, and some sort of proein something or rather is spilling out.... but that can't be good!!

So we saw the dietician yesterday as well, and she told me that he has to cut out protein for awhile, and focus on Good Carbs, so that we lower his levels. Well, how can I control that when he works at a fast food place 5 days a week, and has no time to break and have a real meal, just a burger and crap like that? When he's home I try to cook healthy meals for him, but it's obviously not enough! I'm pretty overwhelmed. :( I'm pretty scared that his kidney's aren't working right....

To top it off, I'm not supposed to have complex carbs, whatever those are, but more protien. ARGH!!!! I'm not sure what to do.... Help!!!

drnk lots of water to flush out the bad things. eat less sugar based food. :) glen

Hi Amanda,

I can understand why you are concerned about your dh's condition. It is VERY important that you and your dh have a good understanding of his condition and are educated about treatment.

PLEASE do not hesitate to call your doctor and/or dietician and ask for more information. I am not a doctor, but have been a nurse for over 10 years and will offer you my insight, based upon the information in your post.

From what I understand, by your post, your dh has a condition called proteinuria. This means that he is "spilling" or losing protein in his urine. Both high blood pressure and diabetes can cause this. I don't know how severe your dh's case is----it can be mild or can be severe leading to kidney failure. I hope it is not severe---only your physician can tell you based upon his lab work.

Here is a link about this: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseas...s/proteinuria/

It is very important that he monitors and controls his diabetes and blood pressure to prevent further injury to his kidneys. Reducing protein and/or sodium is usually recommended as well. Again, I strongly advise you to call the dietician for further information on ways to change his diet.

I can understand that he works in a fast food place and changing his diet may be a challenge. But I can not emphasize enough how very important to his health it is to follow his doctor's/dietician's instructions. Ask the dietician for written information about his diet.

Here is a link to the American Diabetes Association on making healthy food choices. http://www.diabetes.org/nutrition-an...oodchoices.jsp

I hope this helps.

Yup, got one of those myself - It's pretty scary, particularly when you realize that he lost all his excess weight, and his diabetes is controlled by diet and exercise alone.
He got into a research study at our local university hospital (U of M - we're lucky) - and he goes for regular checkups -
He's now on meds for the high blood pressure, and he checks his blood sugar before and after every meal - part of the program includes 2 meetings with a dietician, and it's been very good at helping him balance his food.

Boy, are we eating veggies these days - fruit tends to have more sugar, and he doesn't like them as much, so he goes light on that and keeps the total protein down.

Keep posting - we'll be here.

Sue

THANK YOU!!!!!! Elizabeth, that info was VERY helpful! DH status is serious according to his dietician! We go again today to see her! I'm getting really frustrated as DH thinks he can still have protein, even if it's just a little bit, and he was told NO PROTEIN! I've been fighting him on it, and losing every time! DH has never taken care of himself, or his diabetes, he's always eaten whatever he wanted, and I was always trying to figure this out on my own after we got married. I feel like the burden of his health is on my shoulders, plus my own, I just diagnosed with Endometriosis, and that's alot to handle sometimes. I wish he would take this seriously, and do what has to be done instead of just ignoring it and relying on other people to "fix the problem" for him! He needs to be more proactive in this. Seems to me like he doesn't care if his kidney's fail or anything...

hi mickey. there is an article in readers digest about diebeties. go to www.rd.ca
the article is in the health section. glen